thewashingmachinepost




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sffs

be prepared to stop

i have, on several occasions, waxed lyrical and vengeful upon the errant motorist, the drivers who figure that cyclists are but second class citizens, scarcely worth avoiding, were it not for the potentially hefty prison sentence that might befall their arrogance. examples of this errant behaviour are not hard to come by, particularly in the light of the sizeable influx of foreign and mainland drivers during the current whisky festival week. there is a myriad of oddly named motor homes to negotiate, though we did have cause to make note of where we were when we witnessed one actually reversing yesterday morning.

but then, subsequently homeward bound after a marvellous morning's cycling in warm and windy weather, a gent driving a hired estate car, watched us quickly approach the junction at which he was sat, but decided to pull out in front anyway. if i'm quite honest, that was the second time that occurred over the weekend. i realise there are many of you resident in areas where the above is an hourly happenstance and that you think i doth protest too much, but in the light of our more usual rural idyll, such visitor behaviour (and it is predominantly visitors who are to blame in these circumstances), bringing their mainland attitudes to our atmosphere of calm and tranquility (i might have exaggerated that bit, just a tad) is particularly noticeable.

however, one must bear in mind that a measured response is required towards the behaviour of all road users and, sad to say, there are so-called cyclists who are every bit as guilty as their motorised counterparts. if i might offer an example taken from yesterday morning, as the velo club peloton headed along the high road, en-route to the coffee shop, we, not unsurprisingly, met an oncoming vehicle just prior to the laggan river.

there's no use pretending that our sunday morning perambulations are of a serious nature; we are but merely playing on our poseurs' bikes, with no real concern over elapsed time. we therefore, en masse, pulled into an adjacent passing place, to allow the vehicle unhindered passage in its direction of travel. but, as we were stationary, two chaps on bicycles rode past us, causing the motor car to swerve off to the right in order to avoid their stupidity.

i can but wonder why they thought all seven of us were stopped in the first place?

far be it for me to be dispensing unsolicited advice, but, should you be subject to a meeting with motor traffic on a single track road, while on holiday or during a whisky festival (for instance), please give way. let's face it, if time were of the essence, you'd probably not be riding a pannier festooned bicycle in the first place. this is not the rat race from which you may have come; take time to enjoy it and if that means stopping for oncoming traffic, so be it.

in short, don't be a pratt. it is most unbecoming.

monday 28 may 2018

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wffs

wave

i didn't think i'd need to write this again, but, at the risk of emulating bbc alba, i fear a reprise is in order.

yesterday marked the true beginning of this year's islay whisky festival, an event that saw a queue of blokes (it's always blokes) sitting outside the gates of bowmore distillery on saturday morning at 7:30am, awaiting the striking of 10am. uk law dictates that alcohol cannot be sold before that particular witching hour, so they had a two and a half hour wait to acquire the first of bowmore's festival bottlings.

were they true whisky aficionados, those bottles would be stowed in the cabinet at home, ready to be sipped of a relaxing evening, with the feet up, reading the latest copy of whisky magazine. the truth is that they will likely meet up with the folks from whiskyauctions.com in bowmore village square between noon and 1pm, hand over the hard-won bottle and wait for the auction scheduled for 8 june.

despite the various mainstream and limited edition tours offered by each distillery during the forthcoming week, designed to occupy the cognoscenti on each open day, it has come down to this: grabbing as many exclusive bottles as cash flow will allow in order to benefit from a future sale at a higher level of remuneration. with the bank base rate still perilously low, offering savers and investors a relatively poor return for their monies, buying limited edition whisky bottles perhaps begins to make greater sense.

however, that is something of a sweeping generalisation. no doubt there are many visitors who intend to enjoy the hospitality and entertainment provided by the likes of bruichladdich earlier today. aside from the aforementioned shiny bottles, islay pipe band and many other musical events will have kept the revellers occupied, not to mention adam hannett's sold-out master classes in the early part of the morning.

the velo club, however, are made of sterner stuff and along with probably the majority of islay's resident population, wouldn't indulge in in a distillery tour if they were paid. while throngs filled every available nook and cranny in lagavulin distillery yesterday, we were individually pedalling for all we were worth in the unaccustomed sunshine and warmth, keeping well away from the distribution of uisge beatha.

and, in the process of so doing, we came across many another itinerant cyclist, either here for a few days cycling over the bank holiday weekend, or also intent on sipping as many different drams as is possible while still remaining in full control of their bicycles. it is a salient fact that, very rarely, do we come across cyclists riding in the same direction as ourselves; i have no idea why this is the case, but after years of extensive research, it seems that's the way it works. thus, as we pass visiting cyclists, being de facto good hosts, we offer a 'hail fellow, well met' greeting, accompanied by the customary wave.

