Having demolished a few beers with Gaz, and researching the Etape, Gaz and I entered the 2008 Etape via French Cycling Holidays. That was the easy bit. Next was purchase of a road bike. I knew very little about road bikes (some might say I still know very little now!) and I was not that keen on spending a vast amount just yet, so I bought an Aluminium Frame Kona Zing (Blue). Not a common bike, I think I have seen one other on the road, and the rider of that bike was somewhat faster than me, so I didn't see it for long...The first day I got on the bike was the first day I had ridden with cleats as well. First experiences (looking back over 4 years) was that the road bike was so narrow handlebar wise compared to a mountain bike, and so much faster. Cleats, I only fell off twice. The first time was in a friends front garden in front of his wife, the second time was half way up Cheddar Gorge, hard learning experiences. I also discovered that cycling up steep hills was also a new experience, going up New Road to the airstrip just outside Cheddar introduced me to the experience of pushing a bike up hill whilst wearing cleats, and cleats wear out quickly I have to say.
