Andy from Team Cycling Plus joined Simon & Geoff the Verenti Kilo To Go Event Organisers for a total soaking to pre-ride The Verenti Rut sportive (Rutland, 3rd October). Lots of rain, green fileds and quiet roads. Roll-on the Indian summer! Here’s a sneaky peak of some of the route and the rain they enjoyed that day. Did I mention it was wet?

De Marchi Competition

During the 7th July to 7th August 2010 Wiggle teamed up with De Marchi to give you an opportunity to win one of five De Marchi vintage pullovers, worth £149.99 each!

All you had to do was purchase De Marchi product from Wiggle before midnight (BST) 7th August 2010 for your chance to win one of the superb prizes up for grabs.

We even made it really easy for you, a discount of 20% was applied to all de Marchi products!

We are really pleased to announce that we have picked 5 random customers for this competition, winners are listed below.

Nigel Jones
Jonh Smith
Simon Adams
Martin Zeidler
Nigel Fletcher

Here is what a few of the winners had to say.

Having had it confirmed by a very friendly chap at wigggle that I was a winner of the De Marchi competition and that the email confirming my win was not spam as i had initially suspected, i was (and still am) chuffed. Especially as I was totally unaware that I had entered into the competition in the first place! Thanks Wiggle. Any chance you can pick my lottery numbers for next week?

Nigel Jones

I was delighted to hear about winning the wiggle competition. I am an existing owner of de marchi cycling wear (which I rate very highly) and I very much look forward to receiving my vintage pull over. Thanks Wiggle!

Simon Adams

It has now been just over 5 months since we took delivery of our Verenti Millooks, and started our transformation into road cyclists. At first it was all about getting used to the bikes, the gears and the clip in pedals. We cycled mainly on flattish roads, or rolling hills for the first 4 to 6 weeks, building up from around 20 miles to 40 miles over this time.

We figured some things out very quickly such as the importance of a good chamois in our cycling tights. We found that our fitness levels increased rapidly, and over 3-4 weeks the time taken to cycle known routes could be decreased quite markedly. I (Nic) also had a shorter stem fitted as I was struggling to comfortably reach the brakes.

By April it was fair to say that we had been bitten well and truly by the cycling bug. It was time to put more thought into our training and start to set some targets. We have been using the Garmin Edge 500 to monitor heart rates and cadence, enabling us to know which heart rate zones we were training in. This is an area which we find easier to understand as physiology was part of our undergraduate training- training horses and cyclists is not that different it seems! As the distances and hills have increased I have also had to pay more attention to diet both pre and during rides, although at first drinking and eating whilst cycling and not losing balance and falling off was enough of a challenge.

The first major target we set ourselves was a 50 mile sportive- Squires and Spires in Northamptonshire. Having worked behind the scenes at the Verenti Cheshire Cat (organised by KILO TO GO) we had a bit of an idea what to expect, however what we did not expect at the start of May was such cold and windy weather! We cycled in every bit of clothing we had brought with us! Cycling with so many other cyclists around us was unnerving at first, but we soon got used to that. The cycling was surprisingly hilly, but with lovely scenery and villages to enjoy in a part of the country we would otherwise never have visited.

The next major target was a 75 mile sportive (Roses Round) in Lancashire and Yorkshire in mid June. To some extent choosing sportives has been based around available weekends rather than ideal distances and ascents. It turned out the ascent on this sportive was much more than we had calculated from putting the route in the sat map, nearer to 2000, than 1000m. We did manage to finish though, and we were not even the last! We are finding that the challenge of cycling longer and longer distances is a mental one as much as a physical one. There is also the challenge of finding the hours needed for longer rides, as we are both busy vets with nights and weekends on call.

When we started the challenge back in March, the idea was to go from zero to 100 miles in a season; in June we decided that our 100 mile ride would be the Stoke on Trent stage of the Tour of Britain at the end of September, which is over the actual route ridden by the professional riders on the tour. Initially I thought this would not be too hilly being near Stoke, but once the route was published I could see there was approximately 2500m of ascent as the route goes into the Peak District, so we had actually picked a pretty hard sportive for our ultimate challenge. We live pretty close to some of the hillier Peak District parts of the route, so we have been able to use these in training. We have no other specific sportives organised over the summer, but have spent time in Cornwall training on the Cornwall Tor route and in the surrounding area. We have also ridden the route for the Verenti Wild Edric sportive which is the first weekend in September. The main focus of the training is to do successively longer rides on weekends in the weeks leading up to the 100 mile route, with 2 or 3 shorter 2-3 hour rides in the week if time allows.

