Spending quality time together-Real.Bike.People.

Hannah from Manchester decided that she should be out enjoying the benefits of the fresh air whilst spending quality time together with her boyfriend. So at the start of the year, she purchased her first bike so that they could enjoy cycling together and hasn't looked back since. Here we let Hannah tell the story.

Hannah may have only started riding in January but already has some big off-road adventures planned for the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyofTru8l\_0&feature=youtu.be

Hannah, so nice to meet you and get off-road. Tell us a little bit about the riding you do?

I mainly ride with my boyfriend. I’ve done a couple of rides by myself but I’m still so new to it. At the minute for me, group rides are still quite intimidating. But I will get there and ride with a group at some point.

I started riding in January. My boyfriend had been into cycling for about a year and a half at the time and thought it was a good opportunity for us to be spending more quality time together while doing something healthy. Rather than just going out for beers all the time.

Bikes = happiness.

The bike.

And which bike did you decide to go for?

I went for the Ribble CGR 725 and got CustomColour on it.

I chose the CGR 725 for a few different reasons.  One is that you can do both off-road and road riding with it if you just change the tyres over. Which I found really desirable for me as I didn’t want to have multiple bikes.

Custom colour dream build.

I also decided to get a custom colourway on it, just because I’m not really a girly-girl, but I just wanted to have something that felt like it was a little piece of me. It’s feminine but has the nice matte black and grey finish on there.  I absolutely love it. It’s such a comfortable bike and whenever I ride it I just feel like I’m having a great time. It feels great. 

Hannah admiring her handy work on choosing her custom colour.

I hadn't pushed myself like that before

Tough Rides

How has your riding been going, any good rides that stand out?

Well...one of the first big rides we did was ride back from London over a few days. On that ride, I was so underprepared though. The wrong gear and off-road tyres on roads all the way back from London to Manchester. But it was really good fun and a big challenge. I hadn’t pushed myself to do anything like that before.

"Off-road riding is my favourite."

Why did you dive into off-road riding?

I really enjoy riding off-road because it gives you the freedom to get out of the city without it being too far away. We are pretty much immediately surrounded by greenery and open spaces.

Getting out of the city gives Hannah a 'new lease of life'.

You get fresh air which is so nice. It feels like after work working in the city all day, every day, it just gives you a completely new lease of life.  It’s really pretty. It’s so good having this type of riding so close to the city.

Future plans.

What are your plans for the future with the bike?

In the future, I really want to try and do some adventure and gravel races on it.  I’m not at that point yet but with some extra training, I will definitely get there.

Building endurance.

Words of wisdom.

Do you have any tips or words of advice for other new riders out there?

For me, it’s just about getting out there and doing it. I let myself get intimidated all the time by group rides, longer rides, or anything with climbing in it. But ultimately, once you’ve done it the sense of satisfaction is huge, so you just have to get out there.

"For me it's just about getting out there and doing it."

Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills tells why he decided to take up cycling on the Ribble Hybrid AL after leaving the city for the country. Read the story here.

Wanting to mix up her training regime by adding a little cycling, avid runner Michelle has now discovered that she much prefers 2 wheels to the running shoes. Read her story here.