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a dull day on diùra

if anything is certain in the hebrides, it's that nothing is certain in the hebrides. following on a from a gloriously sunny saturday, a jura friend of the velo club invited us across the water for a bike ride on sunday, presumably based on the possibility that sunday would be every bit as bright and shiny as its predecessor. disappointingly, that turned out not to be the case.

jura is separated from islay by a fast flowing stretch of water known as the sound of islay, which, in gaelic, translates as caol ila, the name of a well-known distillery that overlooks the water. traversing this stretch of water is a small car ferry operated by argyll & bute council, undertaking a trip that feels perfectly normal while on the boat, but which looks distinctly odd when viewed from the shore.

due to the strength of the current, the boat departs port askaig pier and heads north sideways, heading away from the slipway on jura. at a certain point, it then uses the current, where appropriate, to deliver it downstream and drop the ramp at jura slipway, having pushed itself onto the sloping concrete in the way that wartime landing craft did on the beaches. yesterday, we were well looked after by the crew for the short, five minute crossing.

despite having lived here for almost thirty-five years, i have still to grasp the ways and means of the wind. having pedaled into a bit of a headwind en-route to the ferry, then leaving feolin to ride in the direction of jura's main town, craighouse, we seemed still to be in the teeth of a headwind. stranger still, when we headed back down to feolin for the 2pm sailing back to jura, we were still riding into a headwind.

for many, the principal geographic feature of jura is the three hills collectively known as the paps of jura. it is views of the same on which bunnahabhain, ardnahoe and caol ila distilleries trade due to their location on islay's shore along the sound. had you joined us for the trip yesterday, in the hope of seeing the paps up close, you would have been sorely disappointed; low cloud obscured all three from view for the entire day.

on my arrival on islay in the late 1980s, the bookshop in bowmore displayed a slim volume in the window entitled the motorist's guide to jura. it was only a few years later that i discovered jura to possess only one road, presumably explaining why it was hardly the largest book i'd come across. as it transpires, there are (almost) two roads; a few kilometres outside craighouse to the north, there's a road junction. taking a right (which we did), leads the intrepid cyclist up a short, sharp nine percent gradient to knockrome and ardfernal, though ultimately, it's a dead end.

should you ever find yourself in despair over the facilities provided by your local council, let me advise you that we passed a disused, red phone box, with a sign on the door proclaiming 'knockrome library'. sadly, i only notoced this on the way down at speed, so i have no photograph to prove the veracity of my claim.

back down to junction, we again turned right to begin climbing once again on the road to lagg, though i confess that time constraints prevented us riding much past the road's high point offering scenic views south towards the bay at craighouse. given our jura host's predilection for downhilling, we conveniently moved aside to allow her the luxury of a fast descent over roads that she knows like the back of her hand. eventually, we once again reached craighouse.

lunch transpired to be considerably less than hoped for. the hotel was closed till 3pm, so we dined al fresco at the antlers, where the service was effectively too slow to opt for any hot food, when we'd a ferry to catch. my soya latte was probably the worst example i've ever come across, while the chocolate cake proved too stodgy to eat, though one of my velo club colleagues managed to polish it off fairly easily.

though the forecast had predicted rain commencing between 17:00 and 18:00, this proved to be incorrect, with spots of rain appearing as we descended towards feolin and the 14:00 ferry. by the time the boat arrived, the rain had taken hold, and the ride back to bowmore from the pier at port askaig was particularly wet. however, as a break from the usual routine sunday ride, it was, as gromit would have said, 'a grand day out', if a trifle dull and disappointing on the weather front.

monday 12 september 2022

the lost art of sauntering

on each alternate saturday morning, it is my duty to arise at early o'clock to distribute copies of islay's local newspaper. this involves popping a few boxes into the local retailers in bowmore, then awaiting arrival of the post van to collect the remaining copies for distribution to the rest of the island, and the mainland subscription copies to the airport. quite frequently, at that time on a saturday morning, the weather is particularly amenable, but invariably, by the time i have returend home for my porridge, and ready to head out on my bicycle, it has clouded over, or even begun to rain.

surprisingly, yesterday morning, particularly autumnal, thank you for asking, bucked the trend and remained sunny all day. such clement weather with a hint of autumn, had me become jack thurston, intent on savouring what might well be one of the last such days of the month, given the west of scotland's proclivity for rain and strong winds.

