When he was just a toddler, for hours he would watch the wheels of other cars when we went out for long rides. He would walk back and forth along the 3 free edges of our bed driving his toy car holding it in his hand and talking to it while watching it’s wheels go round and round. He was fascinated with them. He would take every opportunity to get behind the steering wheel of our car and have a go at turning it this way and that.

Having spent many hours at a family friend’s cycle shop when he was 10, he knew all about bikes. He was my cycle mechanic. He called my boring cycle ‘old woman bike’ but he took good care of it for me. He checked it out every weekend and made sure it was at its best. He rode bikes right from when he was 5. He spent hours on his BMX trying out all kinds of tricks on it. He worried about road safety when it came to me as he thought I was too unfit to survive the slightest knock.

He rode his bike all over London and got really annoyed with motorists on mobile phones. He always took charge of my phone when I drove. On the one hand he watched really interesting TV programmes on ‘how things work’ and on the other he watched silly ones like ‘Top Gear’. He also went through a ‘Pimp My Ride’ phase when he was 12.

Ever since Day 0 I have wondered at least once everyday, what it must feel like to hear the screeching and clanking noise of multiple wheels approaching, right in your ears while lying in their path and staying put.

He must have really befriended the wheels. Bless him! xxx