Little more than a year ago the thought that I might be able to ride up some of the tough climbs we see the professionals battle their way up in the Tour de France was absurd. My road bike riding skills were as rusty as my 18 year-old racer and on top of that I was recovering from a nasty bout of pneumonia that had put me in hospital. But it is amazing the difference a lucky win and a year can make.
Simone riding her BMC SL01 The lucky win came in July 2010 when I got a phone call from Paul telling me that my entry had been drawn out in the Bike n Bean competition so I was now the owner of a new BMC SL01 Roadracer. Initially it took up residence in the corner of my loungeroom as I wasn't yet well enough to ride it and there was no way I was going to relegate it to the shed. I got a lot of pleasure out of looking at my racy, light and beautifully finished new bike in the corner and watching my cycling mad friends turn green with envy when they came to visit. Still, the fun really began when I had finally recovered enough to get out and ride some hills.
Once I started riding my new BMC it quickly became clear that my trusty mountain bike, which I had been using to ride on the road as well as off it, was wonderful in the dirt but it couldn't come close to the performance of my new road bike on the bitumen. This bike was light, smooth, responsive and such a pleasure to ride that I jumped at any opportunity to take it out for a spin. Despite the huge hit to my fitness that came from being knocked flat with pneumonia for three months I was quickly comfortably riding my new road bike up hills and going faster than ever before. This gave me the confidence to commit to a trip I wouldn't have dreamed of doing just a few months earlier - ten days riding some of the spectacular but intimidatingly long and steep climbs of the French Alps and Pyrenees.
As 2011 clicked into gear the training for the trip, which was now less than seven months away, began in earnest and there were many weeks where my BMC SL01 racked up many more kilometers than my car. The first step was completing The Tour Down Under's 135 kilometre community challenge in January, where more than seven thousand people got to ride a stage of the South Australian based race before the pros came through. After that it was onto as many of Victoria's long and steep road climbs as I could get to. I took the BMC up the close to home Humevale Hill and Kinglake climbs more times than I can remember, up Mt Hotham and Mt Buller as well as to Lake Mountain and Falls Creek.
As the months went by, and the time I spent on the BMC accumulated, the muscles and lungs slowly improved. Rides that had once been torture seemed like a short and relaxing jaunt. By the time the trip to France arrived I was fit enough to enjoy hours riding through the spectacular countryside, even when the road turned sharply upwards at climbs like the Alpe d'Huez and the Tourmalet.
So now its just a little more than a year since I won the BMC SL01 Roadracer and what I really want to say is thanks Bike n Bean and thanks BMC. I have spent hundreds of very enjoyable hours riding this bike, managed to get fitter than ever before and taken on a riding challenge that I previously wouldn't even have dreamed of. It really is amazing the difference a new bike can make, especially when it is one this good.
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