This video on Youtube may be mountain biking. But don’t turn it off if that isn’t your thing. Don’t look, just listen. Take in the voice of four year old Malcolm in the clip and remember that this is what we bring to lives.

When I do presentations on cycling one of the things I often tell my audience is to remember that they do something really special.

You never, ever forget your first bike ride. And for so many people that is the closest they will ever get to flying, a brief moment when they take wings. And once you discover the “transport of delight”, the “wings of desire” then a bicycle is a passport.

It’s why I have had a tear in my eye so many times when I have attended cycling programmes for people with disabilities and seen them light up when they discover freedom and movement. It’s why I never tire of saying that the magic is not 100miles, its 100 metres.

Today, somewhere someone is taking their first bike ride, riding up a hill they never thought possible, discovering a new and wonderful place.

Thank you Malcolm and Malcom’s dad for reminding us what that feels like.

(I’ll avoid airing the sneaking suspicion that his bike-handling might be about as good as mine already, as the guys at Whistler found out in July!)