19/6 -The Bianchi Bomber Blitzes Bewl

An eventful night at Bewl Water for the off road section of HSLCC.

The Bianchi Bomber Proves You Don't Need A 29er To Have Fun!

Riding Bewl for the first time was none other than the Bianci Bomber. This was also the first time his mtb had been used this year, he would go on to prove that you don't need a fancy full suspension 29er to have fun at Bewl.

Ivan was riding his new bike for the very first time.A Whyte full suspension mtb (ex demo) with top end XT groupset and alloy frame (£1700)

We had a great turnout with all the regulars present  apart from Paul . Malcolm and Josef were already out on the circuit somewhere while the rest of us were content to do one lap.

Setting off as a group of five, I was the last one through so had to shut the main gate (to stop any dogs running across the road) but unfortunately the lock was broken so it took a few minutes to secure the gate with a loop of rope. By the time I remounted the bike the others were already out of sight. I would have to play catchup for the next few miles, eventually catching them up just before the nasty road section.

Ivan Upgrades To Full Suspension!

Derek had switched his tyres to lightweight racing tubeless ones and shed about half a Kg of rotating mass. He was definitely going faster than normal and despite feeling good I couldn't drop him on the long road section.

Meanwhile somewhere up ahead Tom and Ivan were riding hard together. Ivan was finding that compared to his hard tail, the full suspension bike was faster on the flat but slower up hill (perhaps his should have bought an epic with its 'brain' that stiffens up the ride when climbing?)
. The Bianchi bomber stuck to his tail like glue for over seven miles before getting dropped.

The first week I rode Bewl I had the tyre pressure too hard and was badly thrown about by the hard bumpy surface. Having purchased an electronic tyre pressure gauge I had been able to set the tyre pressure to exactly 34 psi. What a difference this made! It felt like a completely different bike and I was really enjoying the ride .

The weather was absolutely perfect and we were treated to a wonderful view of the sun shining on the  reservoir as we  rode across the dam and the final five mile section.

Arriving at the end I recorded my third best ever time and was busy putting my bike away when the Bianchi Bomber turned up. Having got separated from Ivan and ending up on his own, he had managed to get lost and forced to  backtrack quite a bit before finding the route again. Despite this he was ecstatic and was buzzing from the ride, so hopefully he will become a regular Bewl water rider?