..........................................................................................................................................................................................................
cutting edge
when i was in my early teens, american big band drummer, buddy rich, was a frequent guest on the michael parkinson show, a saturday evening chat show, in which mr parkinson was renowned for featuring many well-known stars from show business. buddy was also a regular feature on america's david letterman show, but that's a fact i've only learned recently through browsing youtube movies; the letterman show was not, as i understand, ever broadcast on british television. at the time, the parkinson show was to be seen at a time regarded by my parents as past my bedtime. however, given my expressed desire to play drums, despite my father's disapproval of that particular aspiration, i was allowed to stay up and watch buddy being interviewed, inevitably followed by a performance from the buddy rich big band.
for those less than familar with the flamboyant talent displayed by buddy, perhaps i can place this in a more velocipedinal frame by confidently stating a direct comparison to eddy merckx. only this past week, when viewing videos from the modern drummer magazine youtube channel, have i heard two present day drummers (stephen perkins and deep purple's ian paice) make revered reference to buddy, despite his inhabiting a genre entirely different to the two aforementioned rock drummers. similarly, at the time, my own musical preferences did not include big band swing, but it was within the scope of my father's interest. yet, irrespective of the music being played, buddy's technique was unparalleled, as was his musicality and impeccable sense of time.
perhaps, if i'd been older, i might have had the savvy to realise that technique like that was likely always to remain outwith my reach. but on the contrary, despite being a mere beginner in the art of drumming, i figured that the main difference between buddy and i, apart from age and experience, was practice. only many years later did i learn that buddy rich admitted to never practising (though i have my suspicions that this wasn't entirely true). however, i have remained true to my original assumption, and to this day, i have a pair of sticks and a practice pad sat to the side of my armchair. as a result, i do possess a decent level of drum technique, but i'd be kidding myself if i thought it bore any resemblance to that of buddy rich. nonetheless, for me and many others, he remains an inspiration.
that may also be the case with superlative riders such as tadej pogacar, remco evenepoel, mathieu van der poel and wout van aert. it's unlikely that their prowess is likely to manifest itself upon mere amateurs such as the many sunday pelotons across the nation. but for young riders who feel they have what it takes to become more than just an average professional, having illustrious riders such as those named above as a level at which to aim, may well be the very spark that makes the difference. but perhaps some of them are not yet old enough to realise that no matter how hard they train and how often they achieve victory at the lower levels, they might never reach the pinnacle as espoused by tadej, mathieu, remco et al.
there are, however, those who, while still on the lower rungs, recognise that the price of attempt is far greater than they're willing to endure. i'm perfectly happy to go out riding in freezing rain driven by galeforce winds, but it's worth recognising that so doing is entirely my choice. professional riders, at whatever level, are required to undertake the specific training programmes presented by their directeurs sportifs. that's what they're paid for, and it would be naive to deny that it's not all fun and frolics. already, two talented young riders have decided it's not for them.
two soudal quick-step riders, still teenagers, frenchman gabriel berg and british rider, cormac nisbet have opted to call it a day, having both become disenchanted with a lifestyle that they had originally thought would offer a promising and ultimately, well-rewarded career. with pogacar having acquired so many impressive victories while still in his mid-twenties, teams who are not uae, are eagerly searching for tadej's successor, and at a younger age than has traditionally been common. both berg and nisbet may have been inspired in a similar manner as did a teenage me on seeing buddy rich; i did not, it's safe to say, follow in buddy's footsteps. though i spent a few years as a professional drummer in my early twenties, it was hardly of earth-shattering proportions. i enjoyed my drumming and still do. i'm not saying buddy didn't enjoy his career, but it was work, not just the pleasant past-time it is for yours truly.
it's recognised state of affairs that you would need to love riding your bicycle in order to aspire to a career doing so, but that needs to continue, or it becomes every bit as much of a drudgery as any mundane job. every now and again, inspiration is not all it's cracked up to be.
