Cape to Cape 2014 Stage 2

2 Nov

Stage 2 started in Hamelin Bay and made its way back to Margaret River and the interestingly named Xanadu Winery 57km away. We made the drive down from Margaret River to the start line for an 8AM start. After a brief pause for a minutes silence to a local cyclist who was killed earlier in the week the race was on and it was fast and furious up the first climb of approximately 5km.

Once at the top we hit the first real man made singletrack of the event back down towards the beach but this time thankfully we turned before reaching the beach and started climbing away again. More downs and ups followed before with about 10km to go we popped out in to the vineyards of the area and finally the Xanadu Winery. I came in with a small group of about 10 riders in about 2hrs 40 minutes very tired and wondering how I was going to cope for the next 2 day.

Looking back now I can not really say I remember to much about the stage but we were half way through it!

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One of the great thing about the events is the support. Andy had a broken chain at the start line and this was fixed very quickly before he set off. At the end there is a team of masseurs, and for a small charge they can sort out your aches and pains. I made use of this service on day 2 for a sore back.

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Check out stage one report here >>

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Cape to Cape 2014 Stage 1

1 Nov

Andy and I recently competed in the Cape to Cape MTB race in Australia. Andy works for us at More Than 21 Bends on an ad hoc basis and is really an ultra marathon runner. This was his first mtb event. For me I had been training quite hard for this since August and this was my big event of the year.

We rocked up at the start line at Cape Leeuwin after a few days of aclimatising in Perth and a transfer to our base in Margaret River courtesy of Bikesure online slightly nervous but excited that the 4 day race was upon us.

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The first stage was a 41km affair and most talk from previous competitors was that this was one of the harder stages with a fair bit of climbing a lot of sandy trails and a 2 km beach section that was pretty much unrideable.  All proved to be correct!

After a delayed start due to the organisers letting everyone in to the start pen but not leaving any space for the elite riders we were off. My aim was to qualify as far up the field as possible as this then set the wave you started in for the next 3 stages.

Five minutes after the elite riders went we set off and it was fast and furious from the start. A longish climb spread the riders out and I found myself in the top 20 in my group before hitting the first long descent and climbs towards the dreaded beach sections. The first descent saw a few crashes including myself as my front wheel dug into the loose sand.

The highlight of the day was the beach section which as you popped out onto the beach looked like a scene from the Normandy beach landings except everyone was running with a bike.

2km later we were through the beach section and into more steep climbs and singletrack downhills finally finishing in Hamelin Bay.

I finished after approximately 2 hrs 20 mins in 139th and qualified in the black group with the elite boys and girls.

Andy arrived some 40 minutes later having enjoyed his first mountainbiking event. It was certainly a lot dirtier at the back as the photo below shows

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ROC D’AZUR 2014

13 Oct

This weekend we made the trip down to southern France to compete in the Roc d’Azur Mountain bike marathon my final preperation for the Cape to Cape 4 stage Mtb race in Perth Australia.

For those that have not heard of it the Roc d’Azure five day mountain bike festival is now in its 30th year and attracts over 20,000 competitors  from world champions such as Julian Absalon to weekend warriors like myself.

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I competed in the 83km marathon on the Friday with approximately 3000 other competitors. Due to my late entry I went out in the 3rd wave which proved rather frustrating as I soon  caught the back markers from the second wave and got stuck in a lot of the first 30 km of singletrack. Once through though  the singletrack was fantastic and challenging with some very steep sections with drops, rocks and routes. The climbs were either short and technical or long fire road grinds where I tended to overtake a lot of other people. With 2000 metres of vertical climbing and descending you were never on a flat section for long.

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The event itself was very well organised with feed stations every 10 km or so. With this in mind I did not bother with a backpack just a bottle a couple of bars and spare tube etc. The feed stations were well stocked with everything from energy bars to sandwiches and water to energy drink.

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Again I rode my P241 29er hard tail.  This time after running my front fork to soft in the Vercors challenge I decided to add more air. This was a great move allowing me to descend more confidently over the bigger stuff than before. I certainly felt I descended much  better and actually made up time on people in front.

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After six hours of riding I made it back to the start line still feeling I had more in the legs. Again a big improvement after the Vercors challenge.

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Next stop Perth Australia for the main event of the year.

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Prompt photo comp twenty five

29 Sep

Lincolnshire

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Prompt p927 gets ready for its trip back to england

18 Sep

Theo and Hattie finish here this weekend and head back to england on their prompt d927 steel frames with panniers

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Prompt d211 photo comp twenty four ventoux

4 Sep

A plethora of prompt D211 on Mont Ventoux today

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Annecy

4 Sep

Last month, Hattie and I went to Annecy. We took our Prompt D927 steel bikes with the intention of trying the route of the 2013 étape du tour.