We are currently in the Black forest area of south west Germany to do some more riding/ holidaying. We are in good company as this is where team T Mobile have done some of their training. The cycling and scenery is fantastic, although some of the ascents are incredibly long, many over 10 miles.

We have quite a following on facebook now, which is great as people have lots of tips and helpful advice for us. I have even found myself browsing cycle magazines in the magazine aisle at the supermarket! All in all looking back over the last few months we are really pleased with how we have progressed so far.

This September, cycling fans across the UK will have the chance to take part in Britain’s best bike race. Once again The Tour of Britain has teamed up with The Prostate Cancer Charity to deliver a unique cycling experience for you to ride in the tyre tracks of the world’s best professionals.

As a special incentive for Wiggle subscribers we are offering anybody who signs up via the Wiggle newsletter a chance to win an exclusive prize. All cyclists will be entered into a prize draw to win two places to ride in an official race car on an actual stage of the Tour of Britain. We are even throwing in VIP hospitality for the day and a signed jersey!

40

Custom Fitting Lake Shoes.

Location: My House

Custom Fitting Lake CX401 Shoes

With Team Wiggle being lucky enough to be supported by Lake Shoes I managed to get hold of a pair of custom fit Lake CX401 road shoes. I have been using the Lake CX330C road shoe for the last two season and have got on with them really well but there is nothing quite like having the shoe fitted to your feet rather than making your feet fit the shoe. Although the CX330C fit really well they don’t compare to the fitted CX401.

Martin form Moore Large kindly agreed to come to my house and fit the CX401 shoes for me…what a service. Martin showed up at my house with an oven and we were soon set up in my shed ready to start the process. Whilst the oven was warming I set up my bike on the turbo trainer so that the shoe could be fitted to my foot in the correct position I would be cycling in. One shoe at a time was then placed into the oven for a few minutes until the carbon sole/heel cup was moldable, then the shoe was place on my foot and loosely tightened. As the shoe is cooling Martin is molding the carbon around my heel and foot whilst I’m sat on the turbo trainer. Then the shoe is tightened some more and this process is repeated until the shoe cools right down.

Then once that process is complete it is time to have a pedal and see how the shoe feels and the minor adjustments are made like lacing the boa lace through the shoe. Once I was happy with the fit the next shoe was fitted in the same way…simple as that! After a few rides with the new shoes they felt noticeably stiffer and more responsive but this does reduce the comfort slightly. I would prefer the shoes to be stiff as I want to perform better in races so want all my power going through the pedal and this shoe does this perfectly!

I would like to say a big thanks to Wiggle and Martin from Moore Large for supplying and fitting the shoes, it was a great experience and I now have a perfect fitting pair of shoes. I would recommend to any one who is looking to gain an advantage in their racing to get a custom fitted pair of shoes especially by some one as experienced as Martin (who fit’s shoes for people like Tour De France Sprinter Tyler Farrar).

Ben

After not being on the bike for a couple of months with a torn knee ligament and an extremely hectic racing schedule it had been tough keeping in shape… and boy did I feel it when I finally got back on the Kiron!

Once I had got over the initial shock of my unfitness I realised just how nice it was to get out on the bike again and have an hour away from the real world, free of all the stress and chaos of life!

Over the last 2 months I’ve been keeping a steady routine of 12 miles, 2-3 times a week on my lunch break (the only spare time I seem to have in my life at the minute!) and the improvement I’ve seen in my performance is incredible! I’ve shaved of nearly 10 minutes off my time going from a measly 44 minutes down an improving 35.4 minutes over the 12 mile route I take.

Not only have I felt alot fitter, lost some weight and felt better about myself I’ve really noticed that I don’t fatigue half as much as I had been during the long GT races. This is very important for me as it allows me to keep concentration and keep putting in consistant times throughout my stint which could lead to a race win in some situations!

A little bit of fun I’ve been having on the Kiron is taking it to the circuits and doing a few laps each evening and recording my lap times so I’ve got a datum to aim at each time I go back to that track – its good for me as often I’m away from Wednesday – Monday so it keeps me on the bike and I’ve also got a bit of a bike club going on within the team which is great to have some company with me and also it’s nice to have a little competition. Needless to say our times are getting quicker all the time as the competition hots up!!!

