Yesterday, Carole had her first real taste of off road action of the two-wheeled-pedal-powered variety - and she did really well! This was the first off road action for her new steed too - you remember the one: it came with added bad customer service, free of charge. And I will finish that story. It isn't pretty - I may need to put an age-warning on that one.
But back to yesterday. The weather was dry (but perhaps not as warm as we would have liked) and I wanted somewhere quiet where Carole could get used to the bike, and hills, and rocks, and trees, and tuna toasties. So, off to Glentrool! Sadly, the hot chocolate machine in the visitor centre was on the fritz, but everything else was just as we needed it to be, and a wee jaunt along the Big Country Route for a few kilometres taught us a few things:
- I'm not as hopelessly out of shape as I thought - but not far off.
- Carole made friends with some hills on the way up, and didn't fall out - or off - on the way down.
- People you meet on the trails are nice.
The views, as always, were spectacular. Three hundred and sixty degrees of trees, and hills, and trails, and sky. With one farmhouse, one land rover, eleventy billion sheep and, in the distance, one wind farm.
So, happy that Carole had enjoyed herself, and happy to be out in the good weather. Happy happy happy.
And today we visited The Scottish Bike Show. For a geek like me, drooling at all the shiny, shiny bikes, I knew I would enjoy myself. Bike of show - a droolworthy Trek Remedy 9, although the wooden bicycles were kinda cool. If I were the kind of person who had a workshop, I could see a winter project on the cards...
Other noteworthy elements:
- The guy promoting Hoo Ha Ride Glide - did a good job of promoting the girliest of products. I'm trying to persuade Carole to review the product...
- Purple Harry, for the product, and for the best hippo-related logo.
- The tiny kiddies on the tiny mountain bikes battering round the Tirol Austria bike track with scant regard for faceplants and splinters. Awesome!
The BMX dudes were pretty exciting to watch but, for me, the 7 Stanes Display Team was the live show of the event. You've seen this stuff on YouTube but, until you've seen it up close - and I mean really close, you can't appreciate how hard this is, and how easy they make it look. Check them out, and while you're there have a look at Bottle Green Biking, too.
I really enjoyed the event, and managed NOT to part with any hard earned pennies - until having to pay the extortionists who run the car park £6.00!
Sorry, Jonny14, didn't see any Trail Scotland stickers though!
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