ANOTHER BUSY COUPLE OF WEEKS

So after the Belgium race, I spent a few days near Luxembourg relaxing, sorting some admin out (washing, cleaning the van, etc.), and also trying to deal with Yeti Cycles USA to figure out where, when, or even if my new bike was ever going to arrive. That made deciding where to head next a bit of a challenge. If the bike wasn’t arriving, I was going to head towards Italy and spend a week or so around the Finale Ligure area, getting used to the trail conditions before the next E-MTB race. But if the bike was arriving, then I needed to head back to Munich, Germany, to collect it…

After a couple of days of emailing back and forth, and with them calling DHL, we finally got it approved through customs and it was on the way to HQ, due to arrive Monday 4th May…. YAY ! But now what to do till then…..

An awesome weekend spent with Lidia and Sean

Some friends I met through mountain biking a couple of years ago actually lived only 30 minutes from the HQ, and with Friday 1st May being “May Day” — a public holiday in Germany — it was the perfect opportunity to go and catch up with them for the long weekend.

We spent one day doing a cross-country loop through a stunning mountain range on the analog bike followed by a lunch at a local beer garden.

View from the ride

Then on Saturday we went to a bike park where I saw the smallest chairlift ever! It was good to get my eye back in with some European bike park laps.

never been on such a small chairlift haha

Then on Sunday we went for a local ride from the house to a trail that was super natural and rooty, and it was awesome.

Monday, I headed back to the HQ in Hausham and parked the van up in my new local spot. Plugged into power, I was set. I went inside, saw the crew, had a coffee, and then cracked into ride wrapping my SB160 frame while I waited for the new LTe frame to arrive.

The new LTe frame arrived !

Just after lunch, I was finishing up the ride wrap on the SB160 when the LTe frame arrived!!!! I was so excited. I got straight into ride wrapping that frame too while I waited to hear back from Yeti USA about what parts I was allowed to build it with.

Ride wrap instructions!

Tuesday arrived and, unfortunately, with the time zones and a few other issues, I still hadn’t been told what parts I could use. I didn’t want to get in trouble for using the wrong components, so instead we went for a lunch ride with a few of the Yeti HQ crew on the old e-bike.

Ride with Lukas and Juan

Tuesday evening, however, I finally got some instructions, which meant Wednesday was going to be a big day. Wednesday morning came and I was straight into building the bike up. Just before lunch I had most of it complete, but then realised we didn’t have a chainring for it. Because we had a Bosch motor but were running Shimano components, it was like trying to match Apple with Android — it just didn’t work! So we needed an aftermarket option.

Bike built just missing a key component

While others were trying to source one, I started building up the SB160, which is my analog race bike for a race in a few weeks’ time. This build was much easier as I’d worked on this frame many times before, and before I knew it, it was complete.

Full garage !

Thursday arrived and I was meant to leave Hausham to head to Italy for Round 3 of the E-MTB series… and we still had no chainring. I contacted Bosch, who were heading to the race, on the off chance they had one — and luckily they did!

Without even riding the new e-bike yet, I was worried the new part still might not fit, so I decided to take the old SB160E with me as well.

I hit the road with the van loaded full of bikes for the eight-hour journey to Castino, Italy. I arrived in a small village about two hours from the race venue, where I stayed Thursday night.

Friday morning, I did a food shop, filled the van with water, and stopped for a quick ride before arriving at the race village.

It was a very well-organised event. A gentleman greeted me on arrival and asked for my name, which I pointed to as he didn’t speak English, and then he took me to a reserved spot for me.

Weekend set up

The spot was on a slope, so out came the ramps and up Buddy went. I took a little walk around the very small town, saw some friends I’d met at the last round, and had a chat before getting the old SB160E bike checked.

Bosch had just arrived after that, so they told me to grab the new bike and they’d help fit the chainring. Within half an hour, the new bike was built and I was so excited that I could finally ride it. However, I still decided to race the old bike as I felt rushed and didn’t feel confident trying the new bike for the first time during a race weekend.

On the way back to Buddy, I spotted an e-bike charging station not far from the van, so I grabbed my power cables and plugged Buddy in. That meant hot water, mains power for the toaster, electric kettle, and everything else.

Now we were set for race weekend!