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| 25km/h selfie, France, 2011 |
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing"
George Bernard Shaw
I was born in 1961 so might break a record for the oldest person to have a go at this, even if not the fastest.
I have enjoyed long distance cycling since my early teens and, it seems, the older I get the further I like to ride. I joined Audax UK in 2003 in order to qualify for the 1200km PBP that year. Since then I have ridden both PBP and LEL three times and done the Super Randonneur series of 200, 300, 400 and 600km every year which makes me an Ultra Randonneur. Every year 2006-11 I rode to our family holiday in the south of France and in 2012 I rode the 1,000km Mille Alba in Scotland. In 2013, following my 3rd LEL, I rode a solo 3 week 4,000km Baltic Cruise - a shake-down ride on the new bike to test it, kit and self to the limits before I set off on 30,000km world tour in April 2014. I'm hoping this hobby does not become obsessive.
This 600k ride report from 2011 attempts to explain my irresistible attraction to long bike rides.
Life has a habit of getting in the way of cycling; I sometimes have to get off my bike and do other stuff, like work. Luckily my job involves a lot of getting other people to ride bikes - I am a School Travel Adviser in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham which is all about getting the kids walking and cycling to school. I'm also working on putting a stop to lorry/cyclist deaths in London
Email: laidbackaroundtheworld@gmail.com