As my times are now coming right down for my normal route, the plan over the next month is to find an extension of the route to around 16 miles and try to keep building on my fitness so I can keep improving during my races…. there is a 24 hour race at Silverstone in late September that I’m trying to get a seat in and if it does happen then I’ll need to make sure I’m fully fit and prepared for the task…… wish me luck!

6

Surprise 3rd Place

Surprise 3rd Place at the Mountbatten Centre 3/4 Circuit Race

Following a very windy and extremely hard Sunday circuit race at Thorney Island I decided to have 2 days of complete rest from the bike. The women had been put in with the 4th category men at Thorney Island and, quite unusually for the 4ths, there were several attacks which made several splits in the already small field of riders, and meant there was nowhere to hide from the extremely strong winds. I literally had to dig deep throughout the whole race to stay with it and was really glad to finish. My legs were very sore afterwards and they felt quite heavy and pretty dead.

Anyway, after my two days of rest, I decided to test my legs by racing at the Wednesday evening Mountbatten Centre circuit race. I really didn’t know how my legs would respond, but there was only one way to find out and that was by just giving it a go.
Kate Calvert, who has very recently joined Team Wiggle, was also there so we decided to have a go at attacking together to see if we could get a gap, but to no avail. I’ve tried several times before at these races to get away on my own, and also in the hope that someone would come with me, but I have only managed to get half a lap at the most before tiring and then being caught, and no-one has bothered to come with me. Well they know I am going to tire on my own and that it’s just a matter of time, and no doubt it must be a bit of a dilemma – who wants to chase a woman down, or be seen to be chasing a woman down.

During this particular race I moved to the front on a few occasions and tried to get away with some of the men attacking off the front of the bunch, but nothing stayed away and everyone seemed to be intent on chasing all the attacks down. However, as luck would have it, I found myself behind Ian Donohue (an extremely good and very strong Fareham Wheelers rider) and I knew he would definitely want to have another go at an attack, so I got on this wheel as he moved up on the outside of the bunch. As we neared the front another rider attacked off the front of the bunch more or less at the same time as Ian reached the front and he went for it. I instinctively launched myself and got on Ian’s wheel. I managed to get to them and I focused on staying with them for as long as I possibly could.

I’d like to say that we all took equal turns, but mine were much shorter than theirs, especially against the wind! Ian knew that his team mates would not chase him down and that my partner, Richard Pearman, would not chase me down (otherwise he would be in so much trouble when he got home!), so it was in Ian’s best interest to keep me with him. He gave me lots of encouragement to stick with them which helped me to dig as deep as I could, although I believe there was a lot of heavy breathing going on on my part. We actually got half a lap on the bunch at one point, with any chasing being put in check by Rich, and the rest of the Team Wiggle and Fareham Wheelers riders.

Why is it that it seems forever before the 3 laps to go board comes out when you’re starting to suffer, when at other times it seems to come out far too soon. I kept looking at the judges (probably with a pleading and/or pained look on my face), but they didn’t give anything away. After what seemed forever the 3 laps to go board was finally displayed. Now the hard part – trying to keep it going without blowing completely and/or getting caught by the riders behind us who would now really want to chase us down for the top 10 placings.

Thankfully I was able to hang on and I finished in 3rd place in this 3rd/4th category men’s race. Boy was I relieved to cross the finish line without anyone else flying past me just seconds before reaching it. Having spoken to Richard afterwards he told me that he was just about to go after Ian himself when he saw a flash of orange to the right of him – that was me! I think I surprised not only myself, but a lot of other riders who also ride these races at the Mountbatten Centre. All my previous attacks during these races have finally paid off and perhaps, or just may be, someone will think about coming with me the next time I launch myself off the front.

Sorry Rich, I know I pinched your points that evening (for which I did feel very guilty about afterwards), but it was just an instant reaction on my part at the time – in other words I got carried away. That said, you did get the points you needed for your 2nd category licence that weekend at Thruxton when you finished a well-deserved 5th place.

64

Grand Raid Cristalp

Grand Raid Cristalp

The weeks leading up to my trip to Switzerland were disappointing in terms of training. For reasons out of my control I wasn’t able to train as much or as hard as I wanted, so when the time came to leave for Switzerland with nothing to do except for ride a bike all week I couldn’t wait to unpack the bike and climb some mountains! After a few days with a set of Vittoria Rubino slicks fitted to the Focus Raven MTB I was able to sample the best of the Swiss roads as well as the trails. The first few days were spent on the asphalt, with all the big mountain passes around Verbier done, including a massive day with 4200m of vertical climbing. The rest of the week was spent on the MTB on the trails around Verbier and checking out the first section of the Grand Raid course.

