Why do these threads always attract the nutter/angry contingent?
A few points:
The new vehicle didn’t seem particularly slower overall than the Transits when I was last there.
Riding up is a fairly boring and miserable experience unless you’re a Lycra type and/or STW pootler on the descents. It’s not a loop, so unless you like riding up the same bit of track 7 times in a day I fail to see why you wouldn’t get an uplift.
If there were some sort of conspiracy to slow the whole system down I doubt BPW would have spent considerable effort and time widening the access road recently.
JP
As I'm a fully paid up member of the transit crew, a driving god and someone who's dad was an ex rally driver I would love (Just a 1/2 day mind) to drive those transits up the hill. All those folk who polish and fettle their bike after every ride would be begging for the slow truck after a few rides up with wrighty.
Kenneththecurtain doesn't just work on them.....he actually drives one of those dafs through choice - and maintains it him self.
How ever his other vehicle is an ex military ambulance that is more rust and silicone than metal.
There now. One run in the biggun. Hell.
Like something out of Tenko.
Not been to BPW but, the from reading the above maybe there is a missed oppertunity.
Put air conditioning inside the transport area and a real time video feed of the trails - or if that is too dodgy/illegal/expensive, at least a looping video of some go-pro footage or similar.
Blimey there are some delicate little snowflakes out there.
How hot and sweaty would you get actually riding up the hill? (heaven forbid)
Nowt wrong with the truck itself - I might even have assembled a bit of it during my apprenticeship. Leyland DAF T244 - about 4500 built for the MOD plus others for electricity boards etc (civilian ones still went out with the roof hatch, gun mounts and camo hooks - just not painted green). Brakes were full air drums (not air over hydraulic).
They remained in service for a long time with spares support so probably one of the more practical ex-military propositions. You can still buy pallets of stuff and rebuild kits from MOD auctions (I've certainly seen NOS cabs and axles which would probably be the more model specific bits). A number of parts were shared with the 45 series which are still easy enough to find. Almost nothing common with the LF.
There is something different about closed space hot. You can stop if you're not riding but you can't easily take of clothing when jamed in a truck.
Riding up is a fairly boring and miserable experience unless you’re a Lycra type and/or STW pootler on the descents. It’s not a loop, so unless you like riding up the same bit of track 7 times in a day I fail to see why you wouldn’t get an uplift.
TBF Sitting in a van is fairly boring and miserable too, but I don't think anyone pedals up at BPW because it's some sort of life defining experience, it's simply that it's not that hard and it's ~£30 cheaper so after a couple of pedal up visits you're almost feeling flush enough to buy food at their cafe. You certainly Don't have to be a "Lycra type"...
Of course the smart way to do it is pay your tenner, winch to the top, do a blue or red to the fire road, repeat a couple of times, then a full run down for a snack. After elevenses pedal back up, do a couple more halfway runs, then maybe two or three full top to bottom runs (obviously with the need to pedal back up each time) till your spent. Maybe if you still have the energy and there's a space, pay for a single lift up to finish off the day?
Honestly the uplift isn't essential to enjoying a day at BPW, its nice to be able to get more runs in and save the energy that winching uses up, but the "Grunt:Reward Ratio" if you pedal up is actually pretty good.
TBH it depends what you want from your day. If BPW is local then pedalling up makes total sense. If it's a rare visit then you want to get the max out of the day and for most people that means uplift. Nothing wrong with either.
almost feeling flush enough to buy food at their cafe
Dont find the cafe that expensive compared to getting a burger or hot meal anywhere else!
