My New Specialised Tarmac

Yes.. we have the patter of new tyres in the household. Today, I collected my new Specialised Tarmac SL4 Expert Mid Compact (there's a mouthful) from the Bike Shed cycle shop in Exeter.

I had to take a day off work to do this as I'd promised myself, for my next bike purchase, to have a Specialized Bike Fit and these are not done on a weekend. While I had decided to go for the basic £100 3 step 2D experience and not the £200 5 step pro video 3D fit .. after all, I'm not planning on entering the Tour de France any time soon .. this bike fit, or "Body Geometry Fit" as Specialised call it, was amazing. Let me take you through the 3 steps to cycling comfort ad performance perfection ..

Tarmac setup for the bike fit

Step 1: PRE-FIT INTERVIEW AND FLEXIBILITY ASSESSMENT
Here, my Body Geometry Fit specialist talked with me about my riding experience and goals, and evaluated my strength and flexibility .. or lack of them! Apparently 30 years of flying a desk had done nothing for my body's flexibility, but it's good to know ones limitations. I was scored against 3 areas:
(1) Hamstring Range. Here I scored 4/10, not a good score even when I was at school, so as expected I slipped into the Red zone on my assessment chart.
(2) Hamstring Isolated. This is where each leg is independently scored having been stretched to its limit of painless movement. Being very much right handed, there was no surprise that my left less well and at the end of the exercise, my chart read, L 42/90 (Red) : R 55/90 (Yellow) .. is it too late to take up yoga?
(3) Hip Flexion. Not sure what this was, but think I may have been fighting back as I was being manoeuvred in this position or else I should be booking my hip replacement surgery soon! Yes, I was in the red zone again.

Step 2: PRODUCT SELECTION
During my assessment, my fitter had me sit on a pleistocene pad and stand on a heat sensitive board. From these he confirmed my saddle was OK for my boney behind but that I needed more arch support in my cycling shoes .. ka-ching! £20 for a new insole, but it did feel better.

Step 3: RIDE ANALYSIS
Here, I pedalled like a possessed thing as my fitter visually assessed my position on the bike and adjusted seat, shoe cleats and handle bars accordingly in order to determine my best and most efficient ride position. This is where we made the greatest gains. My seat hight was raised by at least 2 cm, both cleats were adjusted so that the float (lateral movement) was centralised and the handle bar stem was shortened by at least 1 cm .. I can't tell you how much of an improvement this has made since replicating these changes on my Roubaix.

So, I feel this has certainly, so far anyway, been money well spent.

Ready for our first ride

Back home, as I was already all kitted up, we went our for our first ride together to see the Axe Valley highlights .. the harbour cafe for lunch, Soanes Cycles to check in on Sid and the team and then the Broom Wagon coffee shop for a strong black Americano .. what a perfect end to a perfect day of cycling treats!

Soon to be seen in Vogue

6 road riders met on Thursday at the Kings Arms for the 6:30 pm AVP club ride depart; Jolly, Tigger, Handbag, Richard, the Near Naked Man and yours truly. For once, rain was not forecast, so we were looking forward to a dry ride. 

Tigger led us out setting a quick pace along the estuary, someone had their Wheetabix! As we turned into Axminster we suffered our first mechanical when my rear mudguard departed company with its top bracket and locked against the wheel. No amount of coaxing was going to get it reaffixed, so it had to be left by the road for later collection. Our next mechanical befell us as we climbed Leggetts lane and Richard suffered a rear puncture. This is certainly the a sign of us entering the winter months, in that a night of perforated tyres becomes the norm .. how I miss summer already! 

A professional tube change by torchlight

Luckily, I was wearing the AVP winter collection .. long sleeved jersey, Roubaix bibtights and Windex jacket .. and so felt no chills while waiting for the tube to be replaced. Unfortunately, I had somewhat overdressed for the unseasonably warm 14 degrees, the ensemble chosen being more befitting for a sub zero outing! That said, I can confirm that the new line fits well, is very comfy, the bibtights are excellently padded and it was the first time I've longed for a downpour or at least a bit of frost on verges! See picture for further details on the kit (now available from Soanes Cycles) 

Soon to be seen in Vogue

Back to the ride .. Handbag left us at the puncture site to return for the 7:00 pm group ride and then there were 5. We road on to Hawkchurch, returning via Axminster, dropping the Near Naked Man and Richard off at Kilmington and Jolly at Musbury. Tigger and I steamed (getting even hotter under all the layers) back to Seaton into a headwind along the Axe Estuary to meet up with Handbag and Barley, back from their 7:00 pm ride, at the Kings Arms. It was there that our numbers were eventually doubled by the arrival of the MTB riders who themselves had a tale of mechanical woes of their own .. the beer never flowed so well!

Force Autumn Storm 2014

A number of Pedallers, met up at the Fingle Glen, Tedburn St Mary early this morning for the Force Autumn Storm charity ride: Quiff, Bobble, Andy, Shaun, Richard, Kelly and yours truly. This ride took us west from Fingle Glen; over to Yeoford, up to Winkleigh, across to Broadwoodkelly, through Monkokehampton and along beautiful cycle routes with stunning views before returning to our start point - a circuit of 56 miles.

Early morning start .. it was cold!

The organisers reported the hills being slightly more testing than the previous years' route, hence calling it the Storm!

As you may have anticipated .. I did manage record some of our riders on film .. those who stayed around long enough to be captured!

Cycling on Mull

Oh it has been a while since my last blog! This has mainly been because of a much needed holiday and a break from the trappings of technology, something I would recommend form time to time for all!

Back in April, I acquired my Skoda Yeti, the perfect vehicle within which to carry my bike where ever I chose go, and my two week late summer holiday in Scotland was to be the ultimate test. It was a close decision to be made between the Roubaix and Crosstrail as to which bike was to accompany me, the decision being made by one of my good friends, Mike, with whom we would be staying a few days and who was competing in a triathlon on the Sunday and suggested we get in a few miles at the same time!

The RideLondon man on Mull

The Friday before the grand depart, I was returning from a business trip to Dublin and so many of the final preparations had been very much left to the 11th hour, one key activity being to clean and ready the Roubaix following the previous week’s AVP 100 miler. Thick with road dust, cow dung and grubby bar tape, the Roubaix was in need of a deep clean and re-oil. Luckily the saddle bag was still complete in its contents of inner tubes, CO2 canisters and tools, such that it was just the cosmetics which needed to be taken care of.

Once in Scotland, the Roubaix’s first outing was a 20 mile circuit, a solo out to the triathlon start, followed by a brisk return ride with Mike a few hours later. Mike had just swam a mile, ridden 20 and run 7 and we still managed an impressive average 18 mph, but then again, I did let him draft me the 14 miles home! Jokes apart, it was great to have this first ride out with Mike, a guy who definitely inspired me to getting back into the saddle and begin my tour de fitness all those months ago.

Our final destination north of the boarder was to be the remote Isle of Mull. It was here that I managed 3 wonderful short morning rides, soaking up the unseasonably warm sun rises and taking in the amazing scenery. This video I took on one of the rides should give you a taste of what I was privileged to experience.

I had planned a circuit from our cottage and managed to ride it in both directions ..