Wanna bike ...?

I used to cycle to work, in fact cycles have been a part of my life since I got my first (real) bike when I was 12ish. Then they were my first taste of distance freedom. Back in the day me and my best mate Mark Chester used to go out all day to play in the local parks and streams, just knowing that when our bellies rumbled it was time to go home.

We had a really long steep hill close to where we lived called Windmill Hill Lane

I still remember me Mark and I think my sister Sue nicked a load of segs (remember those?) ....

.... from my dads cellar workshop and hammered them into the bottom of our shoes then sat on the crossbars of our bikes and came down the hill with our feet on the road with a great firework display of sparks coming from our shoes.... god only knows what a mess we made of our shoes - I'm sure there was a telling off in there somewhere !

My commutes to work were in the main on my motorbikes but I did also like to cycle to work, sometimes - many times taking a longer route to work than needed. I can still remember sitting in bed dreaming of my first proper mountain bike - in the days when I could only dream as we could not afford luxuries...

I have cycled the London to Brighton, then the next day cycled London to Derby. I've cycled Manchester to Blackpool and plenty of other day rides as well as a regular Wednesday evening ride with a couple of good work colleagues, spoilt by a few too many pints afterwards in the local pubs to warm down ! I even cycled across Derby each Sunday morning to play two hours of 5 a side football then cycle home.

Two wheels, powered and unpowered have always been important in my life. As I type this our two person family owns an embarrassingly high number of cycles - seven in total. Part of the 'lockdown' has been to clean and fettle them and a decision was taken to get rid of at least two maybe three of them leaving two at home and two folders on Percy.

So if anyone is in the market for a lovely ready to go tourer my Ridgeback World Voyage cycle is on Ebay at the moment  - here is the link

Click me 

... and for if/when the bike sells a picture to remind me what a great bike it was