Is it honestly November?
Terri • 7 November 2018
Christmas is next month?! Seriously?! 2019 is just around the corner, Halloween over, Bonfire night over…. Christmas and New years to go! My favourite time of the year :) Not everyone’s cuppa tea but I am a Christmas FANATIC, it’s taking all of my willpower not to put the decorations up now, though I do know a few people that have already. Cornwall is great for Christmas market’s so if you are visiting be sure to check these out!
We are currently going through a small revamp, I’m attempting to install a weather widget onto the website so you can keep uptodate with our wonderful climate lol. Also a messenger chat so you can directly contact us! We are hoping this will be possible pretty soon, so bare with us.
Oh! Lastly, if you check out our Facebook page, I have recently asked members of the public to post their photos of the Camel Trail and surrounding area’s that they have taken, the responses so far have been lovely! It is so refreshing to see other peoples experiences of the trails aside from our own. Some of these will hopefully make their way to our gallery so if you don’t have Facebook, then head over to our gallery page soon and check them out!
Terri
I havent updated here in awhile, since our last post, the world endured a global pandemic from Covid 19 and things got a little crazy for everyone. Now Boris has pretty much announced that we go back to normal, what has changed with us? well... not much, we still operate as though it were 2020, everything is sanitised, masks continue to be worn and we still operate with time slot bookings. I hope this continues to make everyone feel safe hiring with us. We have been previously asked why our intense sanitisation routine with Covid 19 wasn't always implemented with our bikes pre Covid, there is a good reason, whilst our bikes were always cleaned, they were sanitised to the lengths we go through now, this is because the cleaning products needed to eliminate Covid, are damaging to the bikes, it eats at the rubber on the handles bars and if not careful, can get into the shifters and seize everything up. Our bikes do not take kindly to Covid cleaning and has cost us a fortune in repairs. We will however continue to do this, until it is safe enough to stop. We do hope yo see you this summer, please book a minimum of a week in advance, we had to turn away so many customers last year.
Ok so it has been alittle while since there has been a post… but I had actually blogged since then and for some reason it never uploaded :( I was silly and didn’t write it all down first. I have learnt from my mistake and have written this down separately too hehe We are pretty much officially back in season! Wooooo! The days have gotten longer and busier. We have a lot of new bikes added to the fleet, we have Konas back!! they are absolutely stunning and go nicely with the Lyras and Cape Wraths. We are also getting into the part of the year where you must book in advance to guarantee bikes, soon it will be atleast 2 days in advance! The Royal Cornwall Show is on its last today too, it was crazy getting into work, its only a 10 minute drive and it takes over an hour, lucky we left suuuuper early and opened up on time, but if you are reading this today, make sure you schedule extra time for your travelling. Im not sure if anyone reads these blogs to be fair, its just me rambling away haha, but if you do, please give us a follow on our twitter page as we are a little lonely there :-P https://twitter.com/CamelTrailBikes
Well, maybe not so much... but apparently everywhere is getting snow aside from Wadebridge! Now due to this being a seasonal business, we technically are better off without snow and shouldnt be wishing it upon us, but its such a rare phenonomen and its so beautiful. I remember last year when it actually snowed properly for week straight... yes ok we couldn't open the shop but watching people all snugged up with gloves and scarfs taking walks and dogs and children playing in the snow. It was lovely! I was also just as glad when it ended lol. Moving on to the actual shop itself, we have almost built all the new bikes, almost! maybe 7 to go which isnt a lot at all. Building bikes with cold hands is not fun though, when they are finished however, it is so satisfying! We did have a question recently asking why we go through so many bikes.... well.... wear and tear! Hire bikes are used and adjusted so many times, different shaped and sized people, different riding styles. A single bike durng the season may go out upto 3 times a day for almost continuous use! So you will find that they get worn a lot faster, we do keep our bikes for upto 3 seasons and then they are sold and new ones come in, it keeps our stock fresh :) With personal bikes, you may have it for years, this simple isnt the case for hire bikes. Despite being kept uptodate on their servicing, it is much more efficient to keep the stock fresh. Thats all for now, do keep visiting the ebay page for new stock, as the season starts to come in, we will have a lot more on there! Thats everything for now :) see you soon! Terri
Oh my god it is seriously cold! However, Cornwall is so beautiful this time of the year, clear blue skies, bright sun, frost over the leaves... its completely picturesque! Make sure you wear gloves when cycling though as the crisp frosty air is certainly tough on your hands. So ive been continuing with eBay, stuck on the phone with eBay for hours on end... fun. But the stock is evermore increasing on there! havent had first sale yet but i have my fingers crossed for a turnaround soon. We have also started to take bookings for half term, can you believe how quickly that has come around?? One moment Cornwall is quiet and quaint... the next it's bustling as the holidaymakers work their way down the country, the atmosphere changes and its like the whole of Cornwall becomes a resort, it's a great time of the year meeting people from all walks of life. I always like to have a good chat with our customers as we are setting them up, exchanging stories and of course talking about the weather in true British style. The social side of the business is a little quiet at the moment but that is sure to change quickly, the on season isnt far away at all! Well my day is coming to an end here, so ill say goodbye until next time!
Can you believe that Christmas is over already?? It's been absolutely manic with travelling and visiting family, lovely though but it is nice to have the comfort of your own bed. The cycle hire has been so quiet in comparison to summer, it is going to be a shock when it all starts up again haha, however as we are going into 2019, the bookings have started to come in. The rain has finally stopped! atleast for now ;) it is very crisp and chilly outside, but the sky is bright blue, the sun is shining and the birds are singing, it is simply beautiful. On a bike note, we have gotten in so much new stock now, both Dawes and Claud Butler, a new bike is so lush. I cannot wait to see the new Kona's soon aswell! I have had the luxury of being able to build some of the new ones which has been SO much fun. We have also made some other changes... We have eBay!! www.ebay.co.uk/usr/bikesmartcornwall We have some accesories and even some new bikes on there :) Well, I definitely wont leave it so long for another blog post, Christmas got in the way :-P See you soon!
I cannot believe how much it is raining! I walked down the Bodmin trail yesterday with the dogs, just in normal shoes and jeans, I was absolutely covered in mud, just from walking! Make sure you have your mudguards on if you are riding. It is almost December and all the Christmas lights have officially gone up around the towns, my favourite time of the year! The festivals and food markets around Christmas are amazing, you find little treasures that dont appear at any other time of the year, Yorkshire Pudding wraps?! That's just for starters! We will be heading to the Plymouth Christmas Market this time, and not forgetting the StarBucks Eggnog Latte! Onto Bike Smart news! We are literally just about to put up our Christmas stock posts, so dont forget to check our social channels to see what is available, we have NEW and used bikes for sale, along with various helmets and accessories. The new bikes like amazing! We also have some brand new folding electric bikes for sale as well as mountain bikes, go check it out!
We are sooooooo close to Christmas, YAY! and I officially saw the Coca Cola advert yesterday #HolidaysAreComing but we have something new at the hire too! As you may or may not be aware, during the off season (November to April) people do not tend to cycle as much and up until now we have had a private car park just wasting away, waiting to be used :( so we have decided to utilise these parking spaces in the lovely town of Wadebridge and hire those bad boys out! Today I added a new page to the wesbite you can see next to 'Blog', this gives you all the details you would need to know sbout hiring our parking bays. So head on over! Parking per day in the centre of Wadebridge costs around £5 per day, but with our prices at £20 a week, you pay under £3 a day! Want the space for a month? thats under £2.50 a day! Not bad at all. I have also added a small personal touch to the gallery with images kindly gifted from members of the public, awwwwww. There are more changes to come including our shop items and Christmas bikes so definitely watch this space!
Half Term is coming to a close and its certainly been a busy week! We get a lot of people asking us when we close for the winter…. well…. we don’t! We try to stay open all year round (disregarding horrific weather days) but a cold snap isnt going to stop us. Winter is our mechanics time to service all the bikes, over 200 of them! We spend the winter preparing for the next season which seems to come around pretty quickly. The weather seems to be changing quite rapidly now, we had hail all day day yesterday and today is definitely freezing but I am happy to see it hasn’t stopped people wanting to cycle! We also have managed to sell off so many of our X-trail bikes to make way for new ones, still a lot left though so if you are reading this and are in need of a new bike then be sure to call us. Well my fingers are well and truly frozen so I’m going to sign off, remember to start wearing your thermals! Terri
We have finally decided to take the plunge and add a blog to our site! These are the musings of the staff at Bike Smart about living and working in good ole Cornwall. I will share updates and information with you as well as documenting our every day lives here in Kernow, so bare with me, this will be a longer one than normal. Firstly, let me introduce you to all of us! Bike Smart is a small family run business that has been going for over 20 years, since 1996 to be exact! (I was only 7 then :-0). The owners are Sue and John, who have spent the majority of their lives in South Africa before settling back in Wadebridge, and their son, Julian, is Bike Smart's manager. I am Teresa, Julian's partner, I only started working and living in Cornwall this year, originally from Plymouth, and it has certainly been a lifetsyle change. With the season coming to an end, we are thrilled to see that the weather is still warm, in October?! but who's complaining ;) Half term is just around the corner which hails our final push of the year, however we do try to stay open all year round. So, since this is our first blog, what's new this year? Well E-Bikes are our big change, we bought in four Dawes step through hybrid bikes, as well as a smaller folding E-bike! Being skeptical at first, they have proven to be more and more popular everyday, electric bikes are certainly leading the way in the future of cycling, plus they are so much fun! Our summer season was extremely busy and we have entered into our end of season bike sale to make way for our new models, which is equally exciting in itself! Being new to Cornwall myself, working so closely to the Camel Trail has taught me so much about the heritage in the surrounding areas, the trails themselves are beautiful and I have already used them to walk or ride home. We recently added a new video to our site made by our family friend Ashley Morgan at AVM Video and Photography, which shows the estuary towards Padstow by drone! (Check them out on Youtube). We get a lot of customers from all over the world and recently had a lovely couple from Boston, they told us they travel everywhere but have never seen countryside like Cornwall, truly unique, which makes us feel even more lucky to be here. Wadebridge (where we are based), is filled with local businesses and is truly a quaint town to visit. Well, I will end this post by saying thankyou for reading our first of many ramblings! Theres so much to say, but lets not cover it all in one go :) Teresa
