The picture above will, for many, have elicited an immediate nostalgic response. For those unfamiliar with the work of Wilf Lunn some minor elaboration will suffice - Wilf is a television presenter, cartoonist, writer, and madcap inventor whose picture really should appear under the dictionary definition of 'eccentric'.

Wilf is also responsible for one of my earliest cycling memories, seeing his 'worm catcher' bicycle on television in lifesize detail. Staking claim to such cycling heritage I couldn't resist catching up with the man himself to try and find out what makes him tick. Mind you, with a man who describes himself as a seurealist that can't spell that could be difficult to work out.

Using firewood wire while working as a lip-reading and religious knowledge teacher at Odsal House School for the Deaf, his inventions involved bicycles from early on, and Wilf's first cycle model was a bike in a bottle, the result of a month of work after taking on a bet that it couldn't be done. He even managed to sell one of the models to James Mason for sixty pounds.

Diversifying this interest proved more difficult however, as he started selling bottles from which the cycle had been removed for 120 quid, since this involved twice the work. Surprisingly they didn't catch on, Wilf puts his finger on the flaw in the plan, "I think they suspected I wasn't doing the work."

But this was not enough to stop the irrepressible Wilf. He continued making his little bicycle models, displaying a quirky humour combined with technical expertise, and no little artistic flair. He landed an exhibition of his creations and it was at the gallery which was displaying his wares that his television career was to spark into life.