Early days

I've had a bicycle for as long as I can remember.  At first it was an old tricycle, I think it had solid rubber tyres and a fixed gear, and I can vaguely remember riding it around the garden at home.  At some point, Dad bought me my first proper two-wheeled bike, but I can't remember much about it.  I think it was blue.  Later I got a 10-speed with drop handlebars, and sometimes Dad and I would go for a ride on a sunday afternoon in the summer.  Gradually, I caught the cycling bug, and when I saw the 1989 Tour de France on TV that was it.  I was 14, and the money I'd been saving for a computer was spent on a decent bicycle instead.  I started riding with the local club, getting dropped on every hill, every week, but kept coming back for more because I just liked it so much.  A couple of years later, I upgraded to a better bike, and tried a bit of racing.  It didn't take me long to realise that I wasn't much good at it, so I just concentrated on riding for the sake of riding.  I don't know when I first thought about actually travelling somewhere by bike and not coming home the same day, but I think it was quite early on.  There have been many trips since then, and maybe I'll get around to writing about them too at some point.