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rapha special edition belgian country jersey

to celebrate a significant birthday around three years ago, my son treated me to a seat in glasgow's chris hoy velodrome to witness a uci world championship track meet. the velodrome, adjacent to celtic football park, is hardly the easiest place to reach by means of public transport, so we took a taxi from buchanan bus station. as we neared the venue and slowed for traffic lights, the cab pulled in behind a group of cyclists all clad in the belgian national jersey, which we thought was taking fandom just a tad too far. that was, until we realised that this flemish peloton was, in fact, members of the belgian national track team.

it is indicative of the profile attached to their national jersey design, that even the taxi driver was moved to point out that there was a group of belgians heading in the same direction as ourselves. i have serious doubts that the selfsame taxi driver would have recognised members of team gb, had we happened upon them, because our own national jersey seems to change more frequently than the hebridean weather.

velominati's rule #17 dictates that 'team kit is for members of the team', a rule worth adhering to unless referring to items of retro kit purchased from andy at prendas. by simple extrapolation, rule #17 surely encompasses world championship jerseys and any of the leaders' jerseys from a bona-fide grand tour. one can only imagine the ribbing one would receive from members of the sunday peloton were i to arrive clad in yellow. but what about national jerseys?

this is perhaps more of a grey area; though the chances of any of us being selected for team gb are remarkably slim, as british citizens, do we harbour the right to wear our often hideous national jersey? darn tootin' we do. but how then, can i justify riding the highways and byways of islay, dressed in a belgian national jersey? surely this may lead to accusations of usurpership (a word i just invented)? strictly speaking, it would be hard to defend myself against such accusations, were it not for recorded evidence to the contrary.

long has it been my contention that hebrideans are the flandrians of the west. there is even a stretch of single track road leading between ballinaby and saligo on islay's atlantic coast to which we occasionally refer as the belgian road, due to its similarity to those seen in the spring classics. featuring grass and weeds breaking through the road surface along the centre, it is edged on both sides by flat farmland and, until it reaches saligo bay, it is dead straight.

if you're willing to accept a climate with a propensity for horizontal rain, galeforce winds and substantial evidence of agricultural activity leading from every farm gate, lift your eyes from under the peak of your casquette, and that sunday bike ride could just as easily be in belgium as on an exposed rock on the edge of the atlantic. regular readers will perhaps recall that i have often floated the possibility of offering classics training camps to replace warm, tedious hill climbs in tenerife. after all, how does a few perambulations of mount teide assist in competing over the cobbles of paris-roubaix?

thus, viewing rapha's most recent array of country jerseys, there really wasn't too much time spent considering in which would be the most appropriate to be seen scurrying along that belgian road. this is the very style of jersey for which rapha has rightly become famous. based on the classic, sportwool fabric jersey, the range of country options feature the good old merino/polyester mix that is considerably more luxurious than their pro-team range.

in the case of the belgian country jersey, the black, gold and red bands across the back and front of the torso, are repeated on the short-sleeve cuffs and on the commendably high neck. the clever aspect here is the reverse positioning of those bands on the sleeves; should you raise your arms by way of a sprint victory salute, they will appear in the correct orientation. the quarter-length metal zip has a well-sized ring to ease opening and closing. the three rear pockets, aside from button closures atop each, also sport the race number and winning time of jean-pierre monseré a belgian rider who became world champion in leicester in 1970.

this is a beautiful, luxurious jersey that, from personal experience and if well-looked after, is likely to last in excess of fifteen years, during which time, team gb will have worn at least twelve different jersey designs, none of which will match the perfection displayed by the never-changing belgian example. and, as a hebridean rider, i feel perfectly justified being seen in my national garmentage. not only that, on its first outing, (riding in the big ring at all times) it provided the necessary succour and inspiration to return home bearing an average speed some 2kph faster than usual.

if only debbie's served frites and (vegan) mayo.

rapha's country jersey is available in sizes ranging from xs to xxl at a retail price of £140.

rapha special edition country jersey

monday 6 april 2020

wheel biting

on the other side of the island from home, the rspb reserve is based at aoradh farm, loch gruinart. this is the narrowest part of the island, hidden from view as one cycles down uiskentuie strand, by tall raised beaches to the right. this part of islay was once submerged, existing as two distinct islands separated by a narrow channel. loch indaal to the south was once merged with loch gruinart, the latter opening out into the atlantic ocean. the flatlands at gruinart frequently flood at high tide, but have been curated by the rspb to encourage the substantial numbers of overwintering geese to graze there, rather than on surrounding farmland.

