Biking

My posts on fitting motors to bikes:

Hase Pino
Pino Update – fitting a second battery
Cannondale
HPV Scorpion recumbent trike
Karon’s Roberts Swytchbike
Ebike battery care

Links to Tandem Groups on Facebook:

Tandem Club
Dawes 
Circe 
Orbit 
Claud Butler 
Thorn 
Bike Friday 
Mercian 
Hase Pino 

Bob’s bikes, past and present
My YouTube channel – mostly cycling clips
Our Land’s End to John O’Groats (LEJOG) ride in the summer of 2012
The Tweed Run
Our ride from home to the Mediterranean in 2019

Like many folks, I’ve always had a bike and Karon has had one much of the time too. In the past neither of us were what would be called ‘keen’, though I did take my cyclist’s badge in the Scouts, cycling from home in Blewbury, Oxfordshire to the scout campsite near Christmas Common, on the ridge above Watlington.

MTB riding on the London to Brighton off-road ride.
Video of the ride here.

It was after I had given up karaté in the early 90s that I bought my first mountain bike to explore the local paths and tracks near home that the bug bit me proper. I started Mountain Bike Orienteering, having been in our very successful regimental orienteering team in the Army. This kept me occupied and muddy on many weekends and I went through a succession of bikes as I wanted something faster, lighter or better equipped for the task.

My off-road, steel framed, Rohloff geared Qubic, very similar to my Solitude. I fitted the Bafang motor in 2021.
Read the story of my Solitude and why I have its twin, the Qubic.

Karon had ridden on and off, over the years and I remember borrowing her ‘shopper’ before we were married to get back to my digs from her parent’s place a few times. Later, married, settled and with the kids at school, she went back to work locally and borrowed one of my bikes to commute – come rain or shine, virtually every day.

Karon and our Pino on a trip to Scotland 2019.
On tour, returning through the Hampshire Hills after riding from home to the Mediterranean in 2019.
Our French epic: Riding from home to the Med.

I’d always enjoyed riding to work when I could, and as the kids got older, I could do so more often as I was no longer needed for the school run. Eventually I added a light touring bike to the stable which was great for the 40-mile round trip I made a couple of days a week to my workplace at the time.

My titanium light touring Lynskey. Perfect for fast commutes.

We added Bromptons to the list, to take in the car, on the train or plane, to give us the freedom and mobility they bring when we are away and enjoyed a long weekend in Paris making full use of them to explore.

Karon with the Bromptons at Camden Lock as we bag a ‘BCQ’. The Brommys are perfect for leaving the car out of town and riding in, or taking on the train etc. We took them to Paris on British Airways, though they had to go in the hold, but were great for getting around the city and keeping safe in our hotel room overnight.

And I had always hankered after a recumbent trike, so talked myself into buying a second-hand one when the chance came along. Later I added an electric motor to it.

My electrified HPV Scorpion FS20. These trikes are fast on the flat, but being heavy, slow on climbs. There’s no need for a motor on the flat but the assistance from the motor on climbs makes a big difference. I sold the trike in 2021.

A couple that we sometimes rode with or met with at the odd cycling event had a red Roberts tandem that Karon drooled over. In 2009 we had the opportunity to buy a well looked after, second-hand Thorn Explorer tandem. It wasn’t a Roberts but it was a bargain, so we bought it and gave it a go. If it didn’t work out, we could sell it for as much, if not more than we paid for it.

The Thorn Explorer that got us into tandeming.

A couple of years later, we decided to buy a tandem more suited to our needs, so sold the Thorn and bought our favourite mount – our Hase Pino. With health issues, Karon has always been limited in how far she could ride, but the Pino is perfect for her and allows us to go on much longer rides than we ever would on solos.

Our Cannondale T2 in Oxford. This is our light, fast tandem which we use on day rides and the odd sportive, even time-trials! Our Hase Pino is heavier and a lot more comfy for Karon – it’s the tandem we use for touring or more sedate day rides.

I dabbled in track riding for several years, never being any good at it but it was something I enjoyed immensely. So, you can see, between us we’ve had a good collection of steeds over the years, and still maintain a well-stocked bike shed, but these days most of our riding is on the tandem.

After three years of riding one of my bikes to work every day, Karon decided a handbuilt ‘Roberts’ was what she wanted – every time she saw one, she drooled over it and convinced herself a Roberts was the bike for her. Cost-wise it wasn’t too bad and not much more than a good, medium spec off-the-shelf bike from one of the top brands. A trip to Croydon and she was measured up and chatted to Chas so he could determine exactly what she was after. A couple of months later we were back to collect it and of course, it was a perfect fit.

Karon collects her bike from Chas Roberts.

When we retired we decided to start bagging ‘BCQs’ (British Cycle Quest). It’s a scheme run by Cycling UK to encourage folks to get out to more far-flung places. There are six ‘clues’ in most counties to find and answer. With 402 across the British Isles including the Orkneys and Shetlands, there are plenty, spread far and wide. So far we’ve managed most near to home and when we go away, if we can, we’ll take the tandem or Bromptons, so we can bag another clue or two if we have time.

Follow the links below to find out what we’ve done in the past, what we ride and where we ride. Some of the pages are on our ‘old’ website and have not been updated for some time.

Bob’s bikes, past and present
My YouTube channel – mostly cycling clips
Our Land’s End to John O’Groats (LEJOG) ride in the summer of 2012
The Tweed Run
Our ride from home to the Mediterranean in 2019