It’s been a long 18 months since we have been able to get to this off road track, so we were back with a vengeance in the weekend.
It was my youngest daughter’s first time here, so we organised a hire bike and some lessons from a tutor on site.
She then spent the day on the learners track.
Like her older sibling was, she’s reluctant to use the throttle and initially took over 6 minutes to do one lap around the 1.5 km (0.9 mile) track. That time steadily decreased to about 3 ½ minutes, as she got more confidence during the day.
Meanwhile, my oldest daughter and I went off to try out the ‘B track’ this is a cross country track which is about 8 km (5 mile) long.
She usually leaves me for dead on this track, especially if it’s been raining. She has a natural talent for riding a bike when it’s sliding all over the place.
However, it’s been a while since we have been here and she’s naturally very cautious, which meant a slow start.
That all changed when I over took her, and then she kept up despite my best efforts to get away.
The lack of decent rain around here was a blessing for me, because my front tyre slides around very easily in mud, while the back wheel stays firm. To get around this, I just slowed right down for the occasional puddle.
I spent a bit of time on the B track, and quickly got close to my best time. I can’t go much quicker though, without changing that front tyre to something more suited to off road riding.
That front tyre is good on the road, but not so good off road. It’s designed for 50% road, 50% off road use.
The back tyre is for 10% road, 90% off road. (It’s one of those compromises you get when the bike is used on the road as well as off road).
All in all, it was a good day, and the kids enjoyed themselves.
Uncoffined 
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