Disillusioned? Perhaps not.

Yesterday (Saturday) was the first lengthy outing for the Trek Madone.

It would be great to say that "It was a great improvement, it's going to completely change my riding, and the Etape is in the bag". Unfortunately, it wouldn't be true.

Yesterday was horrendous. The "Over the Malverns" Audax is a very good event, I'm sure.

Regrettably, a few things did not go quite right.
1) I didn't get started early enough, and missed being ready for the start.
2) Everyone else had gone. Solo rides for 153km never feature high on my wish-list
3) Wind. The weather kind. 25mph largely against for the first 80km
4) Poor road surfaces (mud and potholes, where there was actually a road surface at all)
5) I ran out of Bidons in the first 50km (I NEVER drink 2 bidons in 50km) and the next refill was after 69km
6) I had to introduce the Madone to the art of walking up the last 150m in West Malvern.
7) By Malvern average speed was down to 19.2kmh

None of this was what I had in mind from a new bike, and by the coffee shop I was more than a little depressed (and tired, and cold, and fed up of howling wind)

So, was it all bad? Not at all. The Madone 'floats' downhill, but takes a lot of stopping. Brakes are on the upgrade list, already. Cornering is 'interesting' and much more lively. You have to go in confident and really lean it over to get any positive feeling in corners. Having more gears does seem to make it easier to find a good one for keeping the power on, particularly late-on in the ride.

But is it better? Who knows? Average speed had been raised to 21.6km (13mph) by the end of the ride, but a day like yesterday does not lend itself to easy comparisons. However, here's one:
Last Year's Cheshire Cat
Fair and calm
1550 meters climb
153km
Some group riding
8 Hours 4 minutes elapsed

Yesterdays Over the Malverns Audax
Sunny but howling wind
1835 metres climb
153km
All solo riding
7hours 50 minutes elapsed

How much is my improvement? How much is the bike? I guess that at the end of the ride, it doesn't necessarily matter.