My cycling journey: An introduction on why I started to cycle (more)

2023 is the year I became a serious cyclist...and I'm totally hooked!

So I have decided to start a cycling blog to document my journey as I travel on two wheels. And this is the first post:

Many of us start learning to cycle with one of those colourful, trendy bikes fitted with stabilisers, perhaps a back rest, a horn and if you're the snazzy type, some tassels on the handle bars.

Aside from the tassels, I had one of those.

Then the stabilisers came off as I approached manhood (i.e. turning four/five years old) and wanted to show to the world that I could cycle like the grown-ups.

Then there was that phase of cycling to the park with friends to play football...until I was then old enough to own a moped. And let's face it, a teenager was always going to be more interested in a speedy 30mph 50cc moped than a bike.

As I grew up, cycling was somewhat part of my life but more often than not, it was about having a basic old bike sitting in the shed which sometimes got pulled out. For a period of time, cycling was my choice of transport at university, but that soon became a forgotten piece of metal as I hitched a ride in friends' cars or took public transport.

My sporting background

Sports have always been a part of my life. Growing up, I competed as a swimmer and won various medals across all strokes (front crawl, back crawl, breaststroke and butterfly) for my local town of Lisburn in Northern Ireland. I combined that with football which is my main love so I stopped swimming to focus on football and played for various local teams wherever I lived.

The thing is, I've always been somewhat injury prone. I've had keyhole surgery on my ankle, pulled my hamstring a number of times, damaged my Achilles heels (both of them), and had a persistent knee injury. There was a point in my life as I approached mid-30s where I couldn't keep up with playing football. Even playing indoor futsal competitively wasn't working out for me.

So I had to give it up which broke my heart. It's my first love and I wanted to play it until my old age. I play it now and then at a much slower pace but not as frequent or competitive as I'd like. I was risking further injuries which could create chronic pain in my knee, hamstring and ankle. And I don't want any of that.

I then took up golf. I did dabble with it for many years and then I went intensive with it. I do love playing but wow, it can be a frustrating game too. I always find that I'm good at picking up various activities and sports, but golf has been a tricky one for me. I just couldn't break 100. But I would argue that I wasn't consistent enough at it so it was difficult to get better. Still, it's one of the hardest sports I've ever played.

It was during that period where I started to question my sporting passion...

Becoming a father has challenged my health

Prior to becoming a father, I was very consistent with health and fitness. But that took a downturn due to sleepless nights and fatigue. And as someone who is a very light sleeper, it was inevitable that my health, both mentally and physically, took a major hit.

I'm lucky that I have access to a local golf course and driving range, with both of them being great for winding down and refresh my body.

But I've noticed something; if I'm not "feeling it" mentally, my golfing performance suffers. Because so much of the sport is dependant on your mind, I found myself feeling frustrated when my swings are not taking my ball where I want them to (or anywhere near it).

So I needed another form of exercise and this is when I started to use a mountain bike borrowed from my in-laws more often. I didn't need to bother measuring performance like in golf. It was more about going out and see where the path and wheels take me. And as someone who values being in nature and surrounded by trees, it made sense to use a bit of pedal power to provide that nature fix.

Coupled with going to ecotherapy sessions frequently, a form of therapy which incorporates nature more instead of sitting in a drab office, I was desperately needing something that required me to be in nature more often. Golf can play a part but let's face it; a golf course is not exactly untouched by humans. So it didn't fully work for me. And I'm picky like that.

As I cycled more and ventured out further and further, there began a desire to learn more about cycling. I noticed a fire was burning inside of me when I push that pedal while also giving me clarity, a feeling of refresh and mindfulness, particularly if I'm off road.

This was it. I needed, nay, I wanted to go all in on this.

The hunt for a new bike

I will go in more details about why I chose a gravel bike in another post, but the long story short of it is I wanted something versatile that covers as much grounds as possible.

In the end, I went to my local bicycle shop, Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative, to look at my options. But to be honest, I had my eye on one of them even before going to the shop.

The Giant Revolt Advanced range caught my eye while doing some research on the most appropriate and best gravel bikes suitable for me. I didn't have any benchmark to compare it with but when I took for a test drive, it fitted like a glove.

I knew I had to have it.

This meant having a chat with my wife about "Umm, so I tried out this bike..."

Her: "Go ahead and buy it. Just do it"

Me: 🤩

Why I chose a gravel bike

One thing that is clear when it comes to cycling; I simply do it to be surrounded by nature. That automatically rules out buying road bike. But it's almost impossible to avoid tarmac when going en-route to a location that has those nature-based environment that I crave. Plus, I still want a bit of speed too.

So a mountain bike, even though it can handle road and has speed, seems to be a bit of an overkill if I am bound to have a combination of road, gravel, trail and mountain.

Enter a gravel bike, which has become so popular over the past few years because of its versatility, the ability to use various tyres, have a variety of gear options and consist of geometry that touches both road and mountain bikes (I've explained more why I bought a gravel bike here).

It was a no-brainer.

Will I get any more bikes?

As I explored the bike industry even more and learnt about the possibilities out there, I can definitely see myself getting more bikes in the future for a different purpose.

One will most certainly be a mountain bike of some kind. I've gone down some trails which were very technical and I either had to go extra slow on my Giant gravel bike or walk it instead. That wouldn't have been necessary if I had a mountain bike and I've got my eyes on a couple of Trek bikes.

And foldable bikes is very appealing to me too, particularly the Brompton bikes. I remember seeing a community of Brompton bikers all meeting up during a trip to Singapore. They all just congregated together because of a common interest. But the mechanics, flexibility and versatility of those bikes are so innovative and impressive. It's not possible to take bikes on buses but this wouldn't be an issue with a Brompton bike.

In the meantime, I'll keep dreaming of my future bike showroom on my current Giant Revolt gravel bike. I shouldn't be picky really.