New member!

Naill Thomson
Originally uploaded by westlothianclarion

Niall Thomson, 48, from Linlithgow joined up last week, he runs an office interiors business and is married with three teenage boys.

Naill says "I participate in a number of sports including sailing and skiing but I’ve cycled as long as I can remember and I did a fair amount of road cycling in my teens. I then got hooked on motorbikes and cars so pedal power took a bit of a back seat until the mountain bike boom in the eighties when I got into the sport in a big way. I’ve ridden into and over most corners of the Scottish Highlands and I’m particularly fond of remote wilderness / marathon type routes often involving Munros and a “wee bit of carrying here and there.” My riding buddies have learned to be wary of statements like this… ;-) I’ve also ridden extensively in the French and Swiss Alps and competed in a number of events but alas, never on road!

In 2003 I co-founded the Carron Valley Development Group, a charity we set up to develop a Mountain Bike Trail Centre for Central Scotland. I chaired CVDG for 3 years during which time we designed new trails and raised nearly £200k funding necessary to construct the popular 10km Phase 1 circuit. Some of that cash was for Phase 2 but this was ultimately axed by the landowner, Forestry Commission Scotland, and the group resigned in protest from the Carron Valley Partnership late 2008. A wasted opportunity and a long story basically… Now I plan to get back to riding bikes more often and regaining some of my former fitness. I also fancied a bit of a change in direction to augment the mtb riding so when I was introduced to the Clarion by Peter Buchan (who “persuaded” me to join him on a snowy January ride after a few beers.) I enjoyed the run, the company and the ethos of the club. My ancient Raleigh has already been (too kindly) mentioned in dispatches but I also have a Van Nicholas of more recent vintage which has been gathering dust for two years. So, enough to get me going and with the bling club kit order I’ve just placed with Bill I look forward to getting out on some club rides and meeting everyone!"