How Cycling has become a way of Life
Over the last two years, cycling has had a hugely positive effect on my life. It’s become influential in the way I live each day of my life – almost to the point of obsession. Given cycling will be dominating the latter part of my 2020 plans, I thought I’d write this post to explain in a bit more detail how it’s all come about, how cycling has become a way of life for me & what is next.
I’ve always had enthusiasm for adventure. Less so in my late teens, I used to drink a lot and live like a normal teenager focussing on relationships & career paths. They say certain moments in life define you. I started to go my own way, following my own dreams, putting myself first. Relationships ended, focus on career dwindled. I needed something to fill that gap. Turning back to adventure, kayaking more and exploring the great outdoors. My enthusiasm for adventure and exploration grew and grew during 2017.
The end of that year saw us take off to New Zealand, 4 mates on the trip of a lifetime. We were just living it up in the southern hemisphere summer, no responsibility, taking each day as it came; chasing adventure and living our best lives. One day we set out to kayak a 50ft waterfall descent in Tongariro national park. That’s when the defining moment happened. I got it horribly wrong & broke my back on impact. I spent the final week of that trip of a lifetime in hospital. After initially not being able to feel my legs, I consider myself incredibly lucky from an injury perspective – I didn’t need any surgery, just 6 months of recovery and rehab. That’s what changed me.
I arrived home & spent a lot of time alone. I spoke very little, for fear of my negativity bringing others down. I could see others going about their daily lives, I wanted to be able to join them. I never like asking people to change to fit me in. I kept myself to myself, out of the way. Those were dark & depressing times. I couldn’t physically do anything. Adventure had become my way of life and ultimately pursuing it had given me this infuriatingly debilitating injury.
My thoughts wandered. I couldn’t focus. I craved adventure, I missed everything about it.
I began wondering about purpose in life, when a realization came about that travel, adventure & exploration was where I felt most alive. My appetite for adventure & exploring wilder places comes from kayaking. It’s a sport which has introduced me to many incredible people & taken me to some spectacular places around the world, places inaccessible by anything other than kayak. Without it I felt lost.
It was around the spring of 2018, 4 months after suffering a 30% compression fracture in my L1 vertebrae when the doctors said I could begin light cycling & swimming again – not running or any anything weight bearing. I’d missed adventure and the great outdoors, I’d been alone with my negative thoughts for far too long. I made myself a promise during those months, that promise was simple ‘as soon as I physically can do all the things I want in life, I will do them. I won’t compromise or wait for others. it’s my life, I’m going to live it. One day I won’t be able to, so make every second count’.
From that day my lifestyle and mind-set changed forever.
As soon as I was allowed to ride, I thought sod it. I dug my old rusty road bike out and went for a spin. I didn’t enjoy the first road ride much, it wasn’t fast enough or exhilarating enough. I just enjoyed being outside, on the local back roads of the Ribble Valley. I felt satisfied, satisfied I was outside and moving. It wasn’t fast & it wasn’t exhilarating, but it brought me a sense of escapism which I had craved deeply. 3 months of dissatisfaction, slow living & mental suffering meant I’d do just about anything for a tiny piece of adventure.
Little did I know that evening, cycling was to change my life.
Gradually the nights got lighter, I rode a little more each night. The Ribble Valley is tranquil and quiet. I found solace in riding. It was helping me recover no end, the positive posture was fantastic for my back, it relieved so much pressure on the lower vertebrae.
I felt myself getting stronger. I began riding further, scratching the itch of exploring new places. I would set off from my front door, follow my nose & always listen to that voice wondering what’s around that corner.
I would ride from 5pm till sunset, just admiring the wonderful place I called home. Eventually riding 5 hours a night wasn’t enough. I wanted more. Without noticing, I was getting addicted.
The UK kayaking scene wasn’t showing much promise, nor had my appetite for kayaking really returned. I figured the monotony of road cycling would get a little boring, I always preferred the path less travelled. Naturally I was excited about mountain biking.
I mountain biked a lot as a kid, most evenings after school we would ride in the local forest trails. So of course I was excited to channel this rediscovered love of cycling into something a little more adventurous. I bought myself a mountain bike, although it didn’t get used much till summer time as I was still concerned about my back.