Saturday came around far too quickly and I was up at 4.30am ready for a 6am start where over 3000 riders would start from 4 different villages along the route. The start from Verbier was the long route over 137km and has over 5600m of vertical ascent. My Focus Raven was in perfect condition and weighing in at under 20lbs, so I knew it would flew up the long climbs! A few changes were made to what I normally carry compared to a UK marathon, with a few extra tools and plenty of gels in the back pockets and some even held in my shorts. I had been granted a priority race start, which meant I was able to start near the front of the pack, a big bonus with such a large field. With typical Swiss precision the race started at exactly 6am and the pace was rather quick to say the least! A lead group of 20 or so riders had formed and were motoring up the first climb which went from Verbier at an altitude to 2200m. It was probably the easiest climb of the race, but it was by no means an easy climb! 7Km and 35 minutes later I was at the top, just 2 minutes behind the lead group, including some world class marathon racers. A quick traverse followed with a fantastic view over towards Mont Blanc where the rising sun was bouncing off the snow capped peaks. Then we dropped off the top down a lightning fast descent back down to 1400m, through a mountain village before starting the second climb of the day. This climb was altogether more difficult, with a more varied gradient and rougher surface, the very top was extremely steep and had me breathing hard. As I was only carrying a 750ml bottle I would have to reply on the feed stations along the way to keep hydrated so I grabbed a bottle at the top, but it was a real lottery as to the contents.

There was no chance to rest as the course immediately pointed downhill, with a rather ominous triple down arrow sign. Maybe I was a little eager to get back down or too confident in my abilities, but I had rolled off the edge of what was very nearly a vertical grassy bank, still wet with the morning dew carrying far too much speed. I grabbed the brakes, trying my best to feather them and prevent them locking up, then tried switched lines in the hope it would help; big mistake, I just went faster! I could see a pretty deep drainage ditch approaching and my only hope was to try and hop over it, but my back wheel hit the far edge and threw me into the air. I landed hard and watched the bike bounce down the hill in front of me. I seemed unhurt and to my amazement when I reached the bike it was totally unscathed! I walked the remainder of the slope, loosing a place in the process.

After quickly checking myself and the bike over I started riding again, although I had lost a bit of confidence and riders behind were catching me. I tried to follow one of them, but his skills were more honed than mine on the marble like gravel surface and I knew that I would end up crashing again if I tried to stick with him. The remainder of the descent was a mixture between lightning fast gravel roads, technical woodland singletrack and slippery grassy trails and I made it down at my own pace. As soon as I was able I tried the random drink I had picked up at the previous feed stop, the taste was strange but I realised after a while that it was Iced Tea… I quite liked it, in fact it was very refreshing.

I was relived to reach the next village and start climbing again as it gave me a chance to compose myself. It was on the next climb that I looked down and saw blood on my legs and arms from where I fell. It looked bad, but I wasn’t in pain so carried on regardless. The next few climbs were shorter, each with only 400-500m of height gain and they seemed to pass by fairly quickly. After 3.5hrs, 68km and 2400m climbing done I had reached a village called Héremence, roughly halfway although from what I had heard the second half would be far tougher. The climb out of the village was fantastic, by now it was approaching mid-morning and the locals from all the villages and towns were out to support all the riders; “allez, allez, hop, hop hop!!” I must have heard that cheer hundreds of times over the day but it spurred me on each time. I could not believe the amount of people out to watch the race and the level of support we were getting, it was like nothing I have ever experienced before. Part of the climb through a small village was particularly memorable, as we were riding on steep, narrow paved trails which were lined with people.

Passing the next feed station I took the chance to grab another bottle – more Iced Tea, Fantastic! Then it was only the long climb to the Mandelon, which started on the road before turning to dirt and zig-zagged its way upwards to the highest point of the course so far. I had been riding alongside one particular Swiss rider for some time and although we didn’t exchange a single word, mainly due to level of exertion we seemed to understand each other and were working well together and caught some of racers ahead. Towards the top of the climb, at about 2300m the trail turned rougher and steeper and my silent partner slowly drifted away. Once we reached the peak at 2400m I thought it would turn downhill immediately, as most of the other climbs had done but what followed was an undulating section with large rocks which needed precision and short sharp bursts of power to clear. Unfortunately I was starting to feel the effects of the efforts required so far and I was finding the section really hard and had to keep stopping to overcome obstacles that I would probably have cleared if I was fresh. At the same time I was catching riders who had set off on the shorter routes and although most were literally jumping out of the way it still slowed me down at times. There was a big sigh of relief as the descent became a gravelled double track and the speed picked up rapidly down to the next village of Evolène in the valley below.

