Cycling Stories: Robbie, Glasgow Bike Station

Ahead of the opening of cycling exhibition 'The Perfect Machine' at Summerlee Museum in July 2014 we are profiling cyclists from around Lanarkshire and Glasgow. Robbie works at the Bike Station in Glasgow (www.thebikestation.org.uk/glasgow).

“I've always been keen on cycling since I was a wee boy. I lived in East Kilbride when I was a kid right beside the countryside. Unfortunately the countryside is all houses now as you can imagine but I used to go out with my friends and we would get sandwiches in the morning and head off to the hills and cycle maybe down to Glasgow or whatever, we had so much freedom when I was a kid.

“I had a wee kick-about bike which we used to set up jumps and, an early form of BMX I suppose. We used to set up courses in the woods, that kind of thing.

“I worked for Careers Scotland for quite a long time, probably 15 years and they had a big reorganisation and there were some redundancy packages and I took one of the packages and I did some voluntary work with Sustrans and I'd also helped out in my kid's school teaching Bikeability. There was an opportunity to go on a cycle training course through another organisation and they paid for the training. So I did the training and just really quite got into it and then this job came up when the Bike Station was based in the Barras and I was lucky enough to get it. That was 2 years ago so it was quite a change of direction for me but it's really been an amazing sort of journey this place expanding from a tiny kind of a market stall in the Barras.

“I've not been out as much as I would like. I usually go out on a Sunday, 2 or 3 of us from here go out to the Campsies, or sometimes go up to Aberfoyle and cycle round Loch Katrine and places like that which is great but just because of the weather and one thing and another I haven't been out so much this winter but now the light nights are coming along hopefully I will get out during the week and with some friends as well. Mostly it's road cycling I do but I've been on the Velodrome. Just recently I just got my accreditations for the Velodrome and it's been good fun you know, I can't hope to compete or anything like that. It's kind of terrifying the fitness of some of the people but, I wasn't last so that's something. So yeah I think I'll go up there, it's good fun.”

If you would like to be featured in 'Cycling Stories' please contact Justin Parkes, Industrial History Curator on 01236 856376; ParkesJ@culturenl.co.uk

'The Perfect Machine', Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life, Coatbridge

5 July to 14 September 2014