thewashingmachinepost




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doctor... it's worse than i thought

rotterdam

believe it or not, i actually told mrs washingmachinepost not that long ago that if there was as much cycling on the television as there is football, i would get fed up with it all. seemingly channel after channel broadcasts football matches at every opportunity - tuesday night, wednesday night, thursday night and almost dawn till dusk at the weekends. in my youth, living with a father and brother who were both besotted by soccer, i only had to put up with this imposition from saturday lunchtime until saturday bedtime (theirs, not mine) and then life was good. now it's like wallpaper.

however, my favourite moving pixels tv station, cycling.tv, in a stroke of genius, has seen fit to televise pretty much the whole of the rotterdam six day racing, which is taking place in front of me even as i type. each evening starts around 6:15pm uk time and runs till after 11pm, and it just never stops - madison racing, devil take the hindmost, koga miyata sprints, kierin, derny pacing, two man team time trialling. it's exhausting just writing about it. and just to top it all off, every time they present the winners with their bouquets, they play the star wars theme - how cool is that? couple that with the incessant commentary (the dutch loudspeaker stuff, not martin or simon on cycling.tv) and constant background europop, what's not to like?

so now i'm completely addicted - i can't stop watching. it's gripping stuff, and i'm sure that if it made it to national tv, or even better, to a velodrome near us, the audiences would approach the sellout prevalent in rotterdam (perhaps?). and how do i know i'm addicted? well thursday, friday and saturday's racing all took place in the evening - sunday's took place during the day which escaped my eagle eye, and i sat down in front of the mac at 6pm to discover it was all over. and my day was ruined.

rotterdam

so, if you're reading on monday evening before the witching hour, log onto cycling.tv because it's all absolutely free. or if you've missed that, the final evening is tuesday 8th january. by wednesday i shall be in withdrawal and seeking counselling. why isn't it on every night?

there's even talk of a three day event at interbike in september - and cycling.tv commentator, martin mccrossan figures that the o2 dome in london would be the ideal venue for a british six day. i'm inclined to agree.

great

quote from marty mccrossan commentary: 'there was no gap there at all, and he went straight through it' - it's that exciting

posted on monday 7 january

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shiny

bucket and sponge

when jez and i were over in ayrshire for the braveheart ride last october, a gentleman not of my acquaintance asked whether my colnago was just new. leaving aside that any connoisseur of the brand would have realised that the c40hp had been out of production for four years, i took this as something of a compliment. provided you don't look too closely at the inevitable chipped paint here and there, and those rusty cable pinch bolts on the calipers, i must admit that it does look in particularly healthy condition. probably more so than its owner.

the gentleman in question did indeed remark on this shininess, which i can only put down to the fact that i keep the entire machine as clean as possible. i'd like to put this down to an obsession with cleanliness and maintenance, and there is a certain amount of that involved, but it really has far more to do with ego. if i'm to set off from the depths of bowmore of a sunday morning, dressed in some of cycling's finest clothing, it would be letting the side down to be seen on a machine encrusted with several kilos of local agricultural waste.

so every sunday afternoon, after the prescribed bowl of recovery porridge (not a euphemism - i generally have a bowl of the stuff when i get home), it's out with the bucket and sponge, off with the wheels and scrubbing commences. i will agree that it sometimes can be a bit of a chore - if it's been a hard morning ride (it happens) there would be nothing better than to collapse in the armchair and doze off to hercule poirot on the telly. but if such were to become common practice, the guilt would come back to bite me just late enough for cleaning not to be done. so cleaning has to become a part of the day's cycling habit. in fact sometimes i've even taken to scrubbing each link of the chain - does that mean i'm obsessed?

so, if you failed to acquire any new year's resolutions, you might as well make it something practical like cleaning the bicycle. particularly at this rather mucky time of year. just think how smug you'll feel when, in four year's time, someone asks if that's a new bike.