though i believe it may depend greatly on your demeanour and aspirations, the over-arching ambition of cycling in general seems fervently to depend on improving aerodynamics and drivetrain efficiency to allow the intrepid velocipedinist to go even faster than he or she currently travels. though i know very little about the whys and wherefores of watopia, i've yet to come across mention of a zwift programme that concentrates on having a grand day out on the bicycle, riding gently through leafy glades, stopping atop a vantage point for a virtual picnic, augmented by pixelated butterflies.

all that seems to be of concern for the latter and those in thrall to bendy bars and skinny wheels, is often encapsulated in the average speed reading shown on the garmin, or the number of watts expended when riding to the aforementioned vantage point. this is not to say that these are not important aspects in the life of an aspirant roadie, but i feel i would be correct in saying that they are not the be all and end all of cycling.

i will, generously, allow a smattering of leeway for those domiciled in less scenic parts of the country, but it should surely be only a matter of a few kilometres to reach somewhere with a backdrop worth viewing? as one of the extremely fortunate few, i have the great good fortune to live on an island with an excellent network of quiet, single track roads, the majority of which not only provide pristine scenery all of their own, but generally lead to places of even greater beauty. the glen road with beinn bheigheir in the background, usikentuie strand with its wide vistas over loch indaal and the oa, and loch gorm, with a solid blue north atlantic ocean in one direction, and the paps of jura in another.

the only catch to all of this is invariably the motor car. singletrack roads feature frequent passing places to allow passage in both directions. since i am but meandering or sauntering without deadline or compulsion, i feel it only right and proper that i be the one to get out of the way, should a chance meeting perhaps, occur along the way. so despite having talked myself into saunter mode, a constant need to speed up and reach the passing place first, meant that my intended slow average speed, took several direct hits in every appreciable direction. how could i saunter insouciantly, absorbing eyefuls of the surrounding countryside, when there was a pressing need to reach safe haven and not hold up the weekend wheels of industry?

even if those wheels invariably displayed foreign number plates at not much more than 30kph.

the lost art of sauntering is there for everyone, whether on bicycle or in a car, but in weather such as that experienced on saturday, i fail to see the attraction of the latter. and were it not for the latter, i would now be a black belt in sauntering and jack thurston would have some serious competition in the hebrides.

sunday 11 september 2022

checks and balances

there is a totally unfounded apprehension that stuff will last pretty much forever, though disc-brake pads are obviously not one of them. however, unless you find yourself in the arguably fortunate position of renewing your entire bicycle every two or three years, at some point, you're going to discover that, contrary to the impression you once held to be true, nothing, in fact, lasts forever.

the lifespan of any product, velocipedinally-based or otherwise, will vary considerably, depending on how well and from what material it is made, and to a great extent, how well it's looked after. though i prefer to be seen aboard a bicycle that (almost) appears to be in showroom condition, i regularly witness cycles hung on the back of cars or motorhomes, that have most definitely seen batter days. though obviously dependent on individual proclivities, i despair when the bikes festooned about a motor car, seem in need of a good wash and tune up, yet i can easily admire my reflection in the car's paintwork.

odd that bicycles are often seen as tools of the trade, while the car that fulfils that particular function, is regarded as a luxury item and/or status symbol.

in the years when i actually sold bicycles as part of my living, i was in the habit of offering to each purchaser, the option to return with the cycle to allow me to check the tightness of the nuts and bolts, while also adjusting the tension on brake and gear cables free of charge. the rationale behind such an apparently altruistic offer, was to save me time and them money in later months or years. throughout the time that i did so, i can recall only one person taking advantage of my largesse.

and that's a shame. for though i'm aware of many vehicles around the principality that must surely be about to shed an important mechanical part (or parts), aside from those with whom i participate in the sunday ride, very few bicycles seem to be apportioned the attention they so richly deserve. it will scarcely surprise you to learn that this is every bit about safety as it is about mechanical well-being. and though a few perambulations about the estate might cause little in the way of unforeseen problems, if undertaking a cycle tour some considerable distance from home, you might not be quite so lucky.

