Pashley People - Jonathan Devereux
The latest in our regular series of profiles of riders of Pashley and Moulton bicycles.
Tell us a little about yourself
I was born in Birmingham in March 1958, I grew up in Exeter, moving to Lowestoft in 1962.
What do you do for a living?
I currently work part time for the Relationships Charity One Plus One in London, as Head of Finance. I have worked in finance since 1981 and since Qualifying as an accountant in 1996, for both English Heritage and The Arts Council.
What are you passionate about?
Unsurprisingly the Arts and Heritage, but I would credit my parents with introducing me to the key life skills of cycling and swimming which I have always loved - I don't do Lycra or Triathlon!
What is your earliest memory of riding a bike?
I have Cine film of me circling Roundhill Close, Exeter, on my bike without stabilisers - I look proud as punch.
What was your first bike?
My first bike looked like the Kettler I bought my son when he was four.
How long have you been a cyclist?
Without stabilisers since June 1962, there is earlier film with stabilisers fitted.
What bike are you riding?
I am just replacing my Brompton which was stolen for the fourth time. I have a Dawes mountain bike in the Garage, but mostly I am riding my Pashley Delibike, because in Stratford-upon-Avon Parking is such sweet sorrow.
How many bikes do you own?
Three excluding the wrecked Brompton theft recovery.
What is your dream bike?
I chose the Pashley Delibike because I use the bike mostly for trips to the pool or Supermarket. If I could get away with it I would expand the fleet with a Pashley Guv’nor and a Moulton.
What does cycling mean to you?
Seeing the look on my 1962 face of sheer exhilaration at my self propulsion ability riding in circles, that has never left me. That key life skill has since led me across Scotland, to Skye and Mull, and from Bristol to Lowestoft in three days - home from College, so I now ride in straight lines! And obviously now with a helmet. It's been a part of my commute into and across London since 2000.
What do you dislike about cycling?
Lycra and cycle racing. While I enjoyed out pacing the Lycra boys on my Brompton down Oxford Street between lights, the new cycle highways are full of folk who think it’s smart to top 30mph in narrow lanes. The real scourge for cyclists is the mobile phone combined with the walking pedestrian, by far the greatest red light shooter, in London anyway.
How often do you ride your bike, and for what purpose?
Commuting/crossing London. Marylebone to St Pancras three days a week, six days a week to the swimming pool, and as instructed to the Supermarket.
What’s your favourite cycle route or destination?
I've always enjoyed the Beeching bonus - St Albans to Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City to Harpenden and Harpenden to Hemel Hempstead being Hertfordshire examples my son and I have enjoyed since he was five. The Whitby to Scarborough line (which I travelled on steam pulled in the 1960s) Harvey and I loved, and of course we've done various routes incorporating the Stratford Greenway.