What got you started .

[deptfordmarmoset]

I think it was an excess of testosterone in my adolescence - I simply had too much...er... physical energy for me to sit still for too long. And it was far easier to get out of London and into the country/to the coast when I was a young lad. Since then, it's been a bit off and on, and London commuting in the late 80s - 90s finally became intolerably unpleasant and dangerous for me and cycling, whilst always being there, took a back seat for a while.

Then, as for many others, health concerns came to the fore and made cycling an enjoyable if arduous necessity. Where most seem to pile on the weight, this was never my problem, but I discovered I had insanely high blood pressure caused by a blood-starved kidney. The medication that got my BP to manageable levels left me feeling weak, depressed and completely lacking in any stamina - which ended up messing up work (musician - which many people forget is an intensely physical occupation) for me. However, exercising seemed to be the only way of keeping my BP down through natural means and fighting my growing dependence on medication. The medical cure, whilst keeping me alive, was killing me. Cycling, whilst killing me and my poor, poor muscles, is now keeping me alive, and feeling alive.


Since then I've done 6000 miles on what I shall describe as a ''cheap entry level'' road bike, managed to get a few weeks' work, and I now reckon I'll be able to afford - by which I mean ''not be in any greater debt than I was before'' - a new bike. Nowt special - I don't have the funds - but it'll have to do for the next 10,000 miles.

 

[Bromptonaut]

Had bikes as a kid for messing about etc, a line that by age 11 had culminated in a Trusty Spacemaster shopper. Used for playing, in spite of being uncool, and as occasional transport to shops, swimming etc.

At 14 I was obsessed with planes and bike was only viable method of covering the 5 miles to Leeds Bradford Airport in pursuit of registrations. After a while I began to extend ride back home via Otley Chevin, Yorkgate etc and to recognise the bike ride as an objective in itself. At 17 and even after passing my driving test I acquired a 'Yeoman' sports bike capable of accepting a rack and mudguards & which gradually, and with much inspiration from Richard Ballantine's books, became a 12 speed tourer. A job in the civil service took me to London and to a YHA group where I joined rides to the coast and lots more places within a weekend or bank holiday radius from Harrow.

In May 83 a lovely brunette, Liz, arrived in the group aboard her Peugeot tourer and after circling each other for several months we became a couple. We toured together and eventually setteld in Northants where the arrival of kids created a pause in our biking but by age 5/6 the younger, my son, was on a trailer bike round Pitsford.

We cycle as a family either locally or from the car - Gresford to Chester and return on Saturday. I use a Brompton in my daily commute and, sonny and I having entered the L2B, I'm getting the appetite to join a fnrttc as well as have started doing the origami phoenix rides http://www.foldsoc.co.uk/origami/index.html on my Brompton.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

...jining he origami phoenix rides on my Bromp.

It was all making sense until you finished

 

[gnvqsos]

To get to the chip shop quick

 

[uphillstruggler]

For me, loved having a bike as a kid. Always wanted to be out and about and with my bike I could be further out and about.

Had the usual range of bikes but the grifter was the start. Then I broke my ankle doing a bmx ramp on a racer! That put paid to that for a while.

Used to ride to work for a while and then all.the.time til riding really wasn't possible due to distances etc.

Cut along story short, a mate of mine says he is doing the London to Brighton and did I want to take part. I did and again the next year amongst other rides.

now its the thing I enjoy the most (with the obvious exemptions), whether cycling in company or on my own, and I think most of the people who know me are probably fed up with hearing about it

 

[Night Train]

I remember as a kid at the end of the 60's having a tricycle and coveting my older brother's bike.
Eventually I was old enough and Dad got me a bike of my own.
It was red and white, had white solid tyres, a single rod operated brake on the front wheel and a white sprung saddle. It also had stabilisers and was a single speed fixed.

I was never allowed to ride beyond the end of the road so had to stop on the corner and drag it around to face the other way before riding to the other corner and then back again.

Eventually I lost one, and then both, stabilisers and was allowed to go once around the block but only if I stayed with my brother. My brother found it funny to ride off as fast as he could leaving me alone and lost half way round the block.

I swore vengence and dreamed of a better bike. By the time I was 8 years old I had a little bike with pnumatic tyres, though still with no gears while my brother had a 'proper 5 speed racer'.

My only chance of catching up was when my brother stopped cycling for a while as he dabbled in skateboards.
I collected old bikes and parts and started building custom choppers. We both had bikes that resembled the modern day cruiser types but with heavy, heavy frames and so my one got cut up much to Dad's annoyance.
He forgave me when I built and road my first home made bike, a semi recumbent chopper.
By the time I was 12 I had re built wheels and extended frames and forks and was well on the way to learning about materials technology, frame geometry and mecanical loadings. I was also learning about electrics and my bikes then all had multiple lights front and rear on a single switch, flashing indicators and brake lights.
By 14 I had built 7 complete bikes with high rise bars, cow horn bars and drop bars but all with semi recumbent chopper style seats and girder forks up to 4' long.

I was even playing with the idea of electric drive as well but technology was lagging too far behind (or I was just way ahead of my time).

Then I had learnt to drive in 1983.

In 1996 I moved from London to Manchester and got in to the recumbent scene but couldn't afford one. I rode many and found that I couldn't balance on them very well so I decided I should try recumbent triking. It was still out of my price range but I started buying and scrounging bikes and bike bits to make my own.
Work didn't allow much time but I got a few ideas together but still nothing I could ride.

However, in 1999 I went to Cooksons bike shop and bought a Marin Hawkhill and became a fairweather cyclist.

The pile of bike bits still got shuffled about a bit as I worked on folding and full suspension designs but I never really had the opportunity to catch up with the huge changes in cycle technology and the range of incompatible parts with funny and unpronouncible names.

In the end I acquired an additional hack bike and a broken KMX which became the Ratrike.
The original ideas of custom building, recumbents, electric and so on are still with me and I am progressing the Ratrike further and also designing and scratch building an electric car that is a tadpole trike and like a big two seat velomobile. No pedals on that one though.