though i am ashamed to admit it, the interior of the washingmachinepost bike shed leaves a great deal to be desired, despite its sole function at present being to keep my bicycles safe and warm and dry. however, midst the morass that could not even be described as functional, there are a number of tyres, wheels, stems, handlebars and other such accoutrements, that once pursued an aspirational career, but now lie derelict and unloved amongst the disarray. but every now and again, that becomes my superpower.

i am well know locally as a cycling obsessive with the occasional ability to fettle recalcitrant bicycles. given that the day job is undertaken in an office almost slap, bang in the middle of bowmore, i'm not that hard to find either. thus, the appearance of a woman clad in cycling gear on wednesday past, enquiring as to whether i might take a look at the cycle of a friend with whom she was touring, was scarcely unheard of. unfortunately for the hapless rider, the malfeasance which had befallen her titatnium bicycle was dramatic even when stationary, but could have been terminal for both bicycle and rider, had it occurred at speed, descending bowmore's steep main street.

though apparently unrecognised by many, rim brake wheels often feature a wear groove around the rim's circumference, a groove that can attest to excessive brake induced wear, by beginning to disappear from sight. should this have occurred to excess, the rim sidewall will utlimately crack, the metal having become too thin to resist the inward pressure of the brake shoes, the outward pressure of the tyre and tube, or both simultaneously.

in the case under discussion, the brake shoe appeared to have caused the cracking, at which point, a thin strip of alloy had sheared from the wheel rim, exacerbated by the brake shoe having caught below, thus stripping more metal from the rim as the wheel rotated. had this happened at speed, i feel sure i would have been collecting the bicycle from the grounds of islay hospital. with no chance of repair, i swapped tyre and tube (which had survived intact), cassette and garmin accessories onto a mavic ksyrium wheel that, while less than new, was currently under employed.

the original wheel had been built on a shimano dura-ace hub, so i later stripped down the damaged wheel, cleaned the hub and sent it back to its owner, on the assumption that she would have a replacement wheel fashioned to match the front. neither rider nor luggage seemed too onerous for the bicycle in question, so i can only assume that the wheel had long since passed its sell-by date, unnoticed by its owner.

and while touring by bicycle undoubtedly places greater strain on components than the average sunday ride, the latter is not without its own set of impositions. two of us have recently suffered from pedal breakages, despite the pedals in question being of good quality and relatively unencumbered by age. another repeatedly suffered from spoke breakages until replacing his wheelset. it may be harder to find experienced cycle mechanics this far west, a situation that doesn't necessarily improve as you head north across the west coast islands, which is why it makes as much, if not more sense to periodically check the principal parts of the bicycle in an effort to prevent and cure, rather than suffer.

though this may be the latter days of the 2022 summer cycle touring season, there will always be those who like to ride through the autumn or even the winter months, when being caught with a broken something or other, miles from anywhere in considerably less than favourable weather, is not a preferable option. if you possess a mechanical nous that allows you to check stuff with confidence, do it as often as you can. if not, pop the bike into a reputable bike shop and have them do it for you. but prior to that, learn enough about your bicycle to ensure you can point out the bits you want them to check in particular.

the statistics show that few of us cycle with any great regularity. let's not lower that number through inattention.

saturday 10 september 2022

because we're worth it

midst all the faff that has surrounded the election of a new prime minister by a very small proportion of the british public, other parts of the country, scotland for instance, have been experiencing business as usual. and a part of that 'business as usual' for nicola sturgeon's scottish government, has been updating its programme for government 2022-23, a document that has subsequently been dissected by many, not least of which is the scottish branch of cycling uk.

following the 'unprecedented level of commitment towards cycling' shown in last year's document, there were great expectations that this year would be the follow up album that would demonstrate another consolidated attack on the charts. though i have not personally perused the document, based on the appraisal published on the cyclinguk website, it's definitely not the follow-up album that was expected.

that's not to say that the scottish government has failed in its commitment to active travel, but the report indicates that this year demonstrates a more 'steady-as-you-go approach, as opposed to one featuring inspired thinking. and at this juncture, i wonder if, within holyrood, there is even just a smidgeon of despair, unaware of just how to proceed in such matters?

though not directly related, islay has been chosen as one of six scottish islands designated as those heading towards carbon neutrality by 2040. on announcement of the latter, i contacted my local msp to enquire as to how this was to be achieved within the specified timescale, sure that they would have worked out most of the kinks before making this commitment. as it transpired, i was well wide of the mark; though holyrood did not directly respond, a friend who works in the climate/energy sector, told me that there was no indication that any detailed plans currently existed.

