NAVIGATING PARENTHOOD AS A CYCLIST

RIDING BIKES IS A RELEASE FROM THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF DAILY LIFE… UNTIL THEY BECOME INESCAPABLE. SADDLEBACK SENIOR MERCHANDISER NEIL WEST WAS DELIGHTED TO HEAR HE WAS GOING TO BE A DAD, BUT HADN’T BARGAINED ON FATHERHOOD TRANSFORMING HIS TIME ON THE BIKE, EVEN BEFORE THE BABY ARRIVED.

June 2017. That month sticks out in my mind for a couple of reasons. Firstly, and arguably most importantly, it was when we welcomed our first child into the world. Secondly, it was when my – until then, invariably unrestricted – freedom, when it came to biking, began to come crashing down.

It started with a very alien thought that popped into my head as I was hauling down Sixtapod at Bike Park Wales, while, looking back, in probably my best form (if I ever had any) in a long time. Having just cleared a particularly techy rocky section at some speed, it happened: “You’re about to be a dad, you should probably slow down a little.” Damn!

I thought about this niggling consciousness a lot over the coming days, I’d never had a thought like that in all my years of riding. And just a week later, we were parents. That’s when my relationship with my bike truly changed.

Biking swiftly became something way down the list of things to do. As any parent, especially a new one, will likely understand, there’s a lot of what can simply be described as “existing” that goes on in those first days, weeks and months of parenthood.

I had, and thankfully still have, the luxury of working in the cycling industry, so a lot of my time was spent being at least somewhat involved in doing what I love most: messing about with bikes. But the time just wasn’t there for spontaneous after work rides or the Saturday morning meetup with my cycling buddies. Now I had to think about when I could ride, rather than just riding whenever I wanted to.

I still love cycling; it just works differently now. The best part of being “Dad” is that I’ve had the pleasure of watching our son embrace cycling from a very early point in his life. His first bike was a Cannondale balance bike (with a Lefty fork, of course).

We spent numerous lockdown periods touring Bristol, with him out back, and now he’s progressed to his first bonafide mountain bike, so that we’re able to take on the trails at Ashton Court with genuine capability. “Forest of Dean next please, Daddy, and then can we go to the mountains in Wales?”

How could I not love cycling still… especially since I’ve got it all to do again, having recently welcomed a daughter into the world in 2022? That means two chances at a future World Champion!

“Having just cleared a techy rocky section, it happened: “You’re about to be a dad, you should probably slow down a little.””