disappointingly and in my opinion, rather rudely, the majority do not return our friendly greeting, either emulating froomey by staring at their stems, or simply looking into space and trying hard to avoid eye contact. we are wont to question why? when visiting an island on which you do not reside, would it not seem the decent thing to acknowledge the friendly locals? such as ourselves?

so, i'll say it once more and hope fervently that i do not have to repeat myself again next year, or even later this same year. if a cyclist waves, then wave back, but never be afraid to be the first to offer the wave. it's not hard; manners cost nothing, as mrs washingmachinepost never tires of saying.

sunday 27 may 2018

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protect thyself

specialized turbo vado

many, many years ago, matt seaton, then with the guardian newspaper and still a present day contributor to rouleur magazine, wrote a weekly cycling column entitled 'two wheels' in which he intelligently covered many a velocipedinally related topic. the column culminated in a book containing the best of these and not long after, mr seaton moved to new york as the guardian's correspondent in the big apple. matt is currently with the new york review of books, but is a gent that i still regard as one with a degree of perspicacity and literary style i wish were part of my own skillset.

the one column that i recall in particular, forced me to make a change to my own cycling perspective and resulted in one more annual membership subscription for scottish cycling, which, in the absence of independence north of the border, is every bit the same as joining british cycling. for with each ride and race level membership, comes free third party insurance offering up to £15m cover, something that i have, on occasion, proselytised through these black and yellow pixels. i should point out that the organisation formerly known as the cyclists' touring club and currently referred to as cycling uk offers the same benefit.

you pays your money, you takes your choice.

the lack of a legal requirement for cyclists to possess insurance is, in my view (and originally that of matt seaton), no excuse not to have any. though it's up to your own judgment as to whether you wish to field theft and/or damage insurance, the possibility that you might accidentally damage a car, traffic furniture or even pedestrians is definitely one worth considering, particularly in the light of our increasingly congested roads. should any of the above happen to you, it's possible you could find yourselves with a serious amount of money to pay out, either for damage incurred, or legal costs. third party insurance available through either of the above organisations could prevent that happening.

however, in the light of increased sales of so-called e-bikes, for purchasers of said electrically assisted transport, the option could soon be turning to compulsion. though not installed as a legal necessity as yet, the european commission decided yesterday that owners of e-bikes without motor vehicle third-party insurance are riding illegally. this would immediately affect owners of what are referred to as pedelecs; pedal assisted electric bikes.

despite the daily fanfare that is brexit, it seems likely that, initially at least, the uk government may be compelled to comply, unless, of course, as an individual eu state, britain decides to exempt electric bikes from this decision. the european cyclists' association is opposed to this proposed legislation, citing the possible discouragement of "...millions of european citizens to use pedelecs..." and "...undermine the efforts [...] (of the) european union to promote sustainable mobility."

my annual membership of british cycling costs me £39 which, in comparison to the monies paid by the average moped, motorcycle and car owner, is relatively little. in fact, it's about ten pence a day and pretty darned close to the cost of twenty cups of coffee. i don't read of too many cyclists complaining about the latter. however, on researching the average cost of third party motor insurance for a moped (which seems closest in format to the e-bike), the disparity is all too real. figures around £252 seem to be the norm.

there are currently two classes of pedal-assist e-bike: pedelec and s-pedelec. the latter has the motor capped at a maximum of 48kph, while the former is restricted to 25kph, the average speed required for one of the slower groups in hot chillee's london-paris ride. the three pelotons above travel at speeds considerably in excess of 25kph. so why would the eu determine that an admittedly heavier bike than state of the art carbon-fibre, travelling quite a bit slower than the latter, should require a legally enforceable and substantially more expensive form of insurance?

the world, or at least, our particular section of it, is undoubtedly a great deal odder than i had given it credit for.

friday 25 may 2018

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fairy dust

graphene

contrary to popular opinion, i do believe there is such a thing as coincidence and i have evidence to support that theory. only this week, in the process of completing the page layout for our local newspaper, i placed an interview with the owner of a large new hotel development on the island. it's a building that has been unemployed for several years, but now under new ownership and with a substantial injection of cash, it promises to occupy the serious end of the luxury market. and, as coincidence would have it, and entirely independently, we received an article from a woman who, for several years, has had her own beautician's business on the island, but is about to take up a new position; as head of the spa at the aforementioned hotel.

now, is that coincidence, or what?

