The Beginning of Everything.

Well here it goes, hopefully my first blog of many. Thanks for taking time out to read this, I appreciate you! This blog, post or my life story to be exact, is me expressing myself in ways I love. Sit back, relax and enjoy!

*Takes deep breath* Cycling for me started nearly a decade ago, 2011 to be precise. I was a young 11 year old in primary school doing what Year 5's do - misbehave. No, just joking. I was one of the well behaved ones, of course. What's school got to do with this? Well, that's where it all began. I don't remember everything in detail, but I do know the moments I loved ... and that's the moments I'll all share!

It was a rainy day in London (yep, typical cliche starter, I know, but it's London, what else could you expect?) and we had a special day where some cycling instructors came in and said they would teach us how to ride a bike (sounded more fun than it was if I'm honest)! I was ecstatic, but less could be said when they told us a little theory would come first. Fast forward a few hours, the theory was done and we could finally go out to conquer the world (well, ride a bike). To start, we were given bikes by the school first. With them, we went to the gates of my school and we were told to form a line on our bikes, one after each other with an instructor at the front and one at the back. We were told that on that day, we could only go on a very quiet street to get into the mojo of the roads (we had to practice first obviously).

We walked a fair 15 minutes to the road we were supposed to be practicing on, me being absolutely energised and raring to go.

*Dramatic descriptions incoming*

I grabbed the handlebar hard with both hands, holding it tight in excitement, the same way you hold a baseball bat tight waiting to sweetly strike that baby (I mean the ball). I climbed on the saddle like I was climbing Mount Everest (it was a little difficult) and I felt like I was on top of the world. I put on my helmet as if I was about to start a Formula One Grand Prix race and ... WOW! I had that awesome feeling of being free and going fast as we paced up and down the road. It was a feeling simply like no other, the little animal inside you finally being let out and a feeling I would still remember for many years to come. I simply didn't want the day to end, but like all good things, it had to.

You're probably wondering how I learned to balance on the bike if it was my first time. Well, wonder no more because balancing was like taking candy from a baby. Easy peasy cycling easy (see what I did there, I'm proud of that one).

Once I got home, I still had that energy inside me burning because I wanted to get out there again. This is where my love of cycling began. All because of a day of cycling. A day that wasn't planned, but a day that would change the shape of my future.

Can you guess what happened next? Yep, like the sensible child I was, I pestered my dad into buying me a bike.

A couple of days later, I was playing football outside with my friends below my house, my dad had come back home from work and you know what was beside him in the passenger seat of his van? Yup, my Lamborghini, my Ferrari, the Bentley of all Bentleys ... my brand new shiny glorious red bike. The baby was a beauty and I fell in love straight away. So quick, that I took it for a spin the minute he got it out the van. I raced all around my estate with the wind hitting my face, hair all over the place and heart racing in excitement over tiredness. I never felt like letting go or stopping, almost as if I had found the love of my life ... cycling.

Since then, I cycled to school everyday but let's glimpse over the fact that it was a 1 minute cycle to my school, hehe. The very next day after having got a bike, I went into school and we were told that we are going to be cycling on the roads - YES! FINALLY!

We sat off on our bikes on the way to London's famous Hyde Park. We mostly took the backstreets so the route was relatively quiet, surprising for London to say the least. The whole journey took around 15 minutes but it felt like hours and hours. It was simply the best feeling known to man. Cycling with your school friends, on the road whizzing around on my tiny little bike which at the time felt humungous! We stopped at Hyde Park for a little water break before setting back to school and that was the end of that!

But it was the start of something big for me. I kept cycling to school for around a year until I moved home which made it difficult to cycle to school because the roads were dangerous, especially for my age.

Unfortunately, as the years went by, I gave up cycling for 5 years because I fell in love with football. I played football much more and spent hours and hours outdoors doing so. I just loved the sport, and cycling was left behind. You know what wasn't left behind? My lovely small little red bike, still locked away in the same chain I bought for it on day one.

Was that bit a little emotional and sad? Needn't to worry as I took up cycling again in 2017 (yay!). This time I started using the red Santander Cycles (hire bikes in London, formerly the blue Barclays ones) and I used to travel nearly every two days on them. I loved it so much because it allowed me to travel, see amazing places and discover locations I had never seen before. The little child inside me was unleashed again! I would pack up my bags with water and a bit of gear for cycling and set off on them, wondering where my adventures would take me next. My journey with Santander Cycles is a story for another day and I am grateful to have used that amazing service to rediscover my love for cycling!

In late 2017, after having used Santander Cycles for 6 months, I felt like it was time to have my own bike as the hire bikes limited me to where I could go (due to the docking stations). So I saved up some money, met a a lovely gentlemen from Gumtree and bought myself a Road Bike. That thing was flippin' FAST! It was so lightweight that I felt like I could fly with it! I loved that bike and to this day, it's the bike I currently use. The heavy hire bikes actually helped me with fitness and stamina as in 2018, I travelled 1,500 miles. Something which I was extremely happy and proud of myself for especially in my first year of cycling. Of course, more on those 1,500 miles for a future blog (I know I know, I wish I could do it now but my fingers can't type all night!)

That's the story on how I got into cycling from day one up until this very day. A day at school.

Here comes the bit where I thank a lot of people; I'm extremely grateful for my dad for buying me the bike in 2011. Also the amazing support of every single one of my Twitter followers who helped me get to grips with cycling. Those followers (who are my friends) that listened to me when I needed it the most, and pushed me through my darkest of days. From the bottom of my heart, I appreciate all of you. You know who you are! Thank you all for helping me become the person I am today and pushing me to be my best.

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this little story and take something from it.

Make sure to always be postive and keep smiling.

Take care,

Shaz

P.S. One day I will beat CycleGaz in a race. One day.