INTERVIEW
Pedro, let’s start with life on a bike: How did your adventures on two wheels begin? I got my first bike when I was 10 or 11, and, like many kids, I used to ride with my brothers. My grandfather was really into road cycling, and he would go every Sunday on his own club rides, but my brothers and I saw ourselves on mountain bikes. As a kid, that’s your one-way ticket to go and
explore without having to be tied to your block, your neighbourhood. I did use my bike to ride from A to B, in a more transport mode kind of way. I was very much into fitness and sports at that time, including swimming and water polo. I would go to training by bike. At night, I’ll be riding to training, coming back from training, to the point my parents were like ‘whoa, that’s a bit scary’, but they didn’t dissuade me from doing it, rather just asking that I be careful.
I didn’t realise it at the time, but that image, of my grandfather riding bikes every weekend with his mates, kind of stuck in my head. I’d forgotten about it when I moved to London, but then those memories started coming back. Seeing people riding definitely reconnected me.
How does your London cycling journey start out? I’m a commuter. I quickly realise I’d rather ride than be on a bus or the underground. You’re seeing all these people riding and think, ‘that looks more like my kind of way to travel’. My first London bike - brought from a Camden bike shop - is a flat bar hybrid. At the time, it was low-cost and did all I needed. For a few months.
My competitive streak took over, and I started looking
around and trying to learn what other people were doing. I quickly realised, okay, this is a slow bike, you know, those drop bar road bikes are what I needed next. I bought one from Halfords, the cheapest road bike I could find. And had all the typical learning stumbles. You’re first learning how to ride with drop bars, watching others and teaching myself. Second was the toe straps, which the bike came with. I was like ‘oh this is mental’. Who rides with these? Not me. I swapped them for flat pedals. It wasn’t for long anyway. Clipless pedals came around quickly. You see people at the traffic lights and want what they have. As with anyone riding clipless pedals for the first time, I had my first stumbles and crashes. All part of the learning process. Before you know it, actually, you’ve joined the London
www.bikebiz.com
January 2026 | 53
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