It took me 2 days to get the position correct, 1st I tried it with the seat off of the Giro on it but with the pedals being low you can't get the seat reclined far enough to be comfortable. I put the recurve seat that came with it on and you can see why it is the seat supplied, I was still trying to ride it tilted back too far and on Saturday morning I put it up a notch as I left home at 4.30 for the ride over to Cambridge and the start of the End of Hibernation 200km audax ride.
I did wonder if this bike would be suitable for audax riding being a LWB as you don't see many people riding them for long distances. But it did surprise me on that count.
Last year I left home at 5.00 for the ride over and got to the start just as every body was leaving, This time I was away earlier just incase. It still took me 3 hrs to ride the 60km to the start but that does include the ride over the Woburn hills at the start to slow me down.
Coffee and jam sandwich consumed at the start and we were away, I made my way though the field and got in with the second group until I was starting to get too hot with the jacket on and decided to stop to remove it.
The first control was at Stradishall at about 100km my avg speed at this point was 24kph. I'd been using maltodextrin powder in my bottles again so as I wasn't hungry I only brought a drink from the shop next door and was away again.
The next section had a couple of climbs, 1 I walked as the front dérailleur wouldn't drop to the small cog (needs adjusting some more) and it followed the valley through to near Stowmarket.
I picked up some speed on this section and when I got to the next control (160km) my avg had gone up to 26.4kph.
Egg and beans on toast consumed and it was into the wind for the next section to Finchingfield in Essex, this section just seemed to keep going up and down never letting you get in a good rhythm finally getting there at 15.00. Still not hungry I settled for a double mint choc ice cream and a look at all the motorbikes that go there weekly. My bike was geting as much attention as some of them though :-)
Still more hills towards the finish and another one walked just before the final control, I was up over 2hrs on last years time when I got there and the organiser was surprised to see me so early. A good feed and chat with friends saw me there for over an hr and it was 20.00 before I left for the 60 km ride home.
I knew it would take me longer to get back as the wind was against me going that way. I hoped to get back before midnight.
The first hill on the main rd out of Cambridge was a drag but after that it was flattish until getting near to Woburn again and the climb up to the deer park there. I always worry about going through there at night as I can see the deer very close to the road looking at me doing about 10kph uphill and I'm always waiting for one of the stags to charge me!! It's never happened yet and probably unlikely to anyway but those antlers look like they could be painful stuck in the wrong place!!
I eventually rolled into the garage for a receipt at 23.30 with a final total of 340km. The avg of 24.2kph did surprise me as it's not a lot different to rides on the Giro and the Bellandare could be a good audax bike for people that don't like the high pedals of the Giro.
If it was mine I'd end up doing some mod's to it like chopping the foam seat to make it a bit more comfortable for me. My legs (Hamstrings) tended to hit the front of the seat making them to move differently to what they are used to causing some muscle ache. This could be prevented by putting the seat up another notch but this would be to upright for me.
The upright seat would be good if a front fairing was fitted though as it would stop the wind drag from the upright body position.
All in all it did impress me on how it handled the distance and as I'd only done 40km on it before the ride so wasn't sure how it would go.
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