Tom Phillips. Chair
I can still remember my 1st bike – a purple Raleigh Tomahawk (I was too small for a chopper). I got in trouble with my dad when I broke the crank while wheelieing it down the road. Then it was a race bike which I sprayed yellow, then a Raleigh Grifter, then mountain bikes.
I raced mountain bikes in the local Friday night series during the 90s, spent a while living and working in the US where I rode mountain bikes in Utah and raced local amateur mountain bike races in Texas (now there’s a challenge) before returning home and settling down.
Road bikes took over in 2008 (although I still ride mountain bikes) when I developed a dad bod and I’ve not looked back since. I’ve tackled some of the most iconic climbs in the Alps with friends from the club and I enjoy nothing more than spinning the legs while riding with friends.
Having broken most bits of my bikes at some point, I recently trained as a bike mechanic – figuring it was cheaper than constantly dropping a bike off at the shop.
I’d class myself as being ‘enthusiastic’. My cycling is my therapy!
Steve Jones. Membership Secretary
Just like Tom I can also remember my first bike – unfortunately it’s nowhere near as cool as a Tomahawk as I had a Raleigh Shopper, which was several letters further along the alphabet than the Chopper I desired. This was followed by a couple of Raleigh race bikes through school and university and then a GT MTB in a very tasteful red and multicoloured splatter pattern.
Up until about 10 years ago I only cycled occasionally and mostly with the family and kids. In 2012 a few colleagues and I decided to enter the Palace to Palace ride from The Mall to Windsor Race Course organised ride, a 45 mile ride on open roads. I got a carbon road bike on the cycle 2 work scheme to do the ride and have ridden regularly since then, joining HFCC in 2016.
You can usually find me on the shorter club rides puffing and panting up the hills and in the winter I tend to retreat to the turbo trainer in the spare room. I enjoy the camaraderie and support we all give each other on organised rides.
I can do most bike maintenance tasks myself, including building myself a set of wheels recently, though I normally need to borrow the correct tools.
Bike count – 5 in the shed (including a tandem), a folding bike in the airing cupboard and my old MTB on the turbo in the spare room. There is room for 1 more in the shed but not my marriage.
Neil Burge. Treasurer
I used to ride a bike a lot as a teenager but that stopped when I found petrol! A charity ride with work and then a desire for some more fitness got me back on a bike more regularly.
My wife pointed me to the HFCC Facebook page she had seen mentioned on other groups and I turned up one Sunday morning for a trek around Northamptonshire watching the Women’s Tour. That was me hooked and the beginning of forming a great group of friends.
Alison Marie. General and Social Secretary
Alison has promised to complete this soon 😀