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knog gator 105 led front light

knog gator 105

while we were away in scotland last weekend savouring the weather at braveheart, prior to savouring a rather fine meal in the park hotel, kilmarnock, the tiredness of the day was alleviated by the fact that we were able to knock the clocks back by one hour, before slumbering in an hotel room for the night. of course, those of us not quite up to speed on the cleverness of the clock on an ipod touch, managed to not quite get up on time.

so now it gets darker earlier, and those who need to travel home from work on their bicycles will now have to make use of some form of lighting. a number of commuting cycles have dynamo lighting already attached, and as long as you clip a flashing red to the rear (because dynamo lights go off when you stop), you're sorted. however, some of us (lots of us?) are pedalling our fast bikes so that we can get home for tea more quickly, and lie in longer in the morning.

lighting, in this context, comes under the very loose heading of utility products, by which i refer to stuff that either makes the bicycle look worse, or has little, if any, bearing on its speed. so if we assume that you have a fixed gear machine such as that owned by jez hastings (lime green frame, white tyres and white chain) you would not wish some ugly hulk of a battery velcroed to the top tube. and many of the lights themselves would greatly trouble a wind tunnel with their chunkiness. remember, we are nothing if not stylish, and it ill behoves skinny wheels and tubes, and bendy bars, to detract from such sveltitude (yes, i know that's not a word, but it is now).

however, smoothness is readily to hand from the eccentric australians at knog, makers of lots of bicycle thingies, in the shape of their gator lights. uk distributors moore-large very kindly sent the third in the range, the gator 105, for a road test along islay's dark and lonely lanes. actually, this is possibly one of the most ideal areas to find out just how well such a light can illuminate the way forward, because there is only street lighting in the villages - the roads in between, or in the depths of the countryside, are completely devoid of lumens - unless you meet a tractor somewhere.

the nickel metal hadride battery is about the same size as a mini pump, with two stretchy rubber bungy cords permanently attached. the bit on the battery is scalloped in concave fashion, to fit the shape of the underside of a bicycle top tube - the rubbery bits stretch over the top of the tube and hook back on to the battery. while the tubes on the colnago c40 are relatively slender, i also fitted it to the top tube of the museeuw mf5, which is a tad chunkier: perfect fit both times. there's a longish cable exiting one end of the battery, with a connector allowing it to be unplugged for charging (charge unit is supplied in the box), but which is more likely to be plugged into the light unit for its four and a half hours of advertised optimum brightness. so far, i haven't had the fortitude to cycle in the dark for that length of time, so at the moment i'll have to take knog's word for it; but give me time.

knog gator 105

the business end of the whole product - the bit that lets you see where you're going in the dark - is a natty little self contained unit that uses a similar rubbery bungy to strap round the handlebar. this fitted particularly well on the two varieties of fsa carbon bars on which it has so far been attached, gripping well enough to be switched on and off without altering its set position. the switch is a small indentation on the top which, as far as i can make out, is perfectly waterproof (it won't surprise you to learn that the light has already been used in the pouring rain). there are two light emitting diodes employed: a small one at the top, and a larger 1watt version at the bottom; press the switch once, and the wee light flashes; press for a second time and the wee light illuminates; three times and the wee light goes off, but the big light comes on; four times and both lights are on; five times and the light switches off.

we're all so used to dealing with such as halogen bulbs in lighting units, that a one watt system would seem unilkely to let you see into the corner of a matchbox. however, led lights really don't consume a lot of power, so 1 watt is somewhat on the bright side; in fact, it is very bright indeed. as mentioned above, almost all of islay's single track lanes are completely unlit, but with both lights switched on, and pedalling fast(ish) in the big ring, i had no trouble whatsoever in seeing where i was going. in fact, so bright was the light, i should think half the village could see where i was going. and all this from a unit that weighs only 300g and could be lost in a sock drawer.

the knog 105 will be tested more as the long, cold winter draws inevitably on, but on first few outings, the only real drawback i've come across is that switching pattern. since both lights are incredibly bright, it would be unkind to cycle into the village behind any motorised vehicles with both lit. switching to the single top light would seem much more conciliatory and friendly, but this involves switching the lighting off altogether before the flash mode and on to single mode. it would have been nice to omit the completely off stage, since that rather seems to go against the first directive of bicycle lighting.

it's all in the wrist action.

the knog gator 105 bicycle light has a recommended retail price of £86 ($150). check with moore large for dealers.

