A Little Background

I'm an engineer who, in recent years, has phased myself out of work and into retirement. My work has taken me to many countries with names beginning with many of the letters from A (Afghanistan) to Y (Yemen) and the work has taken me to many places not visited by tourists.

Life in Afghanistan was ruled by the UN security folk with a long list of what we couldn't do. I escaped from that after a year as I needed more freedom and realised that an occasional game of tennis didn't fit my need for fresh air and exercise. I was brought up on a farm which offered plenty of healthy activities plus a 5 mile cycle trip to and from my secondary school.

After Afghanistan I bought a hybrid bicycle as an upgrade to an ancient bike that I had used for many years so, although I continued to work, I tried to fit in more exercise. In addition, I made several unsuccessful attempts to get below two hours running my local half marathon which had a somewhat undulating course. Eventually, with a hip and two knees complaining about running I decided it was time to hang up the running shoes and spend more time on the bike.

As I accumulated more miles I learnt more about bicycles.