The Complete Scicon Aero Comfort Plus Review

I’ve just put the VeloNomad Scicon Aero Comfort Plus review up. For those looking at buying a bike bag, I urge you to check this review out (as well as my EVOC Bike Travel Bag Review).

The Scicon ACP is a good bag no doubt, but there are some issues with the bag that warrant your consideration.

So, if you’ve been looking at buying this bag, check the VeloNomad Scicon Aero Comfort Plus review out.

The review is very indepth, so for those who want to cut to the chase, check the video portion of the review out. Otherwise, head on over to the review page.

Remember, this is a subjective review, based on transparent objective measures, and real world experience. You may disagree, you may agree; either way, I’d love your feedback.

Cutting to the Chase – Video

The video review gives you a complete rundown. I forgot to mention a few of the things in the list above, but after 10 takes, it was more important to get this out there rather than get it perfect.

A few people have emailed me and asked me what type of bike they will need for an Etape.

I’ve seen people do Etape on mountain bikes, tandems and roadbikes ranging from bikes that could only be described as WWII era messenger bikes to high end road race weapons.

Telegraphe, Etape Alps 2011

What Type of Bike Should I Look At?

If you do a lot of climbing, I recommend spending your hard earned money on a bike designed to climb. Just ask your local bike shop, what they have. For instance, I’d prefer a Specialized Roubaix over something racier like a Tarmac or Venge. I’d look at a Wilier Izoard too. There are a lot of options and likely something that will suit, in your favourite brand (mine are Look, Time, Focus, Wilier, Felt and Scott).

So, What Level of Bike Should I Take?

If you don’t have one, and if your budget permits, I recommend a low to mid-level roadbike (see my discussion on frames below) that you are comfortable doing lots of kilometres on. This way it’ll be great for Etape, travelling and at home (commuting, training etc),

It might make sense to look at an aluminium frame (see discussion below) – there are many inexpensive options from Specialized, Scott, BMC, Cannondale, Felt – the list goes on. I owned a Specialized Roubaix (albeit carbon) for a few years and it was probably the most comfortable bike I’ve ridden. Great for climbing, great for descending, great for long rides. Awesome bike (budget permitting, my next bike will be a Roubaix S Works – they are that good).

If you’re flying from overseas, I strongly recommend you don’t take something high-end. I took my prized Look 586 RSP in 2011, and it copped a beating in the campervan. It was great for Etape, fast on ascents, stable and fast and turns on a dime on the descents. The Look 586 is a mountain WEAPON – highly recommended. If you’re in Melbourne/Oz and looking for one, head over to the crew at Fitzroy Cycles.

Look 586 on the Galibier

Frame Considerations

Whilst many people take their carbon bikes overseas without a problem, it’s not without risk, unless you pack your bike properly.

You can read more about packing your bike in the EVOC bike bag. And find out more about the best way to take your bike overseas without damage.

Having said that, if you are looking for a bike to take overseas you can’t go wrong with a rock solid aluminium bike that will last years and take a lot of damage (like the famous Cannondale CAAD5). There are loads of deals online (Wiggle, Chain Reaction are good places to start). Even Competitive Cyclist has some great deals like this BMC aluminium complete bike for under US$900 (note, this is not an affiliate link).

What Parts?

I’d recommend alloy bars and stem. This is particularly important if you are taking a Scicon Aero Comfort Plus Bike Bag as the design of the bag exposes the bars to potential baggage handler knocks.

I used one of Scicon ACPs in 2009 and the bars copped a huge impact but bent, instead of breaking.

Using alloy minimises your risk of carbon damage.

The same goes for wheels. Don’t take high end tubs and I don’t recommend carbon wheels. Take some bomb proof Mavic Open Pros or Ultegras or whatever takes your fancy (Chain Reaction Cycles, Wiggle).

What Group Should I Ride for Etape

If you’re also wondering what Group (gearing) you should put on your bike, read this post on Gearing for Etape. Lots of people have followed my advice, and are thankful for putting compacts on their bike.

Campervans for France/EU 2012 – limited availability

If you are planning on Campervanning France in 2012, and have not yet booked, now is the time to be booking.

Campervans are becoming like hens teeth, and this will only get worse the closer we get to the 2012 TDF.

Limited Time! Get a Discount with Campervans.com

Thanks to our friends at Campervans.com, VeloNomads can book a trip with a pick up in Toulouse (or Paris) with a 5% discount.

Mary from Campervans.com tells me have VERY limited availability, so, if you are planning on booking a trip, don’t delay, book ASAP.

Contact Mary at Campervans.com ASAP, and tell them VeloNomad sent you.

Toulouse Airport – The Perfect Airport for Etape and Le Tour

Toulouse is the best airport in France to fly into as far as I am concerned. It’s basically at the foot of the Pyrenees, and is close to Biarritz on the Atlantic coast. It’s also not too far from the Alps and as far as the actual airport goes, it’s on a major freeway, and is very easy to get in and out of.

As it’s not a major hub (like Paris), it’s a lot less crowded and hectic.

As Toulouse is smaller than Paris, the taxi fare from the airport to the campervan depot will likely be less than the 100 Euro (!) fare from Charles de Gaulle to the McRent depot in Paris.

So, if you are trying to work out where to fly into, Toulouse is worthy of your consideration.

Still Deciding Whether to Campervan? Get My Critical Insights

If you are still tossing up whether to campervan, you might like to have a look at my campervan experience below, from various Tour de France stages. You can search on “Trips” in the sidebar which will provide all my “Live from the Road” reports from various trips, many of which include campervan information and insights.

• 2009 Stage 13 (Col du Firstplan, raining)
• 2009 Stage 16 (Col du Grand St Bernard, Col du Petit St Bernard)
• 2009 Stage 17 (Cormet de Roselend, Col des Saises, Col de Romme, Col de la Colombiere)
• 2011 Stage 12 (Tourmalet, Ancizan
• 2011 Stage 14 (Plateau de Beille): here and here

You can also check out the new Campervanning France reference guide.

July 20 L’Etape, plus transit to Bourg St Maurice

So, the course for L’Etape was as the pros did it.

Epic.

Ok, so the logistics around this L’Etape were an ABSOLUTE nightmare. I go into this and how to avoid it at tdftips.com but you can read more below.

Montelimar is about 100km (the short way) from Ventoux and we had to have our van on the hill the day before, with our booked accomodation in Valence – 50km from Montelimar. This meant we had to leave our bikes in Montelimar the day before (19th), drive to the Ventoux, leave the van there, get the shuttle back (3 hours), then ride to Valence. We would then need to get a taxi from Valence to Montelimar at 5AM on the 20th (at a cost of around 100 Euros at least) for L’Etape.

This clearly is, as Rommell stated in the desert, “ein klusterfkken”. Our agent made a mistake with the accommodation booking (props to Travel Affare for refunding our accom even though it was not their fault) and I frankly think the Mondevelo stuffed up by putting L’Etape here instead of using the Stage 15 Verbier stage on the Tour Rest day, or the Stage 16 stage on the rest day, or the Stage 20 stage the day after the Tour’s use. By putting L’Etape at Ventoux, people at the Tour would have had to drive to the Tour during the Stage 15 into Verbier (which many would have wanted to watch including us) – this drive is about 6-7 hours. Then after stuffing around with registering, you have to do L’Etape and get to the high French Alps for Stage 16 – a 6 hour drive after around 7 hours riding. Clearly they dropped the ball. I think the transfer arrangements are also completely schiesen.

Anyway, we blew off our accom (wasting $100each) and parked up at Bedoin the night. This meant we missed the official start but given the 9500 riders involved, it’d have been chaos anyway.

We bailed at 6AM for Maulacene (worth checking out), where we parked up.

We then rode in the cold to Nyons (also worth checking out), where we rode backwards through the streets – confusing everyone in the process. One gendarme sought to stop us but fortunately a motorist got his attention and we blew off, pulling off the road just out of Nyons into a lane to wait for guys to start coming through. After about 5 groups of serious looking riders had gone through, we snuck onto the road and we were off.

Hiding in a lane.

