Luke's Parlee Z5i with custom Paint

This has come out really, really nicely !

Craig's Project One Domane - Spartacus

Heath's Parlee Z5i

The metallic blue decals on this stealth black Z5i really pop. With matching blue Chris King hubs on a set of our Bespoke handbuilt wheels this lovely Parlee is both subtle and striking - a tricky balance that we're very happy to have achieved:

 

 

The Enve carbon seatpost is the perfect partner to Parlee perfection. Rotor cranks and Q-rings, of course, and Ultegra Ui2 electronic shifting - precise, reliable, effortless.

Glen's Project One Madone

Glen has just picked up this gorgeous Project One Madone, complete with the latest 2013 Di2 electronic groupset.

Rotor chainset is light and supremely efficient. Arundel bottle cages can't be beaten, they may be superlight but they work beautifully.

The new Garmin Edge 810 is already proving really popular, and the included mount keeps it handy just in front of you without taking up valuable space on bars or stem.

Cycling Weekly review the Look 675

I'm extremely fond of the Look 675, so I was very pleased to see this glowing review in Cycling Weekly:

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/tech/bikes/129577/1/look-675.html

We've got one on display in the shop, and with Mavic Ksyriums rather than Cosmic Carbones, which addresses their only real criticism (that the wheels caught the wind). Ben - who knows a thing or two about bikes - can't keep his hands off it. Come and have a look...

Steve's awesome blue Speed Concept - with 2013 Di2

It's been a long wait, but Shimano's 2013 Di2 groupset is here, and we're very pleased to have such a lovely bike as the first recipient.

Steve's Trek Project One Speed Concept really looks the business, with ENVE wheels providing the finishing touch.

Shifting is even faster for 2013 - just when we thought it couldn't get any better.

SRM cranks provide valuable power data in an exceptionally neat package.

 

Such a gorgeous colour.

Help Trek Support African Charity

Trek have launched a great new project with the new Pro Continental team MTN-Qhubeka.

When you buy a new Project One Madone, Domane, or Speed Concept with the MTN-Qhubeka team paint scheme, Trek will donate $200 to Qhubeka to aid their mission of mobilizing a generation of Africa’s youth. By purchasing an MTN-Qhubeka bike, riders will actually be buying two bikes; one for themselves and one for a child in rural South Africa who will gain a way to get to school, carry clean water or other supplies, and increase their chances of creating a better life for themselves.

MTN-Qhubeka, Africa's first Pro Continental team strikes a unique balance between racing and philanthropy with their connection to Qhubeka, a South African-based empowerment program that provides bikes to children in rural areas in exchange for work done to improve their local community. Qhubeka has distributed over 40,000 bikes to children in South Africa and is currently pursuing the goal of delivering 200,000 bikes by 2020.

Helena's Big Adventure. Chapter 2 - Motivation

It has now been almost three weeks since I started to train for my triathlon or as I still think about it, started to exercise again. I’ll need to change my thinking soon if I want to succeed!  Especially after Ben Hallam has challenged me (indirectly), by saying that I will be left behind if he decides to do the race with me. (Growl!)

In the beginning there was a joy of doing something again. It didn’t matter what the weather was or how early I had to get up. Swimming is easy to fit in my weekly routine because I am doing it on my day off and I am running either before or after work. I was just going and doing and not really thinking about it.

Then this past Wednesday I woke up in the morning and felt broken. I was cold, tired and didn’t want to move. I had to drag myself out while arguing all the pros and cons. But I did it and it was my little victory!!!

I’ve read a lot about how to motivate myself and I have trained other people, and done my best to motivate them. After many years experience I can only say that everyone has to find their own way. I do not like to fail and I don’t like others see me fail. I told people I entered a half marathon in 2012 so I didn’t have any choice but to follow through with it. I did no real training but still managed to finish in 2hrs 15mins!

So, my motivation is simple. I tell my other half that I will go for a run next morning and if I don’t I would feel bad about it. I keep my kit next to bed so I don’t put on any nice warm clothes first. That way I don’t have to battle with myself to get changed. I try not to run in the evening, unless I have no other choice, because like a lot of other people after a long day I am hungry, tired, and cold and just want to go home and do nothing.

Another thing I should tell is about my book. I got my hands on second-hand book, “The Triathlete’s Training Bible” by Joe Friel. There is a more recent publication of this book but all I needed was a bit of an insight into training to help me get started. I have found this book to be brilliant. I am hardly finished with it but I am getting a better understanding of what I should be doing, and most importantly, what I should not be doing. I know myself; I want to push myself hard but I have to take into account my health. This book is helping me to understand how to plan my training bit by bit and how to put it all together into an annual plan. I will share a picture of my training plan soon.

The point I am trying to make is that excitement driven training is great, but it will only get you so far. There is a bigger picture to triathlon training than just getting ready to finish one race, especially if you want to succeed. Every day counts! I want to go further than just doing one triathlon and I want to go for a longer distance! Finding a way to get out for a run, swim or ride is crucial, but can be difficult without a clear thought of where you are going! Plan, plan, plan and train!