Rouvy Name: S.Ludford (Strava Name: Steven Ludford). Age: 56 (as at 2023), 96kg, living in Hampshire, UK, recently retired after career in Logistics.

As this is a cycling bio it only needs to start from the age of 42, until this point I had done no exercise since I was at school aged 16. I was 130kg at the time and when I look back at my picture I genuinely find it hard to recognise myself. What changed? I was on holiday in Turkey (40⁰C) suffering chest pains, not a heart attack just too much stuff fighting for space inside my ribcage, I needed to lose weight. 

I started to ride a very old flat bar steel bike in football shorts and T-shirts, building up to a regular Friday 40 mile round trip commute. Then my workplace announced we had 10 places on the annual London to Brighton charity ride, I entered. Ditchling Beacon is a notorious UK climb near Brighton, this was where I decided to be a ‘Roadie’. On my old knackered, never maintained bike, dressed like an idiot with an enormous sandwich box tied to the rack, I rode all the way to the top passing hundreds of ‘Roadies’ pushing their fancy bikes … it was to be a life changing moment. One week later I was in Evans, Woking, buying my first road bike.

After 6 months riding solo I plucked up courage to contact Farnham Road Club who said come along for a Sunday club ride. Still in football shorts and T-shirts (I had Lycra shorts but I felt like everything was on show) I was hooked from the very first ride and quickly learnt how to dress properly, ride in groups, sock height, hand signals and where the coffee shops were. Farnham Road Club held weekly Time Trial events on the A31 dual carriageway in Hampshire, surely these were elite athletes, no, it turned out that podgy middle aged men in skinsuits competed alongside elite athletes (including the occasional world pro team rider). I rode my Evans Pinnacle bike to a time of 28:57 for 10 miles and coughed for days. Somebody told me I would hit my best times in 3 years, they were correct too. In 2013 I did 10 miles in 22:49 and 25 miles in 57:01 (after parenthood, the proudest achievement of my life), as you can imagine, I was now in a skinsuit, pointy hat and a bike that cost a fair bit of money … and, I now weighed 95kg with 30cm less around my waist … I will leave it to you, the reader, to imagine the hard work within the 3 years I mention above. 

Then I put all the weight back on, every 130kg of it by 2018, then Covid19 came along and I rode my bike every day and got back as low as 91kg within the year … It’s fair to say “I have a weight problem”.

Rouvy. I started riding on Rouvy, my first ever indoor riding, at the end of 2022. With the exception of RGT (Farnham Road Club Winter League) I haven’t tried any other platforms, I read a thousand reviews and Rouvy seemed to offer the reality I wanted. I am still conflicted about the negative impact on my time spent outside riding to the point of slight embarrassment. However, the weather never stops me keeping fit anymore, outside road riding in the UK can be a scary experience and Rouvy simply caters for any scenario or effort I am looking for. At 56, not looking for PBs, just trying to slow down my decline and kick a few backsides along the way. 

MuckersWorldwide. Finding this group has increased the Rouvy experience massively. You do not need to seek encouragement and friendship, it is freely given, learning each others strengths and weaknesses makes racing ‘with’ and ‘against’ each other both enjoyable and addictive. I love Neil’s relaxed approach and sense of humour, added to Kyle’s enthusiasm and encouragement it’s a very good combination. I like to read all the post ride comments on the race reports, it generates an appreciation for everybody’s efforts and an understanding of their thought process. The social banter is brilliant and actually meeting a few Muckers in Belgium was an absolute highlight. Proud to be a Mucker. 

Odd Fact. I also ride a tandem (with Mrs.Ludford). We have ridden in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Italy. We recently upgraded to an Electric Tandem and we love it, we can wear our normal clothing, relax, ride easy, enjoy the scenery, go to the pub, yet another element to my cycling life.

Cycling Highlights. Alpe d’Huez, 25mile TT in 57:01, Paris (on the Tandem), competing against Pros & Olympic Gold Medalists in TTs, Belgium Muckers meet up & cobbled rides, riding in the USA, and did I ever mention I conquered The Koppenberg!

If you pass me on the road, real life or Rouvy, give me a tow.