It's 20 years since Mick Gayfer last ran around in the AFL. While the former Collingwood defender no longer sports the flowing mullet that was a constant during his playing days, he looks barely a day older than when he wore the famous black and white stripes.

Gayfer has been a fitness fanatic since his teenage years. Now 48, he has become a passionate cyclist in the past decade, and it was during the recent 'Footy Greats Bike Ride' - a five-day, 300km fundraising jaunt from Toora in Gippsland to the Melbourne suburb of Elwood - that AFL Media caught up with him.

"To be honest, I really enjoy it," Gayfer said. "I've always been someone who has enjoyed training or getting into the gym. After I finished playing footy I got into kayaking - did the Murray River marathon and a few other things.

"Then I got into cycling. Four years ago, a few mates and I went and followed the Tour de France around. We rode some of the alps on the morning before the professional riders rode them. We did a lot of watching the race, but we also rode 100 to 120km each day. It was fantastic."

Known as the Human Blanket during his playing days, because of the way he harassed opposition forwards, Gayfer was an unfashionable but highly effective player during his eight-season, 142-game career at Collingwood. And he holds a special place in the hearts of the Magpies faithful, thanks to being a member of the club's drought-breaking 1990 premiership.

"I understand I was never the most naturally talented player, in terms of skills or speed or that sort of thing," he acknowledged. "I had to work pretty hard to get the most out of my career, so I'm pretty happy with everything I achieved."

Delisted by Collingwood at the age of 28, Gayfer enjoyed a long career in bush footy after leaving the Magpies. His greatest days at grassroots level came during a three-year stint at Goulburn Valley league club Tatura.

"I went up to Tatura for three years, and (ex-Sydney Swans and Collingwood ruck-rover) Paul Hawke was the coach," he said. "In the first year, Trevor Poole, who was at Richmond and Geelong, travelled up with me. My wife also came up and played netball, and we both really enjoyed it.

"Tatura became a home away from home. We'd go up there each weekend, get involved in whatever was happening on the Saturday night, play nine holes of golf on Sunday morning, then cruise back to Melbourne."

In his second year at Tatura, in 1995, Gayfer helped Tatura break a 42-year premiership drought. "The town went off," he recalled with a chuckle.

The following year the Bulldogs made the Grand Final again, and they were red-hot favourites to beat Kyabram in the big game.

However, they suffered a shock loss. "I think a lot of our young guys thought we just had to turn up," Gayfer remembered. "They had a guy sent off early as well, so we were playing against only 17 men. But we couldn't get into the game."

Gayfer transferred to Melbourne suburban club East Ringwood for the 1997 season, but a bulging disc in his back limited his impact. So bad was the pain in his back, he decided to hang up his boots. Yet his retirement was short.

"Tatura chased one of my brothers, Tony, to come over from Rutherglen to be captain-coach, and he took the job," Gayfer explained.

"Another brother, Peter, came back from overseas and started playing there as well.

"So Tony would ring me up each week and say, 'Come up and play,' but I kept telling him my back was no good. Plus, I was back at Collingwood doing some fitness stuff and working as Tony Shaw's runner on match-days.

"But Tony talked me into getting a clearance back to Tatura, and I think I played eight of the last 10 games that year. We ended up winning the flag, so it was all worthwhile."

Gayfer has six brothers in all (and a sister). The youngest of them, Will, who is 20 years younger than Mick, looked set to make it to the AFL after a great performance for the Murray Bushrangers in the 2003 TAC Cup Grand Final. But he was ignored in that year's national and rookie drafts and never reached the highest level.

"Will is the only one I haven't played a game of footy with," Mick said. "Will has been playing at The Basin (in Division 4 of Melbourne's Eastern league) in the past couple of years, and we tried to set it up for me to play one or two games with him. Some in the club were keen for me to come out and do it, but a few weren't so keen. It didn't work out."

Away from footy, Gayfer studied architectural drafting at university during his playing days at Collingwood. These days he runs a flourishing business that specialises in fitting out office space for clients big and small.

On weekends, much of Gayfer's time is spent encouraging his three daughters, aged between 11 and 16, who are all promising soccer players.

"I've ended up coaching soccer for seven years now," he added. "It's one of those things where not enough people hop in and help, so I started coaching my oldest girls when they were seven and eight. I coached them through to under-14s. Now I'm coaching my youngest girl.

"I used to think soccer was quite boring due to the lack of scoring. It wasn't until the girls got involved that I began to understand the technical side and the strategy of it. Now I appreciate the game for what it is. And I can see a lot of tactics coming into the AFL from soccer - the possession game, the press, those kinds of things."

When he's not working or ferrying his kids around, Gayfer can often be found cruising along a road near his home, clad in lycra.

"I do a lot of cycling in the morning, but I also have a pretty decent gym at home," he said. "I like to get my neighbours involved. We have a cross-training session on Monday mornings with people from our neighbourhood.

"On Wednesdays and Fridays I get together with my next door neighbour and a guy from up the road and we throw a few weights around. Since he started, my next door neighbour has lost 15kg, so it's all going really well."

Six Pointers
What do you like most about the game?
"The competition and the contest."

What don't you like?
"My girls and I find it really hard to get to as many games as we'd like to. Collingwood always seems to be in the primetime TV slots, which don't work for us with the girls' soccer commitments. More Saturday afternoon games would be perfect."

What would you change about the game?
"Not much. A lot of people complain about the way the game is played, but it evolves and has always evolved. I still enjoy the contest side of it."

Favourite player and why?
"Harry O'Brien (now known as Heritier Lumumba) is one of the girls' favourites. We all love Harry. My middle daughter was a big Dale Thomas fan, so she's not happy at the moment."

How many operations have you had?
"I had a knee reconstruction and a knee cleanout. I had stress fractures in my feet, so I had screws put in both of them. That's probably about it."

How will your former club Collingwood go next year?
"I think they've done well in the recent trade period and they've brought in some high draft picks. I think Bucks will keep developing the side next year and they'll go well."