With the London-Paris Cycle Tour Ride Captains about to embark on the 2009 challenge, we hear from captain and many-time L2P rider, David Kirkby, about his new steed.

He says:

"So, The new Specialized steed was delivered, a Roubaix Pro, sounded like a continental tart, and it was flashy. Now I am a traditional chap and would normally mount some full geometry steed, with classic lines and cafe cred, this bike if different. Looking at this bike and being the wrong side of 45,  I was wondering if all this new fangled technology and thinking was a step too far and would I look like mutton dressed up as lamb?

How wrong could I be.

A few adjustments clipped in and wow. Ride was crisp and lively yet really comfortable with vibrations from our wonderful roads as well as crater sized potholes soaked up and dissipated somewhere on the bike and not my tail! This thing is smoother than my titanium bike and stiffer than a my compact carbon race machine.

Now the test of truth, two teenage boys. My two sons and a few buddies, they walk into the garage, jaws drop and they carefully eye the bike wheel to wheel decal to decal saddle to bars, the verdict....”cool bike dad, whose is it?”

So, I am too old for this new tech? Is it to cool for me? Will I like the easy miles on a race machine...the contradiction of smooth and stiff...I think so!"

David's new machine for the 2009 London-Paris Cycle Tour, a Specialized Roubaix Pro