monday 21 october 2024
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................jiggling
in view of today's weather forecast, which had the entire day's ferry sailings cancelled by saturday lunchtime, it was deemed by those well-versed in such matters, to abandon all hope of cycling in the hebrides. well, that's the last time i pay any attention to weather forecasts. having opted to have a lie-in rather than face the elements, on arising, i discovered that, despite met office warnings and dark red numbers on xcweather, i could have ridden my bike with one leg, and still made it home on time. i should just have decided to go out cycling anyway, but instead, went for a long walk. the fact that it was warm, sunny and barely even breezy, simply made matters worse. next time there's any storm warnings for this area, i will be seeking watertight guarantees from the forecasters, or i want my money back.
saturday's ride was also undertaken in bright blue skies, with wall-to-wall sunshine and winds arguably stronger than those experienced on sunday morning. in order to dispense the fortnightly copies of the newspaper, i had arisen at stupid o'clock on saturday morning, directly entailing that breakfast would be over and done with before mrs washingmachinepost even knew it was saturday. keen not to sit around the house undertaking pointless chores or projects, i elected to drag the cyclocross bicycle from the bikeshed and gain as many hard kilometres as i could, before heading home after my double-egg roll and soya latte (sneaking in a rather delicious slice of sultana cake in the process) to watch the exact series cyclocross race from essen.
as previously advised, riding my cyclocross bicycle affords the opportunity to turn off the metalled road at uiskentuie directly onto the grass and dunes that lead, ultimately, to foreland road end. though i've been unable to ascertain whether a permanent change or not, since last year, sheep are no longer grazed on the coastal side of the strand, meaning the grass and machair now grow unfettered. sheep being the sort of animals they are, keen to follow my leader, wherever the latter may decide to go, there was once a narrow track leading from opposite the farmhouse down as far as the gravel track at mid-point, that allows vehicular access. those tracks are still evident, but a lack of grazing sheep has seen obscurity begin to muddy their definition as well as make it harder to keep up a reasonable speed without resorting to puffing and panting (of which i did plenty).
however, this means that, in a relatively short distance, it's possible to endure the sort of beating that normally results from a more extensive road ride; and i'm happy to admit that such is sort of the point of undertaking such a route in the first place. i'm probably kidding myself that the three plus kilometres of the strand will ultimately improve my bike handling abilities, but i've yet to test that theory farther than foreland. so doing, however, does allow respite from overtaking vehicles, though, to be honest, vehicle traffic on the strand is rarely onerous or troublesome to a cyclist.
co-commentator on eurosport/discovery+, helen wyman, found the ideal description of what the current parcours on the strand does to the intrepid, yet faux cyclocross enthusiast. though she was referring to the hardened ground being experienced at essen, an event that saw several mechanical misfortunes (including brit, thomas mein somersaulting over the bars), observing the string of leading riders riding apace across sections of the race, she used the word 'jiggling' to refer to their body movements in the quest for eventual victory. though i don't have the luxury of observing my trajectory along the strand, i have a feeling that, albeit at a far slower pace, i jiggled my way in both directions, pre and post luncheon.
and though it's a subject i have pursued to the point of exhaustion, a meeting with a rider of my acquaint, visiting the centre of the universe for a week, played directly into my cunning trap. riding a recently acquired giant revel gravel bike, he rather innocently enquired as to what was the difference between a cyclocross bike and one designated for gravel. my answer, perhaps a tad more explicit than absolutely necessary, you can probably anticipate - "absolutely f*** all". though there will be amongst you, those who vehemently disagree, i might cite as evidence for the prosecution, the fact that dutchman, ryan kamp, competed in last week's and this week's exact cross events aboard a colnago g4x, which the italian providers of tadej pogacar's bicycles, class as a gravel bike omitting any reference to the availability of a cyclocross variant. and should you visit the specialized website and choose either cyclocross or gravel, the respective links will take you to the same web page.
like i said, no difference whatsoever. given the greater longevity of the cyclocross genre, it ought to be an embarrassment to the industry that it has collectively opted to prioritise the american invented variant, ahead of a style of bicycle they have been offering for decades.
