Who are you? I live in Nailsea & I work in banking as a systems manager. I have two children aged 14 & 9. Motorcycling is probably the next most important thing in my life after my children! I'm active in the Bristol Advanced Motorcyclists group for whom I have roles as Observer & Group Rides Co-ordinator.

How long have you been riding and what bike do you normally ride? I've been riding for 10 years now & my current bike is a Honda CBF1000 that I absolutely love. As an all round, do everything bike it's fantastic. My motorcycling started in 1999 with a 50cc Piaggio scooter that I bought as a cheap way of getting to work. I progressed to passing my test, buying a Yamaha Majesty 250 scooter, then a Suzuki Bandit 600 before my current bike. I passed my IAM test in 2003, became an Observer in 2005 & my biking interest has kept developing as time has passed.

What do you do for Freewheelers? I'm a rider on the North, aka Bristol rota. I also help out with fundraising when I can. I do admire the co-ordinators for being three times as likely to be waken up in the night & having little chance of sleeping whilst a rider is on the road - I haven't wanted to take the plunge & do that role yet.

How long have you been with Freewheelers and why did you join? I joined Freewheelers at the beginning of 2008. I found out about it from Freewheelers members in Bristol Advanced Motorcyclists. I saw it as an incredibly worthwhile cause & a means of giving my motorcycling skills towards real benefit. We all ride our bikes for fun but here was a way of riding a bike for fun & helping other people at the same time.

What do you like most about volunteering for Freewheelers? I get a buzz from riding those urgent calls where you get a real sense of being needed. These happen quite often, but I remember one weekend being called at 7am on both Saturday & Sunday morning to take a pathology sample from the Bristol Children's hospital to the path lab at Southmead. I kept thinking about the child in hospital & their anxious parents waiting for the test results. I also enjoy the late night & early hours calls because of the comparitively empty roads & also the sense that I'm delivering something that's really needed.

What do you least like about volunteering for Freewheelers? We do unfortunately receive a minority of calls that we shouldn't because there's no need for the job to be done that evening or that weekend. The co-ordinators are very good at filtering these out, but sometimes the reality of the job proves different to what the caller requested.

Tell us about something memorable about your work for Freewheelers? I was on call for the Easter weekend in 2008. After a busy Good Friday & Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday was quiet until midday. Then the co-ordinator rang & said 'I've got a little job for you, how would you like to go to Birmingham?'. So that was the next few hours taken care of!

Anything else you want to add? I'm very much enjoying my Freewheelers experience & I would recommend being involved to anyone, whether or not they're a rider.