though i believe goose numbers might be lower than in previous years, we're still talking in excess of 45,000 of the blighters, which arrive in october and stay until may. the geese feed almost exclusively on grass, but unlike cattle and sheep, both of which simply chomp at the growth, geese pull the grass up by the roots. this means farmers have to re-seed the land, for which they are recompensed by government through scottish natural heritage. over thirty years ago, many were simply shot. the amount of compensation varies from farm to farm, depending on the annual goose count, through which employed goose counters estimate the numbers on each parcel of land. these amounts have allegedly been as high as £100,000, but i once had it explained to me just how much it would cost to re-seed the affected fields, and it's possible that the compensation, in some cases, might be less than adequate.

geese, however, are of no onerous concern to the perambulating cyclist. they are far more likely to fly away in large groups, making a noise similar to a pack of dogs, than to get in the way of bicycle wheels. currently, at the beginning and end of the single track road leading across the flats, there are signs asking drivers (and possibly including cyclists), to slow down for hares. though i fear my days of riding at a speed that may give any hares cause for concern, in truth, i have seen not one, despite passing along this road once or twice every weekend. to be honest, the problem is neither geese nor hares, but lambs.

for those of you substantially distanced from the countryside, and who think that lamb comes from the butcher's or supermarket shelf, all across the island, this is lambing season. i believe i may have previously mentioned that the unwritten rule around these here parts is that the onus is not on the farmer to fence the sheep (or cattle) in, but the council to fence them out (so to speak). thus, there are many roads on the island populated all year round by nomadic sheep; come lambing season, those little fluffy creatures are often to be seen sleeping at the side of the road, while mum keeps an eye open for intruders.

i may also have mentioned before, that sheep are predictably the most unpredictable animals in the world. no matter which way you think they might cross the tarmac, you will invariably be wrong. even sheep which are quite safely ensconced on the left side of the road, will almost certainly cross to the right, the decision being made just as you reach level with them. newborn lambs, only recently brought into a world that they have yet to comprehend, are even more erratic. and because they are small, assuming mum and one offspring to be munching grass on one grass verge, child number two, obscured in the bushes across the road, will dart out at the last minute to bite your front wheel.

okay, so maybe that wasn't their original intention, but the end result looks and feels remarkably similar.

so while the landlubbers amongst you experience the daily tribulations of avoiding errant pedestrians, taxi drivers, buses and the dreaded motorist, do not think for one minute that those of us in the rural idyll are devoid of comparable obstacles. granted, this year at least, i have had no trouble with hares, and if i'm totally honest, i have yet to be brought down by any scurrying lambs. but the sight of a couple of little cuties curled up, fast asleep in a nook at the side of the road leading from loch gorm, has alerted my agricultural senses to their presence.

so, for the next month or so, on any far-flung, downhill stretch, rest-assured my fingers will be curled round my carbon campag levers, itching in the way that gunslinger's do.

and you thought we had it easy out here.

sunday 5 april 2020

part of the solution

adhering to government guidelines and sage advice from chris boardman, i have endeavoured to ensure that the bicycle, or mine at least, remains a part of the solution, rather than becoming part of the problem itself. the latter, i believe, was an indirect reference to those who continued to ride in groups, as opposed to the advised solo outings. when social distancing ought to maintain two metres between individuals, that can be hard to judge or even achieve when on two wheels, particularly if traffic conditions are less than amenable.

my own weekend outings are less at the mercy of social distancing, and more related to the principle of self-isolation. when turning right at uiskentuie farm to ultimately head around loch gorm, until exiting at foreland, i'll have covered a distance of approximately 22km, all of which consists entirely of singletrack road, peppered with passing places. last saturday, along the entire length of that route, i met one solitary car. on sunday, that number increased to three. i cannot deny that the islay cycling experience is somewhat different than that which led to london's richmond park being closed to cyclists last week.

