Well the cycling season is underway and Eurosport is filling with Spring road racing and the British calendar is in full swing already so it’s time for an update.
Over winter, I decided that I didn’t really need the ful suspension that my Orange ST4 offered me and I could save a lot of weight by ditching the frame for a hardtail. At the same time I decided that I’d move to singlespeed in an effort to increase my leg strength and out of saddle climbing muscles. This also cleared some funds to buy a carbon road bike for the 2011 race season. So the bike shed has 2 new additions and 1 departure. I’d like to introduce my new On One Scandal Singlespeed
and my DengFu FM015:
Both bikes have had races with the singlespeed taking part in the first Dyfi Enduro Winter Warmup, and the FM015 taking to the tarmac for the Paramount CRT Cat 3/4 circuit race at Sundorne Circuit in Shrewsbury.
Me in the bunch at Shrewsbury before getting dropped like a stone
Sadly the latter was a poor show on my behalf and I got shelled after 6 laps. The pace was relatively high at over 25MPH per lap hitting speeds over 32MPH on the straights. A combination of the speed and my ability at holding wheels in the bunch through the corners meant I slid from the front where I’d intended to stay for the majority of the race, to the back. The elastic inevitably snapped and I ended up soloing my way around the course at a more leisurely 22MPH average for another 20 minutes before finally throwing in the towel and retiring.
The Dyfi Enduro was more of a recreational event and utilised the south of the Forest for a great little course which included the Builth and 3-in-one decent along with the final Dyfi descent as a climb! I did 2 laps as I was with a friend who’d not ridden in the Dyfi forest before and was worried they may not have enjoyed it. It turned out that they had a great time and I’d have fitted in a third lap without any worries.