When you’re sat only yards from the RoadCyclingUK desk, it doesn’t take too long to get a stiff neck. Beautiful, shiny new bikes made from the most exquisite materials pop into view every now and then and any focus one may have had on what one was doing rapidly evaporates.

I guess it’s a boy thing and that no matter what you’re into, a top end pushbike will stop any bloke in his tracks. And so it seems inevitable that my nine-month stint working just a few yards away on the Visordown desk has come to an end with a renewed love of cycling, thanks to Richard H and his very kind renovation of a bike that had been stuck in my shed for far too long.

Bought from eBay in 2007 for just £193.80, my 2004 Specialized Allez Sport needed some love. The former owner was a fairly stout, short-haired lady who’d bought the wrong size frame and then ruined it by sticking a shorter stem on it to make it fit, ruining the handling as she went. The gear cables were poorly routed and well worn and the bar tape was knackered. A quick jog to the nearest bike shop and the promise of a pint and Richard was both equipped and motivated to put it right.

The first ride out on the titivated Allez soon brought a smile to my face. No more fiddling about trying to find gears, no annoying rattling from the front derailleur, no sprocket jumping – just the clean whirr of the chain and snickety-slick gear changes from the freshly adjusted transmission and a new riding position that didn’t give me arse-ache after five minutes and a sore back after twenty – what a difference.

By my own admission, I am, a born-again cycling nobber. I see it all the time in my own little world of motorcycling; controls badly set-up, wrong tyre pressures, incorrect chain tension… you name it; I’ve seen it. But I hadn’t given my cycling image a great deal of thought until spending a bit of time with people that know what they’re talking about.

I’m still in the very early stages of enjoying cycling so am bound to make plenty of mistakes, from riding technique to fashion faux pas. But whatever I look like both on and off the bike, my main motivation is to lose weight and improve my fitness for my chosen sport of motorcycle road racing after an injury-strewn year that has put paid to any running or heavy training. So, the plan is to build the mileage bit-by-bit, hopefully seeing both my fitness and technique improve along the way.

In my first week I’ve only managed a grand total of 56 miles, but my excuse is a mixed week of too much work, heavy rain and high Fenland winds that, while a huge help on the run to Ramsey, had me stood up on the pedals in first gear just trying to make a little forward progress on the way home.

Hopefully my mileage will increase next week – just need to invest in some decent winter clothing and some mudguards – all advice gratefully received!

Rob Hoyles is a freelance contributor to Visordown magazine, finished third overall in the 2009 Thundersport GB GP1 Championship and will be racing next year in the British Superstock Championship on a Paul Caunce-backed Honda CBR1000RR.