By now it was getting extremely hot, near 30 degrees and I knew I needed to take on as much fluids as possible. I grabbed another bottle, hoping it was more Iced Tea, but it was some kind of energy drink which wasn’t quite as nice. I drank it quickly and also took a Torq caffeine gel that I had saved. Having completed 100km it was on to the final climb of the day, although this one was a monster! The village was at 1300m, one of the lowest points of the race. The first section was fairly slow, with a few tricky climbs up to a small village at 1700m where I stopped to refill the bottle and adding the sachet of High5 extreme that I had carried and grabbed some banana and some kind of warm and sticky cereal bar. As I left the village the course started descending and although the descent was a fantastic woodland singletrack trail I was cursing every meter of it as I knew that I would have to make it all up again. With the descent over it was back to the climbing and the caffeine was starting to take effect. I got into a good rhythm and felt strong again, catching a few riders on the same route in the process and passing a near constant stream of riders on the shorter courses, “Allez Matthew, Allez Verbier, hop, hop, hop” were the calls from people as I climbed, they knew my name as everyone had their first name on the number board – such a brilliant idea. I kept glancing at the Garmin Edge 500 and ticking off the meters as they went by. I knew the climb would top out at 2800m, but by this time the vertical meters seemed to pass by far slower.

The trail weaved its way upwards eventually reaching another feed station at 2500m, I was taking the chance to drink and eat at every station along the way as the heat was really taking its toll and with over 7 hours of riding done I was starting to run low on energy reserves. Only 300m of climbing to the top, it would be over soon I thought. The climb continued for a few minutes before turning left where I caught the first glimpse of the mountain that stood ahead of me, the ‘Pas de Lona’. As I glanced upwards my mouth dropped and then what followed from it was a long string of expletives as the trail in front of me was frightening – a steep, long zig-zagged scree slope with an endless line of ant like riders inching their way upwards far into the distance. My first response was to blast it! I motored onwards and climbed fast, passing riders constantly, all walking upwards as I cleaned section after section, cheers of “Allez, Allez, Superb!” coming from the riders I passed and spectators alike.

Eventually I had to get off the bike and I took a second to glance upwards again, it seemed like an impossible task to overhaul. I had prepared my bike for some hike-a-bike by placing a spare tube under the top tube to act as a cushion but I didn’t think I would have to carry the bike for 4km of evil ascent. At first I was taking normal sized steps as it was less steep but this soon changed to baby steps as it turned steeper and eventually I was taking micro steps and having to traverse the scree in order to keep going in an upward direction. The support from spectators was amazing with people cheering the whole time “Verbier, Verbier”, other competitors ahead would move out of the way as soon as they heard those words. My body was screaming as my legs were tired and my shoulder hurting from carrying the bike but I stayed positive and refused to stop, readjusting the bike on my shoulder every so often to relieve the pain. As the top approached the crowds grew larger and the final hundred meters or so was packed with people, all cheering and shouting, some had even carried massive cow bells up there and the noise was amazing. Somehow I managed to find enough strength to take bigger steps and then I started running upwards, spurred on by the noise of the crowd. Once I reached the top, after about 20-25 minutes of walking I let off a shriek of both pain and joy as I knew that the hardest part was now over. One last feed stop, a chance to take on board more fluids and bananas, but I declined on the “bouillon”, some sort of salty soup apparently?

