The return of the British Superbike Championship at the weekend got me all reminiscin?. I spent the thick end of ten years chasing the dream (or should I say chasing my tail) in that paddock but I sacked it off about five years ago when I decided ?real? road racing was the thing for me. And whilst I?m definitely glad I took the sideways step to race between the hedges, rather than between the painted rumbles strips and gravel traps, I do miss it. But now I?m 30 years old and getting balder, fatter and more miserable by the day, would I go back to BSB" That was the question someone asked me last week, and I struggled to give them a straight answer.

It?s all too easy to view the past through rose-tinted spectacles. And it?s something I can?t help doing. Because when I look back at photos from my late teens and early twenties, most of them were taken when I was in a very happy place. At the time I thought I was chasing the dream; now I?m a bit older, I?ve realised I was actually living the dream, not chasing it.
Anyway, that?s enough existentialism for one day, let me tell you why it was so good. Twelve weekends of the year, it was like I was on the best holiday ever. Like going to a different holiday resort (BSB circuit) every time, and all my friends would be there waiting for me.

When I wasn?t enjoying the company of a paddock full of likeminded people, I was racing my bike round a circuit as fast as I could; which is still one of my very favourite pass-ti...