i have read in my daily newspaper, and in online articles, that there are many towns and cities across the world, that have begun to install temporary cycle lanes in order to improve their localised transport situation. reports of health workers utilising bicycles to get to and from work, increasing their options of social distancing, have shown greater demand for pathways through the admittedly diminished motor traffic. this is a situation that can but improve with the news that basingstoke-based e-spokes, with assistance from raleigh bikes, has loaned ten e-bikes to the local nhs at basingstoke and north hampshire hospital.

sadly, i have seen little evidence on islay so far, that anyone other than the usual crew has opted to get about by bicycle. granted, distances between villages are considerably less populous and sheltered than would be the case in inner-city or urban regions, but it seems it may take a great deal more than a virus to encourage islanders to leave their motor cars at home.

the government, however, continues to list bike shops as essential retailers and their staff as key workers, demonstrating, if nothing else, that the bicycle continues to be seen as part of the solution during the current covid-19 crisis. as a result of this, evans cycles has opted to temporarily re-open eleven of its stores "...to help keep key workers on the move and provide assistance to people travelling by bike for essential journeys."

subject to strict safety measures, the stores will be staffed by employees who have volunteered to return to work and there will be limits as to how many customers will be allowed inside at any given time. evans will continue to offer a free bike mot for key workers, ensuring that they continue to travel safely. they stated "The bicycle is becoming a preferred means to keep key workers moving. Where it is possible and safe to do so, a selection of our stores will re-open, focusing on essential maintenance or to provide parts that will help people stay safe on the road."

they were at pains to point out that this was not business as usual, and that they would continue to review which stores are open, hoping to strike a balance between providing an essential service while still protecting staff and customers. i've often said that cycling cures everything; it looks like i might ultimately be proved right.

saturday 4 april 2020

the birth of gravé

arguments have, if not actually raged, certainly ruminated for well over 100 years as to who might claim to have been the inventor of the bicycle. naturally enough, always willing to be parochial for my art, my money is firmly planted on dumfries inventor, kirkpatrick macmillan. according to one of his relatives, in 1839, macmillan had constructed a wooden, steerable, pedal-driven bicycle with iron-rimmed wheels. disputes as to the veracity of his claim as original inventor may still circulate, but what is apparently not in doubt, is his claim to have received the first five-shilling fine from glasgow police, in 1842, for allegedly knocking over a pedestrian. i rest my case, m'lud.

however, doubtless the descendents of baron karl von drais, would beg to differ. in 1817, he invented his laufmaschine which was, in effect, a running machine. branded the 'draisine' by the press, the baron's invention consisted of two spoked wooden wheels of similar size, joined by a length of wood featuring a saddle (of sorts). young dandies of the period would sit astride this device and propel themselves down the cobbled streets with their legs in a running fashion. nowhere was a pair of pedals to be seen. in 1918, von drais patented his invention, commonly referred to as a 'velocipede', but often referred to as a 'hobby-horse'.

though von drais' patent preceded kirkpatrick macmillan's pedal-driven effort by some twenty years, strictly speaking, most of us would be inclined to favour the latter, if only because of the pedal bit. a bunch sprint in the tour de france amongst a peloton of hobby-horses, scarcely bears thinking about.

there's little disputing, however, the orgination of the bicycle more or less as we know it. in 1885, john kemp starley developed the retrospectively named 'safety-bicycle', officially referred to as the 'rover', though oddly an invention that he never patented. resembling the modern-day bicycle, starley's machine bore a steerable front wheel, equally sized to that of the chain-driven rear wheel. combining this with the diamond pattern frame and dunlop's 1888 invention of the pneumatic tyre, eventually encouraged the demise of the high-wheeler or 'penny-farthing', due to greater practicality and comfort.

though hardly pertinent to this discussion, the first electric bicycle was reputedly built in 1897, in case you were wondering.

though pretty much everything that happens in the present is probably stored and searchable on someone's smartphone or the cloud, the early years of cycling activity are considerably less well-documented. take the sport of cyclocross for example. common lore would have us believe that, in the early 1900s, a steeple-chase was employed as a means for road racers of the day, to maintain fitness levels throughout the winter months. these events took the form of a race from one town to the next, where any improvised route was fair game, leading the riders over hill and down dale, across fields, streams, walls, and so-called, because church steeples were the most obvious landmarks by which to navigate.

