We can combine outrage with amusement, share an expensive coffee<\/a>, and agree that we are best. There is no social interaction with a non-cyclist where we don\u2019t come out feeling good. The more of a cyclist you are, the better.<\/p>\n Latest Videos FromCycling Weekly<\/p>\n I\u2019ve found an exception. I\u2019ve seen myself as others see me.<\/p>\n Michael Hutchinson is a writer, journalist and former professional cyclist. As a rider he won multiple national titles in both Britain and Ireland and competed at the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games. He was a three-time Brompton folding-bike World Champion, and once hit 73 mph riding down a hill in Wales. His Dr Hutch columns appears in every issue of Cycling Weekly magazine<\/p>\n I happen to have a really lovely neighbour. A man in perhaps his mid 70s, always cheerful, always polite, usually gardening. A couple of years ago he was trimming his front hedge as I got back from a ride.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n \u201cBeen far?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n I started my answer, \u201cAbout nine\u2026\u201d His eyes widened.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 teen miles,\u201d I finished, swerving away from the truth, which was \u201cninety\u201d. I could tell that the real answer was about to genuinely horrify him. I know I was right because the lie nearly knocked him off his feet as it was.<\/p>\n The real answer would have catapulted me into a classification of \u201cweird neighbour\u201d from which I\u2019d never recover. Every time he looked at me he\u2019d see a strange man with a disorder. He wouldn\u2019t necessarily be wrong, but you still don\u2019t want looked at that way. For some reason, this time, I cared what he thought. I really wanted him to water my plants when I\u2019m away without muttering, \u201cNinety miles!\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019ve told him a lot more lies since. He asked if I\u2019d ever done any racing, and I told him I\u2019d done a little but hadn\u2019t ever won anything. He asked me how much a Specialized S-Works time trial bike<\/a> cost, and I told him \u201cabout \u00a3500\u201d, because while I\u2019m too old to trade in patronising ageism, I still didn\u2019t want to give him a coronary.<\/p>\n What to read next<\/p>\n Sometimes the lies have to be vaguer, because they\u2019re not as baldly factual. Getting back on another hedge-cutting afternoon, one of warm sun and gentle breezes, he nodded and said, \u201cBeautiful day. You\u2019ll have enjoyed that, I\u2019m sure.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/hSPLqVjnkWwNR3C7UKCbEk.jpg\")
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