Here’s to 2026, I have just booked a trip to the Outer Hebrides for end of April beginning of May and I look forward to exploring the islands by my trusty eMTB.
62 years on the planet, not cycled for a couple of decades prior to June 2023.
I got a Merida E-One Forty-700 full suspension e-MTB 😃 made for the off-road trekking,
I have recently lost my wife of over 30 years and felt the need to get out and about, started hiking again after a long break (which I enjoy a lot) unfortunately my hips & back and other joints did not enjoy this as much as I did as I have ankylosing spondylitis (sort of like arthritis).
I will still do some short hiking but I find e-biking less painful on my joints as it’s non-weight bearing.
I am semi-retired from the NHS, I am a nurse in Urgent Care at my local hospital but now do only one 12-hour shift a week, a much better work-life balance!
I have cycled several Cornish and Devon routes including Bodmin Moor & Dartmoor.
I had biking holidays in May 2024 around Fort William (completing the first half of the great glen way) and another in Cornwall in September 2024. I went to Scotland in May 2025 a bit further up at Fort Augustus this time to complete the The Great Glen Way, also Cycled around Dartmoor & area in September 2025 explored further over the moor by bike.
*update the Merida has clocked up 2400 miles from July 2023 & up to March 2024 in total biking miles are just over 3600 miles in my first year e-MTB-ing*
November 2024 purchased a Haibike AllMtn 7 on a black Friday deal (too good to miss) another e-MTB but this one has 160mm of travel front & rear and with a Yamaha motor, I have clocked up 3010 miles on this one in its first year, touch wood no faults so far.