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Have you ever wondered how many s(miles) you've ridden? I was pondering this the other day and I got all nostalgic, thinking about all the different bikes that have carried me over rocks, grass,roots, mud and different countries. Here is my list of bikes I've owned over the years and a story that goes with it -go on start your own list, I highly recommend it!

Nishiki (can't remember model)- It was back in '93 or so and my best mates and I had started taking our commuting bikes into the Howick forests after school. We used to just follow our noses down the the dirt roads, taking in the peace and sunshine. We had noticed we were getting fitter but there wasn't too much excitement about it all-certainly not nearly as exciting as our main pastime of skateboarding!

These rides went on for a few months and we were invited to go on a ride in Hilton with a few old guys. This is the ride I'll never forget- the ride that inspired me to save up for my first 'real' mountain bike. We got a lift out to Garlick Forests with Chris's Dad and started out on a typical Natal Forest road. We were ambling along, messing about, trying to take each other out along this road when the ride leader suddenly turned off and disappeared down this narrow little path through the trees. "Eh? Whats this oke up to?", was the first thought and being young and reckless we just turned our bikes downwards and tried to keep up with the guy....Revelation time!

We hacked our way down this path, super sketchy, bikes rattling and totally out of control. Eventually all 3 of us careened into a massive pile of sawdust at the bottom of the trail, got off our bikes and noticed our legs were shaking, our side pull caliper brakes (remember them?) were melted and our headsets had lost all their ball bearings. First singletrack ever. Woah! Suffice to say, the smiles were BEEEEG!

Later on in the ride, we came to this humongous (well, it was back then),rutted firebreak dropping about 30m vertically down to another road level and the old guy assured us that it could be ridden. Well, peer pressure resulted in the three of us skidding, screeching (not much of that with no brake pads left) and finally, endo-ing our brains out down our first drop off. Revelation time again!

The whole trip home in the car, I remember repeating to myself, "Must find more singletrack, must get better brakes, must conquer that drop off next time". So much has changed since that first mtb ride, but I still find myself mouthing those same words, "Must find more singletrack, must get better brakes, must conquer that drop off next time".

So thats the story behind bike number one. Next up, the infamous Nishiki Altron...