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perturbed

you can deny all you like, our anthropomorphisation of the weather, particularly the odd habit of providing storms with names. but there may be more truth in the practice than we'd like to think. last weekend, i missed out on any riding on sunday because of seriously strong winds, accompanied by torrential rain; i had popped down to deb's on saturday lunchtime, but that was more due to a bout of stupidity, than taking advantage of a meteorological opportunity.

and then again this weekend. saturday was sunny, but still a tad on the breezy side, with the occasional heavy shower. i did not have the chance to cycle any great distance, given that mrs washingmachinepost and i had lunch with the couple who kept me alive last march, followed by my attendance at a book launch by a local author. i can frame the paucity of riding that day by highlighting a distance recorded of ten kilometres.

having already decided that there was a pressing need to go cycling on sunday, the continuous heavy rain accompanied by a stronger and colder breeze than anticipated, necessitated the wearing of my rapha goretex shakedry jacket, predominantly at the behest not only of its impenetrable waterproofing, but its cosy (pink) insulation. my sunday morning colleagues wimped out, so it was a solo ride for me, punctuated by a soya latte and a very welcome cheese and tomato toastie.

so how, you might ask, does any of this equate to meteorological anthropomorphisation? well, during both the preceding weeks of the above-mentioned weekends, the weather had been particularly amenable; not breathtakingly warm and sunny, but not quite inclement either. most of us undertake very little, if any, cycling during the working week, as we have gainful employment to keep us in the bicycles to which we've all become accustomed. so the fact that the weekends have been considerably less favourable, would tend to suggest that the weather knows.

perhaps it's not artificial intelligence about which we need be worried.

however, feeling particularly self-satisfied after a morning of ploughing through persistent heavy rain and gurning through the sturdy breeze blowing up uiskentuie strand, i arrived home to drip on the kitchen floor, incur the wrath of mrs washingmachinepost, then climb the stairs for a nice warm shower. having simply given in and subscribed to tnt sports in order to watch this season's cyclocross racing; exact trophy from heerde, on saturday, and another round of the telenet super prestige from overijse in belgium, following the end of british summertime, the time difference between europe and scotland has changed, meaning i'd missed the live broadcast of the women's race.

since the correct sequence of events is the elite women's race followed by the eilte men, i clicked on the replay icon for the women's race, even though the men's race was currently underway at the time. you can but imagine my serious disappointment when, midway through the replay, the racing was interrupted by a series of adverts. i am paying tnt sports £30.99 per month for the privilege of watching cyclocross and cyclocross alone, yet they have the impertinence to interrupt that racing with advertising for which they are likely charging a hefty fee.

if i watch the streaming services offered by channels four and five, along with itvx, i expect advertising, because all three are free at the point of consumption. i believe they offer paid options in order to dispense with the adverts, though their fees are considerably lower than that of tnt sports (channel four charges £3.99 per month for no ads, or £39.99 per year).

a strongly worded e-mail has been sent to tnt sports.

monday 27 october 2025

tread

i have recounted at least part of this tale on a previous occasion, but given its specific relevance to the following monologue, i once again submit it as evidence for the prosecution.

currently, my cyclocross bicycle is shod with a pair of 33mm challenge chicane file tread clinchers, sadly giving away the fact that i don't ride mud or squirrely stuff too often. the chicanes have proved more than remarkably adequate when riding grass, and since i am mostly in the habit of riding uiskentuie strand, and the leaf-strewn nancy's path through bridgend woods, for that reason alone, they seemed the perfect choice of tyre. however, if you promise not to say, the real reason i have these fitted, is that the majority of my faux cyclocross riding is actually on the tarmac'd hebridean roads.

in my defence, several of the island's singletrack roads, particularly that at avenvogie, leading from the high road to mulindry, would probably qualify for inclusion in the world gravel championships. that road has a lot of loose gravel. you may wonder why, if i am so in thrall with challenge tyres, i do not simply fit a set of 33mm strada rubber, given its more road friendly tread? mostly because so doing would risk undermining my hard-won cyclocross credentials; and you can't confidently ride nancy's path on wet leaves on smooth treaded tyres.

