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I used to spend all my school holidays cycling around, so all this training has made me feel like a kid again.

I used a bike in London and that's it. I learnt a lot about biking, and really got into. Now I cycle regularly.

Taking my bike out and riding the bike path along Lake Shore Drive, that's one of the great experiences in my life. And I hope to do it as long as I can.

Bike riding requires permanent sacrifice. It means training 11 months out of 12 and 110 days of racing, whatever the weather conditions. Early in life, I realised I did not have intellectual potential, so I dedicated myself to cycling.

So while I was studying, I rode my Trials bike, then I moved to roadracing.

As a kid growing up - I can see now - it didn't matter what I did, as long as it was something I could be really good at. Cycling just happened to be the opportunity that came along.

At weekends, I've been going on long but steady-paced four-and-a-half-hour bike rides.

When I was in New York, I took my bike everywhere for transportation. I didn't have a fixed-gear bicycle, like a lot of the messengers do, but I had a stripped-down deal - having lost a few good ones in New York - and I did 10 to 15 miles a day just getting around the city.

I was always cycling for my dad. Then the coaches got bigger, and my results got better. Suddenly, the responsibility grows, and I'm doing it for somebody else, I'm doing it for a programme; I'm doing it for the country. I'm doing it for, like, everybody.

I'm definitely capable of just enjoying riding my bike these days.