for those of you who are of similar mind to that of yours truly, i recommend that you acquire an appropriately decorated big bobble hat, and wear it regularly from now until the end of the cyclocross season next february. if you're of the gravel persuasion, you might like to re-think your velocipedinal choices.
image copyright big bobble hats
sunday 20 october 2024
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................not what you'd think
when first having moved to the hebrides, i was confounded by the fact that nobody seemed to cycle anywhere at all. my first residence on the hallowed isle was immediately adjacent to the secondary school, yet the wall around the premises was completely free of bicycles, directly contrasting with my own secondary school which sported a lengthy line of bicycles, often two deep, the full length of a very long wall. so why, i asked both literally and figuratively, did nobody on a relatively lightly trafficked island ride a bicycle? many schoolkids who lived in the village, within which not one house can be considered outwith walking distance, were given a lift to school by either mum or dad, though many did actually walk. but, as i explored the island by bicycle, almost never did i meet anyone else using the same means of transport.
the reputed problem was frequently cited as the wind; islay borders the north atlantic ocean, with nothing between saligo bay on the west coast, and the eastern seaboard of canada. rather obviously, this meant that the frequent atlantic squalls experienced not one iota of resistance as they headed for hebridean shores. this entailed breezy summers and often galeforce winds in winter. if you subscribe to billy connolly's description of only two scottish seasons (august and winter), you may garner just how prevalent those winds tended to be. however, their preponderance - and i have had almost forty years' experience to date - means that rarely are they remarked upon. why converse about something so undeniably common?
several years ago, i was asked by a german lady staying on islay for a summer, whether i was in the habit of cycling when it was windy, to which i replied that, were i not to do so, i would have to take up an alternative past-time. if cycling in the wind is perceived as a problem, you won't be doing much cycling.
however, the weather forecast most often used by islanders is that of xc weather, which offers an hour by hour guide to average windspeed, gusts, temperature, and rainfall. it's not particularly accurate with regard to the latter, and can often exaggerate the gusting windspeed, but generally speaking, it gives a better overall picture than that provided by accuweather, bbc, or the met office (though i know of those who might disagree). it is one source used by calmac to decide whether the ferries sail, but often their considered outcomes seem in direct contradiction to the conditions indicated by averaged meteorological considerations.
but yesterday was the eve of publication of the latest issue of the island's local newspaper, indicating that i should indulge in my fortnightly ride to bridgend stores and debbie's with their sales copies ready for saturday morning custom. according to xcweather, from lunchtime onwards was likely to be particularly inclement, featuring increasingly heavy rain and 73kph winds. now, i'm unsure just how many of you have experienced riding in winds of such speed (they did increase, later in the afternoon, to 80kph), particularly over roads that offer absolutely no shelter whatsoever, but despite their reputation, and the fact that xcweather displays them in a threatening dark red colour, 73kph (45 mph), winds are actually remarkably easy in which to cycle. believe me, i know. i've often wondered whether the reputed threat would be psychologically lessened if the numbers were displayed in pale blue or yellow; perhaps if that were the case, more folks would be willing to entrust themselves to the vicissitudes of the elements.
tomorrow (sunday) however, may be an altogether different bucket of chain links. provision of the name storm ashley suggests that it might be a smidgeon more of a hindrance than was yesterday's breeze, proffering winds in the region of 100kph. when constituted as a headwind, it's merely gruntwork; you will, slowly but surely, close in on your destination. however, when experienced as crosswinds, there is danger in the air, particularly if those crosswinds are likely to blow you into the path of oncoming or following traffic. since it's all but impossible to cycle anywhere on islay without being buffeted by crosswinds, for the first time in over a year, it seems highly likely that the sunday morning ride will be cancelled.
still, there's always the start of the telenet superprestige cyclocross series on the tellybox, come sunday pm.
