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Just months after becoming disabled in an accident, Martin Hughes was delighted to find there was still a way he could pursue his love of mountain biking. Here, in the second in our series on hobbies, he tells us about his first day back on the rugged Welsh trails.

I had a serious accident at work in February 2011, which left me wheelchair dependent. Having been a keen mountain biker for 20 years at that point, I was determined to find out how I could get back in the saddle and continue to experience the thrills this hobby has to offer.

While undergoing rehabilitative physiotherapy, I learned about Challenge Your Boundaries, a scheme run at the Welsh trail centre of Coed Y Brenin, which aims to open up the off-road mountain biking trails for people in exactly my situation, by making sure there are accessible routes and suitable machines available for hire to ride on them.

Coed Y Brenin is somewhere I've always loved to ride, so instilled with a new determination to get back on a bike, I booked myself on a half day rider accreditation course.

The aim of this course is to make sure a prospective rider has an awareness of what handling an adapted mountain bike is like and also possesses the trail skills and courtesies to not be a danger to themselves or other trail users. If a person is unable to complete the course independently, it is not the end of the road. They can be awarded accompanied rider status, meaning that so long as they have assistance from an able bodied companion, they can still head out on the trails.

My chosen steed for the day was the wonderfully named One-Off Flyer, a two wheels up front and one behind trike. It is much different to most trikes I have seen due to its unusual riding position. This involves straddling the frame of the bike in a kneeling position, with each leg in a moulded, padded trough. You sit in a bucket seat and rest your chest on a cushioned plate, which then pivots to steer the front two wheels. The chest operated steering leaves both hands free to turn the cranks and drive the bike forward. It may sound bizarre but it works remarkably well.

The first new skill I learned on arrival at the centre was how to transfer from my wheelchair to the bike. Once suitably seated and as comfortable as possible, it was time to turn my first crank in over nine months. That's cycle speak for pedal. I may have been using different limbs to the last time I rode but it felt great!

Then came the moment I had been waiting for. It was time to head out on the trail. Time to inhale the welsh atmosphere and suck up the landscape. Time to feel the freedom of riding in these most incredible surroundings once more.

The first few sweeping curves and rolling dips felt great as we headed towards the Minotaur trail, which has been custom built for adapted mountain bikes.

My favourite part was "The Slipway", a beautifully crafted downhill section consisting of a set of switchbacks which set the nerve ends tingling. I had forgotten how good it felt to nail a bit of trail like this and naturally wanted to do the whole thing again.

Graham, my instructor, was more than happy to show me the quickest way of getting to the top. He pointed to an impossibly steep looking and very loose, gravelly climb. Well, in for a penny as they say.

It may have taken me twenty five minutes to reach the top, with two tumbles along the way, but as Graham likes to say, Challenge Your Boundaries is all about giving a wider range of people the same chance to crash as everyone else.

Lesson learnt, and with all but my dignity intact, I developed the next skill. Re-mounting the bike from the floor. Not a graceful process but I managed.

After reaping the benefits of that hard climb by descending at speed down The Slipway, we headed back up to the visitor centre to assess what the day had brought.

For me it was affirmation that my life as an off-road cyclist hasn't ended, merely adapted to suit my new situation. The method may have changed but the end result is the same, it makes me glad to be alive.

Find out more about Challenge Your Boundaries on their