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E-Bikeshop Owners Club Ride: Peaslake May 2016
By Martin Brown |
In May we all got together again for a very sunny E-Bikeshop Owners Club ride across Peaslake in the beautiful Surrey Hills. A great day out on the electric mountain bikes! We met at 10:30am at Holmbury Village Hall car park. After setting the eBikes up and a brief we were ready to set off with this ride being led by Team Leader - Ken. It was quickly noticeable how many of us there were with over 20 eBikes and also 3 of the guys from the Crank Cycles race team joined us to see if the super fit guys could keep up with us on eBikes for the day on their analogue bikes!
A couple of late arrivals set for a huge group and a mega ride. Not only did we have a great group with a mix of different riders, abilities, sex and fitness levels but we were joined by about 5 new members to the club for their first ride on their new electric mountain bikes.
Out of the carpark we were met with a killer climb, in fact we climbed for what felt forever! In reality it was probably only a few miles but up steep inclines, certainly something to get warmed up with.
It was apparent that we had all become very accustomed to our electric mountain bikes, in fact probably take it for granted as one of the race team guys on a normal bike was physically sick when we finally reached the peak! God I remember those old days!
We then led onto a real fun jump valley with twists and turns and some easy table top jumps, some members getting more confident with each go with lots of airtime to be had on their eMTB's, even the novices had a go which was great to see and everyone enjoyed it.
A few more trails and we led onto the famous Summer Lightning trail which actually goes on for miles, not many pictures here as we were all having way too much fun to think about stopping. But a fast, long fun bit of singletrack that never seems to stop. Great stuff!
Half way along we stopped for a pitstop, catch up, and bite to eat. A much deserved rest stop for the Crank Cycles Team boys who had really struggled to keep up this far, but fair play to them for doing so. Also a great time to try our eBikes and make new converts!
We then led onto some more modest tracks, paths and bridleways for miles to head over the Surrey hills and to the other side to see what it had to offer. This included the 'Barry Knows Best' trail which is a fast undulating trail that flows down the side of a big valley. Lots of fast technical bits to keep the heart pumping.
Once over the other side of the hills, we found our way to the famous Peaslake center which offers a fantastic cafe so a great opportunity to stop for tea, coffee and a slice of cake.
Some riders headed off from here to get off early, whilst 2/3 of the group then continued up back up to the top of the Surrey Hills, all the way to the top where the fantastic view (pictured in the header) can be had at the peak, here it is again incase you missed it!
Then back down onto the famous 'Yoghurt Pots' with fast flowing twists and turns through lots of bomb holes is fast and fun. Along a couple fire roads to the 'Telegraph Poles' trail and then a short ride back down to the car park.
Conclusion
Overall a really great ride, with lots of mixed riding across fire roads, paths, trails and more techy sections. Well done to team leader Ken for leading and keeping everyone together. It was a great chance to put the electric mountain bikes through their paces and also apparent that we could cover the whole of the area in one day on eBikes being able to dart from one side to another which clearly wouldn't have been feasible / so easy on regular bikes.
A big turnout and no mechanicals which always helps. Plus no accidents or falls at all on this ride so everyone came away really happy, a great day out all round with great people and fantastic weather. What could be better. So nice to see so many new faces and the continued growth of the club overall. Finally well done to the Crank Cycles Team boys for keeping up the whole day even if they did have 'jelly legs' and struggled the next day. Top work! Electric bikes next time boys eh!?.. The next electric bike ride will be at Swinley Forest at the end of June. Already live on the club events section, you can sign up now. We will of course publish all the photos of this ride on the ebikeshop club page in the next few days, donât forget to tag yourself in them.
The E-Bikeshop Owners Club is a closed group of riders, if you have purchased a eBike from us and want to get involved, please get in touch.