What defines a cyclist?

I'm wondering how I got here. It's Tuesday and I am off work today, some compensation for having done 70+ Hours last week. However in the madness of general election week I still cycled 400km. That's not me bragging, it's me being amazed. I am a cyclist, not a pro or even an amateur racer - no just an ordinary cyclist. What's a cyclist?
In my book it is someone who loves riding a bike, whatever shape or make that is. It's a person who derives pleasure from the metronome rythmn of turning the cranks to get from A to B and back and no other form of transport will do. Yes you love the gadgets, the bikes even the Lycra but it is all about the freedom.
Cycling is the first form of independence we get from the moment our training wheels are removed by our proud parents, the bike offers freedom.
I love the escape, I probably do too much, push myself too hard. I'm fitter now at 42 than I was when I was 20 - odd that my desire to improve comes midway through my successful life.
I've got the best job in my profession, I'm picture editor of the times - a job I wanted since I first taking pictures. Have a wonderful son and I'm healthy - I won't talk about my home life suffice to say it's not great.
But it's when I ride I get an etheral buzz. I can be exhausted after 12 hours at my desk and I'll climb in a numb way over the crossbar but after only a few spins of the pedals in the direction of home I feel the pressure lift. I always ride towards the station, testing myself, flirting with the public transport home. It's only a tease to see if I've got the mental strength to resist a seat on the train. I know I'm going to ride, to burn the stress and anxiety of another on the road home. The 26 mile journey sets me free, I do it pretty much everyday and I'm never bored, the smell of the changing seasons, the wind and rain in my face or the sun on my back. Cycling, it's what I do, somehow it defines and describes my life perfectly. I still wear the same expression when I ride as I did when I first set off through the lanes of Warwickshire as a boy - one of utter joy and exhilaration. So therefore I am a cyclist not a great one or a fast one, but I am a cyclist.