Riding a bike will change your outlook

By Jon Massey on September 20, 2012 1:01 PM |

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First Person: James Perrin on cycling

I used to ride a mountain bike in the countryside and then came to London and brought it along. I found it scary at first but got the hang of it very quickly - it's the quickest way to get around.

It's exciting, clean, environmentally friendly, keeps you fit - you don't need a gym membership - and you don't pay for a travelcard.

You also don't have to deal with getting squashed onto hot sticky Tube trains.

You get the odd puncture; that's fine - you just fix it. I can fix one in five minutes, it's not a hassle.

I train people to cycle as a job now and I still enjoy it. I even went cycling on holiday in Brittany for two weeks this summer - we did a lot of eating and drinking, and not much riding but it was great.

I think cycling, mile for mile, is much less dangerous than walking. Riding is perceived as dangerous because people aren't used to it but London drivers are quite considerate to other road users.

I do hate cyclists and drivers who think they have more rights than others. We all have the same rights. Aggressive riders and drivers are the bane of my life.

But the worst thing that's happened to me was when I broke my ribs and nobody was involved apart from me.

It was a random incident. I wasn't paying attention and I was changing my gloves and was riding a bike that wasn't properly maintained.

I've been riding for 11 years and I've had no accidents with cars at all. I've had near misses but it's been a pretty good ride.

The best thing that's happened was when I met a girl on a bike at some traffic lights and I asked her out for a date and she said 'yes'.

The weird thing was I was actually admiring her bike, not her, and we had this discussion about her bike and my bike and we went for a drink.

I don't know how often that happens with car drivers, but I can't imagine it's very often.

Cycling's incredibly simple to get into too. In 10 seconds you can do four checks to see if a second hand bike is safe.

■ Check the tyres - give them a squeeze on the outside - if they're hard, that tyre is going to work.

■ Put the front brake on push the bike forward and if you get the back wheel off the ground that'll work.

■ Do the same with the back brakes and the front wheel. Spin the pedals backwards - if the chain runs smoothly and doesn't make a squeaky noise it'll be fine.

■ Grab the front wheel between your legs, twist the handle bars. They need tightening if they move.

If it passes those tests you'll be able to ride it home.

Freelance photographer and cycling instructor James was talking to Jon Massey