by Olly Townsend

I first rode one at a bike show in Germany a couple of years ago and was instantly hooked. I borrowed one to move a bunch of equipment and boxes a couple of miles across town. It made the journey super quick, was way easier than doing it by van and was also much more fun.

I did a lot of research before investing in my Bullitt. I’ve been a super-keen cyclist for more than 30 years and every review that I read said that the Bullitt handled like than a ‘proper’ bike than anything else on the market. The reviews all talked about the nimble feel, great acceleration, lack of girth/mass so you could fit through traffic and change direction easily. Also, if I’m honest, I was attracted because Bullitts look the best.

1. Sheer Enjoyment [5]
2. Drive my car less [5]
3. Save Money [5]
4. Save Time [5]
5. Save the planet [5]

FUN. Every single time I ride it, even if I’m doing something quite mundane like going to the supermarket to do the weekly shop, it makes me smile. I’ve been amazed at the reception the bike gets from total strangers too. I’ve had conversations with an amazing variety of different people during the time I’ve owned the bike – from pensioners to engineers to security guards to other customers at the supermarket – everyone wants to know what it is and what it’s like to ride.

I use it three or four times a week for mix of chores, errands, instead of using the car and just for fun!

Yes, since I was very young.

If you’ve ever watched a top-level pro-cyclist – someone like Julian Alaphilippe or Marianne Vos, they are incredibly smooth, fluid and unflappable when they ride. They seem to hover over bumps and have some psychic knowledge of what’s about to happen during a race. But they’re also perfect ambassadors for the sport – friendly, passionate and always willing to chat with their fans. All of those are traits I admire and aspire to having.

Make active-travel the default option in everyone’s brains when they decide how to get about.

The flippant answer is bad coffee. The more considered answer is how selfish we are – most people seem to think they are more important than everyone else.

Listen to music/ride my bike/do something creative.

Investment in infrastructure – in my perfect world, the UK would try and emulate Holland in our approach to getting more people on bikes.