Face-To-Face: Keith Irving, chief executive of Cycling Scotland

Now nine months into the job, his pride is palpable as he rattles off a growing list of successful initiatives. Yet, the 38-year-old would be the first to admit there is still much hard graft to be done if his ambition of turning Scotland into a nation of cyclists is to be realised.

According to 2013 figures, a mere one per cent of the country's journeys are currently made by bike. More investment is needed, say campaigners, if Scotland is to come anywhere close to emulating the success of countries, such as the Netherlands and Denmark, where cycling accounts for 27 per cent and 13 per cent of journeys respectively.

"There is undoubtedly a lot of work we need to do," says Irving. "We are trying to reverse decades of decline. If you look at the 1950s, the best figures I've seen suggest Scotland had a mode-share for cycling of 15 per cent. That was the same as in Germany at that time.

"There is absolutely nothing to stop us getting more people cycling. Some change will take a long time and the Netherlands have been busy investing ever since the Kindermoord campaigns in 1972.

"You are looking at decades of investment in order to catch-up but that's not to say that you can't see a lot of people cycling in a relatively short period of time."

The Scottish Government budget for active travel - journeys by walking and cycling - has been set at £36million for 2015-16. As part of its Cycling Action Plan, the Scottish Government has a vision of 10 per cent of all journeys to be made by bike by 2020 - a number tied to its low-carbon and obesity strategies. In all honesty, how attainable does Irving believe that is?

"I feel it is ambitious but achievable," he says, with master diplomacy. "There is no doubt it does require a step change in the amount of effort required to help achieve it.

"What we have seen is that you can achieve change very quickly in some cities. Seville is the classic example of that. It has gone from less than one per cent to seven per cent of journeys by bike within six years.

"Change across Scotland will take longer but we are already seeing good progress made in Edinburgh, Inverness and Moray where around 10 per cent of journeys to work are regularly made by bike."

Arguably, however, the catalyst for many people taking up cycling in the UK has been being inspired by the success of athletes such as six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy and 2012 Tour de France winner Sir Bradley Wiggins - a starkly different backdrop to the Dutch and Danish models.

"From my point of view I enjoy cycling because it is the easiest and most convenient way for most of my journeys," says Irving. "I would really like to see more people do that and share my enjoyment.

"Obviously if people are inspired by track cycling and other aspects of the sport then that is great too. We would welcome them on the roads and cycle paths.

"It goes back to this issue that there has been decades of underinvestment and neglect of cycling. What we are now trying to do is transform how Scotland gets around."

The youngest of three children, Irving grew up in Linlithgow, West Lothian. The walls of his childhood bedroom were adorned with posters of his beloved Heart of Midlothian FC ("I still have pictures of Tynecastle on my wall at home to this day") and he enjoyed playing rugby and football.

Irving's father John is a doctor and mother Elspeth a nurse. His elder brother and sister are also doctors. Irving, however, never fancied forging a career in the world of medicine.

"I was always slightly contrary and liked the idea of uphill struggles and working in the third sector," he says, cheerily. "I went to the University of Aberdeen and studied geography."

By his own admission Irving was "a later starter" when it came to learning how to ride a bike. "I didn't do cycle proficiency training at primary school and was eight before I learned all by myself," he says. "By comparison, my own children learned when they were four."

It wasn't until his teens that cycling became an integral part of everyday life. "I stayed just under two miles from my high school and it was the easiest way to get there and back," he recalls. "I then lived in Japan for a couple of years and commuted by bike. I was a late starter but it is now my first instinct when it comes to getting around."

Prior to joining Cycling Scotland, Irving spent five years researching policy development at the Scottish Parliament before going on to work for the regional transport partnership SEStran for two years and then at Living Streets Scotland for six years.

Away from work, life revolves around spending time with his wife Susi, a secondary school faculty head, and their children Izzy, six, and Ally, four.

"We share season tickets at Tynecastle, go out cycling as a family and spend extensive amounts of times in parks and forests," says Irving. "Occasionally I get away to the pub with friends."

He has a natty line in cycling-themed anecdotes, recounting a lecture in which transport planning expert Malcolm Buchanan talked about his experiences in Shanghai a decade ago advising the Chinese authorities.

"The Chinese officials were very clear that they wanted to get away from the stereotype of a mass of people cycling," says Irving. "That was seen as a symptom of China being a backwards country and they wanted to illustrate their growth to the world.

"There is an irony in that it is exactly what we are trying to reverse and say: 'Actually, the way of the future is to cater for people to ride bikes.' We have learned that you can't cater for absolutely everyone to drive a car for every journey."

If China wants to follow the latest trends, says Irving, he hopes it will look to cities like London which has seen major investment in bike specific infrastructure such as Cycle Superhighways.

"London has seen an incredible increase in cycling for lots of reasons and it shows there is demand out there," he says. "But with the best will in the world, Scotland doesn't have the available budget that London has.

"The crucial thing about the Cycle Superhighways is that it is re-allocation of road space, taking a lane currently for cars and giving it to people riding bikes. That is a brave political step to take and one we want to see happen in Scotland."

Irving reels off an impressive claim to Scotland's pivotal role in the shaping of cycling: the invention of the rear-wheel driven bicycle (Kirkpatrick MacMillan), the rubber tyre (Robert Thomson/John Dunlop) and the Macadam process for building roads (John Loudon McAdam).

"It's fair to say Scotland has an extremely rich cycling history," he says. "That is something we should celebrate and be proud of. We haven't just invented the television, telephone and all the things that encourage sedentary behaviour. We have invented things that encourage physical activity as well."

It is his hope to continue that strong tradition with initiatives such as Bikeability Scotland, the modern equivalent of cycling proficiency training, and Pedal For Scotland, the nation's largest mass participation bike ride which attracted a record 10,500 people last year.

"When I was interviewed for the job I said I wanted to make it possible, practical and pleasant for more people to cycle," he says. "In terms of my philosophy in life I'm very mission driven, hence why I work in the third sector. Getting more people on bikes gets me out of bed in the morning."