posted on sunday 6 january

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the never ending story

bb30 standard

the boring bit first. just to recap for anyone who hasn't been following the story so far - in the beginning was the cup and cone bottom bracket with a square tapered spindle that fitted every crankset known to man (apart from those bmx and kids one piece ashtabula thingies). this developed with sealed cartridge bearings for a bit more grit defence, smoother pedalling and ease of fitting, though this quickly metamorphosed into the sealed cartridge bottom bracket which had to be replaced as a complete unit when it wore out: zero maintenance. but at this point, we still had the square taper spindle, though one or two materials other than boron steel had been employed along the way.

then, the square taper was deemed to be no longer fashionable and was replaced, in certain quarters, by the isis splined fitting as favoured by race face, and shimano's equivalent. although these used a similar spindle/crank interface, neither was interchangeable - shimano even managed to make incompatible models within their own groupsets, but then we expect that sort of behaviour from them anyway. despite all this 'development', the cycling public was apparently being denied the bottom bracket rigidity that we so richly deserved, so the big 's' saw fit to shift the bearings outboard of the frame's bottom bracket shell (where they could get a good dose of muck and rain) and the spindle morphed into a rather larger diameter axle. and instead of a press-fit for the cranks, the drive side was fixed and the freelance side clamped. although vicenza held out a tad longer, with the arrival of a hirth coupling, the square taper was history.

in what may have appeared a minor technical oversight (or not), outboard bearings effectively stretched the bottom bracket width (pertaining to the notorious 'q' factor) from an almost standard 68mm to effectively something around 90mm, and you just knew it wouldn't be long before somebody felt compelled to act in favour of the long 'q'. rather predictably, it wasn't either of the big two, or even new kid on the block, the sram corporation, but those devil may care americans at cannondale. in fact, at cannondale, the bearings had never left the building at all - they'd just kept it a bit quieter than most since, initiallly, it only affected their frames.

obviously worried that we may suffer with our knees now almost 20mm further apart, and that the bearings would catch cold (i'm sure there's probably an excuse for rigidity lurking in there somewhere), the chaps in pennsylvania developed the now 'open source' bb30 bottom bracket system, so named because the axle has increased from 24mm to 30mm, and the bearings don't have to leave the safety of the frame. only this time the bearings don't screw-into the frame, they are a press fit, just like a headset.

those of you who have been paying attention and sitting primed with calculator, will have realised that if you take the outboard bearings and move them inboard while increasing the diameter of the bb axle, there's a darned good chance that none of this will fit in your lovingly restored curly hetchins frame - and you'd be absolutely correct. the hint was the word, 'cannondale' who, as we all know, make their own frames as well as some components. so it's a piece of cake to tell the boys in the cad (computer aided design) department to keep the bb shell at 68mm but increase the diameter somewhat. and being decent sort of cads, that's exactly what they did, along with specialized who also, surprise, surprise, make their own frames and components.

cannondale actually moved to this system over seven years ago, but having made it an open standard (no copyright so to speak), anyone else was free to do likewise. and, lo and behold, they have. storck and zipp already have bb30 compatible cranks, while italians fsa will also have sets available as from may of this year, with sram and subsidiary, truvativ following in the future. no word so far from shimano and campagnolo, but it may be that they feel big enough to ignore what may only be a fad contained at cannondale and specialized. widescale adoption of this new 'standard' depends on the world's other frame manufacturers building frames to accept the bb30 setup - so far these are very few and far between.

bb30 standard

and in answer to my jibe about rigidity, fsa claim that their new sets are thirty eight percent stiffer than their 24mm counterparts' which, if memory serves correctly were deemed to be a similar degree better than the old square taper.

how soon before we can invoke the law of diminishing returns?

posted on saturday 5 january

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technical support

bicisupport

you'd think that with all the care and attention our favourite cycle manufacturers put into building all that shiny carbon and alloy, it would only remain for us to enter shop door with flexible plastic in hand and a notional idea of our inside leg. it's certainly always worked for me - i mean, how difficult can it be when you can buy empire state seatposts and suspension bridge length stems? there's bound to be something that will allow a degree of comfort. when the option of a road test/review bicycle looms on the horizon, i only have to quote my favoured frame size, the cardboard box arrives and cycling commences.