but, to return to my previously recited anecdote, i also have the option of riding the path through the woods to south lodge, the majority of which can be comfortably ridden on the chicane tread, but unfortunately, the last few metres, which are thick with grass, are underpinned with a couple of inches of mud, gloop which seems uncannily to remain there, even if a drop of rain hasn't been felt for several weeks. that particular fact slipped my mind last summer, when i opted to turn right just past the auction mart, and headed along the gravel path to south lodge. on hitting that portion of mud carrying superior speed, the chicane file tread had little to no chance of coping, and, embarrassingly, i had to dismount.

thankfully, nobody was around to witness my shame.

this then leads onto the science of tyre treads, a subject of which the majority of us are almost completely unaware. if you're heavily into cyclocross, you likely have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the tread patterns offered by your favoured tyre supplier, well aware of which tread is most suitable for which conditions. however, if you're a roadie, and not of the professional classes, there's an evens chance that the tyres fitted to your carbon wheels are either the ones that arrived with the bicycle, or the cheapest you could find from an internet search. for the vast majority, it's simply a case of choosing the maximum width with which your frame will cope, and buying the cheapest on the list. if i had to undertake a count of hands, i figure the majority would subscribe to that scenario.

but should we be better educated as to the vicissitudes of negligent tyre choice, or, as i suspect, does it not really make any difference? had i thought this one through a bit more carefully, and further in advance, i could likely have gained a lucrative sponsorship deal with a wheel manufacturer for this particular feature, as there's a possibility that we might be potentially advised to have a second or third pair of wheels in the bikeshed, fitted with alternative tread patterns. cyclocross folks would, i'd imagine, find nothing untoward about just such a suggestion, for weather conditions can easily render one option a better choice than another, depending, of course, on where you plan to ride on any particular day.

but it might well be that a peloton of roadies would find themselves presenting me with a series of furrowed brows, for why would any self-respecting road-rider potentially sully their pristine lycra attempting to change wheels at stupid o'clock on a sunday morning?

but should we be taking our lead from cyclocross, and put a bit more thought and effort into choosing specific tyres for the sunday morning ride? personally, up until relatively recently, i would have said we'd be wasting our time if we did, but the closer britain's (and more specifically, the hebrides) roads get to the average cyclocross course, maybe it's time that we no longer settle for the cheapest that google has to offer?

maybe we need to be more professional. perhaps that's why rapha have released a could've gone pro range of clothing?

sunday 26 october 2025

what is wrong?

"they want more excitement" - tim merlier laments lack of sprint opportunities in 2026 tour de france
2026 tour de france route marked by double ascent of alpe d'huez in final weekend
new team time-trial format set to decide first yellow jersey at 2026 tour de france draws criticism from visma lease-a-bike ceo
red bull hold off naming remco evenepoel as 2026 tour de france team leader
2026 tour de france designed to limit early tadej pogacar dominance.

this weekend sees the third televised weekend of the 25/26 cyclocross season, punctuated by the midweek nacht van woerden (the respective events won by felipe orts and fem van empel), with another round of the exact series today (saturday), and the second round of the super-prestige series tomorrow. both races are live and on-demand on tnt sports though i note that races in the exact series have a habit of turning up on youtube about a day later. but other than fans of british cyclocross champion, scot, cameron mason and the die-hards of the world, nobody's much interested in cyclocross these days, unless you're of belgian or dutch nationality.

i find that slightly odd, given how close the racing invariably is, combined with a superficial resemblance to flavour-of-the-month, gravel racing, and the fact that the longest you'll have to sit in front of the telly box is one hour. what's not to like? yet peruse the online cycling sites, and you'll find endless reviews of gravel bikes, the occasional nod to the latest road bike, and the latest tech revealed at whatever was the last notable gravel event. as yet, in the mainstream cycling media, i have seen not a hint of the tech adorning this year's cross bikes from ridley, trek, stevens and cervelo. granted, some of it might have either inspired, or surreptitiously been borrowed from the gravel tech, but either way, cyclocross is to cycle racing as cycle racing is to soccer.

however, this is not a moan about the relative profile of cyclocross against every other form of cycle sport (well, not entirely). i believe i may have strongly hinted that such is not the case via the three headlines above, borrowed from cyclingnews.com, all of which reference next year's tour de france, an event which doesn't start until saturday 4 july 2026 in barcelona. that's pretty much nine month's distant, and i'm sure i need not point out that there is one heck of a lot of racing in both 'cross and on the road between now and then.

so what's with the obsession? paris-roubaix is just over six months distant, but nobody, it seems, is talking about that. about a month later, the giro d'italia kicks off in bulgaria on 9 may. since the first of the three grand tours precedes the tour de france by two months, why is the latter allowed to reveal its 2026 route before the italians can paint the town pink? the world cyclocross championships take place in hulst, in the netherlands, beginning 30 january, with the elite men's race on 1 february. why is the cycling media not talking about who might win that particular race? they're already laying bets on who might nab yellow in paris next july, so why is the preamble to next year's season quite so topsy turvy, and apparently deliberately so?

i cannot deny that i am woefully unqualified to even discuss who might win the 'cross worlds. wout and mathieu, i believe, have yet to announce whether they intend competing in any of the 25/26 events, or whether they might have another stab at the rainbow stripes in february. pauwels sauzen rider, eli iserbyt, has yet to take a start line, and tom pidcock is probably too engrossed in whether his pinarello - q.365 team (who didn't see that bike sponsorship coming?) might garner world tour status to be much bothered about the current 'cross season. taken altogether, it's way too early to prognosticate on who might win the muddy stripes, or even any of the regular trophy series.

but yet the cycling media has already worked itself into a lather over a bicycle race that's still half-a-year distant. a lot can happen in six months, and i do understand that the route has to be announced in order for teams and fans to book their accommodation and travel itineraries, but does it really have to involve such a hoo-ha? i know i've said this to the point of boredom, but instead of wishing our lives away, could we not just wait at least to see who goes well in the early 2026 season, and who appears to have done well in the giro, before concerning ourselves with those three weeks in july?

i know that i'm actually wasting my (metaphorical) breath, but are we not supposed to be grown ups? canadian rock trio, rush, with their new female german drummer, anika nilles, begin their over 50s tour in cleveland, ohio on 19 september 2026. is anyone wondering whether anika will move from tama drums to drum workshop, honouring the band's late drummer, neil peart, or is the focus on which bass guitar geddy lee might play at the opening concert?

see how silly that sounds?

saturday 25 october 2025

software

allow me to commence today's monologue by stating the glaringly obvious. every saturday morning, though at no particularly defined time, i remove one of my bicycles from thewashingmachinepost bikeshed, and head south west to debbie's for lunch. there are no trials or tribulations involved in that process; my bicycles are reasonably well maintained, the chains clean and lubricated, tyres suitably inflated and, to recite my favourite humorous aside, they tend to start first time, every time.

now contrast that with thursday teatime. having cooked my favoured pasta dish, poured myself a glass of fizzy water, and grabbed some cutlery, i sat down in front of the telly box. i will readily admit that i absolutely hate channel four's 'married at first sight', so i am currently in the habit of watching the big bang theory on channel four's streaming app. however, having selected the lime green square from my tv menu, an on-screen notice informed me that there had been a problem connecting to channel four, and i had subsequently been signed out.

carrying on regardless, i managed to find the big bang menu, which had lost any reference to where i had ended wednesday's period of big bang viewing. selecting the appropriate programme icon, i was then informed that i would have to sign in to continue viewing, at which point the screen displayed a web address and a six-digit code i ought to type into my web browser when prompted. all this to access a free-to-air uk tv channel which i had been accessing every day for the past three weeks. obviously a first world problem, but a (temporary) problem nonetheless. i won't explore in depth why it has been found necessary to have a user name and password simply to watch a tv channel which offers live broadcasts without any of this troublesome fuss.

irritating problems, such as that described above, are not confined to watching television; it's one that occurs with unfailing regularity. for instance, should i wish to download a dropbox image via a link within a press release, i am requested to input my username and password (just attach it to the e-mail). far too many public relations companies send links to documents stored in the cloud, hosted by either google or microsoft, both of which require that i log-in to accounts i do not possess. whatever happened to the simpler days of typing the text into an e-mail, or even resorting to attaching the above in a word file or pdf?

these are the sort of situations for which cycling has proved the perfect antidote, partly through its gratifying simplicity, and partly because it allows me to 'get away from it all'. but i now harbour fears that that may soon change for no explicable reason, other than that someone, somewhere has decided it can.

