I've not really written about cycling since I started this blog, but it forms a huge part of my life.
It started in childhood - I think I must have been about seven when I got my first bike and to be honest, I didn't really struggle learning to ride it. I think I was okay after about a day spent falling off at a caravan site we were staying on somewhere in the Scottish borders. No stabilisers for this kid!
That developed into better bikes (a Raleigh Grifter!! with slip gear!) and my first mountain bike was a Raleigh Montage - a lime green affair with twenty one gears, if my memory serves me correctly. It was bought for me by my parents after getting good grades in my first ever high school exams.
My friends and I used to ride the disused Consett to Sunderland railway line, once we even picked up another track at Consett and ended up in Gateshead! A long way back in those days.
Any sporting pursuit can suffer when alcohol and women arrive on the scene, but thankfully I reclaimed it (cycling) as a life long friend a few years ago, this time to overcome some pretty rough times and keep my energy up.
Now I ride a Merida Sub-60 hard tail when I want to leave the roads behind and a Specialized Allez when I don't.
I will always be a cyclist - may even pop my clogs on one if I manage to ride for as long as I hope to. What a thought!