except it's not my bike, though there has been one or two cases where i wish it was - and lets be honest, road tests haven't (so far) required world travel before writing up the results. well, actually that's not entirely true. last year's london-paris was conducted on a review bike over 600km, and one who's acquaintance i didn't make until just before set-off. however, in this instance, my pedalling benefactor, graeme freestone king, who possesses mechanic abilities i can only aspire to, had asked me to provide a whole range of obscure measurements prior to arriving at hampton court golf club. using these numbers, the bicycle was setup to very accurately emulate my beloved c40hp left at home in thewashingmachinepost bikeshed. and so accurate was the interpretation of these digits, that the bike fitted beautifully - i didn't even have to adjust the seat height once throughout the entire trip to versailles.

bike fit has become not only an ergonomic desire, but in the never ending quest to squeeze the last drop of power out of bike and rider, it is quickly becoming a necessity. but it would be naive of us to expect such precision to be pinpointed with scissors, string and a plastic ruler. so, of course, there are engineering worthies who spend as much care and attention on jigs and devices dedicated to such precision quantification, as the maestros in the frame shop.

one such, seemingly supplier of a great deal of these, is bicisupport hailing from rogoredo in italy. while several of their products have an unfortunate affinity with instruments of torture, these are not quite the item of choice for individuals such as ourselves, since the cost may well be in excess of the bicycle we'd be trying to measure. however, they do produce a rather unique range of wheel stands and workstands, as well as a nifty piece of kit that allows proper shoe cleat setup (see below) which is perfectly reproduceable over several pairs of shoes, thus eliminating any wobbly knees when buying a new pair.

bicisupport

up until the end of 2007, your only option for purchase would have been to negotiate with headman, fabio, on an individual basis, but london-paris mechanic extraordinaire, and eddy merckx importer, graeme freestone king, has become the official uk importer of bicisupport products through his company fkmarketing. so even if, like me, this is not the sort of machinery (other than workstands) that you would find yourself raiding the piggy bank for, it's intriguing to see the lengths to which some will go to make sure we don't actually have to.

bicisupport.it

posted on friday 4 january

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easter's not that far away really

diary

much of the wisdom at this time of year rests upon having made the annual new year's resolution to get leaner, meaner and fitter. being somewhat isolated, i really don't know anyone who makes this sort of resolution - i'd certainly go along with the leaner and fitter bits, but i'm not absolutely sure that i wish to practice my meanness. however, unless you're a six day racer or a cyclocrosser, there has probably been a bit of a layoff between the last serious attempt to train and now.

if truth be known, the last event i made any attempt to train for was the braveheart ride in october, but being essentially a non-competitive sort of chap, this was more to avoid being laughed at rather than being first back at loudoun academy. however, it's no bad thing to have some sort of target to aim at for at least a part of the year, and probably even more fun to have someone to train with, even if it is, in this modern age, over the internet. fortunately for me, i should be able to have my cake and eat it, if you'll forgive the misplaced metaphor. once again, london-paris is the principal cycling feature of my year, but this time round, jez hastings is planning to take part too, so there will be at least someone whose wheel i can follow until late june. and with ian parkinson hell bent on the hell of the north sportive at the early part of the same month, training schedules can be compared over the ether too.

in terms of the master plan adhering to the advice contained within thomas chapple's base building for cyclists served me particularly well last year, and i intend to follow the same system in 2008. loosely described, you go slower to go faster (and it works too), and i have recommended the same volume to ian - it should be fun comparing notes.

additionally i have undertaken to fill in a bona fide cyclist's training diary, (courtesy of velopress) even though this seems as if it might be harder than the training itself. and while it would give me great pleasure to impress you by having completed an entire week's worth of entries, sadly the reality is somewhat different - 40km on january 1, and a mere 30km today (and even that had a double espresso in the middle). however, come the weekend, i hope to be near to writer's cramp and at least half-way down the page.

again, in the words of the internet - 'your mileage may vary

posted on thursday 3 january

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i'm not often correct, but i'm wrong again

colnago ferrari

a few days ago i posted a piece regarding seemingly inappropriate use of a fuzzy colnago ferrari photo in an advert for harrods in the last issue of the comic. firstly, i couldn't really see one of these bikes being in a sale, but even more was my accusation that the cycles uk franchise within harrods of knightsbridge was not a listed colnago dealer.

