Lezyne Port-a-shop reveiw

The kind people at Lezyne have supplied me with the brilliant Port-a-shop to help me on my travels in 2012.

The Port-a-shop contains everything you need to keep your bike running on the move. I recently used the Port-a-shop on my training camp in Gran Caneria and also during the Andalucia Bike race. It contains 3 multi tools, one allen key set, one torq wrench set and a multi tool with various screw drives an 8mm pedal allen key and importantly a bottle opener!
There is also a chain breaker, various puncture repair kits, tyre levers and a couple of spanners. The kit is small, light and compact and it contained in a nice sturdy padded case. This is excellent for putting in your bike box/bag when flying as it does not take up much of the baggage allowance and protects the bike from sharp tools rattling around during transit.

All in all the Lezyne Port-a-shop is a brilliant piece of kit to have handy weather you are flying with your bike, travelling in your car or you just want a convenient and complete tool kit to help maintain your bike. I don't think I could live without it now.

Next stop for the Port-a-shop South Africa!

Santacruz Tallboy carbon and Santacruz Highball carbon

Yep, you just read the title correctly. This year I am a very lucky boy indeed and have support from Santacruz UK. I will be riding a brand spanking new Santacruz Tallboy Carbon in a rather fetching blue colour. This should complement my old faithful orange Tallboy quite nicely. It now means that I have a colour choice when I ride!

As well as the new Tallboy I have also received a super fast Santacruz Highball Carbon 29er hard tail. I have already raced this in the Andalucia Bike race in Spain. This thing climbs fast! Not only does it climb fast, it aint too shabby going down either. Although I must admit I did forget that I wasn't aboard my Tallboy a couple of times on super gnarly descents!

Full reviews will follow if I can stop my self from riding them for 5 minutes!

Ergon GS1 grips and HX2 gloves

I'm happy to officially be riding with Ergon products for the 2012 season. I have used Ergon grips for the past year and have found them to be very comfortable.
I have been supplied with the new GS1 grips for my Santacruz Tallboys and a set of GS2 grips (the bar end variety) for my Santacruz Highball. These are essentially the updated version of the old GX series grips and I am lucky enough to have them in special edition team green.

I also received on of Ergons brilliant cleat alignment tools which has already proved its worth

To complement the grips I will also be using Ergon's race specific HX2 gloves. These are super comfy, well ventilated and look awesome!

Andalucia Bike race round up

Well the Andalucia bike race turned into a bit of a dissapointment results wise due to Ben's unfortunate hand injury, but still none the less was a brilliant week. For the last two days I carried on alone but wouldn't be counted in the results.

On stage 4 I decided to ride with Rich and Ant who were trying to get on the masters podium and helped them out where I could. This basically involved being a domestique! I rode hard on the flats for them and helped close gaps on the climbs when I could. I also gave them water when they ran out. It was quite a satisfying day in all honesty. It's nice to be able to make a difference and play a useful part in a race.

The final day I decided to ride as hard as I could and see what I could actually do. The start of the stage was a flattish fire road affair and I managed to latch onto the second group. As we hit the first big climb of the day we were only 30seconds down on the front group which contained all the main protagonists of the race. Up the first climb I managed to hang on for dear life. When it steepened I had to dig deep to hold on and if I did get dropped I just rode as hard as possible untill i caught up again. I crested the summit of the climb still in the group and stayed with them untill the next long steep climb. I was instantly dropped here but focused on my own tempo and gradually caught the group up again half way up at the timing point. We were only 4minutes down on the leaders and I could see them clearly ahead on the climb. It was a big moment for me and gave me lots of confidence that I can actually ride well in these big races. I just about clung onto the big group over the summit and again over a smaller climb before descending into the feed zone. After the feed the group exploded and I found myself about half way down the remains. I dug in up the last long climb and hammered the slippery descent as fast as I dare. At the finish I was 14minutes behind the winners and rather pleasingly it would have placed me in 15th position on the stage had I been in the results. All in all a very pleasing day and very confidence inspiring for the Cape epic.

I wasnt able to film the last few stages as Ben had the camera but I have put together this short video showing the crazy stage neutral zones.... enjoy!

What a disaster!!!

After Tuesdays stage in Cordoba where we managed to finish 24th we were in high spirits. The goal was to reach the top 25 overall and try for a top 15 in a stage. I was sure I could improve as the stages went on. Our stage result pretty much depended on me as I am by far the weaker rider but i was confident that I could up my game.

So on Wednesday we lined up on the start line ready to race hard. The first climb went fairly well for me. Every time it kicked up steeply I would be dropped from the group but I was able to latch back on when the gradient eased. Over the first climb we were in a good group, around 20th position. I decided to get to the front on the fast fire road descent to give my self a bit of slipping room on the next long climb and I pushed it hard. As we hit the bottom I saw that Ben was around 30seconds off the back but as we were about to hit a long climb I wasn't worried as he was bound to catch me right away, or so I thought. I sat on the back of the group as we passed the feed zone and I could see Ben in the small group behind. Soon the group joined with mine but Ben was no where to be seen!

So I waited untill another big group caught us but still no Ben. Rich and Ant (fellow brits) were in the group but said they hadn't passed him. So then I thought maybe I had missed him and he was ahead! So what did I do? Did I stop and wait or carry on? I decided to ride the climb super slowly and hope he caught me. But he didn't and I ended up riding the whole stage at a snails pace wondering where he had vanished too. To make matters worse I had a double puncture on the awesome final descent and had to run a kilometer until I was given another tube be a kind passing rider.

I reached the finish line a bit annoyed but mostly worried. Guess who met me there? Yep. Ben was waiting. It turns out that an innocuous fall the previous day had hurt his hand a little more then he had let on. Unfortunately he was unable to hold on down the first descent of the day and abandoned at the feed zone. It also happened to be the first time in the entire week that we had split up so I had no idea at all that he had abandoned and waited all day for him! A few good lessons learned there then.

So for the remained of the race I riding alone and not counting for the results. Today I rode with Rich and Ant and helped them by giving them my drinks when they ran out. Maybe I'll see what I can do by my self tomorrow, we'll see what happens!

Andalucia Bike race stage 2

Just a quick one now as its 5:30 in the morning and we have a bus to catch to the next stage. Stage 2 went fairly well. We finally cracked the top 25, 24th to be exact. All was good for me until a long steep climb. Then my legs stopped working and I suffered for the last 20km and lost a few places. I think we were in the top 20 for most of the stage.

Here's the video:

Andalucia Bike race stage 1

After yesterdays short sharp prologue stage today we took on the first full length stage of the race. The start was much less chaotic than yesterday and I felt fairly comfortable up the first climb. Over the top myself and Ben rode well together as a team and managed to drop the large group we were riding with in the single track sections. Eventually we were joined by Matt Page and his team mate Milton Ramos. We worked fairly well together until the half way point in the stage.
The was a steep rocky single track which forced us off our bikes and pushing. After about 5 minutes of pushing we reached the top and a short sharp descent followed by another short but steep climb. At this point my legs decided that they didn't like bike riding any more and promptly stopped working. The rest of the stage was a bit grim! We lost a lot of time to Matt and Milton and I suffered on any steep gradient (whilst Ben rode along like it was a recovery ride!).
We finished 32nd on the stage which I'm pretty disappointed with. Hopefully we can rectify the situation tomorrow.

In the mean time here is the stage video: