Free Wheeling – A celebration of cycling

I got my first bike (as opposed to trike) when I was 7 or 8.  Like many I found it a daunting experience to learn how to ride it and initially I have to admit I couldn’t much see the point.  But I did learn and for most of my life cycling has provided a great source of pleasure.

I come from cycling stock.  My maternal grandfather was an inveterate cyclist into his 70s and my father used to regale us as kids with youthful cycling feats including a trip round the coast of Wales, something I still have a strong ambition to do myself.

I really got the bug myself as a teenager when I used to go out cycling in the country lanes of leafy Warwickshire, with occasional day trips to places like Warwick and Stratford.  Oxford leant itself to cycling and as a student I migrated to…