Man to Child

Unlike most things in my life cycling has been with me since I was a small child. A Raleigh Tommahawk was the first bike I can remember having as a child, although I knew it wasn't the bike I learnt to ride on. I learnt to ride late in life managing to be free from stabalizers by around the age of seven. The longest period I had off the bike was from my late teens to early tweenties. Loads of avenues were a distraction to the dorment passion that lay beneath. Unleashed again around my 21st year on the planet it has, except for broken bones, been an uninterupted trip with bicycles.

I have ridden all types of bikes and love all areas of the two wheeled genre. I will happily watch a DH race as I will six hours in the mountain or the Classics. But it is with Road bikes that I have found my true soulmate. Because of my varied experience with bikes I sit outside the classic club cyclist, although I have been a member of a couple of cycle clubs in my time.

Cycling works both in those periods when you feel like an outsider and also when you need a club or team you can find a bunch of people to be with. Unlike mountain biking which for me has always been an experience made richer by the attendence of friends. Road biking seems to have the ability to work on multiple levels.

I recently had my parents to stay and I showed them my site. The blank expression took me straight back to my childhood. I think they never understood the freedom that a bike gave me then and how as an adult it continues to put a roof over my head and feed and clothe my family . I am thankful that the passion and excitement of the seven year old boy still resides in the man. My greatest joy this year so far has been watching my own children begin that journey for themselves.

I am looking forward to getting out on my bike this weekend, I know if you are reading this that you will need little encouragement to do the same this weekend.

Ramblings.

Some people may have seen my main site at www.sprintingforsigns.com and wonder why I have two sites on the go. It's simple really, I like the Blogger platform and community. Also there is the possibility that I may switch it over completely to this platform at some point. It is very easy to use with no html knowledge required, it makes the process accessible to all.

Ok so we are in the last month of Spring, probably my favourite season (but only just), so I am going to try to get out and ride a little more. The evenings are lighter for longer and the lure of riding through the lanes grows stronger. The side benefit is that as you give into the temptation, you grow stronger and can wear the strange badges of honour that only other riders can appreciate, namely the strange tan lines all over your body.



I have included a few photo's from this years Tour, not France but Flanders. This is where my heart lies and I am looking forward to making the trip back over later this year. So just to keep you all going, here's another one to feed the passion.

Two sites, one name

Some of you may have stumbled across my main site which is at www.sprintingforsigns.com, or may have seen one of my infrequent posts on Twitter (sprinting4signs as a search), and wonder why the second site. The answer is simple, I like the Blogger community and at some point I will change over my platform to something a little more simple than my current one.

On the Twitter front, not sure I really get it, but some of the postings can be very funny at times.

So May is here, the last month of Spring, I am now hoping for some good riding for the months ahead.