1. Tell us a bit about yourself?
Born in the 50’s (along with Sting) in Manchester (unlike Sting). Met wife to be in London, married Hunter Valley and moved to Sydney in 2000. Three kids 7,8 and 10. Who have all ridden the Bright railway line in Victoria. It was their induction with Tom (6) doing 35km on his first real day on a bike !
Always been keen on high places. Topped 6000m in Peru on honey moon. Snow holed on Ben Nevis. Trekked round Patagonia.
Picture of Torres del Paine with Lady Wilson
And still hold out hope of the 7 summits … although I have yet to do Koziosko !
2. What got you into cycling??
Ridden since a kid, but nothing competitive. I wasn’t really sporty, although quite into alpine sports (Skiing, mountaineering, ice climbing …). But I quite liked the idea of being a jack of all trades so tried a few triathlons in UK; started with mini-tri’s, then Olympic ;London, Bath, Windsor, up to long course Weymouth half IM. Then finally Iron Man Australia 2001. I then more or less packed in cycling for about 7 years. Finally got back into it as a health thing after the doc declared me clinically obese in 2010 !. I’ve dropped about 10kgs, resting HR down to about 54, stopped nibbling my nails etc. Scheduled for IM70.3 Port Macquarie this August 28.
3. How did you come to join the Easy Riders?
After commuting solo for best part of a year, via BWH, I ran into SatNav at cubs one night and rest is history. Although it still took me a further few months to transition from BWH to the OTP in. I have also never seemed to be able to summon the energy to be at Gordon at 06:45. I usually make the 17:15 bus home several days a week. After joining the bus home it was a short mind step to say no to the Barry, I have been clean for 3 months now !
4. Tell us about your bikes.?
Oldest bike is Giant OCR 1 bought in Dec 2000, just in time for Ironman Australia early 2001. Still use it as my wet weather bike. Although it now feels ludicrously long compared to my recent acquisition.
Mountain biking was my real passion before coming to Australia. Several bikes; Marin County (no suspension), then Specialized Rockhopper (hard tail). This latter beast made it to Sydney, only to be stolen from Turramurra station a few years back. It is the model on my Strava pic, from the Glenbrook classic. (this pic was used as the proof of ownership to get the insurance claim from me Westpac home insurance !).
Pic from Glenbrook ….
Replaced with Specialized XC Comp FS full suspension, recently overhauled by TSS and waiting for Manly induction.
CFO OK’d carbon upgrade mid-2012, splurged a little on Pinarello Paris DI2 BoB. Lovely. This lives in my man cave, underneath the Strat and ES335.
Soon as I can find somewhere that’s do Shamal’s for around AU$800 I’ll be upgrading … although the best strategy here seems to be to seek forgiveness rather than permission.
5. If you could ride anywhere in the world, where would it be??
It’s got to be Glacier riding at Saas Fee , it looks awesome. Any one up for this next year ?
Think Woody sent this link earlier in the year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I5WXkbOzSA
6. Tell us a riding story.?
I have story similar to the rider formerly known as Flash’s boat epic. On the way to my first mini-tri it started to rain and I put my head down … just for a sec. Looked up in time to see the parked car … I did contact it but managed to carry on to the race.
7. Do you have any advice for the riders at the back of the ER peloton??
Challenge yourself to stop at your second lowest gear, just say No to the granny . It’s a small incremental effort. That’s how I built up riding up kissing point road on my early days commute home in 2011. Took me about 4 days before I even made it without getting off and pushing. Then it was the granny, eventually I got so I could do it in a middle gear.
8. Lastly, tell us something we don’t know about you.
Take your pick….
I appeared in a bike advert aged about 6. It was shoved into camera on a Moulton small wheel bike, shorts, socks round ankles. Slogan was “He doesn’t care about the steel but Moulton do”. The advert was really about the steel used to manufacture the bike, rather than the brand.
(That’s not me age 6 !)
Prior to moving into finance industry, I was a software developer in flight simulation for many years. One of our installations was a BAe Hawk for the Swiss Air Force. I spent several months on site and most lunch times I would decry the schnitzels and bratwurst to fly the hawk (sim) through the Alps. We even modelled a non-existent tunnel through one of the mountains,, now that was a little tight to fly through.. You had to lock the joystick between you knees and just use the trim controls.
I also have an interest in nature and photography… Half Dome in Winter
