I worked for a manufacturing company in the bike industry. I travelled a lot and worked as a mechanic for their race team. That was exciting, but there wasn’t much progression, and I’d always wanted my own workshop. That’s really how Humble Bikes started: a desire to work for myself, build a new cycling community, and hopefully one day take on an apprentice.

Over the past four years, I’ve serviced bikes for more than a thousand people across the valley, Ilkley, Burley, Otley, Menston. It’s grown steadily, and I feel very lucky. For many people, cycling is escapism. It clears your mind. When I’m Mountain biking, my brain switches off completely except for what’s ahead of me. You come back refreshed, energized, focused. It’s brilliant for physical and mental health.

A lot of creativity goes into this place. My best friend Sam is a graphic designer and photographer, he designed the logo. It includes a bike wheel, a mountain, and a road which my dad, who’s an engineer, took that design and welded it into a metal version. Welding is a form of creative art that dad practices.

If I’ve got a really tricky job to do, music almost adds another layer of concentration. I can zone out a bit and focus completely on what I need to get done. Music helps me feel some form of connection, reminding me that I’m not alone in my workshop because I don’t get much visitors.

My background is in film. I run a production company, I’m a filmmaker and photographer. Today, we’re in Burley in Wharfedale for the second year of Bike Night, a film festival evening all about bikes, created to help raise money for the Burley and Wharfedale Community Pump Track, which is due to begin construction in February 2026.

Hosting something like Bike Night felt like a great way to combine my professional work with a community event that raises money for the project. Bike Night is really a celebration of cycling culture, a chance to showcase different films from across the bike world and bring people together. it’s the community that made it possible. People here believe in the project. They want to see it built, not only for Burley, but for the entire area.

We live in a real cycling hotspot, incredible roads, brilliant trails, everything on the doorstep, but there are very few purpose-built cycling facilities. A pump track changes that. Although it’s mainly for bikes, it can also be used by people on skateboards or scooters. It’s incredibly accessible. You don’t need a fancy bike. You don’t need experience. It’s safe, fun, and confidence-building for all ages.

A pump track is essentially a loop of rollers (bumps) and berms (turns) that let you keep going without pedalling, it uses body movement to maintain momentum.

It will create a dedicated place for people to ride, hang out, and socialize. It’s free to use, open all the time, and easy to get to on foot, by bike, or by train.

The amazing thing about Bradford and the wider area is the access to the outdoors. Because of the valleys, the roads take you straight out of the city and into stunning countryside. We’re right on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, so you’ve got moorlands, quiet back roads, woodland trails, everything. Living here, you sometimes forget how special it is until you go somewhere else and realize not every city has this level of access to nature on its doorstep.

For health, wellbeing, adventure, inspiration, it’s incredible. Bradford gives you all of that within minutes.