Hired a couple of Whyte HTs & spent a few hours bumbling around Aston Court/Leigh woods trying to remember/learn how to ride. My GF came along & (much to my surprise) enjoyed it way more than she expected! (& was great)

Here are my observations:

1. Riding bikes is brilliant! 😀
2. Big wheels actually make a difference (I assumed it was a load of marketing BS so was genuinely surprised)
3. It was great to see so many families out on the trails (some of those little kids were teeny but amazing!)
4. Wide bars & super short stems feel weird… but then brilliant
5. Seeing a bunch of older riders out on their ebikes was ace (& gave me hope for my not so distant future!)
6. Hardtails are way comfier with massive tires (a very pleasant surprise!)
7. Slack head angles are super confidence inspiring
8. I can’t wait to find/buy a bike of my own & get out there again!

Welcome back.

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4. Wide bars & super short stems feel weird… but then brilliant

Just take a chainsaw with you if you ride familiar trails because you’re going to be clipping trees that you used to ride around with ease.

Oh yes. 👌

Yeah, and those trails are fairly easy but feel good with the little flow sections of rollers and berms in Ashton Court. I find the marked trails in Leigh Woods less fun but it’s nice to mix up 2 slightly different centres both close to each other.

Glad you enjoyed it – there’s so much good riding within an hour of Bristol too – you’re spoiled for choice.

Whyte make decent hardtails too – if you bought some of those you wouldn’t go too far wrong.

brilliant.

Thanks guys, it’s good to be back.

those trails are fairly easy but feel good with the little flow sections of rollers and berms in Ashton Court

Yes, the trails haven’t changed much in 10 years (though very different to the mud quire I first rode at Ashton Court & I don’t think it’s a coincidence that those narrow sections have disappeared now that bars have doubled in width @hols2!).

But the trails were great fun for minimal input, which suited me (& my distinct lack of fitness/skill) pretty perfectly. And sitting on the grass, chatting with my girlfriend, enjoying the sunshine & that slight post ride ache was pretty perfect too.

It was definitely one of those days that made me wonder why on earth I haven’t done this for so long. Of course there are lots of reasons; some good, some bad, some sad, but I’m feeling very grateful to have the chance to get out there again. ☺️

So the important question is…. Which bikes are now on your short list?😁

Nice one! Enjoy your future riding!

👍

Riding bikes is just fun…

Nice positive post, thanks for sharing 🙂 So easy to forget that riding bikes is just fun 🙂

Welcome back! I’m just back into riding after 10 years off and also instantly loved it. Got an old bike running to test whether I still like it and fell instantly back in love with it. So much so I’ve just bought a 2018 orange P7 29er.

Be careful though, I had a big crash and it really hurts. You’ll have forgotten how much it hurts. I was having too much fun, was riding fairly basic hills but was over confident and forgot my skills are 10 years rusty. I wasn’t far enough over the back, I wasn’t concentrating enough, I was on an old bike and didn’t factor that in enough, and I was going far too fast (again lack of recent experience where you reset your ability to match your speed – I guess you need to work up to scaring yourself enough to know what too fast is, and I just went flat out everywhere). I didn’t break anything but did chip 2 teeth, stitches in both lips and gum to put me back together. It’s been 6 weeks now and I’m pretty well healed but it really, really sucks getting hurt and I completely forgot.

Don’t let you put you off, it hasn’t put me off at all. I do recognise I need to take it steady and 10 years off is a loooong time, so have fun, stay safe and don’t assume you can get back to your old level in less than 6 months. And get a good helmet! Mine split but likely saved me.

Enjoy it. Bikes are awesome.