New bike and other nonsense

Last night included a much anticipated trip through to Velo Ecosse in Edinburgh after work to pick up my new bike and other bits and pieces. The new bike certainly lives up to expectations. I'll try and include a quick pic of it below. Its a Giant TCR SL1 and the guys in the shop have done an awesome job building it up with some really nice kit. Yet to get some wheels for it but since we're away to Toms in Switzerland tomorrow I'll not get a chance to ride it straight away anyway. Quite looking forward to the maiden outing though but will be a shame to get it dirty!

Latest controversy in the Scottish cycling community seems to be the critisism aimed at folk like me who've left their clubs to ride with new teams for this season. I obviously don't have a problem with folk shifting teams or clubs, my view is its part of the sport and riders should be allowed to develop. If a club has invested time or cash developing a rider its up to them to make sure they've agreed some kind of tie in if they're worried the rider might leave. In mine and I guess most other situations I had nothing from the club in terms of support other than what all members get. Having put plenty into the club in recent years I don't feel I owe it anything. Joining a focused race team if you're into racing is a no brainer especially once your involved and are the benefits.

So now that's all sorted, I've got a sweet new race bike and everything is set for the first race of the year I'm starting to really look forward to it. The trip to Toms will provide a good chance to take a break from work and spend some time with Laura and Oli. And Tom and Nat too obviously! Hopefully we'll get the chance to explore a bit round Geneva and where they live and just chill out before getting back to hectic goings on back here.
Robin Wilkins
my blog: http://thewheelabout.blogspot.com