We often hear the phrase, ‘to no avail’, rarely hear the noun in the positive, but I’d like to see that change. I was fortunate to avail myself of a beauty of a bike this past week, test riding the very aptly named new Avail Advanced Pro 0, from Liv’s York shop.
My demo time coincided with Storm Debi wreaking a fair degree of chaos across the country, but I still managed to get out for two rides, and when I returned the bike back to the store, I felt like I was saying goodbye to a friend.
You might be expecting a super techy review, but I’m relatively new to cycling, and my journalism teachers always advised to keep it simple and focus on the human aspect.
I’ve been riding a Specialized Allez Elite (2009), and while my physio Sam told me that sounded retro and reminded me that he was only a teenager when I bought it (yes, that made me feel old, thanks Sam!!) it’s served me well. It’s comfortable and fast, and it’s also helped me qualify for Team GB in my first year of racing on the bike in a competitive age group for the sprint duathlon World Championships in Australia next year. At each duathlon event I’ve done I’ve met friendly women who happened to be riding Livs – and I decided it couldn’t be a coincidence that the kind and kick-ass women often had something in common.
I’m lucky to live near the only Liv store in the country, and so when I learned they had an Avail to demo, I jumped at the opportunity. The roads are mucky now, the potholes plentiful, the hills steep in the area of Yorkshire where I live, and so I’m also in need of a winter bike to keep up my fitness.
I was a little nervous when it came to collection, but Claire reassured me, suggesting I think of it like test driving a car. She talked me through the specifics, as I’d never used hydraulic disk brakes or electric gears, but she also suggested I just give it a go.
I took it out on a 40k route I ride on regularly, and very quickly got to grips with the gears, amazed at how light and fast the bike was despite the 32 mm tyres, and how confident and comfortable I felt on the rural roads. That’s even before mentioning how good looking a bike it is. About an hour in, I realised that shifting my weight more to the back of the saddle made it even more comfortable. My first ride was relatively flat as I didn’t want anything too taxing, but I honestly felt like I could have kept going. In fact, that evening, I did and, despite cycling that distance just a few hours earlier, I managed a 5k PB running. The fact that I could ride and then run so well strikes me as a really good sign for duathlons.
My second ride was a slightly hillier route over a similar distance and again the bike really surprised me by being really responsive on climbs and allowing me to feel much more confident than I usually do in the descents. I’m used to constantly looking ahead for the next patch of road, used to being quite cautious on corners, which means I slow significantly, but with this bike, I was able to relax a little, while at the same time keeping a really good pace.
Again, had it not been for family commitments and the fact the days are getting shorter, I’d have stayed out a lot longer and am sure I’d have felt comfortable riding much further. I’d been looking forward to going out again and again, but the weather put paid to that, but the two experiences I had on the ride made me want to keep returning to this bike over and over again.
For me, cycling has been extremely beneficial to my mental health and exercise, in general, has been really important to me in my recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder, related to traumas connected with my journalism work. Riding the Avail Advanced Pro 0 was the closest I’ve come to pure mindfulness in a long time, it was a magical experience and I’m so grateful I got to avail myself of it. I’ll miss my two-wheeled friend.