Think I've finally decided on a bike

My search for a new bike began around two years ago. I had narrowed it down as far as frame material: Titanium, but that was as far as I got. Then I was extremely fortunate to be given an aluminium Felt Z65 as part of the Team Cycling Plus experience and my search was put on hold. I was browsing through www.royles.biz the other day when I noticed an amazing bargain http://www.royles.biz/product/2888/Litespeed_Icon_Ultegra_TiWhite

When I looked through last weeks Cycling Weekly, the bike received a glorious 10/10 review: "It goes into my All Time Top Five", "If the Litespeed Icon can make that much difference to a half fit old duffer like me, what would it do with a half-decent rider on board".

I then checked out the review on the Bikeradar website: "The best bit, though, is when the road heads up – the Icon is a fabulous climbing companion. You find yourself halfway up steep hills barely realising you’ve started.
Or you stay seated on a climb that usually has you out of the saddle and cursing everything that’s sacred. It’s guaranteed to put a grin on your face."

Last weekend I decided to go and take it for a road test. Unfortunately, the sizing was all wrong. Although ML is a 56cm frame, like my Felt, the headtube is much smaller, meaning I was in a ridiculously racy position. However, it felt amazing. The road outside Royles is like the surface of the moon, but the bike just seemed to absorb it all - it was like riding on velvet. The very helpful guys let me try out a Look carbon bike too and there was no comparison. Although I was sitting much more comfortably, the ride was terribly harsh. I went away happy that I'd tried Titanium and it was more than I ever expected it to be, happy that I loved the bike and think this could be "the one" but a little disappointed that a bargain wasn't to be had.

Since returning home, I've been checking the geometry of the large size frame compared to my Felt and there's not much in it. And....drum roll.....I've decided that this is the bike I want. Now I've settled on this, I know it's going to be very hard to be convinced of any other view. The only problem is that it costs the best part of £4K! I've been trying to work out how much it would cost to buy the individual parts and then build it (would need help from Mr Payne if he's reading - or the bike shop). The bike is spec'd with Ritchie everything - I could opt for slightly lower spec bars/seatpost/stem etc. I already have a fab pair of Fulcrum R1 wheels so don't need any more wheels. I'm looking into all options to bring the cost down a bit. I knew I wanted to spend a bit on a bike, which I hope will last me for many years, but that seems just a bit too much (probably more than my car).

Now I've settled on the frame, the next dilemma is Compact or Triple: my compact has served me well and I've managed some huge climbs with it. However, I'm aiming to do the Fred Whitton next year and a compact will not be low enough for that. Plus, there are always moments when I wish I had a bit of a lower gear (like on Ventoux!). It would be good to have those extra low gears in reserve.

Thoughts welcome :-)

BTW, I've signed up for an intensive mechanic course at Edinburgh Bike Shop - I wonder if they go into building a bike on that?

Manchester 100 Miles

Just over two years ago, I finished my first century - the Manchester 100 miles. Those were the pre-Garmin days, where I didn't record my mileages, heart rates and times, but I distinctly remember my ride time being 6hours 35 mins. I stopped at every food stop and made other stops to add and remove layers of clothing - I think my total time was around the 8 hour mark. When we got home, I had a bath and then just collapsed on the sofa, absolutely knackered and barely able to function.

I had hoped to enter last year but the heart problem put an end to that idea. So, two years and one etape later, I thought I'd have another crack at it and hoping to go under 6 hours total time. The start line is about 3 miles from my house so I got up early and cycled over to Wythenshaw Park. Cars loaded with bikes were flooding in and the car park was already packed. I hadn't pre-registered so it was straight over to tent to pay and pick up a number. Cyclists were already lining up to start and many were milling around. It was all very well organised, lots helping out & it wasn't long before I had my number pinned on and was on my way.

I saw a guy in a Seamons jersey and decided he was going to be the wheel I'd try to hang on to. A group soon formed and the pace was great - 20mph and above. I found myself struggling on the inclines (not that there are many or anything very severe on this route through the Cheshire countryside) probably due to my increase in weight since our holiday in France. The flats were easy though and we were motoring along through roads that are very familiar to me. When we got to the Weaverham/Northwich area, we came across a red traffic light and unfortunately, the group went through - I waited. I completely lost touch with them, couldn't even see them. I pushed on with a couple of other riders, tried to get somewhere near and hoped that another group might come from behind and sweep us up. I was in no mans land for a while but eventually caught some up and then jumped onto a faster group that went speeding by. I went along like this until I reached the 55mile feed stop in around 3 hours.

I remembered from 2007 that the food stop was loaded with stunningly good cakes, not that I saw them this time around. For me, it was just a bottle fill up and a peanut powerbar - these are actually really good and feel like you're actually having a bit of a treat. I saw a handy looking guy moving out of the feedstop so I got myself together and followed him out. I soon found that my legs were so heavy and really quite painful to keep going. Waves of cramp-onset were passing over my quads and calves. I had to back off and found myself riding alone again for a long stretch. A huge boost came when I joined back up with the 100km riders - most of them were riding mountain bikes and despite the sore legs, they were just so easy to pick off. I love that - I don't care who it is, even old grannies on shopping bikes, I love punishing them with my speed! ha! Towards the end of the ride, other faster 100 mile groups started flowing past again - I recognised the Seamons rider amongst others. I tried to jump on but my legs were still very heavy and sluggish and so I continued alone, pretty much until the end.