I decided to become more productive with my cycling. I started cycling to work – saving money, reducing my carbon footprint and helping my mental wellbeing no end.
Day by day, week by week, I got stronger & more aggressive in my riding, feeling fitter – feeling more like myself. Cycling became a lifestyle, not a hobby. I needed it. It feels part of my DNA now. My enthusiasm for adventure, merged with a new found way of expressing myself through cycling.
By the time Autumn transitioned to winter, I was finally starting to feel myself again. I could run again. But cycling had become my new obsession. I now had a conundrum, run or cycle. For the first time in 8 months, I had a choice of which adventure I could pursue!
From not being overly fussed about cycling, I’m now obsessed. I’m annoyed when I can’t cycle to work. I’m annoyed when I can’t ride in the evening. I’m annoyed when I can’t ride at weekends.
For most people riding is a bonus, something to look forward to. For me, it’s more of a necessity. I become moody when for whatever reason I can’t ride. The small adult jobs and general life responsibility (which I profusely refuse to accept are a relevant part of life) doesn’t register as more important than cycling. My preference will always be adventure – growing up can wait.
Without noticing, I’d gone from being an occasional & reluctant cyclist, to someone completely consumed by cycling. I smash century rides for fun, I ride up the steepest & toughest climbs I can find, I ride gravel, I ride road and I ride all mountain enduro. I ride in the cold, the wind and the rain. As long as its outside and on two wheels, I’m happy as Larry.
Every day revolves around cycling. Cycling to work, cycling after work, cleaning bikes, oggling at new kit, researching new routes, reading & writing blogs, sketching up adventures. My room is just full of kit & bits of paper with ideas on.
Summer 2019 I discovered the world of bikepacking, the epitome of adventure. Moving fast, exploration, self-sufficiency. I’ve never been bothered about racing. Cycling has always been about freedom for me, a method of escapism. It’s about exploring on my own terms. One-day mountain bike enduro rides became multiday rides, simply with addition of a sleeping system and bit extra food. Century rides have become 1000 mile trans-alpine missions.
I’m as happy cycling to work as I am cycling across the alps on a 14 day bikepacking adventure. Travel, adventure and exploration drives me. Adventure isn’t defined by duration or distance, but simply what you get out of it. Big adventures are awesome, but sometimes it’s the little adventure that help break up the monotony of the daily grind that are best. I’m as happy after either.
My enthusiasm for adventure is merged with an enthusiasm for bikes. In their simplest form, bikes are tools for adventure. But they’re so much more, they’re satisfaction, engineering excellence and an expression of freedom. They bring people together. They’re a way of life. They’re individual; there is no perfect bike or perfect style of riding. Everybody’s perception of the perfect bike is different. All that matters is the common denominator that is getting out & riding bikes.
Nowadays. I’m no longer career focussed, but life focussed, I care not for career ladders anymore, but simply for a life of fulfilment. I follow the bike races that push the ultimate endurance limits & take so much inspiration from those currently exploring all corners of the world on their bikes. If you were to ask me what my ultimate bucketlist dream is, it would be to set out exploring the world at my own pace.
So I guess now would be the time to say I’m turning this dream into reality. June 19th marks my 25th birthday & also my last day at work for 18 months. I’ll be walking away from my career to pursue a dream of cycling around the world!
I’ll be taking an 18 month career break, in which I’ll be using my bike as a mode of transport to get my around the world. Travelling by bike is quick enough to be feasible way of world travel, but also slow enough to see the world along the way.
In this 18 months I’ve got two main objectives; to ride the length of the Andes from Colombia to Patagonia & to ride across central Asia through the Stans & Himalayas. I’ve got several other areas I’d like to explore too, it’s just a case of fitting as much into the 18-month time frame as possible & making the logistics work. Whilst it’s been a tough decision to make & ultimately there will be sacrifices, this really is a dream come true for me & I’m very grateful to the people who have helped make this happen. For now, I’ve got a lot of planning & preparation to turn this dream into reality. I cannot wait to get stuck into what will no doubt be a truly epic & life changing adventure!
To this day I have no regrets about my decision on the 3rd January 2018 in New Zealand. The decision and its consequences have led me to this point & I wouldn’t change it one bit.
