Like many kids in the 1980s, my bike was more than a form of transport. Cruising down the road with a group of friends on BMXs we felt like we ruled the world. As kids we didn't really go far from home, sometimes not even leaving our own street but we were, for lack of a better term, always dicking about on our bikes.
Around the age of 6, popping wheelies outside my parent's house.
One of the first things I ever really pushed myself to improve without encouragement from others was discovering the limits of what I could do on a bike. Whether that was standing on the seat or popping a wheelie, I seemed intent on finding new ways to risk injury. In the time before health and safety was a thing, my dad was happy to encourage me and built me little ramps to help me smile as I broke my neck.
As the 80s became the 90s, I swapped my beloved Raleigh Burner for a mountain bike. For those too young to remember, mountain bikes of the early 90s were very different to what you see today, the main difference being no suspension. That bike saw me through many years of adventure including summer trips from York to Selby which seemed epic at that age (it's seriously about 12 miles!). That same bike saw me all the way through to the start of my working life, commuting five miles each way to a shop job I had as a student.
Fast forward a lot of years and my main form of exercise is playing ice hockey. As you might think, playing ice hockey when you reach a certain age isn't particularly wise as old men don't bounce. Having decided to retire, I got a bit fat and was looking to get back in shape, naturally I turned to my old friend the bike. I picked up a fairly decent Felt mountain bike and started using it to commute the few miles to the office each day.
I started getting in slightly better shape but wanted to push more. With the Tour de France Grand Depart due to start in my home town, I started looking into road biking. A colleague was also looking at starting serious road biking so it seemed like a good idea. I picked up my first road bike, a Boardman Team Carbon, and started putting in a few (very flat!) miles.
My first road bike, somewhere near Malton I think.
That bike went through may changing in a short space of time (I like to tinker) before it finally died after a faulty chain demolished the back end of it. It may not have survived long but it was long enough to get me hooked on road cycling.
Until 2015 I had avoided hills, opting instead for longer, flatter rides. With more friends starting to show interest in road cycling, we started riding as a group and (mainly to get insurance) I set up the club in May 2015 with that core group of members.
Founding members Matt, me (terrible picture!) and Bennett.
Since then I have gone through a number of bikes but not have one that I'm really happy with (more on that at a later date). With the club I also finally conquered a lot of the hills that I had previously been avoiding. Don't get me wrong, I am by no means a climber (I'm a fair sprinter) but with determination I can swear my way up most hills (eventually). As a club we also completed our first 100 mile rides, entered our first sportive (Selby two swans) and had a lot of fun along the way. I also purchased a new mountain bike with the aim of spreading my wings a bit over the coming year.
My new mountain bike, it was cheap but seems to get the job done.
2016 promises to build on that further with a pre-planned club ride schedule (due to be released soon) that includes some truly epic rides (by our current standards anyway). We'll also be looking to expand the club membership a bit so if you're in the area, check out our website (jorvikcc.uk) or follow us on twitter (@jorvikcc).
That's it for this post, I'll leave you with a picture of a fat man in lycra.
