Lunch at The Journey in Newcastle seemed appropriate for the first day of this blog. It’s a place to get your bike fixed while drinking excellent coffee and eating veggie/vegan food – perfect! It’s home to two other things I like: Sustrans and Recyke y’bike, so thumbs-up to all that.

The food is excellent. Moroccan hummus with sourdough toast for me, smashed avocado with chili and lime for Tracy. Then there were cakes. I went for a lemon cake, she had toasted banana bread with maple syrup.

I’m new to this vegan thing. I don’t really know how or why it happened, it kind of snuck up on me. I have been vegetarian in the past, but had lapsed in recent years, and up until six weeks ago I was very definitely an omnivore. I’ll think some more about why decided to make a change and will write something about it.

Why start a blog? A few reasons. This feels like an interesting and important moment in life, and (pretentious as that sounds) I’d like to record the process. Also, being a bit ‘public’ about it may make me stick to it. It may even end up being of use to others doing something similar.

The plan for this blog is that I’m going to write about the food I eat and the bike rides I go on, and the process of going vegan as an endurance cyclist. I’m looking forward to seeing where this road takes me, come and join me for the ride!