The Green Trees of Woking

I was out and about in Woking on Friday and came across these bizarre trees. I thought at first that it was some sort of art installation, there were about twenty weird green lollipops dotted around the car park. My second thought was that perhaps Sainsbury’s were being kind and protecting them from frost or pests.

I had called in to the café at the supermarket for a cuppa and a piece of rather yummy chocolate cake. Driving round the access road I was struck by the appearance of the trees, they looked quite surreal in the chilly sleet.

I asked an assistant in the café about them. She said that she had been out for a few days and they were like at that when she came back. She thought at first it was some sort of St Patricks day stunt!

The reality is actually quite sad. The nets are to keep the birds from nesting in the trees, which will then be cut down. Apparently there will be a replanting programme though.

I much prefer the idea that they are some sort of installation art!

Spring has arrived!

The spring equinox happens at precisely 11.02 GMT this morning! The sun will be exactly over the equator and the day and night are exactly the same length.

The spring equinox heralds the official arrival of spring and temperatures start to rise. Well that’s the theory anyway! Last year we had such a brilliant March with temperatures more like summer that somehow we all thought that it would happen again.

Perhaps it’s better having such a cold start to the year. I’m really hoping that it means that the summer will be super. That aside it is not unusual for the weather to be cold at Easter. I definitely remember it snowing at Easter 2008, I was away in my caravan and when we woke on Sunday morning the world was white!

Many of the spring flowers don’t seem to be put off by the weather. The crocuses are fabulous and the daffodils are just starting to open. It won’t be long before we are basking in glorious sunshine.

Sunny Start to the Day

Even with the overnight snow it was looking particularly beautiful at Batribike this morning. We have a couple of Trike deliveries to do so it was great to load up in the crisp sunshine.

A new delivery of the popular Trikes last week means that we are particularly busy this morning.

The Trike is a sought-after part of the Batribike range. The twenty inch wheels and narrower wheel base make it easy to manoeuvre and fit through doorways. The tilting feature is great too making it ride like an ordinary two wheeler and corner easier than a non-tilting tricycle.

Unfortunately once we were out on the road we were into blizzard conditions!

Aside from the blizzard the teasels are looking marvellous. The wind has blown the snow onto them and they are now fluffy white lollipops waving as we go past.

Lets hope the snowy conditions will be short lived and the sun is out again soon.

Filling up the diary!

This year we will be at several locations around the country demonstrating our bikes and giving test rides. It is amazing how quickly the diary is filling up!

For some months now I have been saying that we will not be doing as many shows in 2013 as we have in previous years. But it appears now that this is not the case. We are not personally doing as many of the dedicated Caravan and Motorhome shows as we have done in the past, but we will be represented in many areas by the local Batribike outlet.

This is great because it means that we are able to attend some other events that we would not otherwise get the chance to do. One I am particularly looking forward to is the Electric Bike Event at the Eden Project in April. I have always wanted to visit and have just not managed it before. We will be there for five days so I am sure that there will be a chance to have a look round the Bio Domes. Unless of course we are stupendously busy!

It looks like we shall also be going to the Hay Bike Fest at Hay-on-Wye (also in April!). A great chance to see some lovely scenery and maybe a sneaky peek in some of the lovely bookshops they have in Hay.

June is pretty well crammed with events too with the London Green Fair at Regents Park, the East of England Electric Bike Rally at Yarmouth, The Atmosphere event during Bristol’s Green week and possibly the Norfolk Show which all means we will be incredibly busy!

I just can’t understand how I thought we wouldn’t be doing many shows! I am however, delighted, it is great to be out meeting people and talking to them about our bikes.

Keep updated about where we will be this year by checking out the shows section on the front page of the website.

Out and About in Norfolk

On Wednesday I was off to sunny Norfolk in my trusty Batribike van. The weather lately has be rather chilly with the wind cooling things down considerably so I have really had to layer up. This week saw a slight change with forecasts predicting temperatures in my area moving above zero. Hurrah!

I have to say that Wednesday turned out to be a lovely day to be out and about, the sun actually shone which made the countryside look rather nice. Now whilst we aren't talking precisely tropical it was a degree or so warmer and with the sun out the illusion of the summer to come was there.

Firstly I had a meeting with a potential new dealer, another quick meeting and then later in the day I headed on to call in at Batribike dealers Transport Electric UK. It was good to see Geoff and talk to him about the Diamond LS he loves the simplicity of the three speed hub gear and ease of use of the controls.

Then it was time to head for home. The sun was still shining and there were some lovely old windmills to be seen. Unfortunately as is always the way when there are some great things to photograph there is no where suitable to stop. The only 'windmills' I managed to take a picture of were actually turbines in an industrial area but they still looked quite nice with the sun behind them.

It seems that Spring is definitely pushing at the heels of winter too, as there were loads of snowdrops and one or two crocuses about.