Chris Hoy
I certainly had no natural ability as a cyclist!
What I learned from my parents is just to be a source of unconditional love for my children.
As a former track cyclist I know only too well the risk of crashing. You don't dwell on it when you are competing but there are lots of moments when you are close to serious accidents.
Most riders, experienced riders, if they go down in a crash and don't get up straight away then they know something is wrong.
We all have limitations in different forms. It could be financial, health-wise, work, family, whatever - there are things on the surface that limit what you can do.
My dad got an old bike for five pounds, re-sprayed it, made it look like a BMX and put big handlebars on it. I loved it.
I used to row as a junior for Scotland but I was never massive, I was always tall and rangey.
I could always see as a kid that I was good at short sprints, running, throwing things far, jumping... anything that required a burst of power.
You do sometimes wish there were a few more hours in the day to squeeze a bit more in.
I really don't know how athletes manage to do it, having kids while they're still competing and being able to stay at the top of their game.
Someone like Jessica Ennis-Hill having her first baby then bouncing back to become world champion in the space of the year. I maybe wouldn't have appreciated just how big an achievement that was until I had my own child. It's an incredible thing.
The biggest thing I noticed growing up when I was doing BMX racing or playing rugby through to secondary school level, was seeing the parents who were so desperate to see their kids do well that they were almost living their lives through their kids and putting huge pressure on them to the point they weren't enjoying it.
Mum was a nurse and worked night shifts, but cooked all our evening meals and breakfasts.
If I smell a burger stand I get nervous. It takes me back to BMX tracks as a kid.
I particularly remember the smell of burgers and bratwurst drifting across Cottbus Velodrome in Germany.
I know when I'm on good form there's no one in the world I can't beat.
Athletes are some of the most insecure people on the planet.
Of all the sportsmen I've ever met, cyclists are the nicest.
I've just made the most of what I've got, and the mental side of it is half the battle.
I'd love to see Will Ferrell play me in a spoof track cycling movie.
I've done the 24-hour race in Le Mans, which was a dream come true.
I would love to be able to fly.
The biggest challenge is trying to be in two, or even three, places at once.
It might seem ludicrously simple, but the obvious answer to what to wear on your bike is whatever that helps you enjoy cycling.
Decent cycling clothing today is designed with reflective strips or subtle detailing that is visible under streetlights or in car headlights. You'll find that you can be seen just as well as you would in a builder's fluorescent vest.
The bottom line is that most cycling kit exists for a reason. The padded shorts, for example, might look silly, but if you are riding for any length of time on a small, thin saddle you are going to feel it.
Having a fall, breaking your wrist, that could be the week before the Olympics. That is why sport is always exciting.
The road which can be quite an allure when you are young.
Cycling is low-impact, which is why people cycle into their 70s or 80s, but track cycling means hard gym work and crashes.
My wife Sarra was instrumental to my success. When I was training, she took care of everything. She would make me dinner and always understood when I had to go to bed early or couldn't walk around the shops.
I'm a bit of a neat freak.
But coming back from injury, is like starting to exercise for the first time. You can't get stuck in straight away because you might do yourself a mischief; you have to be sensible.
In terms of actual day-to-day training; a normal training day would begin with a gym session for about two hours, focusing on strength; so heavy weights on the lower body, with the main exercise being free weight squatting, with between one and ten repetitions depending on the time of year and the aim of the session.
Usually in the evenings, I go for a one-hour road session for a gentle recovery road ride. It's a really steady stint with the main focus being to loosen the body down.
The closer you get to competition the volume of training you actually do is less, so as to allow your body to rest and recover between sessions.
The Commonwealth Games have their critics, though I suspect that they are generally people who haven't experienced them.
To win like that, in Scottish kit, in the U.K., beating the Olympic champion, hearing Scotland the Brave on the podium, I was very emotional.
I discovered in Melbourne how wonderful it is to be part of a successful team, when good morale spreads throughout the squad, among athletes and coaches and infects you like a virus - but one that you want to catch.
You don't know how your body is going to shape up. It's whether you can maintain the performance - or improve it - without getting injured. That's the battle every athlete faces and the older you get the harder it becomes.
You are always pushing, pushing, pushing but it is when you do that that your body can break down.
I've been involved in cycling all my life and at a high level for 20 years. It consumes your every waking minute whether you are aware of it or not: your last training session, your next session, what you are eating next. It is a passion.
I'm still like that kid who loves being involved in bikes.
All the support and opportunity started and then Le Mans became the pipe dream, the thing to aim for, the end of the rainbow.
The P2 is the best car I have driven so far. Once you get your head round it, it's fun to drive, it's responsive, it does what you ask but you have to treat it with respect or it will bite you.
If you considered the risks of everything in life you wouldn't leave your house. But I am a father and a husband. I don't do these things for the hell of it. At the same time you accept the risks and acknowledge that there is a risk, that there could be a big crash or worse.
I made a comment saying that it was 'mad' that I'm getting a knighthood for riding a bike but I meant mad as in unbelievable.
Of course I don't expect people to call me Sir Chris. That'd be embarrassing.
In the 84 days after Beijing I had, on average, three things a day and one day off. I didn't sleep in the same bed for more than two nights in a row. It sounds a bit pathetic but it was exhausting - it was like really intensive training with no rest days.
Training can be monotonous, and it is hard work, but you never lose sight of why you are doing it. Every single effort of every single session counts in the months and years leading up to a big event.Collection: Hard Work