The T900 is probably my favourite bike from the VSF range. I suppose that is for two reasons.

Firstly I have ridden this model much more than any other---it therefore suits one type of cycling that I choose to do---touring in hillyand mountaineous regions but with fairly decent road surfaces.

Secondly it is simply the fantastic quality of all the components and the frame.If you look at the testimonial page you will see at least one customer who feels the same.The Rohloff is the true heart of the machine and all other components such as the magura brakes, the MX19 double walled ,eyeletted rims with stainless spokes,the fantastic hub dynamoed standlight lighting system,tubus rack,sks mudguards,ergon grips,selle royale respiro saddle are all of similar quality..........you get the message ......this is max quality at a brilliant price.

Once you have spent the money you have a world class touring bike.

There are two main differences this year in terms of spec.Firstly the bike is now equipped with Magura HS11 brakes as opposed to HS33 last year. VSF assure me that quality and internal components are exactly the same in both models so the change makes sense for most cyclists as there is now a longer lever which for most will give better braking control.Secondly the Son hub dynamo has now been replaced with shimano model DH-3N80.

This bike is in the beautiful emerald green colour.

Price of bike 2199 euros. Times by 0.9 to get pound price.

O.K I am back and what a trip ! I did manage to cycle across the Highlands from coast to coast in 4 days but it has turned into a Chris route not the official one !

I will tell you what happened ! The train ride up to Inverness was long but fine and according to plan. I had booked a room in the Inverness Youth Hostel and rolled up there about 8p.m ish.
It is interesting because Youth Hostels are rapidly losing their appeal for me. They are becoming quite expensive for what they offer these days and I feel that is a real shame. In Inverness for comparison you will pay about £3 more for a really comfortable B & B.

Cycling Day 1
----------------------
Set off at 9a.m from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh on the train with an arrival time of 11.28 a.m. Lovely trip and as you get further west you realize how remote and desolate the Highlands are. Beautiful ! Of course it was raining but I was expecting that. Anyway set off from Kyle of Lochalsh at 11.45 a.m. It immediately started to pour with rain which meant adding overshoes ,hat and outer gloves as it was cold.So I was aiming for Ratagan further to the south west and the official start of the ride. 17 miles later and having passed the tourist castle landmark of Eilean Donnan I reached Ratagan.

The first real climb starts here as you cycle up to 390 metres to a view point from where you can see the fantastic 5 sisters ( well known mountains ) if you look west south west.From here it is downhill along the old military road towards Glenelg. Sounds nice but at between 20-30 mph I was met with the first hailstorm of the day and it was bitterly cold but even worse the feeling of many needles being poked in your face as the hailstones hit.

Glenelg in this weather was not pretty but I reckon it would be magical on a lovely summers day with views over Glenelg Bay to the Isle of Skye.Temperature at this point was running consistently at about 32 degrees F which is 0 degrees C so pretty cold .

The route continues past Eilanreach and Sandaig towards Arnisdale. This was the most brutal weather with hail and snowstorms and streams of hail,water and snow cascading down the roads---- it looked rather like melting ice cream really.It was cold even though the body is creating a great deal of heat with the cycling up and down hills.

O.K Arnisdale was the exciting village as here the route heads pretty much west along Glen Arnisdale and the first mountain pass over to Kinloch Hourn. I knocked on someones door to confirm the route and he told me it was 9 miles to Kinloch Hourn and a further 9 miles to Tomdoun where I knew there was a hotel and I was hoping to stay.But -----he said---- you will have to wade a river. No probs I thought as I had already forded a couple of small streams.
Anyway the offroad track seemed fine until it ramped up into a very steep mountain walk really hard to push a bike with two panniers and impossible to ride. This kept on going until eventually you reach the top and by this time you are in the mountains big time with conditions so wet and boggy it is not really possible to cycle consistently for more than a few yards at a time.Soldiering on and looking at the watch 3 hours time will see real darkness ----- (which if you are outside I always reckon is a good hour after darkness in shops and offices.

So pushing on past two tarns I hear a familiar sound ----- a sharp crack as the rear wheel axle snapped and every revolution of the crank sent the tyre against the frame of the bike.I pushed on gently but realized the very soft alloy of this frame would soon be rubbed away by the harshness of a fully pumped up 2.1 tyre.

