My Cotic Escapade arrived in South East London on a sunny Thursday morning. I spied the enormous box on the street even before the delivery person knocked on my door, and it took all my self control to wait until my lunch break to open it up. This is only the second bike I’ve bought brand new and as a whole bike but knowing it had been carefully built by Cotic for me, specifically Vill and Will as the box told me, meant it already felt full of soul.

Characteristically I was on a tight turnaround and due to get a 6am train the next day to North Wales for the Celtic Gravel Rally – a single-day gravel race with 8 timed stages across a spectacular 135km (3500m elevation) route – and there was no doubt that I was going to take my new Cotic. After some quick but careful bike-building and a local spin I was confident we would be a good match and set about getting my gear onto it, quickly confirming it looks gorgeous even when decorated with bike bags.

If you know North Wales, you won’t be surprised to hear that the gravel rally was on the chunkier side of gravel and this, and the kind of riding I like to do generally, is why I knew the Cotic Escapade would be the right bike for me. This bike is my first experience of a carbon fork, tubeless, and a steel frame on a gravel bike (I have a beloved Cotic Bfe that is Reynalds steel), and the combination didn’t disappoint. It feels solid yet flowy with the kind of handling that makes it feel like an extension of yourself. I must admit I failed at my first attempt managing a hole in my tyre (guttingly during the rally’s night stage) which ended with me putting a tube in then getting countless punctures the next day in the tubed tyre – I took this more as a lesson in fixing tubeless than a reason to give up on them.

I must admit I had always wondered if a steel bike would hold me back competitively, but with top 3 finishes in 6/8 of the timed sections I was quickly convinced – Sam you were right! This is my first year attempting longer competitive events in gravel and ultra endurance and I’m still not sure if it’s for me. But whatever happens I feel privileged to have this bike and Cotic to support me through them as well as be my companion while coaching off-road and on other adventures that won’t have any competitive goals in sight.