Smiler Biker; The wonder years

Forget all that childhood stuff. Things got serious in good old 1975 when I pulled on my first racing jersey, the gold white & green of Kenton RC. The next decade saw me through Time Trials, road races, track and hill climbs wearing that jersey, not to mention too many expensive racing bikes.
With the eighties came the first signs of boredom so changes needed to be made. I can't remember where I saw the article, but I remember reading about the Haiwai Ironman triathlon and became facinated. So much so that that mag sat beside the pan for a year. After a flurry of spending on goggles, rubber hats and various running shoes I found myself on the start line of the first ever British Ironman triathlon. I found myself in that position, though only for half Ironmans for the next five years. Occassionaly I would make returns to road racing or make forays into marathon running, but the triathlon bug stayed with me until the Olympic distance killed it off as far as I was concerned.
Kids! That was next, and though I tried to keep on racing, one day it all got too much and I collapsed with exhaustion.
For a few years after that my gut grew in sequence with my hair, and my rubbish bin had more empty beer cans and fag packets in it than potato peelings and Evian bottles.
Then one bight and sunny day in the Yorkshire Dales whilst staying with some mates, I was introduced to moutainbiking, did'nt ride one, just introduced. This was for me I thought.
So off to the shops, and straight away I see a bike I like, a Mongoose Zero-G for a tad under nine hundred quid, mmm a bit too much I thought, I'll think about it. A week later it's six hundred, right I'm having it. However, when I return it's three hundred....great.
So that's kinda how I arrived here. Too many 24 hour races and enduros later, I'm starting to have fun, I always loved riding in the past, but now it's fun and sort of nice to stop and look at the trees every so often.