I got on my bike to ride out heartache says Sylvia, 90
Erin Cardiff
A 90-YEAR-OLD granny overcame the heartache of splitting up with her partner by rekindling her childhood passion for cycling.
Finding herself single at the age of 85, Sylvia Briercliffe plunged into depression.
She was originally offered antidepressants to help cope. But she got on her bike instead, clocking up 1,000 miles and raising £2,000 for charity.
She said: “It was really difficult to be on my own after such a long time.
“The doctors tried to give me medication but I decided to jump on my bike instead.”
Sylvia had originally split up with her husband Philip after 23 years of marriage. She said: “I remember people saying life began when you turned 50 but I felt mine was ending.” She found love again but fell into despair when that relationship ended five years ago.
But the retired social worker from Burnley said a “blue sky moment” changed her life when she dusted down the bike she had barely ridden in 30 years. She now describes herself as a “recycler” on a mission to get more retired women back on their bikes to combat loneliness.
She said: “People tell me to chill out but I’m just not ready. I made myself cycle every day for a year. I clocked up my miles by cycling to the shops and back and sometimes I did 30-mile rides. It changed my life.”
Sylvia, a mum to three children – Michael, 65, Diana, 63, and Beverly, 60 – got her first bike aged three. She featured in Cycling UK magazine’s 100 Women in Cycling 2019 list. See cyclinguk.org