In 2007, the final stages were really hairy - loads of slow riders on busy residential roads. This time around, it was much quieter, probably because I was finishing so much earlier. I finally crossed the line in a total time, including stops, of 5 hours 36 minutes. My average speed was 17.9mph - just dropped below 18mph on a very congested section in Wilmslow where I was forced to stop. I'm over the moon with that time and I hope to be back next year to perhaps get closer to the 5 hour mark.

I hung around at the end for a while, chatting to a friend and fellow cyclist - Chris - before cycling back with some neighbours. A quick bath and I was up and taking kids to a party where I managed an okey-Kokey! A great day on the bike with a good result.

Here's the details:

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Manchester 100 Miles

Cycling in Annecy 2009

If you should ever require a same day passport service, you will be told that it will take 4 hours, 4 hours, 4 hours. There are no exceptions. So, with an 8.30am appointment, a 4 hour wait, an 8 mile drive to the airport and a 12.45pm last check in time, I knew that I was going to be cutting it extremely fine. By a huge stroke of luck, the official we saw at the passport office marked our collection time as 12.0pm - if it weren't for that, we would never have made it. With just 20 minutes to spare, we checked in and made our way through customs and onto our plane to Geneva.

Being with my daughter,(not to mention the wine and cider I downed in Weatherspoons), made the plane journey bearable. The sight of the Alps on the descent into Geneva, was a very welcome distraction. When the wonderful wall of warmth hit as we stepped off the plane, the holiday had officially started and within a couple of hours of landing, we were at our apartment and looking out onto this view: awesome!



The Cycling

The cycle path runs out from Annecy along the west side of the lake. From our base in St Jorioz, we were able to join up with the path and cycle 9km into Annecy. The path was fabulously smooth tarmac, with a dividing line painted down the centre. All kinds of cyclists were using it, slow families like us, racing roadies and everything in between. Despite the differences in speed, the route was shared very safely and responsibly. On our first ride out, we came to a point where a road crossed the cycle path - I told my daughter to stop and wait with me while the car drove through, but NO, the car waved us through - CYCLISTS HAVE RIGHT OF WAY!!! The next revelation came when I noticed the signs that said walkers must stay off the path and stick to the "gutters" and that dogs weren't allowed, even if they were on leads. Paradise or what??? The path itself was flat and perfect for family cycling and we did 3 rides over the week. My son was on a tag-a-long behind me, my youngest on a Hamax seat behind her dad, and my daughter was on her own bike. Considering that we only removed her stabilisers a few months ago, she did really well to finish the 18km round trip. We cycled for waffles in town, for lunch and a swim at the lake and again into Annecy for further explorations. It was a brilliant adventure, which we all loved and enjoyed together. The MTB was a good choice.

Most mornings I cycled into the centre of St Jorioz to pick up the days groceries. The boulangerie was stunning and was well used by the Popplewells. Each day we would get a couple of sticks of bread, croissants, 5 pain au chocolat (at least) and a selection of cakes for lunch. I put on about 6lb over the 7 days that I was there, but those calories were definitely worth it.


On one such trip to St Jorioz, I noticed a signpost - Col Leschaux, 11km. I ditched all my finely laid plans to do the time trial course and decided just to have a go at the local Col. I didn't want to be gone too long so a 22km round trip sounded just about right. As soon as I made the right turn, it was a steady gradient up with very little respite - nothing like the gradients of Ventoux, but on a mountain bike, it was ridiculously hard work. It was hot and I was blowing within about quarter of an hour. I started to wonder why the hell I'd decided to do it when I could have been sitting by the pool. Sweat was pouring off me and as I'd forgotten to pack water bottles, I only had a tiny kids bottle that held about 300mls of water. I had soon run dry and was just hoping to come across a small town or a little shop. I resisted the nagging urge to turn around and coast back home and was eventually rewarded with a couple of cold cans in a tiny village restaurant. What a boost! I was back on, my speed increased and soon up to the top of Col Leschaux! I don't know what was going on with me on the previous week but I'd also forgotten to pack helmets, so I took the descent back to St Jorioz very carefully. I was enjoying the scenery so much that it was great to ride it slow and take it all in - mountains definitely stir the soul.

We did drive the time trial course one morning and there were stacks of cyclists riding it on road bikes with all the gear. I enjoyed every moment by the pool with the children and I loved the family rides, but when I saw those cyclists, I definitely yearned to be out there with them. So, I resolved that next time I would take both bikes. The course was gorgeous and, if we had the right road, it had a nasty little climb in it - would have been great to ride it.

If there was a downside, it was the expense due to the poor Euro rate at the moment. Most nights we would spend around 90 Euro (~ £80) on food. An orangina cost just under 4 Euro. One of the bolts for the tag-a-long got lost in transit and I had to buy another from the local bike shop - they laughed at my French accent and then charged me 5 stinking Euro! Merde.

All in all, the week was fantastic. Lake Annecy is beautiful. There is so much to do there - most sports seemed to be catered for, the food is superb, the scenery breathtaking, the cycling couldn't be better. I could go on and on about it and would still come nowhere near to describing how great it is. We are already planning to go back next year for a longer stay - maybe fitting it around the Etape or the Marmotte? (or if dates allow, perhaps both - even though I know that is crazy)