Breathe it in .................. Lovely Bonnie

There is one particular aspect of the Bonnie that is understated but admirable. It has an ability to be “involving”. Bike journalists often describe a bike as involving but this is predominantly based on how much fun the bike is to corner, blast along a country road or lift its front wheel under acceleration. Involving with regard to the bonnie is the way it makes you feel part of the surroundings. No need to hurry, take it all in, look around you, breathe the fresh air, relax. Sure you can hustle it if needed but I’m not convinced that’s what the Hinckley engineers designed into their creation. It’s about emotion – involving.

With the bonnie purring along, the scenery in the Alps rolled on by. The chocolate box houses, rolling fields and green forests giving way to the occasional stream. Mountain side villages with their small hotels, church steeples, cafes and shops. Window boxes full of red geraniums, the occasional cheery wave from a passer by and a bright cloudless sky all pushed themselves forward and pulled me in. The setting of sheer alpine mountain peaks providing the final striking background.

We rode all day, no real destination in mind, changing our minds at will. Occasionally we got it wrong – a mountain road ascending sharply and changing into a gravel mountain path. No worries, turn the bikes around, try somewhere else. Eventually we set a target of Annecy for lunch – a beautiful if somewhat crowded lakeside town. The scenery, the roads and the need for a cool breeze in the hot sun soon drew us back to the bikes though.

Towards the end of the day it got a little harder. Wrists stiff from constant hair pin bends, eyes getting tired from continued concentration. With no route in mind we stumbled on a mountain climb that was quite simply scary, stunning and involving all at once. The Col Alvis features a breathtaking view from the top of Mont Blanc, a rewarding surprise on reaching the summit.

The route up was hard, incredibly steep and long, no respite from first and second gear corners. Sportsbikes were in abundance, their riders looking for that “twisty” experience at speeds that would scare and frighten anyone with a degree of self preservation. It was the people on push bikes though that I noticed. Thin mountain air and the steepness of the climb straining every sinew and muscle. One rider was stripped to his waist, his tanned back glistened with the sweat of strained effort. His face contorted with pain. It was hard enough on a motorbike, on a human powered cycle I could only imagine the level of effort and endeavour. I passed slowly, respectfully giving him the room to continue the rocking motion of the bike below him as he pumped the pedals slowly.

We reached the top – crowded – took a couple of photos and pushed into the long twisting descent for home as the afternoon was getting late.

I’ve thought a couple of times since about that poor cyclist and the effort he needed to make his goal. Did he reach the top? Probably, his determination as I followed and then passed was startling. On a sportsbike though, would I have noticed him? I don’t think I would. On the bonnie I did – Involving you see.