Page 147 - Paddock Life Issue 13 ADRENALINE

So, the Yellow and Black YT arrived in a big cardboard box and having equipped our workshop with all the right tools Harvey set about putting it together and setting up the suspension. I was impressed with the technology and engineering of these modern bikes, hydraulic disc brakes, dropper posts and 8 gear rear cassettes that change like a paddle shift in a sports car. His first run out was with his mate and the bike performed every bit the way he thought it would, second time out I dropped him and said friend to Ribbesford Bike Park, just the other side of Bewdley on a cold winters day. No sooner was I at the bottom of the road and Harvey was on the phone, his friend had come off on a tree route and broken his arm. So, he now had a new bike and nobody to ride with, my fitness plan was to be accelerated.
Chatting to the guy in our local bike shop when buying gloves for Harvey I ended up leaving with a top spec Evil bike. It was the shop owners own bike and he’d built it with no expense spared. Black Carbon fibre “Evil Uprising” frame (did I mention the cool names all this stuff has) F1 Brakes, DT Swiss Wheels, top line Shimano gears, RockShox suspension, everything was the nuts. When he built it, this bike would have been eye wateringly in excess of £10k. I nipped out and got some cash and rode out with the deal of the year.
We are now proud owners of three serious Enduro Bikes, we picked up an Alloy framed Trek for my eldest son, and spend our free weekends riding up hills, then going down them as fast as we can. The adrenaline and exhilaration of the downhills is great, requiring almost equal amounts of skill and insane confidence. The wine is not showing as much, I’m feeling much, much fitter, spending some quality time with boys and I get to play with some seriously cool kit. A winner all round. It certainly beats the monotony of gym work and as with any extreme sport, it takes us to some breath- taking places. The sport and the machinery has developed so much since my crew were building our bikes over twenty years ago and I’m loving the advancements. If like me you want to keep fit, but want to do something cool then this is the sport. You can start with a moderate budget of a couple of grand and get as silly as you like. The fitness will show when I hit the ski slopes this winter and I’ll be back in the summer with the bikes. See you in the mountains.
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