and then, on last sunday's bike ride, as we wended our merry way homeward, the discussion turned to bicycle frame materials, one of our number having his eye on a new titanium frame. the latter never quite managed its day in the sun; it was once touted as the lighter and more resilient successor to steel, but aluminium got in the way, then the black stuff steamrollered pretty much everything in its path. titanium is still fit and healthy, but it's scarcely the material at the top of everyone's bucket list.

then someone mentioned 'graphene'.

this is the wonder fairy dust fabric, consisting of a single layer atom 'allotrope' and featuring those atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. it's one of the basic constituents of of carbon materials such as graphite, diamond, charcoal and the carbon nanotubes that we've all heard so much about. layering graphene platelets into carbon fibre frames was, we were initially informed, going to be the saviour of an industry that scarcely needs to be saved. at least, not as far as i can see.

since those days of wonder, graphene has been almost conspicuous by its absence. admittedly, vittoria have incorporated it as an ingredient in some of their tyres, catlike uses the stuff in its mixino helmet and dassi were one of the first to feature graphene in a carbon frames. our sunday conversation revolved around the notion that the greater inclusion of graphene in bicycle frames could conceivably lower the weight, but until the uci drops the minimum limit for competition, there's possibly no incentive for this to happen.

and then, by pure coincidence, considering the number of times that graphene has not been mentioned on the sunday ride, i discover that we might be in for a dramatic increase in the material's appearance due to a price reduction. according to a recent report, because of its newbie status, graphene has suffered from high and frequently varying prices, but now that popularity beckons, that price has dropped to an allegedly more economic level of $75 to $125 for a kilo. the same report figures that this price will continue to drop, as more folks begin to take notice and incorporate it into many an unnecessary, yet compulsive widget.

that bit, however, can scarcely be considered a coincidence.

thursday 24 may 2018

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the ride of the falling rain 2018

ride of the falling rain 2017

it's something that should have occurred to me earlier in the year, but i'm afraid i tend only to plan around a week ahead of time and even that's subject to variation. it concerns the practicalities of arriving on islay should you wish to participate in this year's ride of the falling rain, our annual 100 mile excursion around the principality, taking place this year, on sunday 5 august. before i delve into the whys and wherefores, if you're thinking about it, now would be a good time to dig out that calmac timetable.

on the face of it, this seems not unlike the advice i cheerfully reiterate every year. though the weather might not seem like it, early august forms part of the summer holiday season, with both transport and accommodation frequently in short supply. the former has been exacerbated in recent months by caledonian macbrayne being "one breakdown away from total catastrophe". though pretty much all the western isles are prone to moan about the state-subsidised ferry carrier, the early part of 2018 has given them adequate cause.

this began with the serious breakdown of the mv clansman, one of the bigger boats in the fleet which suffered a prop shaft failure, or something remarkably similar. this resulted in the boat being taken to denmark to have the problem solved, a solution that took considerably longer than hoped for. this coincided with what is usually referred to as refit season, when the boats are required by law to enter dry-dock for maintenance. think of it as their mot certificate.

with the clansman being repaired and another boat in dry-dock at the time, finding spare and appropriately sized ferries to cover the shortfall became, as you can imagine, a logistical nightmare. add to that, the fact that one other big boat was actually due to go into dry-dock at the time, meant that calmac had to (successfully) negotiate with the marine and coastguard agency for a three-week extension to its seaworthiness certificate, in the sincere hope that the clansman would be ready for duty before that ran out.

to make all this more specific to islay, our normal complement of two boats was cut to a single ferry with occasional assistance from one of the 'tubs'; in this case, the mv arran. this rather derogatory reference is due to the arran being one of a pair of boats, both regularly assigned to the islay route, which are well into their thirties, despite the acknowledged lifespan of a west coast ferry being approximately 25 years. that those boats are less than popular and prone to frequent breakdowns is really of no surprise to anyone.

i'm well aware that this is still the month of may and the ride of the falling rain is still many weeks away (eleven, to be more precise), it well behoves those with notions of getting drenched and blown silly (as was the case last year), to gather their thoughts and boarding passes, then book both ferry travel and accommodation considerably sooner, rather than later.

the rotfr route will, once again, follow the same pattern as in previous years, initially taking in the rhinns of islay before heading south east to ardbeg distillery for a tasty lunch and, perchance, a similarly described dram. after this mid-point stop, the ride heads north to ballygrant, then turns south to bridgend before incorporating a perambulation of loch gorm en-route to the finish and coffee and cake at debbie's café in bruichladdich. though ardbeg is the only distillery which we actually visit, the full ride passes bruichladdich, bowmore, laphroaig, lagavulin and kilchoman along the way.

