Shaun Ryder quit drugs by going cycling.

The Black Grape and Happy Mondays frontman has previously spoken about his use of heroin and ecstacy and says it took mammoth 15-hour bike rides to curb his cravings for narcotics.

He said: ''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 had previously had an implant surgically inserted in his stomach to help him quit heroin but he admits it was ''disastrous'' because he thought he'd go through withdrawal while unconscious and then wake up ''feeling fine'', only to discover that wasn't the case.

He told the Guardian newspaper: ''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***ing murderous.''

And the 'Step On' hitmaker admitted he has had a number of near-death experiences during his eventful life.

He said: ''When you come close to death, everything slows down. It's happened to me a few times.

''Car crashes where the car has flipped around and bounced; an emergency landing in a plane crash; a few guns shoved in my eyeballs.''

The 54-year-old rocker was struck by debilitating panic attacks just two years ago, but is ''glad'' he didn't have them earlier in his career or he'd never have achieved all the things he did.

He said: ''I had my first panic attack at 52 years of age. I'm glad it came when it did. If I'd had one as a young lad I don't think I'd have been able to have a career. It's the most debilitating thing I've come across in my life.''