Festive Family Tour

With the acquisition of the Yeti back in April, I've been able to carry my bike with me on many an adventure and this year's festive family tour was no exception.

After celebrating Christmas in Milton Keynes, my sister and I decided to take a late Boxing Day spin just as the heavens opened! Sticking to the Red Way cycle paths, my sister on her mountain bike and I on my Roubaix, rode 5 miles out to Melbourne. The plan was then to cross over to Loughton and complete a circuit via a northern loop of the lakes, however, with the route unclear, darkness rapidly falling and only one of us having lights, we had little option other than to make our return along the outward path. Icy sleet and rain drove into our faces and froze my fingers numb, I've not been so cold in some time!



From Milton Keynes, we headed over to Norwich. By the Sunday, the weather had remarkably cleared following my earlier wintery ride out with my sister, such that I was able to head out on a longer ride with my brother-in-law.

It felt a little bit unfair, however, with my brother-in-law both unaccustomed to cycling and having to ride his classic Sun GT10 Tourer while I was on my tried and tested carbon Roubaix! We, however, took our time and completed a very respectable 20 miles, 2x our last ride together back in 2013 and enjoyed both fabulous weather and scenery. The Roubaix even coped well on the muddy "cycle path" following the old railway line, although it had picked up so much mud and debris that shifting between cogs became a little troublesome and a worrying grating noise from the running gear accompanied us on our return journey .. a deep clean will be required on our return to Seaton!

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 ..  

May Report and the Yeti

May has been my most successful, in distance covered, month since I started cycling again last March. I've been really keyed up in getting the miles covered in training for both my Dartmoor Classic and RideLondon events and increasing my fitness after a battle with a kidney stone!

Monthly distance stats 

May also saw me testing out my new bike carrying vehicle, yes my Skoda Yeti that I spoke of last November and finally took delivery of at the end of April. The Yeti's internal bike carrying system is awesome, as you can see below. It handles two bikes and plenty of kit easily and they arrive safe, dry and clean.

 

My new Yeti bike carrying vehicle

The Dartmoor Classic is being run on Sunday 22 June and I'm using it as some serious training towards my RideLondon 100 mile charity ride for Diabetes UK .. all sponsorship gratefully received. I'm now looking forward to June's cycling .. long days, sun and dry puncture free roads - I live in hope!

Day 243 - The Yeti Solution

Back in May, I pondered the question of how best to transport my bike  either when away on holiday or to a new area or a cycling event. With my car due for replacement next year, I've been doing a tour of the showrooms to see what the various manufacturers have to offer.

The main options appear to be roof or boot mounted. Vauxhall do an ingenious system whereby the numberplate extends to reveal a factory fitted bike rack. The issue I have with these methods of transportation is that both expose my valuable cycles to the elements and to the risk of theft and damage. The perfect solution to me would be to carry the cycles within the vehicle itself. Skoda, cycling's premier supporter, offer such a solution.

I am not one who needs a large car for every day use, indeed to me, 'small is beautiful' when it comes to cars, thus the large estate variants do not appeal; however, fitting a cycle within a small hatchback is never going to work, so a compromise will obviously be required. This may come from Skoda's small SUV, the Yeti ... what a great name too!

Skoda Yeti at Haytor, Dartmoor

Today, I took the Yeti, in white of course, on a test drive across Dartmoor, out to Haytor where, coincidentally, stage 6 of the Tour of Britain concluded in September. The variant provided, was the 2.0 litre diesel 4x4 170 Bhp. It manoeuvred surprisingly spritely for an SUV around the Devon lanes and for a 4x4 was very smooth and quiet along the quick A30. Over the 120 mile round trip it achieved a reasonable 43 mpg and while its looks may not turn may heads, as a practical and highly versatile vehicle with the perfect solution for my cycle transportation needs, it is certainly in the running. So watch this space .. a decision is required before the month is out.