It was a truly excellent experience. Blocked roads, people cheering in the streets, splitting at roundabouts. The pace set was fairly cracking and Mike called it down so we had energy for the climb. The day was heating up and there was a lot of climbing ahead.

The ride was really nice, through some spectacular hills, lavendar fields, and beautiful villages. Provence is amazing.

It was all sh!ts and giggles for us.

We eventually hit the first climb which broke everyone up. People cracked almost immediately – why they headed out so hard was beyond me. 170km in the southern France heat is a long, long way. The ride had some decent climbs including a tough one into Sault. I took off on that one just to test the legs. Sault is a nice little village and everyone was out. I stopped for water but some dudes charged through (clearly serious about their time).

Mike caught up and we headed off again – even finding time for some tomfoolery.

Another climb came again and I blasted up it but then took some video. Mike kept going and I didn’t see him again (about 50km out) as I kept stopping for photos etc.

We eventually rolled into Bedoin which was awesome, LOTS of people and a big food stop – oranges, sweet cake, water, gel packs, but no Coke! It was pretty hot on this side of the Ventoux. I stopped for fuel and to look for Michael, but he’d gone.

At this point I put my uphill music mix on (consisting of Propagandhi, Rise Against, Refused and some other hardcore stuff) and smashed out of town, chewing dudes up as we headed up hill. Some guys were in big, big trouble, and there was still 22km of some serious uphill to go.

My legs were suffering from the 2 ascents in the previous 2 days so I decided to conserve energy. The heat was pretty tough as we wound our way through the becalmed forests.

There were some broken souls on the road. On the bike, off the bike – all staring at their feet or off into the distance, contemplating goodness knows what. The carnage only got worse as I got higher, with guys walking, ambulances in attendence…after having spoken to a Brit earlier on the ride, I wondered how many of these Euro-kats had even done the Ventoux?

Anyway, I was in big trouble, I’d knocked down 4 orange slices in town and quickly moved through about 4 gel packs.

I promised myself never to do 2 HC climbs before a race HC again. Utter stupidity.

Anyway, I stopped at the Chalet Reynard for water and quickly continued so my legs didn’t seize up. The final climb from the Chalet Reynard to Ventoux is about 6km of road varying between respite-providing switchbacks and plain, cruel “up”. At this point guys were really breaking apart – bodies were littered everywhere.

I pressed on, eventually reaching the top in a time about 40 mins slower than my first effort – 2′07″ or so – this is with around 20mins of stopping on the ride, about 10 of that for photos on the Ventoux. I haven’t checked the results yet but I think this probably cost me 900 or more spots which would put me well inside the top 300. I came around 1275th or something. Michael’s time was about 2 mins slower than mine and he had Coke waiting – I was in big trouble as I was not breathing into my diaphragm so I was a bit asthma-y at the top.

We snapped off some photos and got off quickly, handing in our transponders at Mont Serein, getting our medals and cheers and then beginning the descent to Malaucene. The country on this side of the Ventoux is again spectacular. Prehistoric and dynamic. It was a lonnng, fast descent of around 25km and we happily arrived at the van, ate, drank, and prepared to head off to Bourg st Maurice to rejoin the tour.

The transition was not too hard – just up to BSM via the Autoroute and through a beautiful valley. We passed through this little town [photo], crossed a bridge and the terrain and plants changed from a very Mediterranean aspect to much more wind swept but wetter terrain. A very stark contrast across a bridge (I’m not joking).

We eventually got into Bourg St Maurice which is the typical ski town. Surrounded by towering Hautes-Alpes peaks and lights littering the hills, it was truly spectacular. I can’t even remember what we did for dinner, I think it was pizza was SOS Pizza – very good, but, as with everything when you eat out in France, expensive in AUD$.

Photos of the transfer.

Grenoble.

July 22 2009, Stage 17 Tour de France – Bourg St Maurice > Le Grand Bornand

Woke after a big sleep still very, very fatigued. The 3 Ventoux climbs, L’Etape, Col du Petite St Bernard climb the day before and poor dietary profile (no protein) had created a serious kilojoule deficit and leg muscles was suffering badly. All the Heineken in the world couldn’t mask the damage I was doing (it appears multiple Heinekens is actually counterproductive – who’d have thunk-ed?!).

