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No thanks to Irene that was brutal

by Matt Smith

August 28, 2011 - Filed under: Company

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Just finished a Gran Fondo just east of Toronto where local boy Michael Barry of Team Sky honoured us with his presence today. Given there is no precise translation of Gran Fondo from Italian to English, today it meant “Idiots Ride!”

While the eastern edge of North America was being hammered by Hurricane Irene, we only had to deal with the edge of the storm and really only with very strong winds. On the ride up to Jet Fuel to meet Billy, who drove us out to the event in Ajax, you could see the flags had been freshly washed and starched they were that stiff in the breeze.

The main trick today was to stay safely sheltered in the group. If it was only that easy!

For the first part of the ride we did a relatively slow pace. Once we got to the first rest stop, the group split between the Medio and Gran Fondo groups. It was after that point the speed jumped a good 10 km/h faster. When we weren’t heading directly into the head wind, we were 90° to the wind. Now what made this even more interesting was that I was riding the final wheel set, the Reynolds RZR. I’ll bet you all saw that one coming given I have been riding the Reynolds wheels since my first trip on the R3-SL to Switzerland.

To be honest, everyone was having trouble today with any deep dish wheel. There was even one rider on a full set of Zipp 808s. Yikes! Twitchy was an understatement. But again, everyone with deep wheels said the same thing. They are robust and do cut the wind well. I did hit a couple of pot holes on some of the sketchier roads and I made it back with all my fingers, toes and wheels intact.

Where everything went south for me literally was just after Michael rolled up and asked how much my bike weighed. I told him the number and he commented just like everyone does, “that is crazy light”. I mentioned to him while we were talking that I bought my first “real” bike from his father back in 1980. So, it was really neat to be able to finally do a ride with him. I was only able to talk with him shortly as it was at that very moment everything was getting blown apart because of some short rollers and the nasty north wind which was gusting up to 50 km/h (30 mph).

Now, here is why it was the “idiots ride” as Abi, who is seen in the first picture with Michael holding up the bike (Michael and Abi used to race together when Michael was a cadet racer and Abi a senior racer; Michael would win his age category which started before Abi’s age group and then go ride in Abi’s age group and win that too), so aptly called it yesterday when he emailed me to say that he was joining us. I got caught in no man’s land for 8 km trying to chase back the lead group. Pride is a strong motivator in trying to catch that group ahead. It also is a synonym for idiot.

Eventually one other rider caught up with me on a short incline and we traded turns fighting the head wind for about 3 kms, cranking out a pace of 20 km/h (12 mph) before we turned west and then battled the side winds. We rode about 10 km before the group behind us caught us and after that the bigger group made it a bit easier getting back because others were able to set the pace every now and again.

Once we made the turn going south bound with the wind at our backs the wheels really did come into their own. I was for the most part able to keep up with the kids who are at least 20 years my junior. Except for when they really put the pedal to the metal, I was able to keep up. I didn’t bury it in the red zone rather I ran out of legs and gears. Every now and again the compact runs out of steam on those really fast sections even when you are glued on the back of someone’s wheel.

Accelerating was awesome. Climbing equally so. The wheel set with the frame makes everything seem so effortless at times. It was somewhat interesting that at times, I was able to easily pass riders on some of the smaller climbs and not really have to exert a lot of energy. Accelerating on the flats or on shallow inclines is very noticeable which leads me to believe that there is a huge difference in the power transfer through the bottom bracket from that of the R3-SL. The easiest way to observe this is not by getting out of the saddle but by staying in the saddle and pedaling without a lot of exertion. I noticed that in bridging gaps and on short inclines.

Once we made it back to the event location, we able to get something to eat and to talk with Michael who was there with his wife Didi, their children and Michael’s parents. I guess word got out about the bike as people started coming over to pick it up. The second picture is one of the other Gran Fondo participants picking up the bike along with Billy, who is a long time Cervélo rider (even riding some of the prototypes), Michael and myself. The weight of the bike never cesses to amaze people and they were equally amazed to see that it was totally ride able in an event like today’s.

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