I do this sometimes, if I delay writing, or speaking about s'thing special I've done. I tend to loose it. But at 8am on Saturday Steve Marsden arrived at my house in the the mini bus to collect me and Ziggy. Ooooh how exciting, I was nearly as excited at the prospect of having Steves captive attention, as I was at the thought of Dalby! But not really!!!
Steve didn't give me any warning, because he wasn't sure himself, what it would be like. And how blessed we were with the weather!! We were given a table, and a coouple of gazebos, to call home. There were so many familiar faces, from the CTC I can't begin to tell you, other than Gavin, Therese, and Steve Bailey. Oh and one of the Dans?? I then met a couple of guys who were actually placed there from.....? the forestry commision, and Dalby itself. I got on particulally well with Mark, and after 30mins we were planning our escape into the forest, me on Ziggy and him on a KMX.
It was brilliant, the trees were lovely, and we had no problem getting around the gates. Because there was no chance of going through the gate like the guys on the 2 wheelers.
I tried the Skills trail 1 (blue??) all the paths and trails were colour coded. I chose the easiest. Which was very easy, but i was going very slowly. I moved onto the medium skilled trail. But Ziggy balanced like a see saw, on these tree routes
:(
Back at the stall, I wasn't intirely sure what we were doing?? I just smiled, inanely!!
Mark and I soon got itchy feet again though, and we chose the side by side. (if people weren't coming to us, we would search them out! and we had great fun douing it! The beauty of Dalby was (and don't ask me how???) But everywhere's down hill.
3.15pm and it was time for me to say goodbye, to all the lovely folk, I'd met.
I'll put some pics on when Therese, sends me some.
Hey just a thought, this guy knew of s'one who was giving away a 16' electric Brompton wheel. And he reckoned, I'd be able to use it on Ziggy???? What does everyone think???
For the Brompton wheel you need to discuss it with Ziggy's experts, and also take into account that you would need batteries and a charger to work it.
ReplyDeleteThe batteries would also be extra weight and the charger would need to be plugged in to Ziggy's cave.
But if you could make it work it would help on the hills and boosting you round your nemesis roundabout. Till the batteries went flat, then you would just have extra weight to push.
Best
Pete
Most 16" 'electric' wheels are front wheels for the Brompton and it's not much use without the system to drive it round (that is more than just plugging in a battery).
ReplyDeleteVery odd that this was being offered as a give-away deal, as the electric kits (good ones) are expensive. Some Brompton owners might be interested. Any idea what sort of motor it was - Heinzmann are the original type used - big and heavier than modern options, but that might suit some folk. Best is to advertise it in Electric Bike Magazine - published in York.
I don't have to fit it do I? To go on Ziggy it would have to be a rear wheel - and then it'd replace your existing rear gearing so probably problematic.......
ReplyDeleteRob
:) You were going to be my first call Rob? Can you think of an easier way? Because I really feel, as if i've come as far as I can, without the extra assistance, I would need, to get up hills.
ReplyDeleteTricky - Dave The Man is right - these things tend to be expensive... Most any option is going to involve replacing a critical (expensive) part of Ziggy and require some creative rework to keep her rideable as she is now...
ReplyDelete1) Lower gears
ReplyDelete2) More (regular) cycling - daily cycle commuters build up their stamina and output - build in a regular ride, build-up to riding in to Sheffield - for me that's under 30 minutes each way at a steady and purposeful pace. I might get it down to 20 minutes with some bike tuning, load dumping and training.
So for Hillsborough that would be around 40-45 minutes, but go round the contour of the hill - faster than Dial a Wait. Do it the first few times with a buddy and ride steadily via quieter roads, ultimately you will find that the main routes are slightly faster , and outside the busy times there is the advantage that you get a bus lane and won't have a queue of traffic building up