Memorable bike moments, in no particular order and for no particular reason today, other than that I just feel like it…….

Riding to an isolated pub in the Fens one glorious summer evening when living in digs in Cambridge- no idea where it was now, but it was miles from anywhere, the beer was good and I was the only customer.  I sat outside nursing my pint, the setting sun painted stunning colours on the flatlands spread out in front of me, while the entire pub and front yard was in shadow, because of the raised Broadland dyke running arrow-straight behind it.  Finishing touch was watching the shadow of a small yacht cross the road in front, then turning round and seeing the sail passing behind and above the thatched roof of the pub.   And they say we East Anglians aren’t romantics……….

Crossing the moor to Whitby one summer, again a stunning sunset at my back, the entire land as far as the eye could see covered in scarlet heather, but with the blinding white of Fylingdales turning it into a science fiction landscape.  Not another living soul on the road for over 30 miles…..

The old “suicide lane” on the 3-carriageway road from Leeds to Ottley- traffic in either direction could use the centre lane to overtake, but god help you if you cut it fine, because you could be confronted with a Tetleys lorry dead ahead as you came round the next blind bend- Ford Capri to the left, Austin Princess to the right, Scania dead ahead, nowhere to go……

Going home in the winter term from Leeds to Norfolk, stopping at some burger joint off the A1 when the shaking became uncontrollable as the body core temperature dropped below critical, and then finding when eventually managing to cramp a leg over the saddle and stand up that, despite vest, T-shirt, fleece, jumper, leathers, oversuit and  a full fairing, ice actually cracked and fell off me when I moved……..

Following a recycling lorry in Hampshire (thankfully not too closely), only to see the back doors swing open as it negotiated the roundabout ahead, and several tons of booze bottles gracefully fan out and smash across the entire roadway.  Wonderful noise, but not so much fun for the poor sod in the MGB immediately behind the truck…..