Peter Heath
Scroll to the bottom to read Peter’s reflections now the ride is completed.
Q. Peter, you are Roland UK’s Business Development Director, how did you get where you are today?
A. Having spent 10 years out of the music business, it became very clear that my destiny of work was in the Music Industry. Having arrived at this conclusion, deciding to work for Roland was easy, the rest was sheer hard work..
Q. What is your favourite quality about yourself?
A. Being people/team orientated and the satisfaction of seeing my team become successful.
Q. What is your least favourite quality about yourself?
A. Having a short-attention span
Q. What instruments do you play?
A. Guitar & Keyboards….all self taught.
Q. What is your claim to fame?
A. Touring with Shalamar
Q. What was your favourite outdoor activity as a child?
A. Football
Q. What are your favourite and least favourite types of music?
A. I grew up with the Beatles & West Coast Music. My least favourite is dance music.
Q. What are your favourite and least favourite foods?
A. Fresh vegetables & fruit are my favourite. My least favourite is junk food.
Q. Who taught you to ride a bike?
A. I’m self taught.
Q. Who is your favourite sports personality and why?
A. Few to mention…John McEnrow, Kelly Holmes, Paula Radcliff, Tiger Woods
Q. Who is your favourite musician/artist/band?
A. Paul Simon, The Beatles, Stevie Dann.
Q. What do you do to unwind and relax?
A. Exercise & Wine!!!
Q. When people look back at your life, how do you want to be remembered?
A. By the love I give.
Reflections on the ride, now it’s complete:
Two months ago, I had been on the bike only six times this year, was nursing the end of a back injury and feeling very nervous about the thought of JOGLE. The turning point for me was when I spoke to James trying to convince him that he had to take part…. at that point I was still struggling with my own conviction, fitness and desire to complete the journey. I think during the conversation with James I convinced myself that I could do it and proceeded to change my thinking and attitude.
During the ride I think it was fortunate that I did not see a map of the UK…not seeing was good as I did not really get an idea of scale so I just handled each day at a time, breaking each day into 30 or 25 or 20 mile chunks, this is the way I could handle the distances.
Day 2…I checked out for most of the day so this made it an exceptionally difficult day, it’s hard to cycle when you have no interest in what you are doing, I just wanted to be home with my family. During that evening I figured that the family who were going to get me to Lands end were sitting with me so I changed my attitude. I did have some other difficult moments and must say that my cycling family came to the rescue, they helped….well just called me a pussy and a c**t before eating my protein bars out of my hands whilst cycling…thanks James. They taught me many things about cycling, the first one was that I am definitely NOT a cyclist, more like an old jogger/jockey who thinks he knows how to ride a bike. Seriously though, the cajoling, support, hints and tips really did help…thank you.
Not surprisingly I felt much better after I had my eyebrows threaded: this activity is in line with my collection of man bags, pink handle bar tape, dry Cappuccino and product to put in my hair. It’s always good to provide the family with a target to take the piss….this did just the job and fuelled banter for a few days.
I didn’t see much of the country as I was too busy drafting up anyone’s arse to get a free lift. James, Neil, Simon L and Simon G were great providers…mostly James so thanks guys for that….you were all willing givers!!
As we approached the last few days I felt stronger and was really looking forward to not having to wear my Premier Inn sweater anymore, I’d also found relief with James’s cream. I started to get fed up of looking at my bike, wearing shoes with bits of metal attached to the bottom and taking cold baths…the taste for beer and peanuts got stronger as the days progressed and the vision of seeing my family really drove my legs towards the end.
Some days were filled with the odd burst of Tourette’s from several of the riders, especially on day 9, Personally I was screaming at the top of my voice to keep going and to vent my anger at yet another hill……other words that ring in my ear…..Car back, Car up, Hole…Gash…….Clear left, All clear….Slowing, Stopping…
And then my poor bike – after an expensive upgrade, it was hardly looked at by Terry as other members of the family cried wolf and were determined to take up all of Terry’s time during breaks and evenings….it finally got looked at and a clean from Terry on day 10…thanks Terry. Rose kept her composure, her love for all of us and her relentless support…you are amazing Rose.
I would describe the whole event as a family outing more than a team….families make things work even when they are dysfunctional…we certainly qualified in that area. But overall what an amazing experience and achievement for us all. Something I’ll take to my grave.
A funny story. During Lunch at Roland DG offices, it was all very business-like, polite and well mannered, what most people didn’t see was as soon as the DG folk and some of the riders left the room several of us returned to our inner child….it’s a good place to be. Simon G, my brother in Law, James and myself started throwing peanuts, tomatoes and bread at each other….it was a beautiful moment.
Glad we did it, personally delighted to have been part of it…..and to have stayed safe in the hands of Mr Lewis.