At this point I saw the pylons which would signal the river crossing and could clearly see the track enticingly on the other side of the river.The only problem was that this was not a ford. It was ( because of the large amounts of rain ) a full on river. I had said to myself before hand not to dither here because I had to get across. So I didn't ------ straight in trying to use the bike as a prop which worked really well until the middle and then ( thigh deep at this point ) the bike was on it's side trying to pull me down stream with it ! Somehow once beyond the centre of the river things calmed down and managed to get out o.k.

Next thing was realizing there was distance still to go with the broken axle----so bike upside down and replaced the axle ( Yes had thought of bringing a spare one ! ). This was not easy with very limited tools and in the cold but soon on the way again. Not pleasant actually as getting dark and no end to this bleak mountain pass.Needed to force myself to eat and drink liquid here as I knew energy was down. Eating and drinking was what I really did not want to do right now. I also know that these sort of reactions are the first signs of potential onset of hypothermia------ so got the food and drink in !

Anyway reached the shooting lodge at Kinloch Hourn at 6.45 p.m in darkness.I knocked on door to enquire if I could stay anywhere but was rather cooly told the only place to stay was Tomdoun 17 miles away------ and, the guy said ,the first 3 miles are uphill.

O.K I didn't fancy this next stage 17 miles in complete darkness in the remote Highlands --- but if you have to do it you have to do it !! Downed a packet of fruit pastilles and felt reenergized after a few minutes. After the uphill slog the run to Tomdoun was almost out of body. Second wind kicked in and at one point I came across 5 Highland cattle in the road, then a stag with antlers and finally a deer who scuttled out of the undergrowth and ran in front of me for half a mile or so. I felt like a skilled herdsman !!

Arrive at Tomdoun hotel at 8.45 p.m and that was welcome !!! They even produced a lovely casserole for me which I washed down with a couple of pints of McEwans.It felt great to be the only customer in this lovely hotel.

So that was day one !!!

The riverside path leads you into Dunkeld and initially you are confronted by the huge Dunkeld Cathedral which really stands out because of it's size and it also has original beautiful lead guttering and downpipes!!

From Dunkeld to Perth was more of the same really ---undulating pleasant landscape but just clocking up the miles to be honest. Approaching Perth the route joins the river Tay again and runs into the pretty city through beautiful parkland with many office workers all out for lunchtime strolls .Time for lunch here and I found a lovely but simple little cafe where I filled up like a dustbin again ---as one does on these rides !

Next stop or next port of call -Dundee. Very steep climb east out of Perth but really enjoyed that. For a few miles up and down hilly terrain and raining now. Hard work and cold now but great really.Suprisingly a few miles west of Dundee the landscape changes completely and there is mile after mile of really flat land . Obviously great farming terrain and the Garmin was for once showing a straight flat line for elevation !

As you approach Dundee the cycle path takes you round the south side along the Firth of Tay and past Scott's famous ship The Discovery and then past the oldest floating warship left in our country- The Unicorn. Huge amount of waterfront development taking place around Dundee--enjoyed seeing it although somewhat briefly !!

Hammering along now towards Broughton Ferry --really pretty old Victorian seaside town just on the eastern outskirts of Dundee. At this point one could say the east coast had been reached --hooray-- but I was just getting my second wind as late afternoon approached and as I started to head north east I was starting to feel the wind on my back. So let's push on.

The eastern coast of Scotland at this point is beautiful. Mile after mile of sandy beach and sand dunes. Really lovely with a special atmosphere.Starting to get dark as I sailed past Carnoustie Golf Course but I had lights ---lets keep going.

Suddenly as I approached a gate to cross the railway line and luckily moving slowly ---Bang---. O.K what now-- wheel is out of true so broken spoke I thought. No probs I had spokes so 15 mins later I would be on my way again. However as I turned the bike over to check which spokes had gone I discovered the wheel had exploded (the rim had split) so game over on this trip !!

Thankfully the Station Inn at Carnoustie was close so I walked the bike there- struck a good deal for B&B and had a lovely meal and relaxing evening before catching the train back to Cambridge the next morning.

Amusingly enough---if I had been continuing it would have been fine as the hotel chef had seen a cheap mountain bike in a skip near his home and would have been willing to bring it in for me---so I would have been on the move again with no probs.Today's distance 70 miles.

Great fun travelling like this !!