mrs washingmachinepost is a christmas enthusiast, so it will come as little or no surprise to learn that our sitting room now resembles the interior of santa's grotto. many years past, thewashingmachinepost christmas decorations were stored in the attic, meaning that it was incumbent on yours truly to ascend a rickety ladder and retrieve them from their repose. this was usually the beginning of the season of discontent, because the decorations could not be brought down when it suited me, but almost always at the most inopportune moment of the day. i doubt these are circumstances solely applicable to myself.
however, since both offspring finally flew the nest, we've at least one spare room in which all manner of obscure items can be stored, including, as you will have foreseen, the christmas decorations. thus it is simplicity itself for mrs washingmachinepost to access the many bags and boxes of decorations, ornaments, lights and, of course, the tree. i still have my uses, however; i am graciously allowed to carry the aforementioned items downstairs.
decorating the room and tree alongside your better half, is surely the equivalent of teaching them to drive. there will be arguments (note the use of the plural) and ultimately the day, if not the weekend, will be utterly ruined, with conversation constrained to the absolute necessities. as i sit and write this by the light of the christmas tree, i note that the number of baubles on the latter has diminished over the years, replaced, it seems, by all manner of 'trendier' tree decorations. do not misunderstand me; i do not view this as a retrograde step, but merely decorative progress.
the baubles that are seasonally of greater interest, are those that hopefully form on the outer fabric of a waterproof. in the case under discussion, those are precisely for what i was looking on albion's recently issued rain jacket. to inhabit the world of state-of-the-art, any waterproof worth its salt must not only fend off the worst the weather can offer, but keep the happy cyclist from impersonating a boil-in-the-bag evening snack, by way of an appropriate level of breathability. though my conclusion should perhaps be accompanied by a spoiler alert, albion would appear to have successfully achieved that which they set out to accomplish.
the functionality of their rain jacket is provided by way of a three-layer constitution, featuring fully taped seams and an incredible lightness of being that has to be experienced to be believed. though this is a jacket for all but the very worst of conditions, it's no problem at all to scrunch it up and stuff it in a back pocket when rain turns to sun (a little hebridean humour, there). my contention that the jacket might not be equal to the most onerous of tasks, revolves around its complete lack of thermality.
though albion do not contend any thermal properties, on a cold, wet and windy day, i wore a lighter-weight, long sleeve jersey underneath, a choice that proved to be not one of my best moments. despite remaining impressively dry after a couple of hours in driving rain, i cannot deny that my arms often felt the ambient chill. next time, this winter, i'm aiming for a heavier-weight jersey.
at the risk of being accused of nit-picking, there are a couple of negatives to end this review. the cuffs are something of a double-edged sword: they're snug enough at the wrists to keep out unwanted draughts, but sadly too snug to allow overlapping of thermal gloves. this means those baubles of rain with which i began my review, will eventually roll down the fabric, landing inside the gloves. and there is only a single reflective logo on the back, but a few more spots of reflectivity would surely have not gone amiss, particularly on a dark blue jacket? (in mitigation, albion do offer a bright orange version of the jacket where visibility might be a concern)
that said, i really cannot deny that this is a truly excellent rain jacket, one that fulfils the description race-fit, bearing far more fitting functionality on the bike than off. the size reviewed was a close-fitting medium; if you admit to being slightly larger than slim, though the fabric bears a degree of stretch, you might want to move up a size.
and i must apologise to the folks at albion for having taken so long to pen this review; though scotland's west coast is renowned for its rainfall, it has taken some considerable time to find conditions worthy of their excellent rain jacket.
sunday 8 december 2019
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