Well saturday morning should be an interested one, I’ve been tricked in to taking out the Mother in Law to ride a blue graded trail.

She has expressed an opinion that she would like to tackle FTD at cannock the following weekend, so i’ve got to teach her at least the basics.

Dug out my very old GT LTS 5000 for a full service.

Questions:

1: will she die?
2: what tyres do you recommend for mother in laws?
3: how many flasks of tea and packs of biscuits will i need?

I’d say fair play to her for wanting to have a go 🙂

I assume she’s riding your good bike and you’re riding the GT?

somehow disappointing direction of the thread, the title had so much more potential….

2: what tyres[b]Rubber[/b] do you recommend for mother in laws?

hell no, no way would she even get to ride the Whyte. To be fair I’ve kept the old GT running sweet for years as i use it as a pub hack, really all it needs is a quick going over.

I offered her the use of the Whyte but she was scared of breaking it LOL.

FWIW she has just turned 63 and i’m looking forward to a bit of a challenge as the most off road she has ever ridden was a footpath.

Edit: oops, just seen she’s 63. Bit inappropriate.

She might surprise you. I am 64 and still riding. Spent loads of long days out on the South Downs until injuries recently which were unrelated to cycling. My son in law and I get on fine. What I lack in strength I can beat him in endurance. Apart from teaching my grandchildren and children to ride I have also introduced male friends to this great way of life. I don’t call it a sport because it really is in your blood. Please just be patient and make the bike as “girl comfy” as possible.

PS: danrandon. If she really enjoys and is a shorty like me, I have just put my Trek EX8 WSD on the classifieds for sale 😉

Good on her!

Be gentle with her to start!

Judy the bike has been refitted with a dedicated Comfy sofa (ladies saddle) and adjusted the air forks to match her weight, had to guess as it’s apparently not the done thing to ask LOL.

Flat pedals fitted and got her a nice pair of baggies with a ladies specific liner in them to help.

I’m always patient with the ML cause she cooks a cracking roast and bakes amazing cakes for me.

I get on very well with her and i don’t want to scare her off the hobby/sport/fitness thing.

@ deadlydarcy don’t be shy post away. We are all here for fun.

@ mikewsmith i know a let down for you but there are websites dedicated for that sort of thing i hear. remember mike google is your friend for that content.

Judy, has my friend from cornwall not been in touch about the trek.

@ deadlydarcy don’t be shy post away. We are all here for fun.

Tbh, it was a bit rude, and I just hope nobody read it before I had a chance to edit. I apologise. Have a good ride. 😀

fair does darcy, but was it funny rude or just plain down right rude? I’m really looking forward to showing her why i enjoy going out for hours getting muddy.

I’m starting her off with the blue trail at Hicks lodge, the national forest cycle centre as it’s fairly tame and has a few berms etc so i can show her how to ride those in preparation for FTD.

My thinking is if my 7 year old daughter can ride it so can she. Not exactly difficult but with enough features to keep it interesting.

bit of difference between a blue trail (which are generally flat) and a red trail (FTD), quite a leap in terms of skills required if you’ve never done MTBing before. Does she realise what FTD will be like? Where’s the blue trail at? Have you thought about taking her to Cannock this weekend anyway. There is a blue trail there and there’s lot of bits of track around the place which is a bit harder than a blue but not as hard as FTD. That bit of track to the side of the road between tackeroo and birches valley for a start. & you could perhaps take her on bits of the dog at the end of the day to see if she’s ready. The section named ‘Aunt Flow’ is fairly timid and comes to the back of the tackeroo campsite and the blue starts/runs right past there too.
Good luck mate, have fun!

EDIT: you’ve answered my question while I was typing, but it’s still a sound suggestion.

muddy

It contained this word. 🙂

Jekkyl, she learns fairly quickly and my wife had only rode blues until i took her to FTD one weekend, she managed it all apart from stegosaurus and the werewolf drop. The FTD choice will only take place once i think she’s up to it.

I’mplanning on letting her have fun and re-ride sections of the blue until she is happy with them, It may involve a trip to the local woods on saturday so she can try some more difficult terrain before the trip to cannock.

She has seen some go pro footage of the sections of FTD and the only one she didn’t seem too keen on was rock and rollers.

don’t your go pro (if you have one) to capture and then relive (many times) those moments where she comes a cropper.

I’ve just persuaded my Mum aged 83 to trade her rubbish shopper for a new Specialized hybrid, which she’s enjoying blasting around the lanes of Wiltshire. The rest of the family are ready to blame me when she falls off and breaks something because they will cop for all the problems as they live nearby, but I reckon the benefits of exercise and fresh air far outweigh the risks of an accident. This summer Gti Junior and I are planning to take our bikes down and show her the basics of drafting and through-and-off.

I took my Father in Law round the Blue @ Llandegla over Christmas 2007 he was 65 and hadn’t ridden a bike for years, he did pretty well.
IIRC he actually overtook a couple on the long climb. He even said if he was younger that he would have taken it up as a sport as he enjoyed it that much 🙂
He’s still working full time & has just finished renovating an old farmhouse though he did have to have a hip replaced but @ 72 he’s still going fine.
If I could get my mother to ride a bike she would probably win in her age group as she’s as strong as an Ox but built like a pure climber.

I wish my folks would dig out their bikes – maybe I’ll show them this thread. They are not even 70 yet!

The 2 important questions still stand, What tyres? and How much tea and biscuits?

question 1 has been answered as i think she won’t die on a blue trail.

Now wheres the alpine ride guide i have showing all the double black runs?

Nice one danrandon! Sounds cool. I hope she enjoys as it sounds as though you are quite helpful and we old gals can always bribe with a good sunday lunch! Nah, didn’t hear from your friend in Cornwall. I am actually collecting my puppy tomorrow so the bike is in the understairs cupboard to make way for a puppy cage 😕 All very new to me but I do have 3 other good bikes so will condense a bit when I have fully recovered from the fractured arm. Sensible near offers for the Trek would be appreciated but posting/collection would have to be at the buyer’s cost. Good luck at the weekend.

globalti: Rock on! with the 83 year old and Specialized!

Tyres – Rubber Queens?

Tea & biscuits…..not too much tea, as I don’t think she sould want to stop for a ‘in the bushes’ wee. Biscuits – can’t really go wrong with a chocolate digestive, can you?

Good for her for having a go. Please report back, especially if she passes you 😆

just making a list of what to take with us in my pack, so no tea, chocolate digestives, deep heat, clean pair of pants (mums always say to be wearing a clean pair just in case of an accident), first aid kit, gopro for embarrassing moments to show the wife, puncture repair kit, knitting needles and wool ;), drinks, and all the usual stuff that i never take of the pack that lies there festering until used.

anything i’ve missed LOL

I’ll report back after the ride, she shouldn’t pass me unless i let her 😉 , actually i’ll let her beat me back in to the cafe as then she’ll have to buy the cake.