within the automotive industry, there is a methodology known by the acronym sdv, or software defined vehicle, three words that ought to send fear into the hearts of all those who read them. this particular development defines "a car where functions such as driving, safety, and entertainment are controlled and updated through software, much like a smartphone. a particularly scary thought.

but as with much of contemporary technology, it is rarely content to remain within the realm in which it arose. already the sdv acronym has spread to the velocipedinal universe via a company called also. a subsidiary of rivian and with offices in palo alto, california, seattle, washington and taiwan, also. has introduced what it refers to as tm-b, or transcendent mobility, currently consisting of a hideous-looking electric bicycle-shaped-object (see above), the performance edition of which will retail at $4,500. its design allows removal of the seat-tube to reconfigure the bicycle in a fashion that suits the demands of the day.

you will be unsurprised to learn that the tm-b pairs with your smartphone (what doesn't these days?). it will be possible to opt for manual or automatic gearchanging, but one of the really scary bits is the security feature, which possesses the ability to 'brick' the whole enchilada by disabling everything. breaking the bike into component parts offers no value to a thief. nothing is usable until the owner unlocks the system. and during the life of the product (their word, not mine), enhancements of existing features can be introduced, while new features can be added in the same way as subscription software. if you can add new features, you can make future hardware adaptations.

also. terms this, 'an ecosystem'.

the potential problem with subscription software is that it checks with the provider's servers at startup to ensure that any subscription remains up to date. however, as happened with amazon web services earlier this week, sometimes those servers break down, potentially and perhaps unintentionally turning the tm-b into the previously mentioned 'brick'. ask any duolingo user. and if that's not scary enough, it might be worth my pointing out that the pedals are not actually connected to the electric motor; motive force is handled by software.

now consider a situation similar to my experience with channel four's streaming app.

apparently this is progress.

also.

friday 24 october 2025

askance

prior to becoming a non-internet sensation, thewashingmachinepost existed as an occasional column in islay's local newspaper, engendered by a misplaced desire to educate the island's residents of the joys of cycling. that particular campaign foundered before it had even started with an almost inbuilt hebridean reticence to use anything other than the motor car to get from a to b. the fact that this position continues to this day, can be illustrated by the behaviour of one of my neighbours only this afternoon.

realising that a product ordered by mrs washingmachinepost for home delivery from the local averagemarket had been omitted from the doorstep drop, i kindly donned my jacket and headed down the village in order to purchase said item. as i exited my front door, the chap who lives across the road did likewise. the glaring difference was my embarkation on a walk, while he headed towards the car. as i walked down main street, i noticed the same chap stepping from a friends house and about to cross the road to his car. on my return to the croft, that car was again to be seen in the car park.

need i say more?

however, to return to the origins of the post, given the essentially superficial nature of the usual content, it was often seen as superfluous to the printed word. helpfully, the interwebs had effectively opened up even to those with very little web experience, allowing me to transfer my compulsion to write on velocipedinal matters to the nearest web browser. the decision to continue, no matter what, was loosely based on discovering my words had instilled a sense of quizzical wonder and humour within the few who could be bothered reading.

while still in its fundamental internet infancy, the topics of conversation bore a passing resemblance to those that currently fill these black and yellow pixels; my very own opinions on velocipedinal matters that scarcely mattered to anyone in any case.

however, after about a decade of irrelevant scribblings, matters had improved sufficiently, that people with products to sell, apparently found it a bit of a wizard wheeze to send samples of those products, have me wear or use them, then write a few words accompanied by my rudimentary photography (thank goodness for photoshop). from my point of view, enacting product reviews provided manna from velocipedinal heaven. in other words, interesting stuff about which to write, and often on a continuous basis.

of course, that, in and of itself, created a hitherto unheralded problem: how much to write? when it came to bicycles, that was, dare i say it, easy. those who wished to purchase a motor car could avail themselves of the archetypal test-drive, while those of us intent on spending a substantial amount of cash on a new bicycle were denied the same luxury (cars have always been of a one-size-fits-all constitution). therefore, i worked on the principle that, were i to be about to reduce my bank balance on a new bike, i would want to know absolutely everything there was to know about my intended purchase. print magazines were/are constrained by available space, while the internet offered more than even an out-of-town tesco car park.