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On the first day we took the bike path to the southern end of the lake,  before returning by the Col de la Forclaz – a wickedly steep climb.  The next day we were caught in a large thunderstorm whilst ascending the Tour de France route up Annecy Semnoz. We ran out of time on the last day for the etape route so we did a shortened version finishing with the southern ascent of Semnoz.

The riding was fantastic even with the August traffic. The views from the climbs are stunning and the bike path makes for an easy ride out of the town centre. A place well worth visiting.

Trans Vercors VTT Challenge

2 Sep

On Sunday I made the 2 hour trip from our base in Bourg d’Oisans into the heart of the Vercors just outside of Grenoble to compete in the 100km version of the Trans Vercors MTB challenge and with 3000 metres of climbing I knew it was going to be a challenge.

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The event is part of my build up to the Cape to Cape Perth Australia in October. Part of my training has seen me clock up 1250 km in August including the Les 2 Alpes Road Granfondo plus 3 down hill lift assited sessions as well as numerous mountain bike cross country sessiond

The event was superbly organised and gave me a chance to try out equipment setup and test myself physically.  I came away from the event after 7.5 hours in the saddle realising that I need to work more on technical descents,  work on upper body strength and be able to do a little running with the bike.

Next up is the Roc D’azure MTB marathon in October.

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Prompt D211 Photo Comp twenty three

1 Sep

Here’s a prompt D211 at the top of Michael Gate Climb in Lincoln. Looks like Roubaix isn’t the only place to tackle some cobbles!

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Prompt D211 Photo Comp twenty two

28 Aug

Kevan and Christine rented a couple of prompt D211’s back in July and took them up the Col du Galibier.
The first picture is Kevan part way up the Col du Galibier with the Col du Lauteret visible below. The second is Kevan climbing the Col du Galibier and the third is both Kevan and Christine at the summit.

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Alpe d’Huez T Shirts now in Orange , Red , Purple, White and Black

22 Aug

Hand printed in the UK on Fruit of the Loom TSHIRTS our Alpe d’Huez T SHIRTS have been by far the most popular purchase in our shop this summer. In deed we have had trouble keeping up with demand.

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Prompt d211 photo comp twenty one

21 Aug

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Prompt d211 photo comp twenty

20 Aug

Another proud owner of a prompt in full king of the mountains gear.

Tom bought one of our ex hire road bikes from us.

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PROMPT D211 Photo Comp nineteen

20 Aug

Another photo this time from Brighton UK posted on Instagram

Check out all our photos from the 2014 Photo comp here >>

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Galibier T-shirt on Mont Ventoux

19 Aug

Here’s a great picture of one of our Galibier t-shirts atop Mont Ventoux in Provence.

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Prompt D211 Photo Comp eighteen

17 Aug

Line rented a bike from us and took some great pictures of the Prompt D211. The first is at the bottom of the Sarenne descent after climbing Alpe d’Huez, the second along the road to Villard Reculas in some bad weather and finally on the Col d’Ornon.

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Galiber Jersey does Ride London

10 Aug

 

 

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Bike Build/Packing Service Bourg d’Oisans

10 Aug

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Want to take the away the pain of assembling and disassembling your bike when on holiday?

At Prompt, we are more than willing to assemble and /or disassemble your bike ready for transport.

For 25 euros your bike will be assembled and given a check to make sure the gears are working and the bike is safe to ride. Furthermore, the bike will be ready to ride/take away in less than a couple of hours.

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Prompt d211 photo comp seventeen

9 Aug

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A couple of our ex hire frames were sold to a couple from Germany last week. We are waiting for the bike builds and will add them to this page. They were here for the week and had both just competed in the alpe d’huez triathlon.

Prompt D211 Photo Comp sixteen – Etape du Tour

1 Aug

Mark rented another bike from us to complete the Etape du tour in less than ideal weather conditions. Still, it looks like he is enjoying the ride!

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Prompt D211 Photo Comp fifteen – Paris Roubaix

1 Aug

Earlier this year we were the official bike hire for the Paris Roubaix Challenge. Here is a snapshot of Mark heading over the cobbles that characterise L’Enfer du Nord or “The Hell of the North”. No bikes were harmed during the sportive!

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Prompt D211 Photo Comp fourteen – Alpe d’Huezes

1 Aug

Here’s another couple of photos of Gerard tackling the Alpe in June during Alpe d’Huezes. Both him and the bike made it up and down the climb 6 times in one day! That’s endurance for you!

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Tour de France Stage 13 – Chamrousse and my birthday

30 Jul

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Stage 13 of this year’s TdF travelled south from Saint-Etienne to Chamrousse – a summit finish southeast of Grenoble in the Belledonne mountain range.  The climb is roughly 21km long and very regular on a wide, well surfaced road. The resort was used for the 1968 winter olympics and many of the Olympic ski runs are still in use during the winter.