as a tribute to our dear departed friend, lord carlos of mercian who sadly died in january this year, we're subtitling the ride as 'the carl reavey memorial ride'. several of you may have met the irrepressible mr reavey in previous years and we still half expect him to turn up on his shand or chromed tart's bike each sunday morning, especially when the weather is particularly foul. he is still sadly missed and we hope that by the adjunct of this subtitle, we can keep his memory alive for many years to come.

as those of you who have joined us in previous years will know, the idiosyncracies of the island's roads allow for almost infinite variations on a theme, so if you fancy riding less than the prescribed distance, that's really not a problem. there are no timing chips, no feed stops, no marshals, no free t-shirts and no entry fee. all we suggest is that those taking part donate at least £10 to world bicycle relief.

which is all a long-winded way of saying, if you want to join us, book now. with ageing ferries, you just never know.

ride of the falling rain

wednesday 23 may 2018

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hommage au velo bahamontes lightweight climbing jersey

hommage au velo bahamontes climbing jersey

the apocryphal story of the reverend returning from a long day in the ministrations of the church and his parish, slumping into his fireside armchair and being brought his slippers by one of his faithful bassett hounds, does have its basis in fact. one of my schoolfriends was indeed, the son of a presbyterian minister, a chum with whom i played rugby at school and at weekends on a makeshift pitch adjacent to the town's indoor bowling rink. and, believe it or not, the family owned two bassett hounds, one of whom was named 'homer', but sadly i have no recall as to the name of the other.

hommage au velo bahamontes climbing jersey

and just in case you're wondering, yes, i did get battered silly at rugby.

at the end of the hypothetical long day, the minister left the solitude of his study, plopped himself in the sitting room and one of the two dogs would trot in, carrying at least a solitary slipper. mrs washingmachinepost and i do not own any animals, let alone a bassett hound or two, but it would be false of me to deny that i do own a pair of favourite slippers, the moccasin-like format of which enables me to creep upstairs late of an evening without wakening the mrs and admitting that i'd fallen asleep on the couch.

hommage au velo bahamontes climbing jersey

obviously enough, doing so is entirely as a result of having over-extended myself on the bicycle earlier in the day, lest you concern yourself that age may be getting the better of me. but it's not just that i have a favoured pair of slippers, but like many other bicyclists, i have certain jerseys that i prefer over others, either for sentimental reasons, colour, or simply that i like wearing them. same goes for jackets, though oddly enough, i don't have what i'd call a favourite pair of shorts, nor a pair of lucky socks.

however, i have extreme good fortune on my side, frequently receiving review samples of a wide range of cycle jerseys and jackets about which i will eventually wax lyrical. sort of like the current situation, now that you come to mention it.

hommage au velo bahamontes climbing jersey

this may seem like a case of deja-vu, having only just made mention of the newly conceived hommage au velo at the end of last week, yet here we are once again. though, in the words of the former ceo of bruichladdich distillery "it's my ****ing blog and i'll ****ing write what i want", i do prefer not to overload my reader with more of the same thing in close proximity to the original thing. if you see what i mean?

however, founder of what shall hereafter be referred to as hav (except when it isn't), david law, was kind enough to send a review sample of currently the only jersey (of which i'm aware) to proffer a portion of its revenue to world bicycle relief. though i have already advised you of their presence in what must be a market close to saturation point, this selfless dispensation of profits, surely makes it a jersey worth looking at.

fabricated from a mixture of elastane and polyester, their description of the jersey as lightweight is pretty darned accurate. arriving in a gold debossed black box, the lid of which is held in place with two gold and black ribbons, the notion that you're getting your (£85) money's worth is hard to avoid. the laser cut sleeves are underpinned by mesh panels, aiding a cool demeanour when the mercury rises, and feature an incredibly tacky gloop inside the cuffs that made it an encouragingly hard effort to wear. those sleeves moved not a millimetre in the heat of battle.

hommage au velo bahamontes climbing jersey

the full length zip ends in the customary zip garage at the medium height collar, while the hem of the front panels is more elastic than polyester, preventing any bunching in the sprint. the three rear pockets are more than capacious, neatly augmented by a fourth zipped edition for coffee money, keys, or whatever other guff you tend to carry in the peloton. though the bahamontes name gives some hint as to its sporting pretensions, in fact, the jersey does encapsulate the race-fit epithet with aplomb, feeling a deal more comfortable in the drops than standing in front of the bathroom mirror.

it's a bit of a cliché to mention that the true success of any cycling garment is how little you notice it on the bike, but, if the description fits...

the hommage au velo, bahamontes lightweight climbing, short-sleeve jersey, is available in sizes ranging from xs to xxl in red, black, navy or white at a retail cost of £85. as mentioned above, a portion of the profits from each jersey is donated to world bicycle relief.

bahamontes climbing jersey

tuesday 22 may 2018

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