Meet our Newest Ambassador - Jenny
Introducing Jenny, our newest ambassador! She’s actually been an ambassador for a while now but she needs a proper shout out! Even though we have closed our lifestyle store, this doesn’t mean we don’t sell lifestyle bikes, we have plenty and Jenny is a perfect ambassador and she rides a variety of bikes and has been at most of our events or rides across the years- Cyclocross, Friday morning road blast, track taster sessions and lots and lots of MTB events. So she’s an all round ace rider and epic human.
As well as shredding on a MTB, she is a mum and when she’s being a mum she takes her girls out as much as she can on their spicy curry cargo bike.
So we thought we’d get to know a bit more about Jenny and why she’s loving the cargo bike.
> When and why did you get a cargo bike?
We bought our cargo bike in 2019. We really wanted to be able to commute around town, get to and from daycare, school, and work, and do short trips to pickup things from the supermarket and things like that on the bike and with our kids. Traffic in Dunedin can be pretty slow for a small city, and it is often quicker to ride than drive when doing short trips, so we needed a bike that would allow us to carry the kids, and give us a hand getting back up the hill to get home.
> What Cargo bike do you have and why that one?
We bought a Yuba Spicy Curry. We did quite a bit of research on the different types of cargo bikes out there, and we decided that the long-tail cargo bike would suit our needs best for carrying the kids around and negotiating the hills of Dunedin. As part of my research I talked to people that lived in Dunedin and Wellington that had Spicy Curries to make sure that they could carry their kids and make it up the hills. We love that it has a small back wheel, it makes it easy for the kids to climb on and off, and keeps the centre of gravity low. Adding things like the breadbasket have been key for carrying backpacks on the school-work runs, and for grabbing groceries etc on those short shopping/errand trips.
> What advice would you give to people that are thinking about getting a cargo bike?
Talk to other people that use cargo bikes and find out what they like and don’t like about them. A cargo bike is a significant/ big investment, so you want to make sure what you buy suits your needs. When we bought our cargo bike there were not many in town, but I managed to track down a lady in town, who I had seen riding a Spicy Curry with kids on the back, and have a big chat about the bike - definitely reassured me I was going down he right path.
> What's the best thing about the cargo bike?
There are many best things.
It is active transport, getting us moving more than using the car to get the kids and ourselves where we need to be, getting a bit of exercise and some fresh air.
We are often making trips faster or at least in the same time as if we took the car. And we can park right outside of work instead of having to pay for and walk to and from a car park.
It saves money on petrol, and with the cost of living these days every saving is a help.
Cuts down on emissions from using the car, especially on short trips.
> What other type of riding do you do?
What other types don’t I do? I love riding bikes and will give almost anything a go. A couple of years ago I bought myself a new mountain bike, and signed myself up to do a skills course with Bike Dunedin. During that course I found myself a rad bunch of wāhine to ride with and haven’t looked back. You may have heard of us (or at least heard us whooping on the trails) we call ourselves the Fanny Shredders or Fannies for short. We ride together most weeks, we just love getting out in nature, having some fun, improving skills, trying new tracks or new features. I like to support the local riding communities and ride a variety of different events (others might call them races, but I am there to have fun and support the event rather than trying to win something). I’ve been trying our a few local Enduro style MTB events in the last few years with the Fannies, always a fun day out ‘racing’ your mates. I look forward to the Bike House cyclocross series every winter, it’s great getting out doing some loops around fun courses with a bunch of people and more often than not getting a bit muddy. I love that they have races for the kids too, makes for a fun family day out. In the last couple of years it has been really enjoyable getting the whole family out on Signal Hill. We’ve used a Kids Ride Shotgun seat when our youngest was little, but now everyone is riding their own bikes and we use tow ropes to help the kids up the hill and keep things fun for them. The kids have an adventure and learn how to handle their bikes, and the Easy Down is a great way to get them started on the MTB.
If you see Jenny on the trails or doing the school run with the kids in tow, give her a wave 👋