Anyway. We woke and spun out early. Given that the TdF was starting from Bourg Saint Maurice that morning, the roads to the Cormet de Roselend were likely to be shut early given it was a long grind to the first climb. Snap, the officials had shut the entrance by 10AM (!), but, as we’re discovering, no does not mean no in France! We walked our bikes 50 m up the road, went through a fence and were on our way.

I had decided to take my camera up again (about 8kg) despite the difficulty it put me in yesterday – it created a serious nerve impingement on my right side and basically shut down movement through my RHS sub scapularis and right hip flexor – very painful – see my pack horse-ness below.

The climb to the Cormet de Roseland started in steamy forests – a summer storm front was building. Providentially as it turned out, I had packed a jacket, and arm and leg warmers.

Mike took off, as I was still suffering. Good on Mike for just lording it up and carrying on. I had planned on ditching the camera but figured it wasn’t everyday I could reel off high level shots at the TdF.

The Cormet climb was tough and given it was the first climb on a long tour stage including the Cols de Romme, des Saises, de la Colombiere and two more, I thought that an attack might happen here with multiple participants, including mountain ninja Pellizotti (to secure the polka dots).

The climb wends its way through steamy forests consisting of multiple switchbacks which provide for ideal attack points and opens up into a mid section which is a false flat and takes in some absolutely SPECTACULAR scenery – this planet was truly created by humbling and inconceivable power and force.

We had gone past a perfect double switchback which would have made for awesome photos, but we had pushed on up a bit further then a gendarme had blocked us from going back down the road as the sponsor’s train had started moving up the road.

After the false flat the road again ascends in a devilish manner into some spectacular glacial country – it would be frightening up here in winter but in summer it is just humbling. I felt truly insignificant in the face of such magnificence.

We passed a few good spots but I wanted to do the peak, however the gendarmes were looking edgy so we flicked around and headed back down to choose our spot, which as it turned out, was a good spot. Protection from the looming storm as well as views down the road through 2 switchbacks and back down the mountain which provided for ideal long range and wide angle shooting.

French cows just lording it up.

The sponsor’s cars eventually reached us and the electricity built. We cleaned up with free stuff as the storm started looking very, very ominous.

I love the pre-peloton excitement – it’s truly electric. The people, endless cars, and then the choppers, and then, the riders.

As the riders approached, the storm had unleashed a summer bombardment, causing us to seek refuge in the leeward side of a campervan – which proved to be silly, as the wind threatened to blow the van over. I ended up sheltered in a nook of a rock wall. The skies opened as the riders approached – I don’t think I’ve ever seen a group of people so relieved to see the Tour de France pass so quickly.

Given the rain and wind my photos were very poor. I don’t have any video as the camera was stolen (see more below). We ended up on Eurospot TV a few times – look for a Union Jack flag on a wall about 3km from the top, and a person wrapped up in a boxing kangaroo flag with an orange Euskatel cycling cap on. Hopefully we ended up on SBS, or at least end up on the DVD package they put together.

The lead group blasted past, with the peloton strung out obviously as a result of some attacks. It really is frightening how quick the peloton swings past. They are ultra hardcore and elite sportsmen.

Here comes Contador.

After the riders passed, we hauled butt to get off the mountain, the slick roads and hairpins making for some interesting riding.

We got into town to our site and got out of our stuff so we could head down the street for some shopping and to find somewhere to watch the tour. It’s at this point that I have worked out that I somehow allowed the Canon Ixus 85S which I’d been using for video to fall onto the grass the night before, which meant I didn’t see it as we cleared the table, and therefore someone was able to snaffle it whilst we were away from he site. Fortunately I had backed up the video and photos from Stage 16 as well as L’Etape – thank god, where would we be without the below video?!

We ended up in Maccas watching the Tour finish with about 30 other people and using their free wifi which was poverty stricken – very, very slow.

The rest of night was spent searching for camera as I realised it was gone when we returned. Not happy – mainly about the lost video of L’Etape and Stage 16 (which turned out to be unfounded as I’d backed them up).