it appears that carbon zero is more of a project of discovery, than a strategic plan.

should it be indeed true that scotland's government has little idea of how to proceed, other than through endless surveys and feasibility studies, it would surely assist the situation were they simply to ask the good people at cyclinguk. as was pointed out by carlton reid in his excellent volume 'roads were not built for cars', the reason that the all-encompassing cycling facilities installed as part of stevenage new town, failed, was because the town planners failed to make it any more difficult to travel by car.

if i might relate the above to the tautological fact that water always takes the path of least resistance, human beings frequently exhibit similar traits. thus, unless you are true stalwarts such as ourselves, if the car looks like the simpler and less strenuous option, that's very like the one that will be chosen. if, however, bike travel or walking were given total priority at every twist and turn, only the most obtuse would resort to motorised traffic.

thus, if any government truly believes in its own commitment to environmental, transport and climate issues, it would place a moratorium on road developments, concentrating instead, on giving priority to walkers and cyclists, step by step, making the latter the more convenient means of getting from a to b. of course, were it as simple as i contend, it would surely have been done years ago? but as with every aspect of politics, nothing is ever that straightforward. the cycle industry, for example, does not have the lobbying clout possessed by the motor industry. and though the commitment is to phase out personal vehicles dependent on fossil fuel by 2030, until that day, the treasury still collects the large amount of duty applied to fuel.

while the scottish national party is allegedly in cahoots with the green party, the very one you would imagine whose members would surely pedal to their seats at holyrood, political machinations probably do not work entirely in favour of the velocipedinists.

cycling uk scotland campaigns and policy manager, jim densham, while stopping short of saying he won't purchase a copy of this, nicola sturgeon's second album, has said that he will be calling for funding of £235 million in the next financial year, which, he says, would put scotland on the right path to spending 10% of the transport budget on active travel. i'm sure most of us would see 10% as a rather derisory amount, given the government's protestations that it sees climate change as a central pillar of its future strategy.

and for those of us who struggle to imagine just what £235 million would look like in five pound notes, one can only marvel at the £18 billion target pointed at by chair of active travel england, chris boardman. this very large amount of five pound notes, he claims, would be needed to grow cycling to equitable levels in englandshire. perhaps it would be a fine ratio if the respective transport departments were required to spend an agreed ratio on both. for instance, for every £100 million spent on road infrastructure, they were legally required to spend £50 million on active travel.

but i still believe that, ultimately, if driving were made considerably less convenient, either financially or pragmatically, combined with an upgrade of the nations' walking and cycling infrastructure, it would prove to be a case of 'build it and they will come.'

photo: andy catlin

friday 9 september 2022

hubba hubba

i am not now, nor have i ever been, a 'gamer', in the sense that i do not play any computer or online games. and while i'm admitting to things in which you've no real interest, i'm not particularly enamoured of board games, such as monopoly, snakes and ladders, or ludo (though i have a certain partiality towards scrabble). my son and grandsons are the exact opposites, keen to spend any downtime in front of a screen with playstation or x-box controller in hand.

therefore, i am only peripherally aware that while neither of the above platforms are exactly cheap at point of purchase, reputedly the real money is made from sales of the games. and embarrassingly enough, on opening the plastic containers on which pictures of sonic the hedgehog can be seen, all that was to be found, was a tiny sd card, calling into question the necessity of such large packaging. imagine purchasing a water bottle and having it delivered in a bike box. that's a lot of money for something so tiny.

and though i may have given the mistaken impression that, as a famous member of the cycling media, i am unbelievably well-informed on each and every aspect of the velocipedinal world, it's very likely that such is very far from the truth, particularly when it comes to cycling games, such as zwift and its on-screen peers. for instance, only a matter of months ago, while perusing a copy of the comic in the process of devouring a double-egg roll, i was rather taken aback to realise just how costly it can be to purchase a smart trainer.

