It\u2019s early evening when I speak to British dance music pioneer, Pete Tong, squeezed in the minutes on his schedule between a spin class and a sound bath in central London.<\/p>\n
The room is scattered with cameras and laptops and notebooks lying open on their spines. But when I ask Tong about cycling, he\u2019s transported somewhere different, eyes in the middle distance, remembering the chopper bike<\/a> he\u2019d ride around North Kent on as a kid, to the Specialized StumpJumper<\/a> he\u2019d tour round Richmond Park two decades later.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cProbably in the late 90s, I became aware of the rise of Lance Armstrong<\/a> – that kind of just reached me somehow,” Tong smiles, taking me through the timeline of his love affair with cycling.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n “It’s a bit like getting into cooking through Jamie Oliver. It was like the sport of cycling kind of came into my consciousness, and I started to take an interest in him and the Tour de France<\/a>. I was going on these rides on my mountain bike, seeing people come by on their racing bikes in their lycra<\/a>, and I just realised, what the f*** am I doing? I’ve got to switch.\u201d<\/p>\n Tong is world-famous. Despite being the BBC\u2019s longest serving DJ, with his own signature saying and dance orchestra, the 65-year-old is calm, thoughtful, relaxed. Whatever impact the decades of late-night sets and Ibiza partying has had on him, it\u2019s impossible to tell.<\/p>\n He puts it down to cycling: \u201cIt\u2019s kind of an antidote, really. It\u2019s kind of meditative to get out on a bike<\/a>, and know that because you were going to get out on a bike the next day, you couldn’t go to the after party, so it kind of kept me sane.”<\/p>\n Tong\u2019s cycled in Ibiza, in the Cotswolds<\/a>, all around his old London home, but the best place he\u2019s ever cycled was – indisputably – California.<\/p>\n \u201cI lived in West Hollywood, and I could go up onto Mulholland, going to Griffith Park, and then going out to Pasadena and into the mountains there,\u201d he explains. \u201cThe riding is absolutely mind blowing<\/a>. And that’s the only thing I really miss about America. And obviously the weather – even in the winter, it\u2019s a perfect cycling day: blue sky, cold-ish, but not too cold.\u201d<\/p>\n Tong has cycled in more places than most people I know. A life of international travel allows that, but work comes first, and Tong still dreams of tackling Mont Ventoux<\/a> and L’\u00c9tape<\/a>: \u201cI’ve just got to clear the decks and just make sure it happens somehow.\u201d<\/p>\n But every summer, Tong\u2019s two loves come together at Joyride Festival. The Ibiza weekender brings together pro riders, Michelin star chefs and wellness experts for a weekend of group rides and evening parties on the island. With tickets starting at \u00a32,300, the exclusive event is beyond the bounds of many of us, but for Tong, it\u2019s an opportunity to party with his heroes – and chase them up climbs too.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n \u201cThe first celebrity cyclist was Mark Cavendish<\/a>,\u201d Tong remembers. \u201cWe didn’t really know what to expect. I just thought it was going to be a laugh when I first got told you get to cycle with him, and then you get to play some records. But we had the most amazing night. Mark Cavendish was in the booth with me the whole night. He grew up listening to me, and he was crying. And I was like, what the f*** is going on in here?! It was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n The following year, Geraint Thomas<\/a> came out, followed by Peter Sagan<\/a>. This summer, Wout van Aert<\/a> will be coming to the island.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m surprised, he’s doing it, but I’m very pleased he’s been allowed. I wonder what his team manager will think when he sees him at a rave.”<\/p>\n