By Stephen Blease

Last updated 10:04, Friday, 03 October 2008

It is almost 10 years since Brian and Pat Porter first began writing their monthly cycling columns for The Cumberland News.

Brian and Pat Porter

But Brian and Pat, from Kells Place in Carlisle, have been cycling for much longer than that.

And though today’s column will be their last, their tireless campaigning to get more people on their bikes – and make Carlisle a much more bicycle-friendly city – will continue.

They feel strongly that there is much room for improvement.

Brian and Pat married in 1987 and have spent much of the 21 years since on two pairs of wheels.

They have cycled through almost every country in western Europe and down one side of North America, from Canada to Mexico.

Even their honeymoon was spent on their bikes, cycling 1,800 miles through France and Switzerland.

Brian, now 76, was working for Vasey’s, the family furniture business, while Pat, 61, was a personal assistant, when they first met on another outdoors activity, hillwalking on Rannerdale Knotts, close to Crummock Water.

That was in 1983, when Brian had a high-profile position as leader of the Conservative group on Carlisle City Council – but at their first meeting Pat was unaware of this.

She recalled: “I introduced myself and said: ‘My name’s Pat Robinson.’ Brian said: ‘There’s no use telling me, I never remember people’s names!’”

A friend later pointed out that the man she had spoken to was Brian Porter, a well-known local politician.

“I told her I’d never heard of him!” Pat said.

It may have been an inauspicious start, but they married four years later. Brian already had a huge passion for cycling – and so Pat inevitably followed him into it.

“Some women become golf widows,” Brian said. “I think Pat didn’t want to become a cycling widow.”

Pat had always used a bike to get around the city but now she found herself getting around Europe by bike.

Brian’s passion dated back to his teens. “When I was about 15, someone at school said: ‘How about going for a bike ride?’

“I can’t remember why, but we went as far as Windermere and back. That was what really got me started,” he said.

Since marrying the couple have toured the British Isles, western Europe and America by pedal power, camping on the way.

And both claim it is the only way to travel.

One obvious advantage is that you get a much closer view of your surroundings from the saddle of a bicycle than you do from a car seat.

“When you drive you can’t possibly see what you see on a bike.” Pat said. “If it’s a lovely day and you arrive on the crest of a hill and you have beautiful views all the way around you, you get such a rush of adrenalin.”

They agree that one of their most memorable journeys was a tandem bike ride down North America’s Pacific coast, from Vancouver in Canada to the Mexican border, in 1992.

“The views were spectacular,” Brian recalls. “And the people on the west coast were so friendly.

“Wherever we stopped they would come up and speak to us.”

Brian’s desire to travel is much stronger than Pat’s, she says, and though they have both been on many cycling trips abroad, Pat said: “It’s not the be-all and end-all for me.

“I enjoy travelling, but I haven’t got the itchy feet that Brian has.”

And she argues that there is lots to see in this country. They have toured throughout England, Wales and Scotland by bike and have seen some breathtaking scenery.

“You don’t have to go abroad for that,” Pat said.

Her husband agreed. “People don’t realise how beautiful this country is. The landscape of the west coast of Scotland is as beautiful as you will get anywhere.

“And the Eden Valley is one of the hidden gems of the UK, but people who drive through won’t really appreciate it.”

To satisfy his travelling bug, Brian has made many cycling trips abroad on his own, often to France but also to northern Norway, within the Arctic Circle.

Not every view seen from a bike saddle is picturesque, however. He undertook a solo journey up the east coast of America in 2002, from Florida to Nova Scotia, which proved a stark contrast to the west coast he and his wife had seen.

“I saw rural deprivation on a scale that is unimaginable here,” he said.

“You would go into a food store and the shelves would be half-empty.

“There is no housing benefit the way there is here, so people are living in trailer parks that environmental health officers in this country would close down overnight.”

But whether you want to tour foreign countries or venture no further than the immediate surroundings, Brian and Pat recommend cycling wholeheartedly.

A good bike from a specialist bike shop, they say, can cost about £300. And it is not only a cheap way to get around but potentially a huge boost to health. Regular cycling cuts your chance of having a heart attack by half.

“One of the important messages of cycling is that even a small amount of it provides enormous health benefits,” Brian said.

“It’s far better than going to a gym. At 76, I’m still doing what I did 20 or 25 years ago. It’s not abnormal for cyclists to be cycling well into their 80s and 90s.”

Brian also believes the sense of achievement that comes from completing a long bike journey is as good for the mind as it is for the body.

“I think everyone should stretch themselves,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what they do. It is good for people to set themselves a challenge.”

And as obesity becomes a common health problem and many of us suffer work-related stress, shouldn’t more people be getting on their bikes?

With rising petrol prices worldwide and the need to find more environmentally-friendly ways of travelling, could cycling be the transport of the future?

Brian believes it is growing in popularity. In the 1980s and Nineties mountain bikes became more mainstream. Then in 2000 there were an extra 10,000 miles of cycle tracks built across the UK to mark the millennium.

“Cycling used to be how the poorest people in society got around,” he said. “Now it’s people in the middle to higher income groups who are buying bicycles, and spending quite a lot of money on them.”

It was this sudden demand which led Brian and Pat to begin writing their columns, offering cycle routes for local enthusiasts to try.

They hope a selection will now be posted on the website of the Cyclists’ Touring Club to lure more cycling tourists to Cumbria.

But in Carlisle itself cycling is not well catered for, says Brian, who believes there is no reason why it shouldn’t be.

Many mainland European countries, he said, have invested heavily in the activity, with cycle paths and public parking areas for bikes, and Brian estimates that Britain is around 10 years behind them.

But he identified several measures that could help us catch up.

“We should reduce the speed limit in towns to 20 miles an hour, and in estates it should be about 12 miles an hour.

“To encourage people, we really need to introduce cycle training. The cycling proficiency test for children has been changed recently. There should be a proficiency test for adults.”

However there are some signs of progress in Britain. The Government has launched a “cycling cities” scheme providing money for councils prepared to invest in cycle paths, cycling parks and other facilities for cyclists.

The former city and county councillor feels Carlisle could have taken part in that – but fears his counterparts today lack the political will to do so.

“Cycling cities worked in Lancaster and Darlington. It was so successful that the Government wants to expand it.

“If it can work in other towns there’s no reason why it couldn’t work here.

“Some places now have very good cycling provision, but Carlisle must be one of the most backward. If there was a wooden spoon, Carlisle would be in the running for it.

“The culture has changed in other towns. But it will be many years before it changes in Carlisle.”