Do Tyrone still have the fire for battles ahead?

WHILE I have often wondered how the man who repairs my bike has survived in business, I have no doubt about how he succeeded as a cyclist.

It’s fair to say Brian Kinning’s selling methods will never be promoted in business schools. In my own dealings with Brian, he has: 1) complained bitterly about the cost of his own bicycles; 2) advised me to buy a product from one of his competitors because he didn’t feel his stock was suitable; and 3) showed me a website which sold his products at the same cost or cheaper. I could go on.

Brian’s passion has got nothing to do with profits. Instead, his obsession is with bicycles and racing. At 64, he still has the lean, slender frame of a cyclist. And until recently, he was regularly doing 300 miles a week. On a week’s holiday to Majorca, this would increase to 450. Meet someone like Brian and you realise that age is no barrier so long as a man remains deeply wedded to his chosen sport.