Hello there.
A bit about me and my previous cycling history.
I live in the West of Scotland in the outskirts of Paisley and last Christmas i took early retirement from my Local Authority job,.
I bought myself a 1984 vw t25 high top campervan as a retirement present. (which i have since restored).
My early days of cycling started in the late 60,s when my elder brother was the dux of the school and my parents bought him a brand new raleigh bike. I was just a wee boy just about to become a teenager ,I wasn,t so brainy and no bike was forthcoming from my parents so i salvaged a massive bike frame from the local burn (stream) and was able to pick up wheels, crank, handlebars etc from any old scrap bikes that was lying about. As the bike was so big i had to cycle with my leg under the crossbar but i got a great deal of satisfaction from my frankenstein bike. As i got older i had various other bikes until my late teens then motorbikes took my interest, mainly british bikes,until my family came along. Everything then put on the back burner until i reached my eary 50's.
I then bought a lightweight hybrid road bike fitted a rack and panniers and set off on a solo 8 day excursion cycling round the West of Scotland Islands a took a small tent and camped at the side of the water along the way. But i sometimes sought directions for the best place to pitch my tent at the nearest pub.
I travelled to Ardrossan by train the by boats to Arran, then onto the Kintyre penninsula,Islay, into Oban, then Coll Tiree, Barra back to Oban then the train home. The most i travelled in the one day was 25 miles. Cost was £45 Cal mac Island rover ticket.(Bikes travel free). £10 Gelert tent from Argos. tent was a bit small but done the trick. Stayed 1 night in Oban backpackers £12.00. Better tent now purchased.
Best ever freedom trip (probably my wife thought the same when i was away.)
3 years ago i had a period of illness that lasted for months and hopefully i seem to have been lucky and recovered, as a result of this and probably a yearning and using this as an excuse i decided i want to see more of the wild countryside . I bought myself an old Sunbeam Lightweight Roadster bicycle ,restored this and joined the Veteran Cycling Club (never yet been to a meeting but the magazine is worth a good read). Anyway i new the early retirement package was up for offer so i took advantage of the cycle to work scheme and bought myself a Tern fold up bike for the volkswagen campervan i was yet to buy. A year later i bought the van.
In April of this year i walked solo for most of the West Highland Way (96 mile walk over route from Glasgow to Fort William) unfortunately due to field injury i had to abandon this but i hope to complete this next year.
I was recently introduced to The Highland Bothies Association and walked over many hills to reach one known as Mark Cottage Bothy. It costs zero to stay in a bothy however there is a membership of £20 yearly or £10 depending on circumstances (to pay for maintenance and basic upkeep) I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and joined the association .
This now brings me to the Electric bike issue. These bothies are very remote and dotted all over the country and a lot of them can be accessed by mountain bike. After extensive research i have discovered the TONARO BIGHIT and also the UNICORN, either of these bikes appear to be suitable for my needs.
I have spoked to Phil at Powerpedals and he has advised there is a modified version due out in approx April of next year. As the winter months are now upon us i will hold fire with great anticipation of my first electric bike.
I did look at the possibility of either fitting a petrol engine to one of my bikes or buying a registered bike fitted with Trojan mini motor but the noise factor when travelling through hills over someone's land who is grateful enough to allow access to the bothies with a petrol engined powered vehicle and also the road legalities put me of.
Hope you enjoyed the read and once i am up and about with by bike next year i will give an update on the bothies .
B.
A bit about me and my previous cycling history.
I live in the West of Scotland in the outskirts of Paisley and last Christmas i took early retirement from my Local Authority job,.
I bought myself a 1984 vw t25 high top campervan as a retirement present. (which i have since restored).
My early days of cycling started in the late 60,s when my elder brother was the dux of the school and my parents bought him a brand new raleigh bike. I was just a wee boy just about to become a teenager ,I wasn,t so brainy and no bike was forthcoming from my parents so i salvaged a massive bike frame from the local burn (stream) and was able to pick up wheels, crank, handlebars etc from any old scrap bikes that was lying about. As the bike was so big i had to cycle with my leg under the crossbar but i got a great deal of satisfaction from my frankenstein bike. As i got older i had various other bikes until my late teens then motorbikes took my interest, mainly british bikes,until my family came along. Everything then put on the back burner until i reached my eary 50's.
I then bought a lightweight hybrid road bike fitted a rack and panniers and set off on a solo 8 day excursion cycling round the West of Scotland Islands a took a small tent and camped at the side of the water along the way. But i sometimes sought directions for the best place to pitch my tent at the nearest pub.
I travelled to Ardrossan by train the by boats to Arran, then onto the Kintyre penninsula,Islay, into Oban, then Coll Tiree, Barra back to Oban then the train home. The most i travelled in the one day was 25 miles. Cost was £45 Cal mac Island rover ticket.(Bikes travel free). £10 Gelert tent from Argos. tent was a bit small but done the trick. Stayed 1 night in Oban backpackers £12.00. Better tent now purchased.
Best ever freedom trip (probably my wife thought the same when i was away.)
3 years ago i had a period of illness that lasted for months and hopefully i seem to have been lucky and recovered, as a result of this and probably a yearning and using this as an excuse i decided i want to see more of the wild countryside . I bought myself an old Sunbeam Lightweight Roadster bicycle ,restored this and joined the Veteran Cycling Club (never yet been to a meeting but the magazine is worth a good read). Anyway i new the early retirement package was up for offer so i took advantage of the cycle to work scheme and bought myself a Tern fold up bike for the volkswagen campervan i was yet to buy. A year later i bought the van.
In April of this year i walked solo for most of the West Highland Way (96 mile walk over route from Glasgow to Fort William) unfortunately due to field injury i had to abandon this but i hope to complete this next year.
I was recently introduced to The Highland Bothies Association and walked over many hills to reach one known as Mark Cottage Bothy. It costs zero to stay in a bothy however there is a membership of £20 yearly or £10 depending on circumstances (to pay for maintenance and basic upkeep) I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and joined the association .
This now brings me to the Electric bike issue. These bothies are very remote and dotted all over the country and a lot of them can be accessed by mountain bike. After extensive research i have discovered the TONARO BIGHIT and also the UNICORN, either of these bikes appear to be suitable for my needs.
I have spoked to Phil at Powerpedals and he has advised there is a modified version due out in approx April of next year. As the winter months are now upon us i will hold fire with great anticipation of my first electric bike.
I did look at the possibility of either fitting a petrol engine to one of my bikes or buying a registered bike fitted with Trojan mini motor but the noise factor when travelling through hills over someone's land who is grateful enough to allow access to the bothies with a petrol engined powered vehicle and also the road legalities put me of.
Hope you enjoyed the read and once i am up and about with by bike next year i will give an update on the bothies .
B.
