The Bike - Costa Brava

The Bike,

The bike is probably a story that will take longer than I´ve got to write, and that you´ve got time to read.

I went on a ride in Novemeber, starting with a train trip to Wangaratta and going up the Ovens Valley, then across Hotham & down the Tambo Valley finishing in Bairnsdale - well that´s the way it ended up. After getting blisters that I wont elaborate on, I caught a train from Bairnsdale to Melbourne, and spent the next few days house painting - instead of riding the Grand Ridge Road as planned.

That trip was enough to convince me that the riding position of that bike was not at all good

I had previously been to Kennedy Cycle Fit in Black Rock & John Kennedy had made a number of changes to try & get the seating position right for me. It was better but still not right & there was no more he could do with the geometry of that frame.

I decided on that trip that for the OS tour I´d go for a new bike. Custom built (as are nearly all touring bikes). I got the frame built up through John Kennedy, and got most of the rest of the components from Cecil Walker´s.

The new bike has been the source of many a headache since then & I´m still not happy with it. It has a tendancy to go into a death wobble - particularly down hill & loaded (and yes I´m always loaded). John K had put three sets of forks on it (all customised) in the last couple of days before I left, but the problems remain. We´ve sorted out a problem of excessive flex (fore-aft) that the first set had, but the tendancy to go into a self sustaining wobble still exists. It remains to be seen how it goes on unmade roads, or cobble stones through the rest of Europe.

My brother in law Grant was joking about how many bikes I´ll go through. Maybe it should be how many frames & forks.

They´ll be some photos of the trip shortly.

The trip so far....

I stayed in Barcelona two nights, at a Hostal near La Rambla - That´s right in the middle for all those unfamiliar. From there I headed up the coast to Blanes (Blha-nez) a distance of about 78km, many of which in the morning at least were along bike paths at the edge of the beach. Picture riding the Bay trail in Melbourne or beyond Oriental Bay in Wellington and you wont be too far off. The coast at this point is flat beachey area nice but not compared to what was to come the next day.

From Blanes north again, just 50km to Platja d´Aro (North of Sant Feliu & South of Palamós - depending what is on your map).

This coast line is rugged very steep slopes and the road weaves in & out the bays up & down every time too. There are endless resorts with all that you´d expect from places like Ibiza etc. Fortunately they aren´t in season at the moment, but there is frantic work happening with tradesmen everywhere putting in all the new & restoring the old for the summer onslaught to come.

I was staggered by the number of cyclists on this road, all road bikes with small peletons in training. It seems the place to train, I noticed on place had a sign up ¨cycling holidays¨. They were nearly all going the opposite direction to me so that at least I didn´t feel left behind.

Then yesterday....

Ah yesterday...

The weather was different yesterday, all previous days started Blue & Sunny, then in the afternoon turned overcast & cold. Yesterday started overcast & cold and in the afternoon got worse. I sheltered in the shadow of a brick wall for lunch and managed to avoid the hail/sleet. But there was no avoiding the afternoon winds. 5km/hr winds. That´s me doing the 5km/hr not the winds. When it was head on the 5km/hr was all progress, if it was side on the 5km/hr included the sideways component, another thing that the steering on this bike is good at accentuating.

Not knowing whether this wind coming off the Pyrenees was going to be a common thing and waiting a day was pointless, or whether the next day would see a new weather pattern I eventually decided that I could go no further than between two rows of an Apple Orchard. A suitable windbreak for a secluded camp.

This morning greeted me with much better weather, not sunny but at least no $%&!?¿ wind.

Next France...

JJ