Dave’s Cervelo Aspero & Amy’s Gravel Fondo & Gravel Nats

Once in a while you decide to do something you have never really done before.

My background is bitumen. I have always enjoyed the relative safety of riding and racing in a bunch on the road. I haven’t really dabbled in anything off road; CX or MTB. Yeah had a roll on a MTB at Lystie once or twice, but nothing too much to write home about really. However the whole Gravel thing appealed in a different way. Yeah Gravel is not a new thing really, but it is gaining an amazing following. So a few weeks back, I decided to switch my goal of competing well at Amy’s Gran Fondo to competing at Amy’s Gravel Fondo (which doubles as the CA Gravel Nationals).

In making that decision I needed to have a cracking bike. It was a pretty easy decision really. Cervelo were on the verge of releasing their new Aspero Gravel bike. A fast aero gravel bike with learnings from their S-Series, R-Series and C-Series ranges. It seemed the perfect answer. Our final decision on the bike was to get the beautiful Aspero frameset and perform a custom build.

The build

Our master bike builder, Nic Metha, completed the build. A Burgundy Cervelo Aspero would become the foundation of this awesome bike. Our next decision was wheelset. We decided on a custom build of MTB Raceface Turbine R rims with orange Hope RS4 hubs. Our final build had a set of Cushcore XC installed on the rims, which protect your rims against potholes. Set up tubeless in a set of 650b WTB Sendero 47mm tyres. Next we decided on SRAM’s Force1 groupset with 42T Chainring and a 10-42 cassette. A Prologo NDR CPC saddle, an ENVE stem and a set of PRO Gravel bars, beautifully wrapped in matching Supacaz Bartape and bidon cages. This is an absolute piece of art.

However let me just say, it’s not just the components, but more about the way they have been applied. Some of the finishing details on this Cervelo Aspero are pretty cool. A decision to run Euro brakes allowed us to simplify the cabling, keeping it neater and tidier than any bike I have ridden before. I like simple lines and minimal cabling. The shrink wrapped cables make this look ‘pro’. Rather than cable ends, Nic has shrink wrapped the cable ends as well as heat treated the Nitto tape that secures the amazing Supacaz bar tape.

Ready to race!

Our weather in Lorne, would turn out to be ‘a no excuses’ kind of perfect. Brillant blue skies, but 7 degrees as we rolled out on a warm up ride to the race start at Allenvale Rd Carpark. If you know the topography of the landscape behind Lorne, you will know it is an effort in itself just to get yourself up to the start line. Today Dale Maizels and myself would fly the Croydon Cycleworks colours at Gravel Nats. Dale would be competing for a national medal, while I would be surviving. As Dirty Harry would say “a man’s got to know his limitations!”. We found the start area, had a chat to a few people then jumped on our bikes to prepare to roll out.

My age group category would roll out with the Elite Men. Some of CX and Road racing’s real hitters too. While you might be thinking that’s great to get an armchair ride with the fast boys. My thinking was well this won’t last long will it. The Elite boys took off at a reasonable clip. I knew the climb ahead from a recon so was not going to go that hard, even if I could stay with them. We hit the base of the climb, someone dropped a grenade and the bunch blew apart from the get go. I didn’t need to sag climb as I was already in the grupetto. Pleasingly for me, I came around the next corner, about half way up the climb and two from the 18-34 Age Group were already walking. Good sign for me.

However the worst was yet to come.

Ouch time

The first few kms of the Garvey Track climb are completely manageable, but then there are some knockout punches with 4-5 sectors were the gradient gets up to 15%-23% for at least 200m at a time. I don’t care what gearing you have or if you are built like a jockey (which I’m not!) – these ramps really hurt. Yep my hand goes up – I had to jump off and march up a couple of ramps. The last of which is the steepest, and when the road flattens out it’s actually really hard to get your legs motoring at all. After taking just under 50mins to cover the first 6.5km, I was worried they would be measuring my race time with a calendar!

After reaching and passing the first aid station, a series of rolling descents and pinchy climbs followed. I was really starting to enjoy the SRAM Force 1x gears now. The road surface had now changed from the soft and rutted four-wheel drive track, to some fire access roads, with loose stones. The sun had got up in the sky now and the day was commencing to heat up. I made the turn around just after Dale Maizels, who was now crushing the life out of her competitors. The average speed was creeping up now and at this rate the new challenge would be to get in a sub-4hr finish. Perhaps they could use a sundial to measure my race. I motored on and got my way back to the start of the days major descent of the day

The descent

At this point most of the day had been climbing, with nearly 1200m climbed in the first 35kms. Time to descend now. Not being an off road cyclist (well not much to date), this was going to be very interesting. I had taken some tips lately and set about putting them into action. As terrifying as it was, I threw caution to the wind and went for it, hitting speeds in excess of 60kmh. The surface was very loose and the corrugated sections were insane. I was sure I was going to shake my teeth out of my jaw. Two guys, had a moment of indecision and came off the trail ahead of me in very unfortunate ways. Mental note – don’t panic.

Lap #2 – Here we go again

Finally at the bottom of the descent, it was back around for one more loop of the final 15km circuit. Mentally the thought of the Garvey Track climb again was almost soul crushing but it had to be done. Never DNF’d and no DNF today. However my legs began to object furiously to that decision, with cramps in my hamstrings and quads, sometimes simultaneously! No other option than to step off and wait for the body to relax and release. Seemed like an eternity. Even walking some of the steeper sectors, the HR just does not go down. Just between us, let’s just say it took a while to get up the Garvey Track a second time. No need to go into the details really.

The second time down the descent was just as cool as the first. The handling of the Cervelo Aspero was nothing short of amazing. Even though I was pretty fatigued, the bike soaked up every corrugation and railed gravel corners with ease. Those funky Pro Gravel Bars came into their own, making my time in the drops and absolute joy. Rolling across the line I was completely empty, but pretty satisfied. Time for a beer and a burger.

In summary

This bike handled itself beautifully on race day, which is more than can be said for the rider. The Force1 groupset shifted cleanly all day, handled superbly and exceeded my expectations. So whether you are racing or not, the Cervelo Aspero is a snappy Gravel Bike, that handles well and allows you to dish it up out there on the dirt.

Get on down to us for a demo ride and you will be smiling just as much as we are when we ride them.