you could, if you're willing, use the local rule of thumb: if the average windspeed is less than 50kph, cycling shouldn't be much of a problem. in excess of that, it's likely that gusts will exceed 90kph, and while that's probably survivable, i think i can promise that doing so won't be much fun. and if you're likely to be blown across the road, it won't be a lot of fun for any passing motorists either.
saturday 19 october 2024
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................favouritism
not so very long ago, the islay rumour mill indicated that certain, less than favourable circumstances had taken place within a local organisation. islands are often rife with rumours, and given the nature of my day job, i'm more or less obliged to follow up many of these rumours. in many cases, i'm well aware that it these nothing more than scurrilous attempts to cause trouble, or simply someone's misapprehension of an overheard or misheard conversation. in certain cases, it could be a simple case of mistaken identity. but even if i think i know the information to be incorrect, i'd look a complete fool if i ignored it and it turned out to be true. so the pragmatic thing to do is simply to ask the disparaged party to confirm or deny.
in the case under discussion, there was a strong case for believing the rumour, but it seemed only fair to give the injured party the right to present their side of the story. after several attempts to contact the latter, i had received no reply regarding a situation that required publication of some kind of story; to do otherwise would have been to look either complicit or negligent. following my third attempt at contact, i rather arrogantly announced that, were i not to receive any reply, i would simply go ahead and publish the information i had laid out in my query, information that was unlikely to paint said organisation in a favourable light. additionally, were they to subsequently refute that information, so doing was likely to appear as damage limitation, rather than justification.
as i mentioned above, i would categorise my final approach as verging on the arrogant, but it's eminently possible to classify any published statements in a manner that demonstrated that i was simply responding to independently received reports. it's a means of continuing the time-honoured tradition known as freedom of the press, making no definitive nor contentious accusations; simply making the public aware that here was a situation that deserved their attention. in this particular case, i was attempting to leverage the notion that, if they preferred not to respond, i would have no option but to publish what i knew.
there's undoubtedly been an exponential growth in the desire for organisations of all sizes, to control their public image, by devolving any and all questions to a media department which, in return, will dispense the sanitised version, erring quite visibly in their favour. so doing means that instead of you and i being able to understand any given situation based on freely available information, the latter is effectively controlled by the reputedly credible possessors of that information.
if i might cite a recent situation by way of example.
argyll and bute council's roads department unilaterally decided to narrow the road which runs past a village distillery and up towards the local secondary school. this involved substantial widening and construction of pavements at one point of the road, implementing a priority system that effectively works against the route of the school buses. on enquiring (through the press office - direct contact with the head of the department is effectively forbidden to members of the press) the reasoning behind these substantial changes, the reply stated that this had been done on grounds of safety. i have lived here for almost forty-years and unaware of any situations over those two-score years that would give them cause to cite that reason. i contacted the school, the distillery manager, the police and the coummunity council to enquire if they had spoken to the council at any point in the recent past, to highlight any safety concerns. direct replies were received from the school head teacher, chairman of the community council, and the local police sergeant. the distillery reply, however, came from their mainland-based press office.
it's an admittedly trivial example, but the council would broker no further communication on the subject, thereby standing by their initial answer, and though i have been personal friends with the distillery manager for over a decade, he and i are seemingly - officially - prohibited from corresponding directly with each other. big brother is alive and well...
and the situation continues, even within the bicycle industry, with the association of cycle traders (act) launching a campaign for "...fair and accurate reporting of ebike related news" the act contends that there have been misleading and inaccurate headlines and articles in the press that may have "negatively impacted the public perception of e-bikes."
many of these headlines and articles have concerned themselves with reported battery fires, the majority alleged to have been the result of non-standard and not entirely legal batteries and/or chargers, acquired from third-party websites. in the main, their complaints are likely to have some foundation, but if you'll pardon the pun, there is rarely any smoke without fire. and this blanket attempt to have the media (both cycle and general) cease from unwarranted criticism of "...an increasingly popular and sustainable mode of transport". while it would be unfair of me to cast aspersions, given the source of the campaign, is it possible that the reputed decline in growth (and therefore, sales) of the e-bike market has prompted the act to attempt to exert some control over the previously mentioned 'freedom of the press'?
