Plans to cycle along the South Coast of England.

 August 2023.  Ash:

Our cycle touring plans have been postponed for quite a while by the Covid restrictions,  but we are now planning to fly to Gatwick in early September to cycle along the South coast for five weeks. 

  I had to buy a new non-electric bike,  because the ebike batteries are not allowed on aircraft.  We could have had the battery couriered separately,  but Les prefers to ride on her push bike, so we decided go non-electric. 

  I could have hired an ebike in England, but it is very hard to find a rental bike that suits my height (6'5). As it was, I had to spend quite a lot of effort on my new bike to raise the stem and buy new handlebars and adjust settings to make it comfortable. 

  The new bike is the Lekker Amsterdam XL, which just fits me after all the adjustments. It has the carbon fibre belt drive and the Shimano internal 8 speed geared hub which means that there is almost no maintenance required. 

   I have done over 2000 kms on it, and it is now comfortable for me.  When I first started riding it after my ebike, it was quite a lot harder especially on the hills, but I'm back up to speed now. 

   

                      The new Amsterdam bike as it came out of it's delivery box.