Not my words but those of the one and only Peter Purves at the end of an interview with cyclist Ian Hibell in a 1975 edition of Blue Peter. My fellow Halifaxonian John Noakes is far more enthusiastic and asks the questions as he and Mr Hibell cycle around the studio:

I’d never heard of Ian Hibell before but he gets a mention in Stephen Fabes’ Signs of Life, a new book that I’m currently reading in preparation for interviewing the cycling doctor when I arrive in London in early September. (Listen out for our chat in an upcoming episode of The Cycling Europe Podcast.)

There’s plenty to read about Ian Hibell online, including this article on Alchetron.com where I found the following picture of Ian’s bike:

Note the rolled-up spare tyre attached to his front wheel (not sure you’d be able to do that with a modern-day Schwalbe Marathon Plus). Aside from the tyre, Ian Hibell’s set-up is not that dissimilar to that which a long-distance cyclist of 2020 might aspire (assuming he or she hasn’t gone down the bike-packing route…). And in the video, after the tortuous circumnavigation of the Blue Peter studio, as John Noakes piles up Ian’s kit on the floor, it is striking how his kit is remarkably familiar. Those tent poles for example that I had assumed were a relatively modern innovation; clearly not. That said, I can’t imagine many cyclists of today take a cooking pot the size of Ian’s.

Ian was in his early 40s in 1975 when he appeared on Blue Peter. I would have been about 6 years old (I wonder if I was watching at the time…). He continued cycling the world throughout his life and, sadly, was killed in an accident on his bike in Greece in 2008. He was 77 at the time. Eccentric Mr Purves? Not at all!

UPDATE:

I noted in writing the above (at 4am this morning in bed…) that Ian Hibell’s bicycle (or at least one of them) seems to be on display in a museum. According to this post on GypsyByTrade.WordPress.com it is, or at least was back in 2012, on display at the headquarters of the Adventure Cycling Association in Missoula, Montana. Perhaps one day I’ll get to visit. In rummaging around Google however, I did notice (or rather was reminded) that the National Cycle Museum of Wales is in Llandrindod Wells, not far from the route of the Lon Las Cymru that I will be following next week. It would mean a slight detour on the Saturday of the trip but worth considering, unless you know otherwise…