from my possibly prejudiced point of view, it seems that ever since the emergence of the e-bike, there have been many efforts to encourage all manner of support for the genre. there have been unabashed demands that government provide subsidies to those who wish to purchase an e-bike, that e-bikes ought to attract a lower amount of vat, and that charging points ought to be installed by local councils. yet the acoustic bicycle is largely left to fend for itself. though the e-bike is described by the association of cycle traders as "...an eco-friendly, inclusive and efficient mode of travel [that] makes the air cleaner in our towns and cities." (it doesn't actually make the air cleaner, it simply fails to sully that air with any pollutants. at least, not at poiint of use, though the use of generated electricity is conveniently left unsaid.)
based entirely on the above, the act would prefer it if the media, in all its various forms, refrained from criticism of e-bikes (though they have stopped short of asking for a total ban). and in order that their members suffer not from the slings and arrows of electron disparagement, mitigating against future increased sales, the implication, as i have possibly incorrectly interpreted it, being that a modicum of favouritism would be much appreciated.
friday 18 october 2024
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................concerns
according to astrophysicists, the universe is still expanding at an accelerating rate, an expansion that is allegedly due to space itself enlarging. the root cause is currently reckoned to be the result of dark energy, a presently undetectable substance that has been calculated to form 77% of the universe. this may or may not fit into a previous theory that the big bang was one amongst many big bangs. early theoreticians contended that, like many an explosion, the initial force of the big bang contained sufficient energy to force all matter outwards. when that energy is finally exhausted, the universe will start to contract under its own gravitational weight, returning to the single point alleged to comprise 'our' big bang. and the whole process would begin all over again. thankfully, the chances of anyone currently reading this being around to confirm that theory, is highly unlikely.
if true, it could be seen to confirm the observation that no amount of expansion can continue unabated forever. world economics would also tend to confirm such a state of affairs. while many a contemporary business venture can be seen to concentrate on untrammeled growth, year on year, rational thought would recognise that this is ultimately impossible. at some point in an undefined future, any commercial enterprise has to reach saturation point, when each and every potential customer has actually become one, and there's no-one else left to whom any hypothetical product can be sold. when that happens, the only alternative would be creation of either a notable product development, or an entirely new and hitherto unseen product able to create its own demand. the latter is, however, entirely hypothetical.
either that, or a product with a defined shelf-life that needs continually to be replaced and is popular enough to achieve that.
in the velocipedinal universe, the above alluded negative situation may already have been observed, with the early months of this year witnessing a distinct downturn in bicycle sales, accompanied by serious discounts to help boost the sales figures. we have already discussed the odd notion that several of those who presumably ought to have known better, apparently didn't. take peloton for instance; sales and subscriptions to their indoor cycles and online training programmes grew substantially during the years of lockdown, but reduced dramatically when we were all allowed outside once more. yet the peloton management seemed to have fallen for the continuous growth paradigm, one which was only ever going to end in tears.
but leaving that aside, could it be that several strains of the bicycle industry have reached a natural summit? many recent cycle releases have borne uncanny resemblance to their predecessors, leading many to consider whether an upgrade would truly be an upgrade at all. apparel manufacturers have found themselves in a similar quandary, resorting to often ill-advised partnerships with non-cycling entities, or simply offering last year's jersey in reputedly new colours. admittedly, the banning of certain manufacturing processes and outlawing of harmful chemicals, has resulted in the likes of gore-tex having to re-think their approach to comply with often continent-wide regulations. however, this is really only taking place under duress; most of us were perfectly happy with the (often eyewateringly expensive) predecessors.
pinarello, bicycle suppliers to team ineos, a once overtly successful organisation that seems lately to have discovered the true meaning of a tangible end to continued success), are one such marque that may possibly have hit the buffers. earlier this week, their strangely named dogma received not a technological development, but one of colour. the definition of the word dogma is a principle or set of principles that are offered as incontrovertibly true. quite how anyone thought that to be a meaning that bears any relation to a bicycle, is a debate for another day.
