Update from Noel

Noel, of custom Z3 fame, sent me this update
Many people have told me how inspiring they have found his story so I thought I would share the latest news

Hi Barry
As mentioned in South France testing my new bike and mostly myself on the cols .
So far excellent and the weather has been great. Overall I have improved much since last time (as much as 20% improvement) and for that matter its the best I have ever cycled (even before injury)

So the advent of the bespoke Parlee has been a godsend !
The bike fits perfectly and all mechs now operating smoothly -thanks to Jean
And now for he hard part , getting fit for the Maradona in early July

All the best
Noel

Paul's Z2

Here is a good photo of Paul who picked up his Parlee Z2 from me a couple of weeks ago and has been very pleased with the bike so far. He sent me this is an email

Just a quick note to say “thank you so much” for a great service and a wonderful bike.
It’s been a pleasure; add me to the loyal customer list. I can’t imagine buying a bike in any other way in the future :-).

Paul brought it to the Hog Hill crit we both did yesterday - here is a photo of him in action

Paul is also the other of a really good blog
http://www.anordinarycyclist.co.uk/

And a full photo of his lovely bike (Z2 with waxed finish, SRAM Red and DA wheels) is here

Up and down Sportive

Did a 102mile Sportive with Dean in Dorking today. Some joker on the radio said it would be the hottest day of the year. Did not feel it with all that rain !
After yesterday's crit efforts I was a bit worried of my form - I knew this route had a few 18 and 21% climbs to sap the legs

I actually felt good, and feel I have given my cycling a real boost with the last two days exertions- I must have covered every training zone twice over !

But I joked to Dean that it stopped being a 'fun' ride an hour in, and the last four hours were varying degrees of hard
It was noticeably more difficult than at Essex. 80 miles with 3 people working is alot easier than 102miles with 2 people !

I have not ridden in Surrey for a while now - it was good to be riding on different roads/routes for a bit of a change
But I thought the road surface in Kent was bad....

Quote of the day wasin the car park when we were signing on, and we were told to put our transponder between the wheel and the skewer. Someone asks his mate what a skewer is....
I knew then it would be a long day in the saddle !

2 new bikes....

...and they could not be more different

Here is Steve's IF Club racer. I love the vanilla panels and the gold bands. He also has a gold CK BB as well. Bar tape and saddle had to be Brooks....





A sneak peek, quick photo of the new Team Sky Dogma we got for the studio, Its a 55 and has Shamal Ultras and Super Record. Very nice indeed !

"Fast standing still"

This is Tony's TT bike almost ready for his collection. His A race this year is the Ironman distance event in Copenhagen in August.
Its a cracking build with SRAM Red, HED Aerobars and Reynolds SDV66 Clinchers

No excuses now....

Team bottles are here

And very nice they are too....

Some recent builds...

Sorry for slow updates on bike builds. You know that means we have been busy! First up is Ross's new Dogma, which Super Record and Shamal Ultras. Ross' first ride was this weekend and he has just emailed to say he was blown away by the ride quality



And this is my god friend Roberts's IF Planet Cross. Robert does not do things by halves, so this is probably one of the most exotic cross bikes I have seen in a while - its full Ti, with record, a carbon 3T cockpit and Magnesium TRP brakes. At present it has Shamal Ultras and Vittoria Paves on so it is a do it all road bike. In the winter it will get some deeper wheels and dedicated cross tires and become a full fledged racer






Silver headbadge, TRP magnesium brakes and my favourite bars - the Easton SLX3s. Nice....








Last, and by no means least is Simon's new IF SSR. He has gone for a 3/4 baby blue paint with the stainless rear end. The decal is script red and we have a matching red Chris King HS as well. Looks amazing in the light ! We are very excited to be building this up next week

A glorious ride in the sun...

It seemed every man and his dog was out yesterday, all taking advantage of a lovely sunny day
I thought I would be feeling very stiff from my (non)-exploits at Hog Hill on Saturday but I was okay.
Though I did not have as much snap in my legs on the steeper climbs and Dean, my riding partner, sensed weakness and kept on pushing me! All good training I suppose
We ended up at the Ashdown forest and as I saw the ice cream van in the car park I was struck by this overwhelming desire to buy an ice cream and then lie down and have a sleep under a bush in the sun
Thats when I realized at the half way poibt, and it could be a long ride home. Two energy bars later and my sugar levels had returned and crisis was averted
Over all it was 75 miles in around 4hrs, and I came home to a family picnic and then time to lie on the sofa and fall asleep watching Amstel Gold.
With our baby due in 4 weeks or so, I am well awre that these lazy Sundays will soon be a thing of the past!

First crit of the year at Hog Hill

Jean, myself and Eryn went to Hog Hill to do our first crit of the year. I have never been to the circuit before and loved it. The race itself was something else - I have never done so much coasting and then bursts of 500 watts in my life. I finished in mid pack obscurity though I am sure if I did a couple more of these you would soon get the hang of the riding style - its much more hurly burly than the tranquility of a sportive.

Whilst JC and I did not cover ourselves in glory, Eryn did coming second in the womens race and winning the 2 primes that were on offer. Chapeau !

There is another one next Saturday and I would like to get as many people to come as possible - try it and you might just get addicted !

Essex Spring Lambs

Here is a good ride report of the Sportive we did on Sunday

http://www.cyclosport.org/article.aspx?id=1377

Now I know a sportive is not a mass start race, but whenever there is a timing chip and men are involved there has to be an element of competition
Brett and I arrived at the start too late to register, so we just rode with Dean who was 'official'
We started fairly late and worked well together happily working through the field and ended up finishing in the first dozen riders or so
But I have just seen the results are up and its clear this is a glorious victory for Team Bespoke
By a crushing 8 minutes
On the day Cancellara won Roubaix.....

203 Dean HUDSON Male 1 04:30:48 Bespoke Cycling
449 Anthony MCGURREN Male 2 04:38:18
456 Martin CANES Male 3 04:38:21
356 Andrew BEAMAN Male 4 04:38:39 pca cilos uno
412 Mark DONALD Male 5 04:39:38

First rides in the Team kit

First weekend of riding in the new kit. Brett, Dean and I did the Essex Spring Lambs. 93 miles, in the sun (and the wind) in 4hrs30. Legs felt sore at the end. Good prep for Belgium.... Here is a slighty shaky photo taken off Brett


And the post race picnic we do every year at this event! This is my sis and Edna my wife getting it all ready as by this stage Brett and I were not in a good state. Kol, our little Ridgeback puppy, is looking on expectantly




Another shot of the official Team Mascot





Ant and Richard had an even bigger day as this was the inaugural ride on their new Dogma's. Matching kit, matching bikes = very Pro-Tour. I got a lovely email from them both saying how good the fit was, and how they good not stop grinning the bike was so good. So all in all, a great Sunday out !

Ant's Dogma

Now that Jean-Claude is back we are getting stuck into the bike builds again
Here is the first one of the day and it is a cracker
Ant's Dogma with Super Record and Edge 45 clinchers
First ride is this weekend and we are all very excited !

Team kit is here...

Just in time for the glorious sunshine!
Need to find a suitably glamorous model and will post 'action' shots

I have already realized that I was way too conservative with my initial order and I will probably sell out of the kit by Monday so I am going to re-order more for a mid May delivery

If you would like some please let me know and I can reserve kit for you