One more day to go in my latest Alpine adventures and up above us in the valley (although currently hiding behind clouds) is the Eiger. Tomorrow we’ll be riding up to it and it will mark the end of a classic week riding through some of the most spectacular parts of Switzerland.
The weather hasn’t all been sunshine and blue skies. We’ve had a couple of days of rainstorms and drizzle, but it hasn’t dulled our enthusiasm for the riding. It’s just added an extra dimension to it. The penalty for failure to negotiate wet rocks and roots in places has been a long fall off the mountain. No time for thinking about anything else here other than the next line, the level of grip the tyres have and the amount of feathering the brakes need.
It’s given me a lot more confidence in my riding and I’ve altered the setup of the bike a lot since I’ve been here. This morning I decided that 22psi wasn’t quite enough tyre pressure, but it undoubtedly helped me ride a lot of wet technical sections yesterday and the Calderdale favourites of Kenda Blue Groove and Nevegal tyres have proven superb options.
After two weeks pounding the Fox F32s and Chris King hubs they are going to need a service, but they’ve performed brilliantly on the Ti Deluxe – a bike that has propelled me up the climbs and only slightly left me wanting more travel, rear suspension and clearance for bigger tyres on the downs.
R O T H A R . C O M 