THE freedom of the open road always appealed to me, which is why I spent years trying to steer a giant, off-road motorcycle through the grid-locked streets of London.
But, fast forward seven years to a larger, rounder me - complete with two children and a mortgage - and my biking days seemed far behind me.
I got scared and I got responsible, but biking never left me and after seven years of drooling over motorcycle magazines, it was time to get back into the saddle.
After months of hard work, carefully outlining to my wife the various environmental and economic benefits of returning to biking - before finally resorting to pleading - she agreed to my demands.
I would embark on a refresher course, but one with a difference.
Sweat
And so it was that found myself clutching a 500cc bike between my knees, sweat dripping down my head, cross-eyed with concentration, as I barrelled along one of the most dangerous roads in Britain.
Fortunately, I was under the capable instruction of Cheshire Biker Training's Bill Whitelaw, a motorcyclist for more than 40 years.
It was a cold and wet when I visited Bill in Macclesfield one morning, with a mission in mind to both refresh my riding and perhaps take in a ride on the A537, the "Cat & Fiddle" road.
The A537, which runs between Macclesfield and Buxton, is a biking Mecca because of its curves but it has been named by the AA Motoring Trust as the most persistently high-risk roads in the country.
The dangers are played down by the authorities and the police have run a tough campaign aimed at reducing the number of deaths and serious collisions on the twisting 13km stretch, cutting 35 serious or fatal accidents between 1997 and 1999 to 27 between 2000 and 2002.
After a run around cones in a soggy car park, Bill took me out on the roads of Macclesfield to further assess my riding before making a decision about a run up the Cat.
The "sensible" silver Honda CBF500 bike I was riding is used by training schools all over the country and is regarded as an excellent first time big bike.
Even so, it is capable of 125 mph and hits 60mph in less than time than it takes most cars to reach 30. Yet, after a just a few minutes in the saddle my fear began to drain away and was replaced by an exhilaration I hadn't known for about ... seven years. After a thorough assessment of my riding, Bill agreed that I was good enough for a run up the Cat & Fiddle.
As I approached the infamous twisting road, with Bill close behind, I played around with the statistics in my head and thought about what Bill had said earlier in the day.
Reassuringly, he'd told me that it isn't the sensible bikers who ride the route every day who make up the statistics, but the people who travel to the Cat & Fiddle from all over the country and treat it like a race track.
"Once they arrive, they like to get around the route as fast as they can with their friends and time themselves, then they do it again and end up off the road or on the wrong side of the road," he explains. "As long as you ride sensibly, there is no problem, it's a road just like any other." He was right.
Fearsome
There are some fearsome twists and unexpected hairpins along the swooping 50 mph route up to the top and, despite starting out with gritted teeth, I soon relaxed.
Indeed, Brian Rogers, road policing inspector with Cheshire Police, says attitudes have changed for the better since the days when some bikers treated the A537 like it is part of the TT circuit.
"The result is a safer, calmer and quieter road environment for everyone to use and enjoy," he adds.
The last AA Motoring Trust figures printed back in 2004 say different, but wherever the truth lies - which is probably somewhere in between - it is definitely one of the best biking roads in the country and I had a great time.
The whole trip up the top and back down probably only lasted 40 minutes but, after being away from a bike for so long, and under Bill's expert guidance, they were some of the best miles I have ever ridden.
Now I'm hooked again - the new bike is now sat in my garage and further adventures await. To find out more about Bill's bike school Cheshire Biker Training contact him online at cheshirebiker@aol.com or ring 0845 601 7379.
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