We’ve had two very exciting arrivals in the Cycle Sprog house in the past week.
Firstly, a huge box arrived in a delivery van, which got the boys very excited. They love boxes – the last big box to arrive was made into a ship, and is number one favourite toy of 4 year old T at the moment.
Frog in a box
They were disappointed to learn this box must remain intact, but delighted when they saw the contents – a bright orange Frog 55 bike for review by 7 year old N and some other members of our discerning review panel of young cyclists.
The Frog 55 has been assembled and has had it’s first couple of rides to school. We won’t spoil our forthcoming reviews, suffice to say he loves it!
The second arrival was much smaller – two envelopes contain our entry packs for the Great Manchester Cycle.
Great Manchester Cycle – our first sportive!
We signed up for the Great Manchester Cycle family race back in February, and didn’t mention it to the boys. I’d just made the mistake of telling T that the Tour de France is coming close to his cousins house in 2014 and he’s been asking ever since when we’re going to watch Bradley Wiggins, so I learnt my lesson and kept quiet.
With the arrival of the race numbers and less than two weeks to go, the time has arrived to break the news to them that they’re going to be taking part in their very first sportive on Sunday 30th June.
Their reaction was exactly as I’d expected – huge excitement as I told them about the ride. They will be riding 13 miles around Manchester on closed roads, and they’re really excited about cycling on a motorway (the Mancunian Way) along with 7,000 other cyclists.
When is a bike ride not a bike ride? If you’re under 8 years old!
This excitement was followed swiftly by moans from 7 year old N when he discovered he cannot ride his own bike. The race rules state ages 8 and under need to use a bike seat, trailer or tagalong or towbar. I checked with the Great Manchester Cycle organisers and this rule is, not surprisingly, due to insurance.
Thankfully I was able to tempt him with the prospect of riding the Frog 55 whilst attached to my bike via the FollowMe tandem, which appears to be a very attractive prospect. Thank you Frog Bikes!
4 year old T will get to ride the Great Manchester Cycle on the trailer bike behind Chris, so he’s happy too – phew!
The boys second disappointment was that they don’t have their own race numbers, so we may well be making them their own over the next week.
However, this was quickly passed over as they discovered the Great Manchester Cycle starts from the Etihad Stadium, which is one of the swapseys they’ve got in Match Attax
Cycle Sprog boys have high aspirations!
Their final disappointment was that I’d not signed them up either of the two longer events. There are three events in the Great Manchester Cycle, and my boys have aspirations to do the 52 mile cycle ride or the 26 miler sportives. After several chorus’s of “We want to do the big race” they got back to being excited about the fact they’re going to be doing a “proper” cycle event, complete with timing chip, race numbers and closed roads. Our wanna-be Wiggo’s are very very excited!
All we need now is to check that the quick release wheels of the Frog 55 work with the FollowMe Tandem, and for my ankle to get better. I’ve not been on a bike for about a month now, and have my first ever physio appointment on Friday morning.
Oh yes, and some nice weather on Sunday 30th of June please…
Comments
How did you fit the follow me to the down tube on the frog 55 without affecting the gear cable?