however, throughout the decades i enjoyed writing product reviews, my governing philosophy was inspired by an 1970s issue of new musical express, in which charles shaar murray (if memory serves correctly) reviewed a record which he presumably didn't rate too highly. the entire review consisted of his describing how he had fitted kitchen cabinets the previous weekend. from that point of recollection, my ambition was to review a product (positively or negatively), without actually reviewing the product, if that doesn't sound like too much of a conundrum.

sad to say, i've never achieved that ambition.

thursday 23 october 2025

over there

logical

according to any number of press releases which metaphorically cross my desk, it seems likely that every single day of the year has been allocated to obscure and less obscure causes. along with international sandwich day, there is cycle to work day, international red cross day, and my current favourite, national almond day. but returning to one of the more pragmatic instances, though now past and unavailable for direct approbation, was international repair day, taking place on saturday 18 october. if i were us, and tautologically that can only be true, i'd make note of that day/date, so that we might discuss more timeously in 2026.

perhaps rather obviously, international repair day encompasses more than just bicycles, but given the nature of this blog, it would seem pertinent to remain on topic, at least for the time being. the day's existence and relevance was brought to the fore via a quote from simon beatson, the very chap who kindly sent a ritchey logic frame in my direction many years ago. currently ritchey design's north american manager, he highlighted tom ritchey's support for the initiative, apparently more concerned that everyone should be able to fix their own bike, than maximising the company's sales potential. it's a rather iconoclastic stance to take, but one that i can't help thinking would pay greater long term dividends than the sell at all cost objective, more prevalent within the industry.

that professed 'right to repair even included a website offer of 25% of your next purchase. perhaps the principal subject of yesterday's discussion might pay heed.

tom ritchey's belief in self-sustainability, that no matter where riders are in the world, they should have the basic skills to get themselves home safely. is one seen to guide the design process behind ritchey products, several of which currently reside in thewashingmachinepost bikeshed. i should point out, for the sake of clarity, that most are affixed to the same ritchey bicycle.

up to a point, i consider myself reasonably mechanically adept, able to remedy the majority of infractions, even at the side of the road. punctures, chain breakages, gear and brake cables all fall within my remit, made considerably simpler by tom ritchey's design ethos. yet despite his quest for the latter, his ideas seem well able to keep pace with modernity. though neither of his road bike frames feature internal cable-routing, the range does offer carbon handlebars (admittedly at a rather eyewatering price) compatible with internal brake-hose routing for shimano di2 and sram axs groupsets.

both the road logic and montebello framesets offer external cable-routing, greatly simplifying the replacement process, but there's little doubt that the advent of hydraulics has considerably lessened the repair your own bike option. though it seems a tad unlikely that you'd suffer from an unexpectedly burst brake hose, i'm sure there are circumstances under which that might occur. quite how you'd repair, refill and bleed a hydraulic brake hose from the grass verge at saligo, i'm completely mystified.

for the majority of bike builders, however, any concerns about self-sufficiency were probably left in the boardroom, otherwise integral cable routing via the headset and headtube would never have made it off the drawing board. it's a philosophy that has also been summarily ignored by wheel manufacturers. a friend of mine suffered a broken spoke on a campagnolo bora ultra carbon wheel several months ago, and as far as i'm aware, he's still waiting for a shop repair to be effected. conversely, i opted to retire my own campagnolo bora wheelset in favour of a pair of handbuilt wheels featuring 32 stainless spokes, built three cross onto a campagnolo record, mavic open pro sandwich. should one of those spokes break, replacements are easily and cheaply available, repairs enacted via my park tool spoke key.

the pros may be in thrall to wind-tunnel-tested deep carbon rims for good reason. us too, but minus the good reason.

however, i believe the difference between tom ritchey and yours truly, though smaller than between myself and the chaps at the head of cervelo or canyon, are still a few degrees apart. judging by the product range on offer from ritchey, he is not averse to the potential vicissitudes of the future of bike design, but takes care not to be sidelined, or adopt every trend as it arrives. i, however, am a fully paid up luddite, who takes great delight in mechanical groupsets and external cable routing. if i had my way, we'd still be on square-taper bottom brackets, easily replaceable, loose quarter-inch bearings and one-inch headsets capable of accommodating quill stems.

