Riding a bike allows you to be in contact with all your senses – you feel the land you are travelling within, smell the delicate natural nuances and on occasion the industrial belching’s, but it forces you to be one with the environment. Smells are evocative and as I write this I can vividly remember fields of deep purple lavender which were the precursors of millions of insects scurrying for pollen in central France. Of course the bike of choice is crucial and I have seen workaday scooters whose range may be less than half a kilometre to excellent classic bikes lovingly maintained and cherished by doting owners – I know which one I would prefer…