Shaun Ryder says cycling got him off drugs.
The Black Grape frontman – who previously admitted his heroin habit was out of control by 1992 – has been clean for over 15 years and credits cycling with helping him to kick drugs completely.
He told The Guardian newspaper: "It was cycling that got me off drugs. I’d get on my bike very early in the morning and keep cycling until very late at night, day after day, until it was out of the system. I was pedalling from 8am until 11pm. But once that’s done, you still have to deal with the mental stuff."
Shaun, 54, had previously tried to quit heroin by using a stomach implant but it was an utter disaster.
He said: "Trying to quit heroin using a stomach implant was disastrous. I tried it in 1995 when it was still a new thing. The problem was that they withdraw you while you’re out unconscious, and I expected to wake up feeling fine. But I didn’t. I woke up and it was f**king murderous."
Shaun also revealed that he and his daughters had tickets for Ariana Grande’s concert at the Manchester Arena last month, where 22 people died in a terrorist bombing, but they decided not to go at the last minute.
He explained: "We were supposed to be at the Ariana Grande show the night of the attack. We had tickets. We’d done Little Mix there a couple of months before and my girls were hoping to meet her. But it was a sunny night, we’d been out for ice cream and they didn’t mention it, so we didn’t go."
Shaun Ryder: ‘Cycling helped me kick drug habit’