well, i wasn't entirely wrong, it definitely was a fuzzy pic, but it turns out that the branch of cycles uk in harrods is indeed, an accredited colnago ferrari dealer (the only colnagos they sell, in fact), and have been quite successful in doing so. the lack of a cycles uk listing amongst the colnago dealers appears to have been an oversight.

so it seems that everyone now lives happily ever after, apart from the comic, who are now being interrogated to find out why the colnago ferrari was fuzzy. and if you're ever in the knightsbridge area...

posted on wednesday 2 january 2008

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multimedia - or the lack of it

andy clark - competitive cyclist

i like reviewing stuff, and i hope i'm not too presumptious in assuming that the manufacturers who send me stuff to review, are generally pleased with the results, since stuff still arrives. and in the best tradition of these sort of things, i have tried very hard to structure thewashingmachinepost reviews in the way that i would personally like to read reviews. hopefully this coincides with the needs of those of you who read the post and buy stuff.

however, the nearest i've come to employing multimedia in the service of such happy employment are four washingmachinepodcasts, the last of which appeared over a year ago, and despite my best efforts, have remained un-updated since. i may well have explained the reasons for this previously (i'm not clever enough to podcast 'off the cuff' so to speak, and scripting prior to recording is not a speedy process), so meantime it's back to the tried and trusted words and pictures. it does have to be said that, with the limited resources at my fingertips, this allows far more frequent updates than would ever happen with podcasting - aside from which, i'm hoping it's less boring to read the post than it would be to have to listen to it.

however, in the world of technology, nothing stands still for very long, and nor does it for those who have the perspicacity to utilise this to good effect. fortunately/unfortunately this tends to afflict those with the necessary budget and time, something that is unlikely to ever be much of a problem for me. the latest drive in this direction, aside from such as cyclingnews and velonews, is the rather fabulous competitivecyclist.com based in little rock, arkansas. being what i believe is referred to as an e-tailer, as opposed to a bricks and mortar shop, they manage to stock a superlative selection of frames, components, clothing and all the really nice cycling stuff that would trouble your bank manager. and for 2008, they have decided to award themselves a new, purpose built facility in order to better serve both themselves and their multitude of customers. and to my knowledge, they may be the very first to incorporate a studio that will allow both product photography and video reviews of an increasing number of products.

in fact, there is no need to wait until the new building appears, as andy clark at cc has already popped several rather accomplished video reviews on their site already. with the increase of purchasing online but without necessarily the option of trying things out first, this seems to me like a particularly smart idea - especially if your income relies on selling from a website. now, i have done a modest amount of video/editing in a previous life, so don't think the idea of doing likewise hasn't already occurred, but do bear in mind my earlier statements about budget and time. i might just give it a try, but meanwhile, you're stuck with the words.

i know my niche.

posted on wednesday 2 january 2008

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anthony mccrossan interview

anthony mccrossan

just before christmas, i spoke to anthony mccrossan just after he had announced his departure from commercial director at cycling.tv, which definitely came as a bit of a surprise to me. i've known anthony for a while, having met up at one or two events over the years (tour of britain and braveheart ride). anthony and brian smith have dramatically increased our televisual awareness of not only some of cycling's less well known events, but given new life to several of its monuments, so it seemed perfectly in order to ask anthony if he'd succumb to one of thewashingmachinepost's highly obscure e-mail interviews.

and here, on the first day of the new year, are the results, which make very entertaining and interesting reading. read more about anthony's happy new year.

photo: nick hanmer - london-paris 2007

posted on tuesday 1 january 2008

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old year's honours list

almost everything published at this time of year seems to feature either a review of the year, or a readers' poll to find out who we all adored in 2007. the weak link in the latter is that it really only pertains to those who enjoy filling in forms to see if everyone else thought the same thing. due to a complete lack of technology and, to be honest, interest, thewashingmachinepost will, as in earlier years be doing none of the above. but the post would not exist in its current form were it not for the support and assistance of quite a lot of people - some who are major players in the cycle industry, and some who probably ought to be. so if you will indulge me for a few pixels, i would like to thank as many of them as i can, or have been conscientious enough to remember. they are listed in no order whatsoever.

