Real stories

How cycling can improve the wellbeing of people living with dementia

When I cycle, I leave my dementia at home. I become who I was, not who I am.

I have always had a passion for cycling and now that I cannot work, I have more time to cycle. So, there you are - despite dementia stripping me of so many things, that’s me taking back from dementia. It’s not a one-way street after all.

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How cycling helps improve my wellbeing

I’m a great believer that we should take responsibility for our own health and well-being as much as we can.

I eat a good diet, I have recently become vegetarian, and I help my wife prepare our food from scratch. The irony is that post-diagnosis, I am healthier than I was pre-diagnosis, or at least I am from the eyebrows down! 

Cycling is my salvation. With every turn of the pedals, with every mile behind me, I feel stronger.

Cycling helps me regain control

When I cycle, I push my dementia away, into the shade where it stays until I get home. 

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Cycling is my medication; the fresh air is my anti-depressant and the sights and sounds of the countryside act as a balm to my hurt mind. (Actually, that last sentence has to go to my friend, Deb, who tells me she has plagiarised Shakespeare’s words. I suppose I have to believe her.)

But the truth is when I cycle, my spirits lift and the cloying thick cloud which was clogging my thoughts are shaken away.

When I cycle, I feel powerful, in control and strong. I get to see the countryside, and sometimes it’s like I am seeing it for the first time.

The world is a wonderful place when viewed through my cyclist’s eyes. Where there were dark and sinister shadows forming from the spectre of my dementia, there is now light and joy. 

I cycle because I love to cycle and it makes me Peter Berry, the cyclist, Peter Berry, the man, not Peter Berry, living with early-onset dementia.