Eighty-one-year-old cycling enthusiast Eric Lewis is riding high after 55 years of two-wheeled travel. Reporter James Davis caught up with the president of the Stonehouse Wheelers to find out about the highlights of half a century's service to his beloved club.

THE fresh air on his face and the wind blowing through his hair are the things Eric Lewis loves most about being out on the open road.

He joined the Stonehouse Wheelers three years after it began and has had the bike-riding bug ever since.

His love for cycling really took off in 1951, while he was in his mid-20s. A colleague at the Hoffman's factory in Stonehouse - where he worked for 41 years - asked him along to a club meet.

"I only had a roadster bike but I thought I'd give it a try and have not looked back since," said a beaming Mr Lewis, who lives with his wife Heather in Paganhill.

The club became very popular in the early 1950s and began establishing trips away and annual events.

One of the high points in the calendar has always been the freewheeling contest.

The daredevil riders push off from the top of one of the area's steepest hills in Haresfield, or in recent years Eastington, and roll as far as possible without pedalling.

"We get up some speed and the roads are never closed for it so we just take potluck," says the jovial Mr Lewis.

And he fondly recalls a weekend away in Derbyshire during his early days with the club.

"We all rode down to Stonehouse station early one morning and got on the train to Matlock which was really beautiful," he said.

"But I have always enjoyed cycling around this area, taking in the fresh air and meeting up with club riders just as much."

Today the club has 50 members and although Mr Lewis remains president, in recent years he has found it more difficult to join the group out on rides.

But he says it is the building of friendships that has been just as important as taking part in the cycling.

"I still enjoy driving to the pub to meet them on Sundays," he said. "The club has given so much enjoyment over the years and I hope it will do so for others for many years to come."

* For more information on the Stonehouse Wheelers email info@stonehousewheelers.org.uk