
This feature originally appeared in Cycling Weekly magazine on 7 August. Subscribe now and never miss an issue.
Tales from Celtic folklore speak of a mischievous spirit – a playful trickster said to shape-shift through nature and enchant those it encounters. Often portrayed as fairy-like, this creature's name is Puck. In 1600, William Shakespeare brought the character into the cultural mainstream, lending the name to a magical mischief-maker in A Midsummer Night's Dream, who famously declares, "What fools these mortals be!" – a line that could serve as an apt warning to the rivals of my interviewee.