July 21 2009, Stage 16 Tour de France: Martigny > Bourg St Maurice

Today I woke VERY sore after L’Etape 2009. We had (what I thought was) a piffling little 12k climb (oops – 32km) up to the final Col of Stage 16 – the Cat 1 Col du Petite St Bernard. I decided to drag my full camera kit up – DSLR body, 1 70-200 L telephoto lense, wide angle, flash, change of clothes….see below for how ridiculous I am.

Spanning 3 countries – Switzerland, Italy and France – this stage was going to be epic.

See? I told you. Ridiculous.

After 3 ascents of the Ventoux in 3 days, and with a lot of climbing the day before, I bonked almost immediately and struggled up the whole way. It was only a 4-5% grade which I’d normally absolutely chew up, but the muscle fatigue and extra weight consigned me to the scrap heap. Once we had ascended past the villages and multiple switch backs – some beautiful scenery – we were in the high Alpine and into the teeth of the wind which made the final 6km quite honestly hellish. I was not happy. I also did some nerve damage into my shoulder and back [post script: Dec 2011 – turns out I have done serious damage to shoulder, sub scap etc – whoops – still wrecked 2 years later).

Here I am at the top, seemingly all sh!ts and giggles. Little did I know I’d be suffering nerve damage 2 years later

The top of the mountain was packed, so we decamped about 2km from the peak where there were not too many people. I chalked Schnell Cadel on the road (see below) and we set up (also see below).

Australians are utterly ridiculous. We love it.



The sponsors rolled through and we both cleaned up due the lack of lots of people around us. Pretty soon the riders came through and I reeled off some rad photos – see below.

The one of Andy Schleck, Contador and Armstrong is epic and crystal clear. I like how Contador’s yellow is bathed in yellow with the shadowed mountain behind him providing extra contrast.

Cadel was dropped again, and Lance looked like the terminator. Schleck A looked like he was laughing and Contador was, well, Contador.

After the last rider passed, we headed down to town, passing what looked like a fatality caused by a head on between a female cyclist and an coming car – sad times.

You can see ALL the photos here and here.

We ended up in town for dinner again (we are idiots) at what turned out to be the worst restuarant ever – it is called the Auberge de Rochefort in the main drag of Bourg St Maurice. Avoid at ALL costs. They provided the worst service I have ever experienced in my entire life. The waitress was unengaging, unhealthy looking and barely acknowledged us. Food was slapped down and they were not interested in taking payment. Michael left his SIM card on the table, and when he realised about 20 mins later, and went back, they denied all knowledge of it.

Like I said, avoid at all costs – they are a disgrace to restaurants everywhere.

July 17 Stage 13 of the Tour de France

We awoke to very humid and pre-storm conditions after heavy rain (subsequently cleared) that night. Heading out of town on the tour route, we found a coffee bar, having now find out that they don’t do lattes (particularly soy lattes) in France. We worked out that we had to have espressos with a dash of cream – I took to short blacks very, very quickly.

I wish I could remember the place we got coffee – very civilised. The manager shook our hands as we entered – “Bonjour”.

We headed for the Col du Firstplan – the final climb of Stage 13 – and looked for a spot. This turned out to be tricky on such a small col – it was already packed at 8AM!

I was stressing but we got a spot near some Tom Boonen fans and set up. We got the bikes out and headed down the col on the tour route into some delightful Germanic villages – Lautenbach, Osenbach, Wintzfelden and Shweighouse where a big video screen I think was set up. We ascended the Col de Platerwasel afer stopping for awesome coffee in Lautenbach and headed back up.

Wintzfelden

Platerwasel

Platerwasel

Osenbach

War Cemetery

The below place had good coffee and is now at wherespresso.com

Lautenbach

Lautenbach

Lautenbach

Smashing the climbs just a couple of hours before the tour was ace, with people cheering and clapping.

Col du Firstplan

Col du Firstplan

Schnell Cadel!

