Daughter suggested we take the grandaughters out for a ride today, & we settled on a trip to Cardinham woods.
Off we went, 4 ebikes & 1 mtb in son-in-law's smart new works van, only to find there are now walking trails, on which bikes are requested not to ride; and mtb singletracks - blue (moderate) h red (difficult).
Nothing for families with kids in trailers etc. After checking out a couple of trails & asking loads of people, came to the conclusion that everyone rides where they damn well please anyway, so had a bit of a wobble 'round a couple of the walking trails with no problems & met families cycling to boot.
By this time the kids were getting fractious & just wanted to play in the stream - It was 'ot! - so Simon suggested we Men have a looksee at the blue trail: Now, I have a road/trail Kraken & a trail/track bouncer: Muggins was on the Kraken - trekking tyres& front drive & Simon hqd the bouncer - knobblies & gng chain drive.
I didn't do well - managed 3 km without falling clean off, but it was close; strangely, 250w felt like it was enough, but the front wheel was all over the shop on the dry uphill bits (and there were Lots of those): Nearly went over a couple of steep drops, so discretion/valour etc. Took the easy way down to the riverside trail for an icecream with the kids.
Simon completed the blue - 1st time offroad for many years & had a squint at bits of the red, but decided he'd probably rip the motor off the bike if he gave it beans.
Debriefing the rides - pedelec could be a liability at times; thumb throttle was ace: 250w was enough to negotiate the stiff bits & the whole thing was thoroughly enjoyable on a reasonable offroad bike.
Conclusion - I WANT A HAIBIKE for Christmas
I'll add a couple of pictures from the laptop inna minnit - Hurry up with that app, Russ. Uploading pics is a pita on a 7" tablet.
Off we went, 4 ebikes & 1 mtb in son-in-law's smart new works van, only to find there are now walking trails, on which bikes are requested not to ride; and mtb singletracks - blue (moderate) h red (difficult).
Nothing for families with kids in trailers etc. After checking out a couple of trails & asking loads of people, came to the conclusion that everyone rides where they damn well please anyway, so had a bit of a wobble 'round a couple of the walking trails with no problems & met families cycling to boot.
By this time the kids were getting fractious & just wanted to play in the stream - It was 'ot! - so Simon suggested we Men have a looksee at the blue trail: Now, I have a road/trail Kraken & a trail/track bouncer: Muggins was on the Kraken - trekking tyres& front drive & Simon hqd the bouncer - knobblies & gng chain drive.
I didn't do well - managed 3 km without falling clean off, but it was close; strangely, 250w felt like it was enough, but the front wheel was all over the shop on the dry uphill bits (and there were Lots of those): Nearly went over a couple of steep drops, so discretion/valour etc. Took the easy way down to the riverside trail for an icecream with the kids.
Simon completed the blue - 1st time offroad for many years & had a squint at bits of the red, but decided he'd probably rip the motor off the bike if he gave it beans.
Debriefing the rides - pedelec could be a liability at times; thumb throttle was ace: 250w was enough to negotiate the stiff bits & the whole thing was thoroughly enjoyable on a reasonable offroad bike.
Conclusion - I WANT A HAIBIKE for Christmas
I'll add a couple of pictures from the laptop inna minnit - Hurry up with that app, Russ. Uploading pics is a pita on a 7" tablet.
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