New Bikes

New bike day was finally here!!!

It may have been a month late, but I finally had my hands wrapped around the bars and got to go lapping on my new Yeti Cycles LTe.

After the Castino race, I soon realised I was only an hour and a half away from Finale Ligure — a mountain biker’s paradise and also the location for the World Champs in October — so it would’ve been rude not to stop in for the week and get some riding in.

I parked up in a small car park near a friend’s house beside a church, and no one seemed to mind me staying there for the week. It was super nice to have some company for a few days and be able to relax at their house too.

It was finally my chance to get out on the new rig. I went for a solo pedal because I knew it was definitely going to be a ride full of faffing around with setup — and that it was. Seat height, bar roll, lever position… all the little things. I headed up to Rollercoaster, a classic Finale trail, and oh boy, this new machine was a weapon. The Bosch drive unit delivered smooth, controlled power while still being insanely powerful. The handling on the descents surprised me too — I’ve never jumped on a bike and instantly felt so at home.

I spent the week in Finale doing solo laps, as well as riding with friends when they weren’t working. Eating plenty of gelato and focaccia bread too! We also had a mad hail storm mid ride one day it was crazy.

The Ideal car for Italy

I then left Finale and made my way to Bagnères-de-Luchon, a place I’d heard had some amazing trails and also the venue for the final round of the European E-Bike Series later in the year. It was also only 30 minutes away from Loudenvielle ahead of Round 1 of the UCI World Cup.

Arriving in Luchon, it was hot. Now closer to Spain and with a heatwave rolling through, it was a warm one. I parked up in a car park that was €6 for 24 hours, had water and waste points, around 15 other campers, and was right next to a river — bliss!

Seeing as I was racing analogue bikes next, it only made sense to get the new SB160 out and bedded in before the upcoming race, and for me to feel comfortable back on it.

So I went for a big pedal up the hill as the gondola was closed — 18km and 1200m of vert for some stunning views of the Pyrenees Mountains. I made sure I had plenty of water and snack stops so I didn’t completely cook myself in the heat.

After a quick photoshoot with the new rig, I was ready to descend on what I thought was going to be a blue flow trail. I didn’t want anything too crazy as I needed to bed in the brakes and make sure the bike wasn’t going to fall apart. Well… the blue trail ended up basically being a fire road, and after a couple of kilometres of that I was over it, haha. So I decided to try and find the closest black track instead.

I found the start, but soon ended up on a lost trail. Obviously this place is only just coming out of winter, which explains why the trail was almost impossible to see. Covered in deep leaf litter and branches everywhere, it turned into a proper adventure just getting down. Bottom line though — the bike didn’t fall apart, and I felt pretty good.

The next day I got some local knowledge on a trail that was actually rideable, so I went and lapped that a few times. It was more walking-track style riding, but still a good time.

By now it was Friday, and the week had flown by with a couple of travel days and then a few solid days of riding. A few of my mates were arriving into Loudenvielle, and with limited tracks to ride in Luchon, I decided to head over too.

Friday became an admin day. I gave Buddy a clean because he was looking pretty filthy, did a clothes wash, and then a big food shop (as there’s only a small supermarket in Loudenvielle). I then headed back to the car park to dry the washing and do a couple of hours of work before driving over the hill.

I arrived in Loudenvielle to a very excited Winni, a fellow Kiwi enduro rider. It was 28 degrees but felt way hotter, so I parked the van, turned the gas on for the fridge, and we headed straight to the lake to cool off.

Saturday was spent lapping the bike park and riding whatever trails we could, as the UCI Enduro course had been released on Friday evening, meaning our race trails were closed until practice day the following Friday.

Another hot day meant we wrapped things up around 3pm before heading off in search of the best ice cream sundaes we could find.

On Sunday I went for a pedal because I wasn’t too keen on more bike park laps, so I rode an iconic trail called Black Sheep. It was pretty covered in leaf litter too, but still a nice ride out on the bike. Another warm afternoon was spent hanging by the river before a thunderstorm started rolling in.

A bit of rain to dampen the trails wasn’t a bad thing at all.

It also gave me the chance to kick off another side hustle — Swifty’s Race Cuts. Many of you may already know that I’m a qualified hairdresser, and I travel with my hairdressing kit, cutting riders’ hair while on the circuit. A couple of UK lads had run out of time to get theirs done before coming over, so they asked if I could help them out. I said “€10 each and we’ve got a deal.”

We got chatting afterwards, and they suggested I should advertise it a bit more because it’s actually a pretty cool idea. So that’s where the Instagram page has come from — to attract more racers, mechanics, support crew, or fans… basically anyone who needs a trim while travelling the race circuit.

Before I knew it, it was Monday — the start of race week for Round 1 of the UCI World Cup.

A busy week ahead with track walks, catching up with the enduro crew, and getting bikes sorted, but I’m looking forward to it!