Steve

I think it's true to say that whenever I've stopped someone to ask for a portrait while I've been on my bike I've never been refused. It's probably the shock of having someone in lycra and helmet stopping and whipping out a camera. They are so taken by surprise, and perhaps so complimented by the fact that they've brought me to a grinding halt, that they can't really say no.

It does take someone a bit special to force me to put on the brakes and stop. Steve here was certainly that. It wasn't just the magnificent beard but the smile he gave me when I said hello in cycling past, and his eyes. It turned out he was waiting for his motorbike to be serviced at one of Shipley's many motorbike garages. He had time to talk and I was happy to as well, despite not really having the time, being on my way to the office. I found out he was a biker of both the motor and pedal variety. He still cycles, albeit a slower than he once did (like me for that matter!), and we discovered that we'd ridden over many of the same cols in the Alps and Pyrenees, sharing many the same experience. I owe a great debt to my portrait project. I've got to meet so many fabulous people I would never otherwise have encountered.