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Couple who met through bike hitch celebrate 60th anniversary

Rutland pair bonded through cycling despite "very rude joke"...

A Rutland couple who met through a broken bicycle have today celebrated 60 years of marriage.

Gerald and Pam Hodson-Walker, now aged 83 and 81 respectively, first clapped eyes on each other when he stopped to ask her if she needed help with her bike.

Mrs Hodson-Walker, from Stretton, told burtonmail.co.uk:  "I had a problem with my bike and Gerald stopped to help me.

“It was not very chivalrous. He made a very rude joke but I didn't mind. He made me laugh."

They met again when Mr Hodson-Walker turned up at the door of her family house when he was working for Radio Rentals.

"Then it seemed to gather momentum,” she said. “Every time he came to the door I was always there ready to open it. We just clicked and we both had a love for bicycles.

"We thought nothing of cycling from Stretton to Matlock on a Saturday afternoon. If we had a spare moment we would be together. We were joined at the hip and that's how we liked it."

Of their engagement, she said: "It was just one of those things. It was a forgone conclusion really, we were out at Skegness and we saw a nice ring and bought it.

“I asked if it was a proposal for fun and he said yes, all right. It wasn't planned but it was lovely all the same," she added.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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4 comments

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brooksby | 8 years ago
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Quote:

“It was not very chivalrous. He made a very rude joke but I didn't mind. He made me laugh."

I can't help but think that making a very rude joke typically doesn't work as a chat-up line nowadays... 

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kitsunegari | 8 years ago
1 like

Congrats to them both!

 

And yes, come on Road.cc. Do some proper journalism - find out the joke!

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mrchrispy | 8 years ago
0 likes

this thread is useless without pics the joke.

 

congrats to them both. hat!

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Bmblbzzz | 8 years ago
7 likes

Congratulations to the long-lived couple! I think we need to be told the joke though.

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