Issue 142: Last Word | My Ride Pal

Column

by 11

Hannah has found a new friend to ride with.I have a new ride buddy. I’ve known him all his life and when he was younger he rode quite a lot,…

There's more to this story...

BUT IT'S A MEMBER-ONLY STORY.
JOIN US TO UNLOCK IT AND MORE FOR LESS THAN 6p/DAY

If you have an account, please log in. If not, you can get access to some of our features by registering here for free.

View Membership Options
Make a Donation

A message from all of us at Singletrack magazine

For over 20 years Singletrack has been a source of information, news and entertainment for millions of mountain bike enthusiasts and as an important focal point for an amazing community of like minded riders from around the world. But it has also been a provider of jobs and income for dozens of families of our team as well as a source of revenue for hundreds of freelance contributors.

We want to keep going through this uncertain period and create great content to inform and entertain you, but we will need your help to do it. More than anything else we want to have a reciprocal relationship with you and the best way to make that happen is through our memberships. We’d love you to join us as a paid member of the Singletrack community – we promise you a return on your investment through the content we have and will create for you plus the numerous added benefits included with all our membership options.

Author Profile Picture
Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.

More posts from Hannah
Overview Chat Bike Members News Women
Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
  • Issue 142: Last Word | My Ride Pal
  • Esme
    Free Member

    Aww, that brought back some lovely memories, albeit in a different sport.
    Hang on to that Tow-Whee, it’ll be useful again in a couple of decades . . . 😉

    Posted 2 years ago
    Harry_the_Spider
    Full Member

    I’ve had one of those for the last couple of years. He’s 14 now and quicker than me, but I won’t admit it to him just yet.

    Posted 2 years ago
    gazzab1955
    Full Member

    Both my “boys” are in their 30’s now, but I remember the youngest finally beating me at Squash, he never looked back and I rarely got close to him after that. I can still out do the eldest on an MTB, but he doesn’t ride that often and bench presses huge weights that make me sweat just looking at them 🙂

    Posted 2 years ago
    explorerboy
    Full Member

    This really made me smile this morning. I’ll be a first time Dad in less than 7 weeks (fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!) and I’m really hoping that I’ll be having similar experiences in the future. Of course, I wont be pushing them into any sport and I’ll support them in whatever activities they choose to do, but I really hope they’ll enjoy berking around on bikes with their Old Man.

    Posted 2 years ago
    Pyro
    Full Member

    You can still ride together as long as you want, but the roles, ultimately, reverse.

    I’m 41 and I regularly ride with my 75 year old Dad. The trails have got tamer – mainly roads, back lanes, gravel rather than MTB trails nowadays – but we’ve done some longer tours like Hadrian’s Wall, the Sandstone Way, John Muir Way and others. I’m now his domestique, it’s my job to deal with the logistics and pack the snacks, plot the GPS track so we can navigate from a Garmin rather than the guidebook on his bars, remind him to eat and drink regularly, and mainly be on the front to block the headwinds, and be the one to take the pictures so the trip’s recorded. With a few health issues that he’s had, I’m also there to keep an eye that he’s still upright and rolling, not keeled over in a ditch. We take it in turns to buy coffees and lunches, we chat a lot, and we generally have a good time. It doesn’t have to be a competition.

    Posted 2 years ago
    thegeneralist
    Free Member

    Made me sad. I love riding with my kids, but they so rarely come out any more.

    😫

    Enjoy it.

    Posted 2 years ago
    tourismo
    Full Member

    Lovely article. My eldest is 10 and I love going riding with him, and I know what you mean about good line choice, he certainly didn’t learn that from me! It’s been great watching him progress and more importantly enjoy riding. I love the way kids ride, they don’t worry about pacing themselves, it’s flat out, take a breather then repeat. As adults I think we can be in danger of taking riding too seriously. At the end of the day we’re all just playing on bicycles, it’s good to be reminded of this by our own kids!

    Posted 2 years ago
    arkike
    Free Member

    I was about to say that sounds like the start of a romance and your husband should be worried, until I got to the end 😃 which makes me laugh.
    I started mountain biking with my son since he was 5, he has been my riding buddy ever.
    When he was 6 he was riding red trails, at his 7s he was racing XC and won 4 races. At 8 yrs he was riding the hardest classic Peak District routes without any help on the climbs.
    Just before he turned 9 he started to ride so fast that I couldn’t chase him on the downhills anymore. Then last year he raced DH a couple of times in a Bike Park, finishing second in his first race.
    He just turned 10 and his interest in MTB has fallen.
    We rarely rode this winter, like only once a month during 6 months. We’ve just started to ride Sundays but he is all the time asking when we’re back home? He is still a kid and has other interests. So, I let him decide what he wants but I will take him more to bike parks this year to have some fun together.

    Posted 2 years ago
    Harry_the_Spider
    Full Member

    Went out for a spin with The Boy yesterday. Not been riding much as I’ve buggered my knee up, so this was a treat.

    Half way round he informed me that he would “burn me off” in the final 400m… so 800m out I dropped him and he never recovered. A small victory, but I’ll take it while I still can.

    https://www.strava.com/activities/6961001271

    Posted 2 years ago
    jamj1974
    Full Member

    You can still ride together as long as you want, but the roles, ultimately, reverse.

    I’m 41 and I regularly ride with my 75 year old Dad.

    I love the fact the rides have continued, Pyro.

    Posted 2 years ago
    reeksy
    Full Member

    Love this.
    My two are keen riders, and watching them progress is such an incredible experience.
    On Sunday the younger one had to isolate for the virus so I got to ride with just the 10 y/o.
    He informed me that he’d worked out which trails we’d be riding at our ‘mini North shore’ park, proceeded to take all the a-lines, do heaps of jump practice, a couple of fast as you can Strava runs and finished up on the gnarly dh run.
    Monday morning at breakfast he asked if I’d be getting him off the bus on Tuesday as he’d like to ride with me again. Sorry mate, I can’t… but we can go again today if you like? Boom, off we went again for a second morning in a row!

    Posted 2 years ago
Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

Overview Chat Bike Members News Women