My home town is Redcar, in North Yorkshire, England. My father was a shift electrician in the local steelworks. We lived in a decent house, were well fed and looked after, but there was little money for extras. Britain was still, to some extent, still suffering the aftermath of WWII.

On December 3rd 1961, for my 13th birthday, my parents bought me my first “racing” bike, a Falcon Black Diamond, frame designed by Olympic cycling medallist Ernie Clements, on hire purchase.. It cost £23 plus interest. It had all steel components, including a cottered chainset, a five speed freewheel block and Simplex derailleur.. Ernie’s top of the range, the San Remo, as used by the Falcon racing team, cost over £73. Here’s Ernie, in his previous life, success on the road earning him a big smooch on the cheek from actress Jean Kent.

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An older boy, Dennis, from the next street owned a Viking. Somehow and I have no recollection of this, we agreed to go cycle-touring the next summer. He would arrange accommodation.

A couple of months after our return home, US surveillance aircraft would provide evidence of Soviet missiles sites in Cuba, leading to the US blockade of the island and the ensuing diplomatic crisis. One night at the height of the crisis my father was working the night shift. As I climbed the stairs to bed, my mother wished me goodnight, then burst into tears.
“There’s going to be another war.” she said.
“I don’t think so Mum,” I said, “No-one wants to see the world blown up.”
Was this an early manifestation of the power of intellect over emotion? More likely, I didn't want to believe that in a few days we might all be charcoal. We didn't know yet about the actions of Vasiliy Alexandrovich Arkhipov. Had we known, we might all have been closer to blind panic, induced by uncontrollable terror. We were not very devout Catholics back then and I had been spending an uncharacteristic amount of time on my knees. As it turned out, of course, reason triumphed over fear, compromise over confrontation. Nikita Kruschev ordered the dismantling of the Cuban sites and as a quid pro quo Kennedy instructed that US missiles should be removed from Turkey, on condition of Russian silence. The next month the Beatles had their first UK hit with Love Me Do.

Back in the innocent springtime, we watched the FA Amateur Cup Semi-final at Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough, where Crook Town disposed of West Auckland. Then later, after a draw in the final at Wembley, Crook returned to Middlesbrough and beat Hounslow Town 4-1 in the replay. We started to play cricket in the park again. In the midst of all this, Dennis booked our accommodation for our forthcoming adventure, including breakfast, packed lunch and dinner, at the Youth Hostels on our route. I quietly, but excitedly looked forward to our adventure.