knog.com.au

posted on saturday 1 november 2008

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getting an education

cycling in schools

several years ago, campbeltown schools pipe band suddenly started winning their sections at the major pipe band competitions, after years in the wilderness, much in the same way as islay. i say this as a former drummer with islay pipe band, having spent 13 years with a very heavy snare drum strapped across my shoulder, a career that happened entirely by accident (totally different story). however, on further investigation, it was discovered that argyll and bute council had arranged, and paid for, a piping tutor to visit campbeltown school on about three days each week to tutor schoolkids in the art of piping from an early age. such consistent and professional tuition had eventually paid dividends and allowed the band to sweep all before them.

naturally, the fact that there was no piping tutor for islay schools, and certainly nobody who got paid for it, was generally and not unnaturally, seen as somewhat unfair, since islay's schools come under the same education authority as campbeltown (a town that is about 60km from islay's mainland ferry port). that part of the equation has now been solved, with appointment a couple of years ago, of a professional piping tutor for islay's schools, and whether or not this had any bearing on the situation or not, islay pipe band won pretty much everything in their grade this past year.

whatever our pipe major might tell you, piping is of minority interest; i don't see there being too much demand for tutoring in its intricacies south of the border, but it does have its parallels with cycling. that too is of minority interest, but a considerably larger minority than that of piping. yet the idea of making cycling a part of the national curriculum anywhere in the uk, seems to merit barely a blip on the governments' radar. argyll and bute even have a full-time shinty coach, and that's a game that makes cycling seem like premier division football in the popularity stakes, so why not us?

currently the cycling proficiency scheme, or whatever nomenclature has been applied to same nowadays, is all about passing a test. there is no real education in the art or practicalities of cycling, which could be one of the reasons why the uk has become such a nation of car drivers. while the government is happy to hark on about the inherent dangers of child obesity, it seems less inclined to do very much about it; swimming, football and rugby are all admirable ways to a healthier and fitter younger generation, but realistically, how many kids can swim their way to school, and then transfer the same skill to the workplace when they are older? quite.therefore, would it not make perfect sense for each education authority throughout the uk, to hire a qualified cycle coach to visit the primary and secondary schools within their respective areas and teach cycling - teach it properly, and make it fun? yes, it costs money, but if we're building a healthier britain, surely there are savings to be recouped through a national health service that won't be under such duress?

of course, there's every probability that those reading this are the converted; i shouldn't think too many cabinet ministers north or south of the border, spend too much time in these pixels. but if any of you have any political influence at all, just mention the above over a coffee and muffin in starbucks. there is really no earthly reason why cycling should not be made a part of the national curriculum - make it so, and gold medals at the olympics could become standard fair.

now there's a thought.

posted on saturday 1 november 2008

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in pursuit of glory: the autobiography - bradley wiggins. orion books, 277pp hardback illus. £18.99

bradley wiggins autobiography

i believe there is an old saying to the effect that you should never judge a book by its cover, which ought to have a modern twist applied to it: you should never judge a book by the excerpts you read in a national newspaper. in the wake of such a successful haul of medals by team gb cyclists at this year's beijing olympics, there were doubtless hordes of the world's press anxious to serialise anything that looked vaguely like a book concerning the olympics, or at the very least, about one of the successful competitors. in this case, it was a very well timed release of bradley wiggins' autobiography in pursuit of glory that made it to a largish proportion of the sports section, over several days in the guardian.

i will confess, based on absolutely nothing whatsoever, that i have never been a big bradley fan - there's no doubt that the guy is a cyclist par excellence, even gaining extra brownie points by having the decency to be a highly competent road cyclist too, but he's just someone i have never warmed to greatly. don't know why - i even quite like paul weller. so when the book received its serialisation, i was less than desperate to read all the words; and when i did, it really didn't come across as the cycling book with which i was desperate to make acquaintance.

to that end, when orion books sent in a review copy, i was engrossed in another couple of books for review, and didn't go out of my way to hurry on to bradley's. oh, how wrong can one guy be? it seems that bradley wiggins can not only pursuit solo and as part of a team, hammer it in the prologues, and take ludicrously long stage breaks in the tour, but the guy can write too, and then some. if this book achieved nothing else at all, it completely changed my opinion of bradley wiggins.