We got to the top of the Firstplan, turned around and got to the van. I voted we do it again, so we headed down to Osenbach at which point I wanted to stop in case the gendarmes blocked us from returning further down the road. Dumpkopf Mikhail said nein so we headed past Lautenbach and into a town and snap, the gendarmerie pounced and sought to prevent our return at a checkpoint, saying access was blocked until 4.30PM – it was 11AM at this stage. They were insistent, which was grating given people 50m up the road were cycling.

I was NOT happy at this stage, seeking ways around, but Michael just got can do, and made us head up through 3 vineyards (muddy, with cleats) and then through some private property, some blackberry patches, then along a 12 foot sheer wall with about 3 inches of foot space, holding a fence, bike on shoulder (one of the silliest things I’ve done) – with the owners talking to us in French and me just saying “Desolee, desolee” (sorry) and as soon as I was on the road, about 100m from the checkpoint I was off like a rascally rabbit. Outflanking the gendarmerie certainly was gratifying.

We rode back up to the top again.

Up the top

Up the top

Up the top

Up the top

Back at the van, the rain had set in, and we got ready as Aussie after Aussie went past, saying “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie” – to which we responded “Nnnnnope.com” or “Nein, ve are Nederlanders” – none of this “Oi Oi Oi” business, thanks. The van behind us was populated with (Dr Evil voice) fricking Belgians with a big Tom Boonen flag on the windscreen. It was funny to watch people gabbing away in all languages going past saying things unintelligible, only for us to then hear “Oh, Tom Boonen.” As you can see from this link, this became our trip catchphrase.

Riding up just before the caravan

Below you can see why you need a bike rack when Campervanning France.

Need a bike rack!

Here they come

Here they come

Ready to rock

The stream of cars before a tour stage is seemingly endless. VIPs, officials, team cars. It certainly builds excitement and anticipation early on in the day.

The sponsors cars eventually came past and people went bezerk to score free stuff. I scored some stuff as the rain continued, with Michael sitting in the car, and sponsor’s people literally (literally-literally, not literally as in “figuratively”) passing him stuff.

Caravan

Caravan

Caravan

Caravan

Caravan

Caravan

Caravan

Caravan

Caravan

Very, very wet at this stage.

Caravan

Caravan

Caravan

Eventually the sponsor’s cars gave way to silence. Then the choppers could be heard. Then cheering down the hill. Then the gendarmes on motorbikes, then, they were upon us. German-Aussie Heinrich Haussler was in the lead which caused a big cheer. The peloton followed some minutes behind; they passed very quickly, then it was all over!

Chavanel, I think. Chasing Haussler.

Chavanel

Chaser

Chaser

Le peloton sont arrives!

peloton

peloton

Cadel

And then, they were gone.

Cars

Stragglers

It was a little anti-climatic to be honest.

We got in the car and then battled the traffic and headed south for Bern.

The rain was unrelenting and the roads gnarly as Audi supervagons smashed past us at unnerving speeds given the weather. Stupidly, I had not brought my grandparent’s AA mapbook of France so we were relying on my iPhone + Google Maps – this has caused a 100MB download accumulation and probably a $1000 bill (or more). The roads are a little confusing and we missed the Bern turn off, meaning we had to head into the Swiss Alps on narrow roads, late at night in the pouring rain. Good on Michael for late night narrow road driving.

We had to again outflanken the gendarmerie, parking up in a delightful Swiss town called Saanen for the night. We slept fitfully.

Kasper S and many other readers have written in with the following question about Who Can Do Etape Du Tour.

Who is Etape For

There is a perception that Etape Du Tour is for accomplished cyclists only. That’s fair enough given it’s usually an epic undertaking, halfway around the world for many people, and incorporating climbs that most people would never tackle.

This perception that beginners can’t Tackle Etape, however, cannot be further from the truth.

Etape is for everyone! Be you a rank amateur (absolute beginner), accomplished middle level rider or high end destroyer, the Etape will welcome you with welcome arms (then chew you up and spit you out).

Hell, you can even do it with your partner on a tandem!

Tandem on the Telegraphe, Etape Alps 2011

Training and Preparation

Whilst the Etape can certainly be done by beginners and mid level riders, I highly recommend you undertake some level of training to ensure you finish it!

VeloNomad has a Training Plan developed by a professional cycling coach. You won’t die if you don’t train properly, but training for Etape will certainly help you enjoy your dream trip. The VeloNomad training program has been specially designed by Mark Fenner for Etape participants and is proven to work (I use it myself).

Remember, you can still finish Etape without any sort of training, so the Training Guide isn’t a do or die proposition, it will however, help you become fitter and stronger in the mountains.

If you’re spending a lot of time and money to go to France for Etape, it makes sense to do some training to ensure you enjoy yourself and finish, and not blow up before you finish like the guy below – the Tourmalet 2010, 8km from the end, 35 degrees.

Blown Up - Tourmalet, Etape 2010

Why You Should Eat Well on the Plane

Long haul plane trips are not a healthy experience. Your immune system will be compromised, you don’t sleep well, don’t eat well and are exposed to everyone else’s germs. Not a nice way to send you on your way for your dream cycling trip.

You’ll likely arrive groggy, with your immune system operating sub optimally, and not ready to start smashing rides out.

If you want to avoid such a bad experience, read on to find out the proven methods I use that allows me to land and basically continue on as if there was no long haul flight.

Why Plane Food is Bad

I know it’s really easy to get excited about a full service economy flight (not as exciting as business class, mind, but exciting nonetheless). Whilst the promise of seemingly delightful pre-packaged plane food and endless movies (unless you’re on an old Qantas or rickety old Aeroflot plane) is enough to send some of you into hysterics (much like Homer Simpson in this clip), caution is advised.

Processed carbohydrates and food are generally cheaper to produce and last longer than fresh food (remember, if it doesn’t rot, it’s probably bad). For that reason, much of the “food” served to you on the plane is designed to be low cost and low nutritional value (Neil Perry meals in Qantas Business and Economy aside!). It’s often very starchy (or has starchy components) and is anything but fresh.

I prefer to eat anything fresh that is served (like salad) and snack on nutritious whole foods and drink loads of water (and yes some alcohol – usually Bacardi or Scotch and cola) – this way you arrive alert, primed and lean.

What Not to Eat

Do your best to avoid the following foods on your plane trip.

• White bread rolls (heart grenades)
• Warm croissants and pastries
• Very spicy food
• More heart grenades disguised as “Gnocchi”
• Processed meats (sausages etc)
• “Eggs”

What Food to Pack for Your Plane Trip

Here’s my basic food list for every long haul plane trip.

• Tuna or Salmon Cans – 1 per meal
• Avocado – 1 per entire long haul flight (e.g. Melbourne to London)
• Clif Bars – 3 or 4 (Clif Bar and Clif Luna Bar Review here)
• Kapai Puku – enough for 2 breakfasts
• Mixed nuts – brazil, cashew, almond, macadamias
• Some cinnamon powder
• Protein powder and shaker
• Bananas (you will not be able to take these off the plane usually)

This list of food will cover you for all meals.

What to Eat at Each Meal

Breakfast

If you are offered fruit, yoghurt and milk at breakfast, snap that up!

Add some Kapai Puku (or other cereal) to milk and yoghurt and POW, you have a wholesome brekky.

Snacks

For snacks, I usually drink more water, have a Clif bar, then have some nuts or a banana. A protein shake is also a very viable alternative.

Snack on the Plane

Lunch/Dinner

Eat any vegies you are offered. Try and opt for meat/vegies.

If rice is part of any meal, add tuna and avocado et voila, a super healthy meal.

Healthy (sorry about the poor quality photo)

As I mentioned earlier, spicy food can be a recipe for disaster, so caution is advised.

Special Needs Eating

Many airlines provide for various special needs diets like vegetarian, halal, no gluten/dairy/wheat (which Qantas manifestly fails at) so be aware of that when booking. If you are not vegetarian, you might benefit from asking for a high-protein meal which should limit processed carbohydrates and ramp up the meat and vegies.

The thing is, there is not going to be any perfect meal for you on your trip if you are picky at all, which is why it makes sense to pack your own food to augment what you are served.

