email: willijoh@fastmail.fm

Ph: 0409 324 317

As a child I always wanted a bike, however my parents were too worried that I would be killed or seriously injured if I was to mix it with the horrendous traffic of the 1960s (I was pretty horrified when we travelled along Parramatta Road, Auburn for several blocks on my very first Bike North ride). I had to make do with a very battered Cyclops pump up tyres scooter which I went far and wide on. When I finally did get a bike in my final year of school I promptly lost interest in cycling, as tennis, rugby, swimming, athletics, even a bit of study more than filled in my time. That bike was hardly ridden, 25 kg of steel was always hard to push anyway.

I finally bought another bike about five years ago, however it was only used sporadically as most of my weekends were taken up with bushwalking. In fact I only bought it to be able to go on the ride from Turramurra to Tempe via the Cooks River etc, that appeared about twice a year on The Wilderness Society's Bushwalking Program.

Since starting to ride with Bike North in 2000, I now have another way to take up another day of the weekend.

I was pretty horrified when we travelled for several blocks along Parramatta Road, Auburn, on my very first Bike North ride, but soon discovered that there was strength in numbers and settled down to enjoy an experience that I thought would never happen in my wildest dreams!

Riding with Bike North has given me a great deal of pleasure, and I see leading some rides as my way of giving something back. Hope to see you on your bike!