Can the bike you ride completely change how you feel about cycling? It certainly has for Gill, one of our winners from our recent competition where we asked for your best and most inspiring ebike stories. Read on to hear, in Gill’s words, how her MeloYelo Ascent opened up a world of new cycling opportunities, confidence and adventures.
A RELUCTANT BIKER
“I would have described myself as a reluctant biker. The window of circumstances in which I would willingly wheel out my old bike for a ride was star-aligningly narrow. If it was too hot, too cold, too windy, too wet, too … – you get the idea – I was a non-starter.
THE CATALYST TO CHANGE
The catalyst to attitude change came in the form of a friend buying a MeloYelo Ascent e-bike and taking it up to where we were holidaying at Kaiteriteri. A loan, a test ride and I was converted, gear, chain and battery. Back home in Christchurch research was undertaken, numbers were crunched, dealers were rung and, in early March, I collected my own teal blue MeloYelo Ascent.
A WORLD OF BIKING OPPORTUNITIES
Suddenly, a world of biking opportunities open up.
With a group of friends who already had e-bikes and two other friends who purchased MeloYelos after trying mine, a social cycling group was rapidly formed. A fine slice of time in the weekend, and a cafe at the other end was all the lure needed to cause a flurry of planning texts and a group ride.
I can smugly confirm that I progressed from biking the Prebbleton (home) to Lincoln roadside track (14 kilometres return) to now, happily, cycling home to the Avon boatshed, Little River to home and home to Springston. (Yes, there are good cafes at each destination.)
THE BIG ADVENTURE
A group of us were so emboldened by our growing skill levels that we booked accommodation and trained to ride the Lake Dunstan cycle trail in mid-December. In preparation for this ride hubby, an experienced mountain biker, took me up the Rapaki track and biking around Mt Pleasant. Thusly up-skilled in the correct use of my MeloYelo’s brakes, gears and power levels, we headed for Cromwell and the Lake Dunstan trail.
Gill at the top of Rapaki Track after 3.5 kilometres of steady climbing.
The morning of our epic adventure dawned calm and clear. Knowing the isolation and lack of cellphone coverage for much of our 52 kilometre ride, we ran through a pre-ride checklist that would have made a NASA astronaut proud. I carried muesli bars, water, a camera, sunscreen, warm clothing and a spare tyre tube, though in all honesty, if I’d had a flat tyre I’d have been pretty clueless.
What a day. What a ride. What epic views. What an achievement. With hubby up front as our guide and to warn us of on-coming riders, we rode. We didn’t rush but took the time to take in the magnificent views at each stage along the trail. I loved the way we encouraged each other, and other bikers we met along the way. At one point, probably on ‘the ladder’, a steep upward climb, a group coming the other way chanted to us as we slogged past, ‘You’ve got this! You’ve got this!’
580 metres of climbing on the Lake Dunstan trail.
At the end of the ride, pedalling up the drive of our accommodation in Alexandra, my bike was dusty. I was sweaty. But boy, was I proud of myself. How many times can I casually slip the statement, “When I biked the Lake Dunstan trail…” into conversations before it is considered boasting?
THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES
And the adventure continues. I’m writing this from Kaiteriteri, where, at the Kaiteriteri Mountain Bike Park this December, my MeloYelo and I have biked ‘Glade Runner’, ‘Revelation’ and ‘Easy Rider’ (which, may I say is a slight misnomer). Tomorrow, who knows? Maybe Motueka to Mapua. The weather looks good and I hear there’s a good cafe at the other end.