but continuing this odd tendency to adopt words that either mean nothing or are entirely unrelated to any bicycle-related activity, pinarello has unveiled three new colours in which its bizarrely-named, dogma x endurance bike might be purchased. presumably intending to do so in a thematic manner, these colours are defined as xolar yellow, xolar white and xolar sea, despite the word xolar appearing solely to be the brand name of a canadian installer of solar panels. its existence as an adjective of colour seems to have no legitimate precedent.
though highly debatable, i tend to be of the opinion that, when a lack of technological development is usurped by a simple variation in colour, and a prescient need to officially announce it in a press release, we've reached saturation point. there may, however, be limited scope for pinarello to offer some form of incremenincontovertablytal emebllishment. if they're at dogma'x' in 2024, there's still 'y' and 'z' to go.
thursday 17 october 2024
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................still happens
in the early to relatively recent decades of thewashingmachinepost, i count myself as extremely fortunate for the opportunities engendered by not denying the mistaken assumption that i might be a cycling journalist. in truth, i have no idea whether there are specific college or university courses in velocipedinal journalism, whether it counts as a specialism for those aspiring to a career in journalism, or whether it simply requires that any numpty such as myself, can identify as a cycling journalist and get away with it. i should immediately point out that it's a vocation to which i have never directly admitted, but simply having an easily accessible and fairly obviously cycling-related blog provided the opportunity to request and be granted media accreditation to many events i would otherwise have had to observe from the outside looking in.
there was the contradictory state of affairs that occurred at the glasgow start of the tour of britain several years ago, where i discovered i was expected to possess a bona-fide media pass in order to gain access to the building dispensing media passes. or, indeed, appropriate accreditation for an edinburgh city-centre cycling event which, despite providing a fluorescent yellow media vest, offered no more access than those simply spectating. still, on the plus side, writing a cycling blog did gain a passenger seat ride next to john herety in the rapha team car, during glasgow's hosting of the british road race championship in 2013. in case you'd forgotten, the event was won by mark cavendish. rapha's kristian house finished in sixth place.
and then there's the cycle exhibitions, the first of which i can recall attending was in london, where an implied connection with mountain bike supremos muddy fox fell disturbingly flat when the company failed to arrive at their large, central stand. the first signs of impending bankruptcy. i did once or twice enjoy attending the national cycle show in earls court, a habit that came to a grinding halt when the latter was demolished and the exhibition moved to birmingham. no disrespect to the latter city, but for a cycling obsessive from the sticks, the nation's capital offered cultural attractions unavailable in the midlands. there were a couple of attempts to create an annual show north of the border in glasgow's exhibition centre complex, but a lack of both exhibitors and attendees pretty much signed its financial death warrant.
since those days, i have made no attempt whatsoever to attend any form of cycle show, though financial considerations have inevitably played a part in that decision. with this year's rouleur live soon to take place in truman's brewery in london, i was reminded that the last time i planned to attend, the price of admission (ferry, accommodation, rail or bus etc., etc.) was well in excess of £300, allied to a four-day window to achieve the above. all for a maximum of five hours at the show. to rationalise such a decision, apart from the time and financial cost, too many of today's bicycles look pretty much the same as other bicycles. in other words, where's my motivation?
in essence, this was not meant to be a monologue about my particular preferences with regard to media or cycle exhibitions; i genuinely thought that others may harbour similar thoughts. from an exhibitor's point of view, it cannot be anything but overtly expensive to book even a small stand at any contemporary cycle show. however, as one distributor admitted many years ago, it's not the cost of booking an appearance; it's the cost of not booking an appearance. yet from the attendee's point of view, what is there to see, that hasn't already been seen? to coin a phrase, 'once you've seen one, you've seen 'em all. and at the risk of saying more about me than about them, are current and former professional cyclists actually regarded as personalities (actually, i could say the same about so-called pop stars)?