peter, rob and dave at colnago uk, and diego at colnago in italy; simon, joe, rene, laura, guy, luke and trystan at rapha and rouleur; mick and andy at prendas ciclismo; graeme freestone king at gfk/eddy merckx uk; david and stefan at carbonsports, germany; phil at mosquito bikes, london; matt seaton (a friend for life); brian and anthony at cycling.tv and braveheart; sven & moira from londres-paris; james and tanya for happy company on the way to versailles; debbie, connie, aileen and catherine for espressos above and beyond the call of duty; dave at velopress, colorado; dave brintoni brinton, also in colorado; francesco for sending me endless info from vicenza; michel at mavic, france; paul at solo in auckland; jared at baum cycles, australia; chris distefano at chris king, portland, oregon; ira ryan of ira ryan cycles, portland (we are not worthy, we are not worthy); davy the snake from mull, scotland; jackie, mickey, joanne and emma at ardbeg; andy mccandlish; bill sebell at earth, wind and rider; chris hearn at schwalbe uk; simon burney for cyclo cross assistance; stephen walton at fibre lyte; richard moore for being a fellow robert millar fanatic; lance sanderson for friendship and delightful communiques; adrian bell at mousehold press; john cunningham for youtube clips and friendship; richard at cordee books; and paul at jim walker.

i'd also like to thank those who succumbed to washingmachinepost interviews, and to anyone who i have embarrassingly omitted. any lack of recognition here will probably look good on your cv. special thanks to the mighty dave t, and jez hastings for contributions too vague to have been of any significance (only kidding chaps), and to mrs washingmachinepost who doesn't understand what it's all about anyway (she's probably not alone there).

finally, thank you to the thousands (literally) of people who read these increasingly frequent outpourings from a small island hanging off the west of scotland. you have made a happy man very old.

see you next year

posted on sunday 30 december

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too much cachet to miss

harrods

i obviously didn't read my comic properly last week. i thought that paying £3.40 for a bigger issue than usual meant that the chaps at cycling weekly were having a well earned week off for the festive season, allowing uninterrupted miles of training ready to be superior over us worldly beings for at least the first couple of months of the new year. however, say it ain't so joe, since a new issue was ensconced inside my copy of the grauniad this very morning. that was, indeed, a very welcome addition to my weekend.

however, on perusing the interior of said magazine, i came upon an advert for, of all places, harrods of knightsbridge. unbeknownst to myself, and doubtless others of you in britainshire, harrods stock bicycles (through the cycles uk franchise) and, in company with many so called 'high street' stores, they are having a sale. in fact, as harrods would have it in their full page advertisement there is only one sports sale. this sale includes marin, specialized, gt, brompton, pashley, mezzo and claud butler - quite a variation in styles and quality.

so at the moment, you're probably wondering why i bother to mention all of this. granted, a harrods advert, for bicycles or otherwise, doesn't pop up in the comic every week, but it's hardly ground breaking news. well, my reason for bringing this to your attention is the fuzzy bicycle illustration used as a centrepiece to this otherwise spread of white space. it is of a colnago ferrari, released at the shanghai bicycle show this year, the limited edition with specially painted lightweight carbon wheels retailing at around £7,500 ($15,000). that such a limited edition would be part of a sale is newsworthy enough, particularly since, to my knowledge the only one sold by colnago uk went to ireland, but the real point of this procrastination is that harrods are not colnago dealers. check the list of uk dealers for yourself if you like, but unless my eyesight has gone completely awol, neither harrods nor cycles uk are listed.

i'm not accusing either party of being 'economical with the truth' since the sight of a ferrari colnago is almost guaranteed to attract attention, and nowhere does it state that colnagos form even a small piece of the sale.

but it's not right is it?

