My bicycle

[MightyMitre]

Should have posted this a while ago but didn't get round to it. www.Londoncyclesport.com is a regional website that covers loads of racing & cycling in the South East of England and they asked me if I'd do a review of my bike for them, so I said yes!

Here it is...

http://www.londoncyclesport.com/bikes/liz_condor.html

Its bit grubby but that's explained in the text.

By the way - Condor is a bike-maker based in London who've been selling their frames for about 50yrs.

Just wanted to show off..:p

[pedalfaster]

pretty! :)

[Adventure Girl]

The list of where you traveled in 2003 say you're a cyclist. But your comments about the color of the bike you'd swap for and the color of your tires say you're a GIRL!:p

Nice bike!

[annie]

Very nice!!!

[snapdragen]

She's a beauty! :cool:

[Veronica]

I enjoyed your write up too. Please tell us more about your various European adventures, so we can enjoy them too. :p

V.

[MightyMitre]

Thanks for the nice comments - I was really excited when they posted the photos to see my little bike on the internet!!

Anyway, this is a bit long but here's a bit about one of my adventures. I might have to move it to another thread sometime but thougth I'd start it off here.


Lets see – Paris Roubaix was a good one. It’s run from the outskirts of Paris to Roubaix in Flanders ( Southern Belgium) takes about 7 hours for the Pro’s to do it and large sections of it have cobbled farm tracks that have been used for years by farmers. It’s mostly flat but the cobbles are VERY rough so it’s like riding over millions of mini hills, which really sap your legs as the only way to ride them is hard. It’s usually run around Easter so its often wet and cold and the tracks turn to mud very quickly and it’s nickname is The Hell of the North, not only because it truly is a hard mans course, but it also goes past lots of areas that were involved in the serious trench warfare of the First World War.

Anyway, I’ve been to watch it twice – this first year I took my bike and had a go at riding the cobbles. Anyone can have a go before the race comes through and it was great fun – just very hard work! The weather was grey & freezing and we stood there waiting for the race to come through with a Belgium waffle in one hand ( yummy!) and a bottle of Primus – v .strong Belgium beer in the other .Despite the cold the atmosphere was great. Basically the crowd lines along a cart track only one car wide, that runs through the middle of a field and farmers had parked trailers along side and people were standing on them waiting for the race to come by.

When they finally came through it was incredible. Because the course is so narrow you really have to watch yourself and I ended up with mud splattered over my face as loads of riders and support cars zoomed by. I was freezing but it was well worth the wait to be able to see the riders so close up. T

The place we were standing at was about 40 mins from the finish, so by that point everyone was exhausted and some of the riders were just a pair of hollow eyes staring out of their mud splattered faces. The race finishes in Roubaix where riders race straight into the packed velodrome and do 2 laps in front of the roaring crowd before finally reaching the end and anyone who wins Paris-Roubaix has huge respect as it's probably the hardest one-day race around. By the way – this is all done on road bikes!!!. When you look at the surface you think they must be mad and ought to be on a nice comfy mountain bike, but no!


I went to see the race again last year and this time it was so hot I was standing there in a t-shirt and got sunburnt! We also took a mini – BBQ and cooked burgers and sausages on the roadside before the race came through. When they finally arrived it was in a huge cloud of dust – you could see them across approaching across the fields by the clouds of dust!

I’m going again in a few weeks time so I wonder what the day will hold this time. I’ll keep you posted….

:) :)

[annie]

You are so lucky to be where you can watch classic races like that! I am green with envy! Thanks for sharing the experience. It sounds wonderful! Could you even tell who the riders were or were they too covered with mud/dust?

[MightyMitre]

Yes - if I lived in mainland Europe I think I'd take it for granted, being able to go and see all these races, but we still have to cross the Channel to get there. It means leaving the house about 6.00 but it's cool to be able to go to France for the day!

With all the mud it's a bit tricky to recognise people, but I remember seeing a Telekom rider who was covered in mud except for his cap which was pristine! Either he'd just taken off his helmet or the team car had handed him a new one so the rest of the team could recognise their team mates.:)

If anyone is interested I've got a few more Euro- trips to write about but don't want to bore people by writing great big posts. Maybe I should start a Euro -trip thread.?

[fultzie]

Oh no, you don't bore us!
Feel free to post many more!!! We can live vicariously through you. :D
thanks for sharing :)

[jobob]

If anyone is interested I've got a few more Euro- trips to write about but don't want to bore people by writing great big posts. Wow, are you kidding? I'd love to read about your adventures!
- Jo.

[pedalfaster]

I just love race-reports, whether they are reports of big pro races people have watched or races women here have competed in themselves.

Viva living vicariously :D

[melissam]

MightyMitre,

Here's another vote for more posts from you about your experiences in Europe.

[kpc]

Very cool that normal people would get off the road for a bike race and that you have tailgates while you're waiting! Sounds like a lot of fun. In fact getting a sunburn while watching abike race sounds wonderful right about this time of year! Bike tres pretty too.

[kelrunran]

Tell us more! It sounds amazinly awesome! I'm trying to get my husband to go watch one of the big races for our 20th anniversary next year. Fortunately, he's a cyclist too. Hopefully the Tour De France!

Kelly

[ChainsOflove]

WE'RE ALL GOING TO BE AT Y OUR DOORSTOPS SOON!!!

[AnnieB]

Another vote for the EURO reports! Last year my significant other and I spent 2 weeks in France watching the Alpe D'Huez stage, traveling around and then watching the time trial which Lance lost pounds in b/c of the heat!

Any cycling fan should try to see one of the Classics or any part of any Grand Tour in their life time. I am a serious flag waver, very patriotic, BUT the EUROs know how to throw a party with a bike race thrown in - think of SuperBowl every day for weeks - it is incredible. It was SO HOT there last year (95 to 104 degrees every day and the roads were melting) - but I seriously had the best time of my life. :D :D

How can you beat walking back down from the top of Alpe D'Huez (fine, I will admit to walking while the BF rode!!) and being pulled into a tent part with a bunch of crazy drunk Dutchmen and asked to dance!

The French were great, even with all the political issues, and the experience was the best - AND guess what!?! We are going back again this summer!!!:D :cool:

ps: to MightyMitre - I am a HUGE George Hincapie fan, so give a yell for him as he goes by in the Paris-Roubaix!!;)

[MightyMitre]

Thanks girls - another report is on it's way! I've been crazy busy the last week but rest assured I'll let you have the next installment in the next few days.

Annie B - you've got one up on me there. I've never seen the Tour in the Alps but I'm hoping to get there this year.

Drinking & Dancing is what the Dutch do best - they're totally mad and always seem to be having a fantastic time. :p