I am relatively liberal, socially speaking.  In fact, I have been accused by right-wing fanatic friends of being a “communist”.  (I am so socially liberal that I am friends with right-wing fanatics.  I am awesome.)  I think this is mostly because I think the rich should pay higher taxes and that George W. Bush is a douchebag.

While communism in theory is sound, in execution it breaks down.  It means I would have to share my new Cervelo R3 with all the other assholes in this country.

A few weeks ago, Jess’s life was altered by ownership of a full carbon bike.  This re-awakened a monster inside me.  Since 2003, I have been coveting a Cervelo full carbon road bike.

Michelle and I traveled to France for the month of July in 2003 to train, watch the Tour, and ride L’Etape du Tour.  That year’s L’Etape went from Pau to Bayonne and featured some of the Tour’s most difficult and steep climbs.  (3000 of the 8000 starters finished; Michelle was the 19th female overall of the 900 women who finished - she won her age category.  “Allez la femme!”)

A few days after Michelle and I rode it, the Tour covered the same stage; it was won by Tyler Hamilton aboard a Cervelo R2.5.  Spurred by the success, Cervelo began improving upon the frame’s design in a project they referred to as “The Bayonne”.  This project first morphed into the R2.5 Bayonne, but ultimately became the R3.

Hamilton was already one of our favorite riders, but to watch him race over the same course we had suffered over just a few days prior and win the stage was a magical experience.  (While the stage was the last mountain stage in the Tour, it covered over 4000 meters of elevation gain in 225 kilometers, with the final 1000 meters’ elevation gain over hilly farmland made up of short 1-2 km, steep, cobblestone climbs.  It was raining.)  When I later read that the new bike Cervelo was working on was codenamed the Bayonne in honor of Hamilton’s win, I instantly fell in love with the bike.

The R3 has a few very unique features that set it apart from other bikes.

First, it’s made entirely of carbon-fiber.  While carbon is very light and strong, if it fails, it fails catastrophically - breaking into pieces.  In order to protect against such a failure, Cervelo wrapped all the critical joints of the frame in Kevlar so that if it fails, it will still hold together so the rider can come to a controlled stop.

Second, it has a unique tube shape to give it strength and stiffness where it’s needed, but to remove material where it’s not.  They call it the “squoval” for it’s squared-off oval shape.  It’s extremely stiff and extremely light.

Third, in order to deliver maximum riding efficiency, they designed the chainstays to be very strong so they don’t compress at all when the rider pushes on the pedals.  By the time the chainstays stopped compressing, they were strong enough to eliminate the need for a standard seatstay.  Given that, Cervelo added a thin tube which allows vertical flex in the frame to make the ride ultra-comfortable while not sacrificing any efficiency in power transfer.

I ride a big frame and although I’m not a very strong guy and I’m pretty skinny, I experience lots of frame flex due to the length of the tubes and my weight.  To ride a really light yet really stiff, comfortable, safe bike is a dream come true - add to that the fact that the project was born out of the stage we rode to Bayonne and I’m just in my element.

Michelle knows I have always wanted Zipp 404’s and my dream bike has always been the R3 with Zipp 404’s.  We were getting ready to buy my new frame when Michelle walked up to me with a giant Zipp box.  Having never seen new set of 404’s before, I thought Michelle was simply showing me the box that wheels come in as if to say, “Check out how cool it would be to get a pair of these.”

I looked at her, nodded, and said, “That’s pretty cool.”

Michelle was confused by my low-key reaction.  “Why don’t you look inside?”

“OK.”

I looked and there was a brand-new set of 404’s in the box.  My confusion deepend.  “What is going on?”

Michelle smiled and said, “I figured you might as well have your dream bike.”

The next 25 minutes are kind of blurry and I remember a loud buzzing sound in my head.  I think ultimately, my reaction was pretty mellow compared with what Michelle might have expected, but if that’s the case, it’s because I was in complete shock.  Never in my wildest dreams had I expected to get my dream frame and my dream wheels on the same day.  OVER.THE.TOP.

Every time I get something new that I’ve been super excited about, I get really anxious to build it up and use it, usually rushing through it and breaking something in the process.  I call this “counter productive”.  It has happened pretty consistently and I was really freaked out that I was going to ruin my bike or the wheels before I even rode them, so I resisted the temptation to open a bottle of wine and head downstairs to build up the bike Friday night.  Instead, Michelle and I mounted the stem, saddle, and the tires on the wheels and left it at that on Friday.  We made a nice dinner and enjoyed a great evening examining every detail of the frame and wheels.

As it happened, the final time trial of the Tour de France was Saturday morning, so I got up early and drove down to Cafe Besalu to pick up a baguette.  I popped home and cooked up some omelets, cut the baguette in half and brought Michelle breakfast in bed just as the tour coverage started.  We watched the stage in bed (with the frame and wheels) and after it was over, headed downstairs to build the bike up.

Later in the afternoon, we headed out on the maiden voyage for the bike.  It was amazing.  It’s hard to say what is better, the wheels or the frame, but one thing is clear: together, it is the stiffest, most comfortable, and fastest bike I’ve ever been on.  It feels like it pedals itself.