unfortunately, there is no official record as to whether this is the truth of the matter, or mere supposition based on hearsay. it's unlikely that we'll ever know for sure.

but, despite my contention that the computer-age leaves nothing untouched, or unsaved, the recent rise and rise of the gravel bike has given weight to the emerging discussion as to where such an activity originated. the popular vote seems to be heading predominantly towards the dirty kanza, held in the flint hills of kansas state in north america. this event originated in 2006, sporting an entry numbered in dozens. that compares with a 2020 entry of 4,000, assuming the race takes place on 20 may.

however, around the same time, perhaps aware of the goings on in kansas, portland resident, daniel wakefield pasley, made a proposition to rapha's north american outpost and to former marketing manager at chris king, chris distefano, for what eventually became the original rapha continental. this consisted of a small peloton of hand-picked riders, aboard black, custom-built steel bicycles from the likes of ritchey, moots and richard sachs, amongst others, all of which featured pink chris king components and sram groupsets. the continental's avowed objective was to ride the road less ridden, which, in many cases, consisted of miles and miles of gravel. originally explored through the written word and superb photography, by 2008, dave christenson's excellent cinematography had brought the entire project to an altogether different level.

the bicycles on which the gravel was attacked, featured continental 28mm rubber shod wheels; a far cry from the 40+ mm knobblies that arrive with so-called dedicated gravel bikes nowadays. take heed of as many of these videos as you have time for and witness the advent of 'underbiking' or gravel-biking, long before the industry discovered the bandwagon upon which it has recently and so confidently jumped. though velominati's rule #12 dictates that the correct number of bikes to own is n+1, rapha's original continental convincingly proves that one of those bikes need not be a dedicated, disc-brake equipped, carbon gravel bike.

rapha continental, lincoln, nebraska

thanks to jess at rapha for tenaciously searching for the rapha vimeo collection from 2008. major brownie points have been awarded.

friday 3 april 2020

"the captain always goes down with the ship"

it hardly seems necessary to point out that, so far, the cycle race season has been decimated. after all those post worlds 2019 weeks and months, eagerly looking forward to the spring classics, in point of fact, the only classics that survived were the unofficial openers at omloop het nieuwsblad and, on the following day, kurrne-brussels-kuurne, both of which now seem a long way in the past. but, as many have already said, "it's only sport"; in the grand scheme of things, the world won't stop turning because we didn't get to see the ronde van vlaanderen, paris-roubaix, flêche wallone, liège - bastogne - liège, or the tour of yorkshire.

and while the above races obviously impinge to upon the professional peloton to a greater degree than those of us with a eurosport player subscription, the cancellation of sportives accompanying at least two of the above, will also have implications for the great unwashed. on a more local level, one of the velo club peloton had signed up to ride the étape loch ness (now postponed until late september), while two others were set to continue in the bruichladdich tyre tracks of the late lord carlos of mercian, and ride this year's étape caledonia, organisers of which have stated it will not run this year.

i would imagine the lockdown and business closures will also have had a negative impact on the comic's initiative to have us all ride farther this year, unless we've made provision for turbo sessions or laps of watopia. earlier last month, london's sigma sport indicated a 400% increase in sales of turbo-trainers, acquisition of which doubtless encompassed more than a few who had vowed never to affix their back wheels into such instruments of torture. but, at the risk of wearing out a clichéd cliché, necessity has very much become the mother and father of necessity of late.

that said, we have had at least considerable notice of cancellation or postponement. that may not come as much in the way of consolation, but imagine if you'd arrived at your b&b, unloaded the bicycle, fitted the front wheel and were just stuffing some gels in a back pocket when the call came through. the latter is pretty much what happened to the two riders from ef cycling, lachlan morton and alex howes. though neither would claim to be bona-fide mountain bike riders, they had accepted the challenge, as part of their alternative race season, to ride the absa cape epic.

they, and their support crew, were already there, when the cancellation announcement was made; yet another victim of the pandemic that has turned most everybody's lives upside down. but rather than accept another disappointing notch on the bumper of the team bus, ef cycling along with clothing and media partners rapha, have attempted to turn a negative into a positive, by premiering 'cape epic - the race that never was' on their youtube channel at 9pm bst (21:00) tonight (2 april). both riders will participate in a live q&a session following the movie.

