The arrival of a new bike is always an exciting experience.
Memories of childhood Christmases and Birthdays come to mind. Even as an adult I
can vividly picture the delivery or collection of each new bike. A quick check
and I’ve had 20 during my 40 years. But with every new upgrade or replacement there
is a goodbye to be said to the previous love of your life. Just a few years
before this now unwanted relic would have been the center of a similar level of
anticipation and excitement.
So although I am immensely excited about the imminent
arrival of an S-Works Epic HT, I will admit to some sentimental sadness as I
sealed the parcel tape on the packing box of my Stumpy, before sending her off
to her new owner.
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| New bike! 'Stumpy' in February 2015 |
There were several things that made her (yes 'she' has a
gender) special and unique in my pantheon of bike ownership. Firstly her
collection was more memorable than probably any other bike I’ve owned. In
February 2015 I boarded a plane to Barcelona. Despite the excellent discount
offered by my local shop the crazy fact remained that it was still
significantly cheaper to purchase a midweek flight to Spain and buy the frame
in euros from a shop in the Spanish capital!
Due to the flight times I spent a nervous couple of hours
site seeing around the Sagrada Familia while the shop owners slumbered through their
siesta. Having kicked my heals strolling around in the sunshine I was then on
an extremely tight schedule when it came to picking up my hire car, finding the
shop, making the purchase and returning to the airport in time for the flight
home.
Locating the shop, in an unfamiliar city of congested and bustling streets
was a nerve racking experience. I began to wonder if the shop did even exist
and if someone was lounging on a beach courtesy of my 50% deposit, paid several
weeks earlier. Just as I was considering the reality of having to return to England empty
handed I spotted the small shop front (still closed 15 minutes after its
advertised opening hours) in a sunny street overlooking a park. Then came the
challenge of finding a parking space within ½ a mile of the locked door.
Despite having no loose euros to feed the machine, in desperation I slotted the
car into a parking bay with a meter and ran down a street to the shop which, although the shutters were still down, was
now thankfully open.
I had chosen this particular shop out of the dozen I had contacted, based
purely on the clarity of their English in their response to my initial email.
It was dark inside, but as my eyes adjusted I realised I had entered an Aladdin's cave for a Specialized fan. Just getting in was a bit of a squeeze.
The majority of the floor space was crammed with bikes, all still packed away
in their brown boxes, two or three deep and stacked high. The one free wall was
however lined with goodies. High on a shelf I spotted the same S-Works cranks I
had spent 6 months waiting to be shipped from the US such was the demand. Apparently rarer than hens teeth, here in this obscure, gloomy shop on the
outskirts of Barcelona they just lay available to stroll in off the street and collect!
The owner was busy with another customer who was collecting
a bike from the workshop. As they chatted I hopped
impatiently from foot to foot glancing at my watch. Eventually they rolled the
bike out of the workshop and I stared in open jawed amazement at the multi
thousand euro S-Works Demo downhill bike with every conceivable accessory. It’s the sort of thing I’ve only ever
seen in photos. The owner settled up and squeezed past me and out the door into the sunshine.
Finally having introduced myself in English the owner then
instantly disappeared, leaving me alone for what was probably 5 minutes, but
felt like half an hour. He’d presumably run up the street and when he finally
returned he had brought his daughter who spoke perfect English and it
transpired had been my email contact. He then clambered around amongst the
stack of bike boxes, casually moving them aside, each labelled S-Works and
persumably housing another top of the range carbon beauty. Eventually he pulled
one out, brought it over and the three of us set about opening the box to
unwrap my new Stumpjumper Carbon Hard Tail. After a brief and friendly
conversation I made it back to the airport and checked-in with perfect timing,
just as they opened the gate for boarding!
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| Grand Raid- The best days riding of my life |
Three and a half happy years of cycling followed. The
highlight undoubtedly racing across the rural high passes of the
Swiss Alps in the iconic Grand Raid. As a memento I left the technical control
sticker from the event on my top tube until it was time to sell her.
She was also the bike on which, after 15 years of trying, I
finally won my first (and so far only) Gorrick cross country race after over 50 attempts.
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| Meeting 'Deadly' Ned |
Her most unique feature was the signature of the legendary
Ned Overend on her top tube. An icon of the sport who I had the pleasure to
meet and ride with on a Specialized bike demo day a couple of years ago.