What About Alcohol

The detrimental effects of alcohol are amplified on a plane. I usually have a few Bacardi and Coke or Scotch and Cokes on a flight, but always make sure I load up on water. For every drink of alcohol, I have two big drinks of water.

So, don’t feel bad about having some alcohol, just be aware it needs to be balanced with a lot of water. This is where an aisle seat helps (I always book an aisle seat on long haul flights) in terms of access to the toilets.

Why Go to So Much Effort?

Depending on why you’re flying (hopefully for Etape, the Tour or some other most-excellent cycling adventure!), going to this sort of effort will help ensure you support your immune system on the flight, support sleep (where possible) and allow you to hit the ground running without felling horrible.

I’ve eaten loads of airline food, and followed the advice above, on numerous long haul flights, and without a doubt each time I ate well, I landed with a clear mind and felt a million dollars. I hope you’ll see the value in this and try it too.

It might help you avoid the below catastrophe (an Etape 2010 blow-up on the Tourmalet).

Blown Up - Tourmalet, Etape 2010

Why Good Brakes and Cables are Important

Similarly to cars, your brake (including brake cables) and tyre (and suspension) performance are probably the most critical and fundamental safety aspect of a safe bike. There are other things that are important for safety of course, but being unable to stop at 80km/h down a big mountain is pretty fundamental, I think.

So it’s important you have a brake, cable and brake pad setup you can be 100% confident in.

How they Perform

My personal choice is coupling SRAM Force brakes (SRAM Red is a nice to have, but is overkill on price for most of us) with Yokozuna Reaction Cables and SwissStop brake pads. I’ve been using this combination for a while now, and in addition to being absolutely bulletproof, they have incredible stopping power.

The Yokozunas’ stopping power is absolutely phenomenal; when coupled with SRAM Force Brakes and SwissStop pads, you’re looking at a lot of stopping power.

As well as being a huge plus in criteriums, road races and bunch races as you can stop VERY quickly, they make arresting your speed whilst careening down the big mountains much easier.

No more brake fade and arm pump for you my friend, these babies will stop you with less effort than any other brake combination I’ve tried. These cables are *just about* compressionless which is a huge plus. If you fit these to your current brakes, you will notice a huge improvement from these cables alone.

Trust me, when you’re doing 100km/h with the sheer drops of the Galibier on one side, you’re going to want NASA-spec brakes – these are it.

Longevity

My SwissStops have a lot of kilometers in them on mostly dry roads, but with many, many thousands of meters of high speed descending in them.

The Yokozunas I have on my bike currently, have lasted a long time. Whilst they don’t have the same level of protection as Gores (more suited to all weather training and commuting), they’re still good.

Fitting Them

About the only niggle I have with any of these products is the Yokozunas. They have very stiff cable housings which means they can be very tricky to fit as they have a bigger bend radius than standard cable housings. My local bike shop mechanics always battle with them. They’re not impossible to fit, they just need a deft and practiced hand – my mate Craig can fit them easily.

Be aware, Yokozunas do not play nice with Shimano Ultegra 6700 and Durace 7900 and you’ll have to muck around with them to get them fitted, possibly compromising their performance. Keep them happy and pair them with SRAM brakes.

Fitting brakes and brake pads is easy.

Travelling with Them

As I mention above, the Yokozunas are quite stiff. This makes packing them for an overseas trip in a bike bag like the EVOC (check out my EVOC bike bag review) quite awkward. You may need to wrangle the bars into place (lots of twisting) and could rip your bar tape (these cables are *tough*!). If you are travelling with a Scicon AeroComfort Plus though, you’ll be fine, as you don’t need to remove the handlebars in a Scicon AeroComfort Plus (Scicon AeroComfort Plus review, Bike Bag Shootout).

Where to Get Them

You can get all these parts at Wiggle and CRC.

For carbon rims, get the yellow pads. For commuting/training, get the black ones and for aluminium rims and high performance, get the green pads.

Wiggle:

• Yokozuna Reaction Cable System
• SRAM Force Brakes
• SwissStop brake pads (the green ones are boss)

Chain Reaction Cycles:

• Yokozuna Reaction Cable System
• SRAM Force Brakes
• SwissStop brake pads (the green ones are boss)