Despite having been an avid cyclist for over forty years, the last couple of years have opened the door to new cycling experiences. After trying short, sharp, cyclo-cross for the first time last year in 2023, this year I decided to ‘go long’ by entering a series of audax events, maybe even achieving ‘Super Randonneur’ status for which I'd need to complete a 200 km, 300 km, 400 km and 600 km event within the same audax calendar year.

All was going well, having completed more events than I needed, both solo and on the tandem with Diane, that is until I scratched from the ‘Peewits and Curlews’ 600 event. Having filmed my first 200, 300 and 400, forecast bad weather would have made filming the 600 much more difficult than it would otherwise have been and I didn't think I was up to it.

As a consequence I did two things: I entered the ‘Borders & Flatlands’ 1000 km calendar event which I’m due to start the morning after publishing this video. The second thing is the subject of this video - a 600 km ‘do-it-yourself’ (DIY) event based on a figure-of-eight loop from the Scottish border to North Yorkshire using my own home (and bed) in Durham, as the crossover point and which is why I've called it 'Easy Rider'.

Before entering the ‘1000’, the 600 would have gained me the Super Randonneur award but now - perhaps more importantly - it would serve as a more relaxed stepping stone for an event that I might not otherwise have considered.