part of my surprise was engendered by the knowledge that one or two folks of my acquaint, who have frequently expressed astonishment not only at the price of a decent road bike, but have had their flabbers ghasted at the price of a saddle, or even bar tape, seem quite content to avail themselves of a smart turbo, all the better to spend time in watopia. given that these devices seem inclined to feature price tags not far short of £1000, plus an annual subcription and some sort of bicycle on which to ride, there's every possibiity that their investment is well in excess of what they'd be happy to spend on a decent bicycle.

but then, none of the major turbo manufacturers offers the online experience as purveyed by the likes of zwift or rgt, which would, i'd imagine, explain why the new offering from the former retails at a far more amenable £499 (mysteriously also available at $499 or €499 for countries subject to those denominations). at a quick glance, that would position the zwift hub at around half the price of similar devices on the market. and as if that were insufficient, the price of the hub includes a cassette of the customer's choice at point of purchase.

for yours truly, this is all of academic interest, since i have no intention of availing myself of any of the above. however, the only real fly-in-the-ointment i can see that would prevent the hub embarking upon a campaign of world domination, is the knowledge that zwift has existed since 2014, meaning there have been eight years in which the watopian population have had the opportunity or necessity of purchasing competitors' products. is anyone really likely to chuck out the tackx and order a hub?

for comedians and percussionists worldwide, timing is of the essence. the same might prove true for the folks at zwift, who could find themselves guilty of having brought the ideal product to market, but done so just a tad too late.

the zwift hub

thursday 8 september 2022

changing track

there are nuances that transpire behind the scenery of which only those of us at the coal-face are aware. this doesn't make us any better or worse than those of you reading at a distance, simply defining us in the cycling media as those inhabiting a different universe. i realise that the foregoing sounds a tad ostentatious, but in order to write these words everyday, i, and many thousands like me, have access to information that allows us to appear, in my case at least, more credible than is truly the case. the bottom line is that we can ask questions and have access to imagery, allowing the framing of new products, of velocipedinal developments, or simply the chance to shoot the breeze with those who are more entrenched in the industry.

i must set myself apart from the majority of my virtual colleagues, if simply on the basis that i don't do this for a living. theoretically, if the stresses and strains of writing every day look like becoming overwhelming, i could just stop (yeah, like that's going to happen). however, there's no doubt that, in all walks of life, for some, there comes a time when the daily grind starts to become a chore, and if that chore is what pays the bills, many hours of dissection and internal arguments are likely to follow, wondering just what to do about the situation.

sometimes, however, stuff just works itself out. for instance, a chap by the name of graham hutson worked in rapha's press department way back in 2018, before departing for pastures new. through various connections, we've never lost touch in the intervening years, and only yesterday, i learned that graham was once again, back with rapha's press department at least until the end of the year. happy days.

but then there are others for whom the trees have begun to obscure the woods, and no matter from which perspective the problem is approached, it seems always to prove an obstacle. through the (hopefully) delightful idiosyncracies of the post, i have largely managed to avoid the seasonal pitfalls that often beset the world of mainstream cycle publishing. whether it's still the same across the pond, i know not, but in past years, as soon as easter was out the way and summer making inroads, there would surface a slew of articles about riding one's first century. and every autumn, there will be features on cycle lighting, winter clothing, how to prepare your bike for winter etc.

back on this side of the atlantic, on both sides of the channel, autumn once again introduces the cyclocross season. for many, the grand tours are simply a means of marking time until it's 'cross season once again. this particular strain of the sport arrives with the necessities of woolly scarves and pom, pom hats, along with the ever-present plea for 'more cowbell'. do not misunderstand, for cyclocross is every bit as serious and addictive as any other branch of professional cycling; simply one with desirable accoutrements.

since 2008, photographer, balint hamvas, has documented pretty much every aspect of each cyclocross season, the results of which he features in regular e-mails in the pre and post christmas period. and then there were the annual cyclocross photo annuals. according to the man himself, he reckons to have covered over 350 cyclocross races over the years, "...from the little local races to more than a dozen world championships." and though, within reason, every hour long race is different, at the same time, they're all pretty much the same, particularly when seen through the photographer's lens.

having recognised this to be the case, balint hamvas is giving up.