at least this way, we can all go to the movies together and practise social distancing at the same time. will i bring the popcorn, or will you get that? and keep the noise down at the back please.

watch the trailer | cape epic - the race that never was

thursday 2 april 2020

frame by frame

i was the ripe old age of fourteen before i managed to get hold of a pair of drumsticks and a very solid black practice pad, one that i still own, strange to tell. drumming is one of those musical explorations that seems, even to the appreciative onlooker, a relatively simple skill to acquire. after all, with only one stick in each hand, all you'd have to do is move them up and down fairly fast. keep that up for a week, and you're bound to be invited to join beyoncé's backing band by the weekend.

except, if truth be told, it's a lot harder than it seems. for starters, sit behind even the most basic of drumsets, and suddenly there's at least two other drums to be hit with sticks, and a couple of pedals sat on the floor. it's at that point you quickly come to the conclusion that hitting stuff with both hands, while attempting to play the pedals with your feet, is not a natural human ability. the minute your drum teacher, or youtube points out that your feet might require to play something entirely different than your hands, while each hand plays in a wee world of its own, that's when the crying begins.

however, as i have often pointed out to fellow musicians, in truth, i can never be out of tune, only out of tempo. if you're a keyboard player, a guitarist or a brass player, though both feet can remain still at all times, it's not that hard to be in the wrong key, or play a wrong note.

for those reasons, drummers are often commended to learn a chromatic instrument, if only to better identify with the principles that govern the other folks in the band. that's fine in theory, and might even have been something accomplishable had it been mentioned when i was a great deal younger than i am now. i look on with envy at the pupils i tutor for higher drumming at the local secondary school, who can not only sight read way better than i ever could, but as an educational requirement, are able to play a second instrument as well as, or better than, they can play the drums.

like many an activity, such as computer programming, for instance, or photography, the more i know about drumming, the more i know i don't know. despite the fact that i am rarely asked to play in odd time signatures, other than 3/4 waltz time, i have a pretty good handle on oddities that are not 4/4 standard time. and while i once owned a double bass drum pedal, i eventually sold it, because nothing i played ever demanded such sophistication. but i'd still like to acquire the skill. the long and short of it is that, while i harbour the belief that i could actually learn a second instrument, any such diversions would potentially detract from becoming a better drummer.

if you've read this far, you could be forgiven for wondering what the heck this has to do with cycling, something of which i now hope to appraise you.

despite the seemingly endless bout of inclement weather that may just have ended (for the time being at least), i have continued to cycle at every opportunity, if purely on the basis that i'm determined not to be beaten by the weather. granted, there may have been a couple of sundays when it became prudent to remain indoors for safety's sake, but all in all, i've managed to ride at least once a week for more years than i could say. the downside to so doing is a potential lack of bicycle maintenance, not so much the major stuff, but the minor, niggling details which always seem less important than going for a bike ride.

in common with the majority of britain's cyclists, the roads across which the velo club ride, are considerably less than billiard-table flat. intersperse those stretches of tarmac with the occasional cattle-grid, and it's not only hands, arms and shoulders that feel the strain, but forgotten components like the headset and bottom bracket. my steel ritchey logic turns on a logic zero headset which receives more than just the occasional vertical nudge from the roads as described above. so far, it functions remarkably close to its quality when new, but i cannot deny that it has frequently crossed my mind to offer it a smidgeon of grease at the crown race and the top cup, if only to preserve its modesty.

but that would mean, i hasten to point out, spending time with allen keys, grease, oily rags and a workstand, instead of out riding. and let's be honest, if i have excess grease to wipe from the frame, i might as well clean and polish the whole bike at the same time. it's a matter of maintaining one's credibility as a famous member of the cycling media, even if that means spending less time actually riding, as pointed out above. the catch 22 is the fact that the bikeshed bears an uncanny resemblance to a council skip, so polishing needs to take place out of doors when it's dry and sunny and preferably warm; like yesterday, for instance.

and when it's dry and sunny and warm, what would we all prefer to be doing?