In contrast to this ascent, there is a more taxing route up.  The Col Luitel joins the Romanche Valley with Chamrousse 1750. The road is narrow and poorly paved.  You climb over 800m in 8km and the gradient only gets steeper as you climb.  The Luitel brings you out about 6km from the summit of Chamrousse 1750.

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For this year’s Tour de France tour, we took the guests up the Luitel to watch the stage finish.  The day was superb with fantastic weather.  Watching the finish on Chamrousse was much different than AdH the year before. The crowds were less and you were able to ride unhindered almost to the finish.  We were stood just before Nibali’s attack. He looked very composed in comparison to the others – riding closed mouthed and seemingly putting nothing through the pedals!

Chamrousse is my favourite climb and without a doubt the best descent in the area. Come ride it with us on the Tour of the Oisans!

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Prompt D927 Steel Frame

27 Jul

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I’ve just finished the build of my steel Prompt D927. The bike was finished with a Dura Ace 7800 groupset and Deda components. 

The frame rides superbly.  The ride is much less harsh than carbon and thus is suited to longer rides. I plan to take the bike round Italy and Spain next spring.

The added weight off the bike is not noticable perhaps due to the increased comfort. I even managed to set a pb up Villard Reculas on its maiden voyage.  The frame is responsive out of the saddle and very solid going downhill.  Having ridden the bike a few times, I’m starting to wonder what all the hype is about carbon!

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Prompt D211 Photo Comp thirteen – La Marmotte Cycle Hire

8 Jul

All of our bikes were out for La Marmotte 2014 this year. We managed to get a few photos of our customers .this one was taken at the start line in Bourg d’Oisans

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Prompt D211 Photo Comp twelve – something a little different

8 Jul

A couple of photos with your bikes in for the photo comp…not your usual I imagine..!

thanks for the rental, all was great…

Rob and Gary, Sheffield, England

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The Tour de France 2014

5 Jul

The Tour de France 2014 starts today in Leeds. I hope that it will be more exciting than the Team Sky dominated editions of the last two years. Hopefully, the mix of Contador/Valverde/Nibali will be able to derail the News Corp train.

My prediction for the Tour de France podium is as follows;

1. Chris Froome

2. Alberto Contador

3. Alejandro Valverde

 

The stage I’m most looking forward to is Stage 13 – the summit finish at Chamrousse . Chamrousse was the first HC climb I ever did and is still my favourite. On the way to Chamrousse they will take a detour into the Chartreuse via the Col de Palaquit – another one of my local climbs when I lived in  Grenoble. The More than 21 Bends Tour of the Oisans often takes a detour into the Belledonne mountain range to climb Chamrousse via the Col Luitel.

Come find us on Alpe d’Huez and win one 2015 La Marmotte entry!

4 Jul

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Come find the More than 21 Bends stall on Alpe d’Huez today and enter our competition for a chance to win one La Marmotte 2015 entry! All you need to do is guess the weight of the Paris Roubaix cobble. The person closest to the weight of the cobble wins.

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La Marmotte – More than 21 Bends supported day rides

29 Jun

Next weekend. an enormous number of cyclists will visit Bourg d’Oisans to take part in the Marmotte sportive. The route is 170 km and takes in the Col du Glandon, Col de Telegraphe and Col du Galibier before finishing on Alpe d’Huez. For most, the route will take upwards of 8 hours to complete due to the 5000 m of vertical ascent required to complete the course.

Last week, the University of Bristol Bike Club (my old university) came to the Oisans for a week of riding. On the last day, I joined up with them to do the Marmotte route. In spite of an earlier start than they were used to, eighteen riders set off up the Col du Glandon. The ride was superb – all riders were very strong and despite the challenging parcours, all finished in roughly 8 hours (even with some very relaxed grupetto riding on the Telegraphe).

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Luckily for us, the weather was set fair the whole day but arm warmers and a small jacket were still vital due to the altitude gain and the long descents. Carrying enough food and water for the route is hard as there is only so much you can fit in back pockets!

This year, More than 21 Bends have decided to offer day rides for groups of riders wanting to do long rides such as the Marmotte. Van support will be provided and thus all your food and acessories can be placed in the van leaving your back pockets free! In addition, the vehicle support provides the piece of mind that you won’t be stuck in the Maurienne valley for eternity if you have bitten off more than you can chew!

There are many great rides out of reach of most who stay in Bourg d’Oisans. Driving allows one to climb legendary Tour de France passes such as the Col de Madeleine and the Col d’Izoard. In addition, there are some fantastic lesser known routes in the mountain ranges surrounding Grenoble.

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Alpe D’Huez Jerseys in Perth Australia

28 Jun

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Clare and Alan were recently with More Than 21 Bends Alpe d’Huez and Mont Ventoux tour. They were also on prompt d211 hire bikes and kitted themselves out in our Alpe d’Huez cycling gear. A couple of cycling caps are in the post for this great photo.

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