posted on saturday 29 december

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le grand depart

richard lee

"You did whatever he wanted, including the fetching of beers, which he had a great fondness for in mid-race. Domestiques were reduced to chasing long miles to bring the great man a  bottle of Stella." vin denson quoted on rik van looy and, at present, by way of introduction to richard lee's website cyclingart. interestingly, in his book one more kilometre and we're in the showers - surely the finest title for a cycling book ever - tim hilton was moved to point out that there is a disproportionate number of arty types who are cyclists, a statement with which i would find it hard to disagree. richard lee only proves the rule.

richard lee started road racing in edmonton, canada in the mid-eighties, and may still be stuck there, as his associated blog claims he's still holding out on clipless pedals. since we all have our national heroes at elite level, it comes as no surprise that canadian pro steve bauer featured highly in his estimation, encouraging an interest in the tour de france. like many of us, the history of the great stage races and classics maintained the enthusiasm which continued while attending art college in vancouver. marrying the two interests led to the gritty originals seen here and on his website.

richard's works of art - a more than apt description - are crafted in watercolours, before being printed a la monotype, a method of printing that richard and partner have developed to allow l'ardoisier a moto reproduction of the original. each painting is reproduced as a limited edition of 100 along with a certificate of authenticity and a brief description. print size is 13 x 9 on 13 x 19 watercolour paper. at present, you can only look but not touch, but with web developments in progress, it will soon be possible to purchase, the site with info on pricing, shipping and associated paraphernalia.

subjects are often eclectic such as the beautifully titled l'ardoisier a moto (the bloke with the blackboard - above) with scenes from the tour de france and 'other great races'. we've all doubtless got cycling posters adorning corners of our world - one of these would add a touch of class and exclusivity to the humdrum. a very fine body of work from a real cycling enthusiast and artist.

cyclingart.ca

posted on saturday 29 december

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rapha long sleeve merino baselayer

rapha long sleeve merino baselayer

do we really need a long sleeve thermal baselayer? after all, is the weather ever so cold that you wouldn't wear a softshell or rainjacket over a long-sleeve jersey? and how often would you need a long sleeve under another long sleeve? and how often am i going to keep asking stupid rhetorical questions?

in amongst all the questions you could possibly ask yourself about this subject, there are a number of possible answers, one of which is an unqualified yes. late december day, cold, but not too cold - inclement enough for a winter long sleeve jersey, but too much on the mild side for the softshell. strangely, and maybe this only happens to me, but there's always a fear of being underdressed at this time of year. there are some very rarified places on islay, and doubtless many more that are not on islay, and the thought of having to stop at one of these rarified somewheres due to a mechanical or puncture, just presents an unhealthy sense of foreboding.

but, on the other hand, if i dont have to make a rarified stop, the joy of becoming a mobile sauna is not one i'd like to experience. so a long sleeve winter top covering one of rapha's new long-sleeve merino baselayers seemed like more than the ideal solution. did i ever mention that i'm a big fan of long sleeves? although i have rapha's 'old' merino base, and can, in fact see no physical difference between old and new, the latter feels softer - could be auto suggestion, could be for real. the long sleeves are almost invisible in use, but thermally a delight. it would be just as practical to wear this for slopping around in the bikeshed, or while being a casually presentable civilian behind an espresso.

on the 'old' baselayer, the only hint that you're wearing something by rapha was a logo on the washing instructions, but the chaps at perren street have learned something about product placement - there is now a rubberised rapha logo front and centre of the round neck that shows who's gear your wearing when a jersey zip is open. smart move.

we've been through the 'how great is merino' in detail, so i will just recap that this almost miraculous natural fibre wicks moisture away from the skin before presenting it to the atmosphere, but also absorbs atmospheric moisture when you move from warm indoors to cooler outdoors. and during all this time, it feels dry. it's great.

so while i would never advocate that you fill your entire baselayer wardrobe with long sleeves (rapha's baselayer are also available in short sleeve), having at least one or, perchance, two, would seem a certifiably smart, cool idea. you can have it in black (tested) or cream for an excellent £50 ($85). short sleeve is a fiver less ($80), and you can order online at rapha.cc

just shows i'm not yet too old to be chilled.

posted on friday 28 december

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