do not misunderstand me; i really like bicycles, whaever impression you may have gained from my frequent disparagements, and i really, really love cycling. but i have come to the conclusion that walking around an exhibition centre (or brewery) all day to look at static bicycles, static components, while listening to people who used to race or commentate, is not a preferable alternative to riding my bike in galeforce wind-driven rain.
go on, tell me i'm wrong.
wednesday 16 october 2024
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................bikes and books
saturday 12 october 2024 was designated national bookshop day, and i confess i am now disgusted with myself for not having visited islay's solitary bookshop to buy myself a book. i don't have a specific title or author in mind, but if someone's gone to all the trouble of organising a bookshop day in the first place, the least i could do would be to join the party. think of any particular book you care to mention and there's a likelihood that amazon would not only have stock, but the price of admission would be anything up to half that printed on the dustcover or the back, if buying a paperback. and if you have amazon prime (i don't), chances are you could be reading it the very next day. but at the risk of being wrong, where's the fun in that?
though amazon has achieved market domination in the sales of books and pretty much everything else in a relatively short period of time, in the process it has created one of the world's richest men in jeff bezos, a fellow who seems less than interested in sharing some of that obscene wealth with those who work for his company. and aside from that, browsing the web pages of the retail behemoth compares not at all with the joys of doing the same thing in a real bookshop. and if we fail to engage with said establishments, purchasing our books from their sales counter instead of online, there's a better than evens chance that the number of bookshops will surely decline.
but is it possible that i am several kilometres behind the curve?
the guardian newspaper published a feature on friday 11 october, not only previewing the following day's event but presenting the news that a recent survey "...suggests that young people are shunning online retailers to experience the joy of visiting bookshops." the survey itself confirms that today's younger generation are more inclined to purchase a book based on a bookseller's recommendation, in a bookshop and in-person, than are many of their elders. and if recent indications from at least two of islay's primary schools are anything to go by, the act of reading actual books is also on the rise.
several of those interviewed for the article were particularly enthusiastic about visiting bookshops, claiming that it can be thought of as an event in itself, and going even so far as to take book recommendations online, before visiting a bookshop to make a purchase. "the art of the bookseller is almost like a dj where, if you tell them your general reading habits, then they'll come out with something you are almost categorically going to enjoy - even if it's left field from your normal habits."
i'd imagine there are a number of cycle store owners who would dearly love that trend to head in their direction. however, there's little denying that bike shops are essentially different than bookshops: for one, the latter is capable of stocking a far wider variety of their principal product, than is the average bike shop. granted, there are relatively small, but popular bike shops, with an impressively wide range of brands, either in stock or available to order in a short space of time. and when was the last time you were in a bookshop, enquiring if they had a copy of the harry potter books in a larger size?
however, there are many similarities between the two emporia: bike shop staff are invariably well-informed, able to advise on type of bike, size of bike and suitability of purpose. and in some, should you require a longer or shorter stem, narrower bars or a preference in pedal type, you've quite probably gone to the right place. but just like the book world, there are online retailers who can offer substantial discounts, and speedy delivery of various sizes, yet, as we have frequently been reminded (often by me), the internet cannot fix your bicycle. while you could reasonably expect an online purchase to arrive ready to ride, many a bricks and mortar repository will cheerfully offer a six-week bedding in period, following which, you can return to the shop for a post delivery fettling.
and just like bookshops, bike shops are unlikely to survive if we all spend our money online. many too many have already succumbed. similarly the increasing trend of purchasing online direct from the manufacturer; some have been smart enough to allow direct online purchasing, yet making the bicycle available through the nearest authorised dealer. despite my luddite tendencies, casual observations have already noted the rise of the local bookshop, increased reading of actual books, a return to purchase of and listening to vinyl records. all that needs to happen now is a return to reading newspapers, watching terrestrial television and writing letters with fountain pens on basildon bond watermarked notepaper. when the revolution finally arrives, bike shops will be at the forefront.
it could happen.
tuesday 15 october 2024
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................