My first memory is of falling off my push along trike and bumping by head. It has never put me off though, and cycles have been part of my life ever since.

For the last 15 years, I have cycled the same 5 miles from Broughty Ferry to Dundee, upriver in the morning and back again in the evening, winter and summer, rain and shine, and through two pregnancies. Until I was six months pregnant with my second child, I carried child #1 in a toddler seat on the bike to his nursery, which was next door to my work. I am still a little surprised that they were not both born with wheels.

The route goes through Forth Ports Authority land. After 9/11, citing security reasons, the FPA shut the route to cyclists. Cyclists rose up en masse and demonstrated against the closure in their thousands!

Er no, actually, they didn't. However, Dundee City Council mounted a legal challenge to the closure. Affidavits were collected from cyclists who had used the route for 20 years or more, showing that a public right of way existed. In the end, the FPA gave in, and agreed to form a designated cyclepath.

I never tire of the view, especially on the way home; the colours of the sea and the river, the wildflowers, and the familiar faces of the other cyclists. I can't understand why anyone would want to travel any other way. Not to mention the money I have saved in busfares and/or fuel and parking, gym memberships, and clothes in larger sizes.

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