IBC caters for all cycling interests. To give you a flavour of the types of people who are members of our club, we’ll adding some member profiles, in the form of a Q&A.
Our first member was racking up the miles in 2013, both travelling to and entering numerous sportives around the world, Road Racing and gaining his Cat 3 License, and topped off by joining the IBC Committee for 2014, Matt Kerr:
#1 played song on your MP3 player?
I have a very wide ranging musical taste but when I looked at my most played, I was a little surprised…..Touch by Daft Punk. It’s quite a long track and a bit of a roller-coaster from upbeat to down tempo, happy to sad. The last year has been a bit of a emotional roller-coaster for me too with the loss of my mum and although she would have hated the song, it does remind me of her and my emotions from this time.
If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be?
I have pondered this question for some time and have found it difficult to answer but in the end settled on David Attenborough. I’m known as nature boy by my wife and family due to my keen interest in the natural world. Most of my knowledge has been gained though this man’s TV shows. I can still be found rooting about in the undergrowth on my holidays looking for weird and wonderful creatures and fishing or snorkelling the seas, lakes and rivers to see what swims in them. To meet him would be a great privilege, he is a living legend to me.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
I will let you know when I do…..When I was younger I wanted to be a marine biologist because I was mad on fishing and loved nature but a low concentration span at school meant I never got the qualifications to follow that dream. So for now I will carry on running my screen printing and embroidery business until I can think of something new to do/become later in life.
How long have you been riding and what got you into the sport?
I was born with a club foot and had a huge amount of correctional surgery from birth until I was 7. Sport was never something I enjoyed as a child because of a limp and having one leg shorter and skinnier than the other which made me really self-conscious. I did like to ride bikes as a kid and even raced BMX in the early 80’s but wasn’t very good. Then in my 30’s I started getting pains in my ankle, mainly in the colder, damp months, which I put up with for a number of years. At the end of 2009 the pain was so bad that even walking was becoming difficult so I went to see aspecialist and an x-ray diagnosed arthritis. I was given four options, one – painkillers, two – an operation to fuse my ankle, three – swimming and four – cycling…. Now I’m no scientist but taking painkillers for the rest of your life can’t be too good for you and an ankle fusion didn’t sound like much fun which left two options – I’m not the greatest of swimmers and being confined to a pool just didn’t appeal so in January 2010, a new cyclist was born. Since that day my arthritis has improved no end, its not perfect but 100 times better and absolutely the best decision I ever made.
What’s your favourite kind of riding?
This is a tricky one as I have only been riding four years and each year has seen a progression. One thing has stayed the same – my love for it all weather, whether on my own though country lanes, club rides with friends, a 100 mile sportive or elbow to elbow crit racing. If I had to pick one it would be Sportives(just) as you get to see so much of our beautiful country. I like to travel all over for them, picking locations I otherwise never probably see.
Most memorable cycling moment?
Where do I start? Looking back on it I do seemed to have had a lot of memorable moments on my bike in a short time, I will list 3:
Taking part in the first Ride London 100 – a 100 mile closed road Sportive following the Olympic road race route with 20,000 other cyclists. This is the ultimate sportive in my opinion! With a finish time of 4h 23m its the fastest 100 I have done and I’ve been extremely lucky to get another place this year.
Riding in the French Alps following last year’s Tour with great friends. While I was there I rode a 106 mile epic ride taking in the Croix de Fer, Col du Telegraphe and the Col du Galibier – 4300m of climbing and it’s the only ride that has brought me to tears on completion. The sights of that week will stay with me forever.
Getting my 3rd Cat licence. In 2012 Boo Dendy and I decided to have a go at racing at Trinity Park in the Go-Races – we sucked, were dropped within 5 laps and battling for minor positions. A year on I tried again and gota couple of top 10s in the Go-Race. I moved to the main race (E1234) although a lot tougher I didn’t feel too out of my depth. Then at the SDCC Woodbridge crit 4th cat race I got 4th. Well I didn’t expect that! with 6 points and needing 4 more to get my 3rd I found a race down in Brighton that looked just the ticket. It was really tight, I needed 6th or better and it all came down to the sprint and a photo finish, from 5th – 8th. No results came out until about 8pm that night but when they did and it said Matt Kerr 6th I had a uncontrollable grin on my face for the rest of the night and the next day.
What was your first bike?
First bike was a non-descript, blue child’s bike that I learnt to ride with stabilisers. When they came off I had it for what seemed like years and eventually it was stolen from outside a sweetshop. I found it outside another sweetshop down the road a few weeks later and rode it home a very happy boy. Next up was a Striker then a Nickel plated Mongoose in 1979. My first road bike was brought in 2010 and was a Giant Defy Advanced 2 which I loved but was no race machine so within 18 months it was sold to make way for a racier model. Now, like most of us you can’t have enough bikes I am at 5 and counting.
Do you have any cycling goals for the season?
This year is year I intend to race a lot more including open road races, do my 3rd cat proud and gain as many points as I can. I like to do one big sportive overseas a year and this year is the Etape in the Pyrenees France. I’m also aiming for a sub 4h.15m in this year!a Ride London. Last but not least, I’d also like to have a go at some time trials.
Favourite post ride snack?
FOOD!!! The one side of cycling I struggle with. I only need to look at it and I put weight on. So after a good ride burning up to 3000 cals I will let my hair down and eat as I like trying to go protein heavy. One protein snack that springs to mind and favourite at the moment is fresh cockles in vinegar. Most things seafood based generally go down well.