I started mountain biking in 1988 and for the following 21 years I was the world’s most obsesssed mountain biker; every holiday was mountain biking (I even gave up climbing) and I did many of the Polaris events and local races, when people used to race, as well as mountain epics all over the UK. My brother and I talked about mountain biking every time we met, which even began to irritate the rest of the family. I got into night riding, all through the year, dealing with the cold and the mud but enjoying the rides.
Then in about 2008 I began to lose interest and started missing the weekend and Wednesday evening club rides. I don’t know what happened; the obesession just seemed to fade away. I bought a nice steel Peugeot road bike from Bicycle Doctor and did a few short rides, then I bought a neglected 1990 Harry Hall in Columbus SLX, restored it but found it very punishing to ride more than 40 miles. Then in February 2009 I found a nearly new carbon 2006 Specialized Roubaix dumped off a bridge; took it to the Police who gave it back to me a month later and that was it; I was hooked. My mileage began to increase, my resting HR dropped and I began swopping flappy mountain bike attire for snug-fitting lycra kit. The increase in fitness was dramatic. My lovely titanium hardtail got hung up in the garage and has only been used since with slicks for my son to ride C2C. I often think about my old mountain biking days but cannot summon up one single ounce of enthusiasm for going out, working hard to cover a few muddy wet miles and coming home covered in filth. If you want to know what attracts me to road riding, read The Escape Artist by Matt Seaton, which is very good on the subtlety of technique, lore and traditions of road riding. I reckon I’m just a typical “born again” cyclist who has come back to road riding thanks to modern, comfortable carbon bikes, compact gearing, SIS, fat handlebars and all the recent developments that have made road cycling more attractive for leisure riders. The ability to go straight out from my front door onto stunning, empty country roads and come back a couple of hours later absolutely beasted but still reasonably clean also contributes, I’m sure. I’m also lucky in having met a cycling buddy of my own age who enjoys the same kind of riding and cafes and my son is now aged 17 and is beginning to come along on our rides and do some useful work on the front when he can be bothered, so there’s a good way of doing stuff with my own son.
I’m marking my 60th birthday in April by organising a bike race for myself and about 15 cycling friends at a local track, followed by beer and a slap-up dinner. I see this as an important “statement” of how I hope to continue my life after retirement, if health allows.
DSC01404 by Dave Lowe[/url], on Flickr