How it all started.

Back in the mists of time, around 1990 I think, I went to university in Aberdeen. My new best mate there, Matt, was a mountain biker and I was soon part of the Aberdeen uni club astride a GT Karakoram. Following the very first year of student loans, and the university bike sheds being burgled, Matt and myself were both soon riding Dave Yates MTBs.

 During those years at university, me and a handful of good friends lived on our bikes (funnily enough, all Dave Yates MTBs), raced (poorly) and generally lived the 'bike' life.

Since then, the bike was largely unridden except for a spurt in the early noughties. The right hand chainstay was largely chewed through due to a combination of chain suck and low budget student maintenance so it went back to Dave Yates where it had the stay replaced and was sprayed 'Sky blue'.  I then shod it with Specialized Fat Boys and put maybe a thousand miles on it before again losing interest.

Last June my mum and I took my niece and nephew, Adam and Daisy, for lunch at a pub a few miles away that sits on the bank of the Leeds and Liverpool canal and this is where it all started.

A combination of me thinking the tow path looked inviting and the vague thoughts of a 20 mile 'Ride for health' coming up at work meant I was back the following weekend with the bike where I cycled a few miles up the tow path and back.

It was knackering but I started doing some mileage around the village where I live and, with much trepidation, did the Ride for Health around Manchester with my work and absolutely loved it! 

After the Ride for health, I signed up for the 'great manchester CYCLE' and did the 26 mile route which was awesome. Cycling across Manchester, including the Mancunian Way, with thousands of like minded people in glorious weather was definitely a highlight of the year.

To really top the year off, we had a new guy called James start working with us in our department at work and it turned out he was a cyclist! We now meet up every weekend and go for a ride that I plan in advance using Map my Ride. In summer we normally aim for about 25-30 miles and in winter, 20-25.

Anyhow, this is the gal in question (although she has since been joined by two other bikes) 2,724.6 miles after that fateful pub lunch and I fully intend to add at least another 200 miles a month to that total on her (and the new bikes) for the foreseeable future: