Cycling on water!

Just a quick post here.  Yesterday I went down to see Hannah (youngest daughter, water sporty) on the south coast.  We went kayaking on the Solent and afterwards I had a go cycling on a Redshark bike!

This was a Dad-daughter day and something I will always treasure.  Hannah is a ‘natural’ with all things on the water and she seems to glide around effortlessly.  For myself, I’m always wobbling around and less confident on the water.  I certainly couldn’t compete as she does.  Actually last weekend she was involved in an event where she was in a kayak escorting a swimmer over to the Isle of Wight – and back!

The Redshark is a fun bicycle for using on a lake, river or as we did on the sea.  It is based on a large board, a bit like a stand-up paddle board but it has a few modifications.  Firstly there are a couple of slots for the bicycle frame to slot into, some stability straps and overall it is a large size to help with balancing when on the water.

Getting the Redshark set up was easy for Hannah and she was well used to this.  She had a couple of trestles ready to rest the board on.  Next she slotted the bicycle frame in and then we pumped up the board really hard, just like a stand-up paddle board.  Once pumped up to pressure, the board is very rigid and solid.  Once the handlebars and rudder were fitted, stability straps tightened, we carried it onto the beach and down into the water.

You need to be in a reasonable depth of water, up to hip level.  Hannah held the board and I jumped on to the board before very carefully easing myself up onto the saddle.  I felt a bit top heavy at first and, to be honest, not very stable to begin with.

Once I’d started turning the pedals I found the little propeller underneath was doing a surprisingly good job at moving me forward.  Not exactly setting the world alight but nevertheless moving forwards – and faster than my kayaking!

After a few minutes it seemed quite stable as I did figure of eights, straight line bursts and generally behaved like a kid with a new toy.  Hannah was on her stand-up paddle board and we went alongside each other to a buoy in the Solent and turned around.  Heading back the tide was behind us making life easier, plus I could feel the benefit of a tail-wind.

I certainly attracted plenty of attention on the beach with a few people coming over to take a closer look and to check they could hire one.

All in all a pretty darn good day.  As I said, it was a Dad-daughter time and so nice.  Very precious indeed!

You can hire a Redchark, or a kayak, or a paddle board or….. all at Stoked Water Sports, near Gosport