It’s the new year now and time is ticking along. Before I know it I will be in the middle of a packed out peloton fighting to be the first to cross a thin white strip etched across a piece of tarmac. Currently most of the Biketreks Racing team are out in Southern Spain, soaking up the sun and probably dining on tapas and fine wines. I meanwhile am not.
I find myself stuck in North Yorkshire grinding, crunching and smashing out my winter training. Occasionally on my rides a glimmer of sunshine will peak from behind a saturated cloud before being quickly covered by a gail force wind. Not the 20C the other lads are enjoying.
Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t all doom and gloom. Today I went and picked up a nifty little number from the Biketreks shop. The new 2013 Specialized Allez. This (when built) will be my training ride, accompanying me to Spain in mid February. As is obvious it appears to be lacking quite a lot of components right now but already I love it. The frames has been welded so smoothly, the tubes merging together gracefully. The top tube arcing like a taught bow ready to fire. The paint job is nothing short of snazzy, the bold red giving way to silvers and whites tucked away inside the forks and chain stays. It is a very elegant frame that seems far superior than other bikes being sold at the same level. Being an aluminium frame it isn’t as lightweight as the carbon frames that Specialized sell but for a full aluminium frame and alloy forks it feels light and durable, a real workhorse for training on. It should certainly give me a psychological advantage when start taking it out. Oh and yes I may be cutting down that steering tube quite soon!
Thanks to Biketreks for sorting me out with the Allez so quickly. I’ll keep you posted when I have finished building it and guarantee some poser shots of it in Spain. The only think left to decide is the name, I was thinking “The Red Baron”.
Sandy