From the top the trail opened up on a fantastic flowing descent that equals anything I have ridden previously, but it didn’t last for long as there was one final climb, back up to 2800m although thankfully it was rideable this time. From the top it was downhill all the way to the finish, over 13km of non-stop descending – sounds great! It started well enough, on awesome singletrack before changing to lightning fast doubletrack with tight switchback turns, there were lots of riders ahead of me, but a quick shout “Verbier!” had the desired effect as they diverted to the side to allow me to pass. The views down below to a magnificent turquoise coloured reservoir and upwards to the glacier and high mountains were simply breathtaking. I only managed a few glimpses, making sure I was concentrating on the fast and sometimes rough sections. Such a long and rough descent was starting to hurt and when the trail became rougher, then as it went below a dam it became rougher still and more challenging as my arms were pumped and legs were hurting from taking all the weight for so long. I caught a glimpse of the village of Grimentz in the distance which I knew was the finish, but it was still several kilometres away and several hundred meters of descent lay ahead of me. The trail followed a river as it made its way downwards, crossing it several times. At times it became so steep and rocky that I had to get off and walk down – tiredness had taken over my whole body and I was risking a big crash if I tried to ride them, even the winner walked the same sections. As the finishing village approached the trail became less steep, but it was almost entirely on a rock garden which had my arms screaming and my fingers were struggling to keep hold of the brakes, desperately trying to stay in control. The trail then flattened out and went into a short wooded section before it opened up and all of a sudden the finishing line was directly ahead, far sooner than I was expecting! I flew across the line and came to a halt. My immediate thoughts were utter relief and joy that I had finished and the hurt was over but I started to feel quite sad as I realised just how special this day had been and that I would have to wait a whole year to experience it again. The Grand Raid Cristalp was over and my journey had taken 8hrs 35min which placed me 25th overall and 13th in category (under 30’s). I was also top British rider in an event that is totally dominated by the local Swiss racers.

The experience of racing abroad was amazing and it has completed changed my thoughts on racing. The Swiss people have such a positive outlook on racing that puts the UK to shame. I’ve never raced anywhere where the local people come out in such numbers and celebrate an event with a festival like atmosphere, according to the event press over 60,000 people come out to watch. It’s got me hooked and I can’t wait to do more similar races next season. Right now though its time to look ahead to my big race of the year, the race that everything is aimed towards – The 24hr World Solo Championships, in Canberra Australia. The race is now under 7 weeks away and preparation is now well under way.

Photos

34

Summer Training

Last week was spent hanging out in Nice, albeit a little longer than intended when my flight was cancelled. So begins the inevitable scramble, along with 150 other people late Sunday evening, to get onto another flight. Having had some experience with this due to snow and ash clouds I know that the best course of action is to get online and get on a flight ASAP. I had my laptop in my bag so had the advantage of being able to do that immediately. With nothing available for 3 days out of Nice I got The Dutchman and I on a flight from Marseilles for Monday afternoon. We went home and got up early to catch the train from Nice to Marseilles and then the bus to the airport. Not a good start to the week given I was supposed to be starting a new job rather than catching trains, buses and planes!

I was on a high all week after my London Tri win which also pushed me to train harder as my season is quite long this year so I have plenty of races left to test myself with. I got in some really good quality swims in the sea and count myself lucky because I haven’t encountered any jellyfish at all this year. I heard from a local triathlete that there was a huge school of them a little further around the coast from where I do my swim training, but thankfully they didn’t come any closer to Nice. I have been stung a few times in the past on my hands and feet and have never really been that phased by it until a local told me about horrific scarring her friend now has on her face as a result of getting tangled up with one. Certainly has made me a little more wary.

Anton, a friend of ours from London was also in Nice visiting his girlfriend Claire so the 4 of us did a lovely ride together taking on Col de Nice, Col de Braus (the one with at least 20 switchbacks), Col de Castillon which then gives you a fantastic descent all the way down to the sea in Menton where we met my parents for lunch. The 4 of us then continued our ride over to Ventimiglia in Italy to have some coffee. Having done my training for the day, the others did a little loop up into the valley and back down again to then jump on the train back to Nice.

Claire was happy to learn some new routes as she has just started a business called Cycle Côte d’Azur in Nice doing guided cycling tours which is creating some interest both in Nice and the UK.

So this week I am getting ready to head out to Austria with BikePlusTours for 10 days through the Austrian Alps with 15 other riders. It’s going to be 10 days of pain! Check out the website for a profile of 1 of the days, there is a lot more red on the graph than I like!! I will be trying to upload some blogs whilst away to keep you updated (if I survive!).

Happy training.
Cx

Basso have teamed up with Wiggle to give away a superb prize worth £950! During 28th June to the 1st August 2010 any review left via Wiggle.co.uk was automatically submitted for a chance to win this superb prize worth £950!

A Basso Devil 2010 compact geometry road bike equipped with Campagnolo drivetrain.

Here is what Mark Burrows our Basso Competition winner had to say about wining his superb prize!

I completed the online review to help out anyone else looking to purchase a new Focus Fat Boy mountain bike as I found the existing reviews very useful in making my own choice, winning a prize for doing so is a major bonus.

I have always been very pleased with the standard of service, quality and value of Wiggle’s products and to say I am overwhelmed by winning this new road bike is an understatement.

Once again thank you very much and rest assured you now have a lifelong customer.

View his review here.