This is where we are going to get down to the real nitty-gritty nuts and bolts of what a skinflint I am when it comes to doing things like this.  I’m the kind of guy that edges into the swimming pool millimetre at a time, in the vain hope that if it’s too cold I can back out and not have to worry about drying half of my body! .. Okay, I’m not that bad, but I’m not going to be going out and buying the whole family a set of Giant or Specialised bikes for them to site in the garden shed 11.5 months of the year anytime soon.  Neither am I an Apple fan, based on the fact that I don’t want to spend that much money on what is a very nicely designed piece of technology, but in my opinion a slightly over-hyped and overly expensive version of something that I can get for half the price and eke out just as much fun.  So you may have worked out that I hate paying for phone apps, or big brand names.  Call me Harold Steptoe if you will, but I would rather not spend money on something that I will probably give up after a few uses.   I will admit that I have found that certain mega-cheap items are a false economy, eBay screen protectors and generic phone cases being my latest examples, and after experiencing and then buying a genuine Spigen phone case, I will not be going back to the cheap plastic knock-off cases for my Samsung S8 ever.

Back to the crux of this post, what have I got, and how did I get it?  Well my current bike replaced my 20+ year old Raleigh Max Ogre Mountain bike that had been sat dormant for a good portion of that 20 years if I’m honest.  It served me well, and I had no complaints, but after watching the kids getting full suspension bikes, I felt like it was time for one of my own, and after a few weeks looking for a replacement for my son’s bike, I stumbled across a Dunlop Sport full suspension bike that had very little use on the Shpock app.  I think I paid about £50 for it, and was really quite pleased with it.. a few little tweaks, and a couple of transplants from my faithful old Max Ogre, and it was ready for some treks out and about.  It was also highlighted that I was supposed to be looking for a bike for my son!   I’ll cover more about the bike, its tweaks and transplants later on.  I did find a bike, again a full suspension bike, for my son this time on eBay for about £20 in reasonable condition although it did require a little attention and a jolly good clean, but overall a good bike and it’s showing its worth now that we are starting to get some miles under it.  The bike my wife is riding is an almost new bike in gorgeous pink, one previous lady owner, with an addition of a front basket courtesy of Halfords.

I like to track my exercise on the bike using a variety of methods so that I can remind myself that I haven’t been quite so dormant as I thought or of course prompt myself to get out and do something when I have been dormant for a while, all of which I will try to cover in some following posts.  I have a £40 Fitbit (eBay) linked to the Strava app (free), and Bluetooth connection to my phone for connected GPS.  I have also just started using the ViewRanger app(free) for cycle routes and tracking, with the aim to upload these tracks for other families that don’t want to cycle on major or busy roads too much. I’ll post links to all of these things as we go.  Most recently of all, I purchased what is pretty much the cheapest roof bar / bike carrier combo I could find on the internet.  I have to say, I’m loving it!  Cruz bars and carriers, although some minor adjustments have been needed, are really proving their worth, and as yet I have no complaints.  I’ll do a post / review on these as well later on.  The first time I have ever done this and it was great.  I strapped it all on, drove to the next town, got the bike down, cycled out into the countryside and amazed myself at what was on my own doorstep.  I felt good, not endorphin good like you are supposed to after an energetic exercise regime , but calm and smiley good for having had an hour and a bit of time to myself, on a mainly flat gravely fun path and really enjoyed every minute.

Each time I have been out so far, I have added an extra family member, and although I have heard some moaning such as “My Legs Hurt” or “I’m not going that fast down that hill..” as we go around the route, by at the end there is a (so far) positive comment, mainly about getting out and about doing something that we wouldn’t have otherwise done.  Getting away from screens (although Pokemon Go! seems to be compatible with bike riding and stopping at remote places to catch balls or gyms and whatnot, but does ease the complaining about the legs at times) although it does seem that there is a pub at one end or the other of these routes so far!  It seems like we have a good recipe for a summer of pubs, views, cardio and blogging.

Please feel free to comment and if there is anything you would like to ask please do, I will try my best to answer and Qs