"While there are a handful of new venues every season, the bulk of the races take place at the same venue, using the same courses, even the time of the year is the same. I've photographed Koksijde fifteen times and I've done most venues at least a dozen times. I've run out of ideas."

i've been writing thewashingmachinepost for over 26 years and while i know of which balint speaks, thankfully it's a cloud that has yet to appear on my horizon. balint, however, has decided to go out in a blaze of glory, producing one last cyclocross annual. "My vision is a nearly 300 page book, the biggest of all, featuring not only my favourite shots from the last season but also a look back on the last 14 years and re-publishing the best photos and some photos that youÕve never seen before."

i harbour high hopes that after a suitable break from the treadmill, balint will find that he misses cyclocross more than he thought he would and return to the fold. but working on the possibility that such a state of affairs will not come to pass, and i say this on behalf of all of those reading, are we willing to miss out on the chance to acquire what, at the moment, might turn out to be the final cyclocross curtain? for those who share my emotions, i have published below, the necessary link to pre-order balint's final cyclocross book.

don't miss out.

wednesday 7 september 2022

narrow minded

as with almost every aspect of professional cycle racing, the sport's governing body, the uci, mandate the specification of nigh on every measurement that relates to a bicycle, the most obvious exception is possibly that of tyre-width. the exception to that contention is surely the cyclocross bicycles, the majority of which can accommodate anything up to around 42mm, but for competition purposes, 33mm is as wide as you can go.

oddly enough, the erstwhile new kid on the block, gravel, is not constrained in any way, when time comes to fit rubber. i have come across gravel tyres reaching 53mm, a width that would seem a tad overkill for anything that might be regarded as competitive. and i should probably make mention of the fact that i have found remarkably few gravel bicycles with chainstay widths that would allow the use of such wide rubber. 40 - 45mm would appear to be the consensus when it comes to gravellating.

i have already read of fears that fitting tyres of less than 30mm to a gravel bike would create handling difficulties on a bicycle designed to cope with wider rubber, fears that i tend to think have been overstated. my specialized cyclocross bicycle arrived with the mandatory 33mm width, a width with which i have kept faith when shifting to road-style tyres when not playing amongst the undergrowth. however, a couple of years ago i briefly fitted a pair of 700 x 28c tyres to the specialized just to see what might happen. in fact, very little actually happened, though i was left with the distinct impression that i was riding more quickly on narrower rubber.

should you be wondering why i reverted to the wider 33mm road tyres in the interim, i'm embarrassed to say it was entirely at the behest of aesthetics. if you wonder of which i speak, try fitting 28mm rubber to a cross or gravel bike and i'm sure you'll agree.

but then, one really has to wonder why anyone who has recently acquired a gravel bike, would find themselves quibbling over tyre widths? i can understand why debate will continue for many a year to come over the effectiveness of different tread patterns, depending greatly on the terrain over which the particular bicycle is expected to perform. but surely if 28mm rubber is regarded as the optimum for any bike ride, is a gravel or cyclocross bike truly the best option to which they should be fitted?

there has been great debate in certain corners of the velocipedinal world, over the effect of rolling resistance effected by differing tyre widths, discussion that i can see would be of benefit to the professionals, but truly are of considerably less import to you or i. however such ministrations are surely the direct equivalent of the molds required by monocoque carbon; designed for the cutting edge despite few of us being anywhere near that particular perimeter. in certain aspects, those side-effects may well prove beneficial, providing us with tyres offering a smattering of free speed.

in a recent question and answer session on youtube, drummer thomas lang, in response to a query about spring tension settings on his bass drum pedals, admitted that he simply accepts the factory settings. this, he said, was because they arguably knew more about the process than he.

in that respect, should we not be inclined to accept the tangible recommendations of the manufacturer at point of sale, unless, when riding, something seems stridently amiss? i will readily admit that fashions change over time; it's not so very long ago that 25mm was the standard width on road bikes, effectively replaced with today's bread and butter, 28mm. i have no idea if professional or serious amateur cyclocross racers moan about the uci restriction of 33mm, but until someone raises the issue at aigle, them's the rules.

having excellent recall of time-trialling (don't ask) on a pair of very uncomfortable 19mm tyres, the fact that several contemporary road frames will happily accept up to 32mm tyres, it would appear that the uci are less than concerned about wout and pog playing fast and loose with tyre widths. however, it does seem a tad disingenuous, while the roadies seem intent on wider rubber, that adherents of gravel are already discussing the vicissitudes of heading in the opposite direction.

seems we're just never satisfied.

tuesday 6 september 2022