wednesday 1 april 2020

ritchey echelon pedals - the story so far

rather humorously (i thought), on sunday i posted on twitter, details of how to replicate on zwift, my weekend ride. this involved placing bicycle and turbo in a refrigerated container with enough space to accommodate two, pratt & whitney turbo fan engines. it would then be a simple case of setting the temperature to zero degrees and firing up both engines. in truth, actually attempting the latter would likely cause serious injury, so i fervently hope that nobody was daft enough to try. that said, spending most of the weekend ploughing into galeforce, or near-galeforce winds that had lowered the temperature sufficiently to create ice at springbank, was a state of affairs that bright sunshine had convinced was unlikely.

i was more than thankful of the opportunity to turn right onto the high road and savour a tailwind for about seven kilometres, affording my hands a set of circumstances allowing them to defrost. perhaps this was not the ideal time to have stowed away my winter gloves in favour of a nice new pair of track mitts?

riding into strong headwinds could reasonably be considered the birthright of any cyclist in the hebrides, north or south, the skills for which have been honed over decades of acknowledged intrepid stupidity and tenacity. and, in order to do so, it is necessary to have the wherewithal, both physical, mechanical and actual, whether trained, acquired or purchased. more recently, very much in my favour, i have had the invaluable assistance of a pair of ritchey echelon road pedals.

much like food recipes promulgated by margarine or flour purveyors, i cannot deny that, for those without the above mentioned pedals, there are comparable substitutes. but for those of you keen to accessorise the road bike du jour with suitable accoutrements, on the basis of several weeks pounding decrepit roads into the teeth of disfavourable draughts, i can heartily recommend these as the sole food for which you might be searching.

their predecessors, also from the ritchey stable, were a pair of micro-road pedals, highly aesthetically pleasing in a minimalist manner, but whose cleats shared similarity with their offroad brethren, in using a two-bolt fixing. thus, only offroad footwear need apply. the echelon hardwear adopts a more traditional road-based stance with triangular, red, three-bolt fixings, ideally suited to rapha's latest pro-team footwear. currently, those shoes are the only ones on which i have suitable cleats attached. with a larger cleat, clipped into pedals that dwarf their micro siblings, there is an increased surface area to which one's cultivated power output might be applied, theoretically resulting in greater forward speed.

i'd dearly love to have scientific evidence that supports that particular contention, but any increase in my average speed over the past few weeks appears to have been minimal. what has altered, however, is the ease with which escape velocity is achieved, accompanied by a satisfying, foot-based ritchey echelon pedals sensation of more focussed energy transfer. with spd pedals, such as the aforementioned micro-road pedals, any power input is concentrated over a far smaller area, potentially creating a hotspot on the sole of your foot. though the consitution of rapha's carbon sole is doubtless a contributing factor, over the past few weeks there has been a tangible difference not only in the ease of pedalling on the flat, but particularly when climbing under duress.

if all the above just sounds like an overly detailed account of which many of you take for granted, the most specific and noticeable aspect of riding with feet clipped into the echelon pedals, is the smoothness of operation. granted, the bottom bracket bearings are every bit as responsible, but the combination of the two brings to mind the 'hot knife through butter' syndrome of which many of us are familiar (or not, as the case may be).

if there's a downside to all this, it's getting in and out. the ritchey echelon pedals undoubtedly require a tad more effort to achieve both than the average pair of offroad pedals. i believe i mentioned in my original review that, after a day or two of riding, i felt twinges in my calf muscles and ankles, apparently the result of the necessary unclipping motion. that strain subsided very quickly, but even having set both pedals to near their lowest tension, there is still more effort required than, until now, has been the case.

this may simply be a part of the pain and suffering expected of the contemporary road-cyclist.

there's no doubting the fact that three-point road cleats make you walk funny, and are not ideal for descending the stairs at ardbeg distillery, or walking on shiny floors. but in the same way that seals are rarely at home on dry land, cleated shoes were hardly designed for hiking. their forte shines when clipped into pedals such as ritchey's echelons, propelling you at near light speed towards the coffee stop. the red, notched adjusters on the stainless steel axles, are every bit as red as they were out the box, and though the shiny logo'd top plates have more than just a few scuff marks, the composite body remains almost pristine.

if ever you needed an excuse to upgrade your road pedals, consider this your 'get out of jail free' card, or if you need comparable quality to go with a new pair of shoes, the same applies. a truly excellent and smooth pair of pedals, that share look keo compatibility, widening the purchase options for additional cleats.

ritchey echelon road pedals

tuesday 31 march 2020