I’M A RIDER JOHN HANNAH
The star of the big and small screen takes to two wheels to experience his locations and enjoy his down time
I started playing on bikes while in a play. It was around 2009, in London, and I began cycling into rehearsals on a hybrid. It proved a good way of clearing my head, as well as exercising during rehab from an ACL injury. When my bike was nicked I saw an opportunity to upgrade.
It was in New Zealand that I really got into it. We were filming Spartacus in Auckland. We were out there a long time and the work was hard, shot on green screen in a warehouse. My days of partying on location were long gone so I needed to find something else to fill my time and get a release. Initially I thought I’d get a cheap bike to bob around on but the city only has about 15km of flat along the front, so I needed something decent. On weekends when all the kids were going out partying I’d head out exploring for hours on end.
Now I travel all the time with my bike on acting jobs. I’ve cycled in Ireland, Virginia, Maryland, Vancouver, California… California was the best of the bunch – the Santa Monica Mountains are a cyclist’s playground. People go on about the Pacific Coast Highway being dangerous but you have this huge escape lane at the side of the road, more or less a lane to yourself.
Cycling allows you to see a country in a different way. You experience things you wouldn’t do if you just visit art galleries and restaurants. I was riding up in Northern Ontario recently and was told to watch out for the bears because they were just waking up. I thought they were joking, taking the mick out of the tourist, but you really do have to watch out for them!
A lot of my riding is solo, just because of the nature of my job. I will hunt around for ride buddies when I’m working but it’s not something a lot of people do. Even at home in London, over the past few years, if I’m there I’m not working, so I’m not going to get up at 6am to ride with my mates because I have nothing to do later in the day. It clears my head though, riding alone. I’m getting plenty of saddle time at the moment. When I came back from the US in September I’d been working non-stop for three years – the first time in my whole 30-year career that I’d had that kind of continuity. So unless something really good comes up I’m taking some time out, looking after the kids, getting some me time – and some bike time.
I’ve got something to train for, too - Lawrence Dallaglio’s Cycle Slam. I’m doing the third and final stage from Udine, Italy to Split, Croatia. I first did it in 2014, through the Dolomites, 18,000m of climbing across five stages. It was a particularly cold summer - freezing at the summits. Hellish! A friend of mine, Chris, he’s an Aussie. He kept going on about Rule 5 of The Rules: Harden the f**k up. So it was ironic at the top of one mountain when he had to call an ambulance for oxygen…
Riding abroad is great, but there’s plenty to enjoy at home too. We live in Richmond so the Surrey Hills aren’t far away. My daughter is at school in Somerset so I spend a lot of time there too. I was intimidated by its roads at first, and I’m still not used to the heavy trucks that fly past you on the busier roads. I ride a bit in Scotland too, but since my parents died I’ve done less. I used to stop in the Lake District on my way up there and do a few hours round the lakes. It’s quite interesting squeezing a bike into an old Porsche 911. It’s no trouble at all, just take the wheels off, and the seatpost, twist the handlebar and bingo!
I discovered the joys of a peloton on the Wicklow 200 sportive. We’d done 4000m of climbing and came to this final small but sharp hill that punched us in the guts. We had a breather at the top, 30km from the finish, and set off at the same time as the Dublin Wheelers. We flew! It brought us into the finish without even thinking about the last 30km.
My days of partying on location were long gone so I needed to find something else to fill my time