and at the risk of derailing the conversation, can anyone actually think of a definable advantage (for the average velocipedinist) offered by their contemporary replacements? and if you can, are they personally repairable?

wednesday 22 october 2025

over there

a good friend of mine (thank you, james) sent me a copy of a recent article from the financial times entitled, "cycling fashion group, rapha, prepares for long climb back to profit." firstly, i confess it was something of a surprise to read of rapha referred to as a 'fashion group', though judging by some of their recent designs, i can see from where the financial times was coming. i'm sure there's a whole host of us who would venture opinion on why it is that imperial works has suffered yet another financial loss (£15.6 million; its eighth reported annual loss), but since few, or any, of that number have experience of running a multi-national cycling brand, i doubt any would be seriously considered by current ceo, fran millar.

not unnaturally, the article concentrates on the financial aspects of the business, few of which i genuinely comprehend (not entirely sure to what 'impairment' refers in this context), but it does mention in the last two paragraphs, that rapha has now ended its partnership with team ef education, which, considering the costs associated with sponsorship of a world tour team, would certainly appear to be a sensible fiscal decision. if i might cite lord leverhume's apocryphal quote "fifty percent of my advertising is a waste; if only i knew which fifty percent." despite all the marketing metrics available to the modern-day intrepid corporation, it must still prove a tad difficult to learn whether nine identical jerseys in the tour de france peloton actually improves sales figures.

and, though bearing in mind rapha was doubtless well aware of their impending separation during le tour 2025, that scarcely excuses what seemed to me at least, a missed opportunity. during those three weeks in july, irish ef rider, ben healy, was particularly prominent in proceedings, leading to appearances on the podium, coupled with regular post stage interviews. on virtually every one of those appearances, he was to be seen wearing a casquette branded with the rapha logo, which he dutifully wore with the peak flipped up. yet a concerted search of rapha's website elicited no opportunity to purchase a similarly branded cap. given the cost of an ef proteam aero jersey (£195), a casquette at £25 struck me as the ideal impulse buy.

obviously even hundreds of impulse cap purchases would scarcely make a dent in that £15 million loss, but i'm sure you see what i'm getting at.

however, having announced the ending of the ef sponsorship, curtailing of their footwear range, and dropping the lifestyle range of t-shirts, sweatshirts etc. ms. millar has since provided something of an incomprehensibe conundrum by bringing us news of its latest collaboration with the usa cycling team as they work towards the los angeles olympics in 2028. and to quote from the press release, this "will take Rapha into new disciplines such as Track, BMX Racing, and BMX Freestyle and see them harness the innovation gains of working with athletes at the cutting edge of the sport. It will also see a Rapha armband worn to glory on cyclists at their home Games in one of the brand's biggest markets."

two aspects garnered from that quote seem somewhat contradictory to the contents of the financial times article. along with the previously mentioned curtailments, the article contends that rapha will merge its two long-distance cycling ranges and that this year's 65 product launches will reduce to half that number in 2026. so far, so good, but if they plan to support track, and both disciplines within the bmx realm, where would be the point unless they plan to produce replica garments for sale? it was bad enough for some of us that rapha introduced an offroad trail range, but bmx? surely this further dilutes the company's professed and heavily publicised mission to make road racing the world's most popular sport? and wouldn't you imagine the price of admission to national team sponsorship comes perilously close to that of a professional team involved in a single velocipedinal discipline?

but they also mention that the american market is one of rapha's biggest, leading me to wonder how much effort and investment might be required to grow that market, as opposed to others where growth might more easily achievable? given that rapha was founded by simon mottram in 2004, based at the original imperial works in kentish town, many of us tend to consider it to be a british company, the current owners' dollar mentality notwithstanding. are any of us keen to wear cycling apparel branded with presumably one of britain's main competitiors at the los angeles olympic games? i understand that british cycling might already have a contracted clothing partner for 2028, but in rapha's 21 year history, i do not recall seeing chris hoy or jason kenny sporting a rapha branded hoop on their left biceps.

even after almost thirty years of writing thewashingmachinepost, there is still so much i do not understand about cycling.

tuesday 21 october 2025