Cycling Now's Organiser Neil Daycock

Hello,

My name is Neil Daycock. I have lived in Swindon and surround areas for 40 years and have cycled many of the roads for pleasure and training for the racing season.

I started cycling when my parents bought me a racing/touring bike for Christmas at age 14. It was a Sun tour used by the Chris Barber team in the Tour de France. That same year I bought panniers and saddle bag and with a friend cycled to Cardigan, west Wales, via Youth Hostels. It was the first big adventure of my life being in the big world, setting our own route and times and seeing a country side go past slower than in a car yet faster than walking kept my attention occupied constantly. The events and stories that were to be told of our journey afterwards went on for a very long time and the images are clearer in my head now than any photograph. The feeling of freedom and independence, set me up for life and to this day are a corner stone of my views and ideas.

Cycling took a little bit of a back seat when I hit 18 as a motor bike took its place. However my cycle would still be used for those short trips when I could not be bothered to put on my leathers, gloves and helmet to just go 2 or 3 miles down the road.

Then I met a group of people who raced bikes. I was still not really into the bike thing, but after a couple of cycling holidays, I realised cycling could offer me one very important thing, freedom and independence! I hoofed out the old Sun Tour and after a coat of paint and some oil I was off on my old friend to the London to Brighton cycle ride. Wow! Had I been missing out in those lost years? The pleasure of riding 60 miles with a few hundred people (I believe it’s a few thousand now) on a warm summer's day in some of the leafiest lanes in the south was magic. The climb up to Ditchly Beacon and the race we had descending into Brighton was the cherry on the cake.

I was hooked again and it was not just the freedom it gave me. It was this idea I could go for 60 miles passing though different views of the country close up, stopping for lunch or just to visit somewhere on the way and still be fit enough to enjoy an evening out.

I had to do more so I decided to go out training with them. It was hard, I did not realise how unfit I was. I looked around for another bike and decided to have one built for me by a Liverpool company called Harry Quinn. It was a cross between a time trial bike and a road racer (I was not sure which, if any, type of racing I was going to do). I started training by doing 25 miles each evening after work and 50/60 at weekends. I took my bike on holiday with my friends and rode some fantastic rides in France, Italy and Spain. The hill climbs and descents were the best. My group of friends would also go away for weekends to time trial events and after first watching a few I decided to have a go myself. Now that was a hit to the system. Intense riding using every ounce of energy for 10, 25 or 50 miles was hard and hurt a lot, but when I finished and relaxed, the state of relaxation that came over me as I started to feel every part of my body come back to a normal balance was great.

These were great riding days and the best of it was still the freedom to do long distances around UK and Europe and still have plenty of energy left to appreciate sights and enjoy a good long evening.

When my daughter reached the last year of junior school she was offered a Cycling Proficiency course at her school and I was asked if I’d like to be a helper. This was the start of 12 years of teaching year 5 children and Grange Juniors. I took over the running of the classes, after the second year increasing the content and enjoyment of the course. This prompted me to enrol on a CTC training course for the over 11’s.

This year I took and passed the Cycling National Standard Instructors course with Wiltshire CC. As you can see from this web site I am training cyclists of all ages. I also work for Swindon Borough Council as a Road Safety Assistant.

I set up Cycling Now as a way of promoting safe cycling for all ages, through good training. Wanting to improve conformance and reduce cycling related casualties in and around Swindon.

I am seeing more and more people out on their bikes. Most are okay but there are a good number that make me shiver. There are the not so confident people using their bike for work and the parents taking their children on a ride. I frequently feel like stopping to give some free advice to reduce their anxiety. But freedom is all about finding what is right for you and seeking the knowledge and skills to find your own road.