the book starts with the phone call that informed bradley that his estranged father, garry, a six day rider of some skill and repute, had been found seriously injured near his home in australia. he subsequently died, but bradley baulked at the check-in gate, and didn't attend the funeral. garry features quite a bit throughout the book, but never unnecessarily, and his existence seems to have influenced bradley's career perhaps more than even he realised. there are no huge surprises throughout the chapters, except, perhaps, in the chapter dealing with his endless drinking binge after the athens olympics, apparently partially the result of feeling undervalued in his own country. let's face it, you slog your guts out in training every day of every week, for a lot less money than namby pamby footballers, and after you win gold - nothing.

of course, everything: bradley's road career with frances de jeux, credit agricole, cofidis, and latterly team columbia, along with madison partner mark cavendish, is leading towards the bit we all really want to read about: the beijing olympics. the lead up to to beijing, the training, the anguish and eventually the unqualified success, means you probably won't put the book down at all - i know i didn't.

if you've had the same misgivings as narrow minded me, or just never thought to read wiggins' words, do yourselves a massive favour, log on to amazon and order yourself a copy. this is a really excellent book

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heroes villains & velodromes. richard moore. harper collins

heroes, villains & velodromes

yes, you're darned right, i have already reviewed this book on thewashingmachinepost, but at the braveheart ride last saturday, i bumped into the book's author, richard moore, and asked why the change of cover over the original of a speeding hoy. it turns out that, after hoy became one of britain's (and certainly scotland's) finest olympians at beijing, the time was right for an added last chapter.

since richard was present in beijing throughout the cycling events, he was ideally placed to observe, ask, enquire and write. such is the man's skill as a wordsmith, that the flow of the book is seamless. and who amongst all of us could fail to be enthused one more time, by reading the successful sequence of events as related in bradley wiggins' book. fabulous stuff.

if you didn't read the original beijing free version, you owe it to yourself big time to grab this updated one; and it's not just some words that are new - there's an extra page of pics from china too. a truly masterful book about one of the finest sportsmen in the world. and a thoroughly nice bloke too.

posted on friday 31st october 2008

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at the end of the day

roberto heras on a brompton

according to the automobile association, car drivers are turning from their motor cars to bicycles, just the sort of headline that brings tears to your thighs, and designed to make cyclists feel even smugger (is that a word?) than usual. however, dig just a few centimetres further down, and to me at least, it seems to be a rather vacuous statement, particularly coming from one of the country's major motoring organisations.

according to the aa, their survey of 18,500 members found that around 18 percent cycle at least once a month. now, i was never much good at arithmetic or maths at school, and i know i've not become any better as the years have floated by, but my calculator gives me a figure of 3,300 motorists who have found it in their fuel bills to take the bike out once a month. according to the information i was able to find, actual motorists are rather hard to get a handle on, but etsimates point to 30,000,000 cars on britain's roads; so even if i'm very, very forgiving and allow for every motorist to own two cars (it's my generous nature), that would point to there being 15,000,000 motorists with an astra and a passat in the paved driveway. and 3,300 ain't too many at all.

the highest cycling area in the uk, based on this cycling once a month question, is east anglia with close on 24 percent, though the automobile association doesn't actually say what this is 24 percent of - so it's meaningless really. pointless statistics abound in this report: the least likely to cycle are those in northern ireland (which is a real shame, because the country has some fabulous countryside that is far better enjoyed by bicycle, than in a metal box with windows) where 88 percent claim to cycle once or twice a year, or even less. sadly, we have no clue as to how many this is 88 percent of. scotland fairs little better at 85 percent.

however, based on the aa survey, they feel confident enough to tell us all that they expect people to drop their car usage in favour of cycling to work. not that it's an entirely unheard of state of affairs, but i am thoroughly confused by this. i'd love to think that the motoring world has experienced nirvana and seen cycling for the convenient, economic and green method of transport that we all know it to be, but i can see the same things that you can. only a few weeks back, i met a chap i know walking out the local supermarket carrying a small loaf. he then climbed into his new porsche cayenne and drove about 750 metres to his house.

islay does not have a particularly frequent public transport system, so many from the more remote, outlying areas necessarily have to rely on personal motorised transport to get about the island. however, in the larger villages (size is relative), there is nowhere that you cannot get to by walking or cycling. bowmore is only 1.6km from end to end. doubtless there are similar instances throughout the known world. i'd prefer to hope that the bicycle's time has come, particularly after the rather fine showing by the british olympic team in beijing. yes, i know you'd have a hard time getting chris hoy's bike up the hill at storakaig, but you get the general idea.

so if any of the other national motoring organisations stick their heads above the parapet and attempt to slither their way into our favour by pretending that they think their members might be deserting them for the ctc or british cycling, smile sweetly, unfold your brompton and pedal in the opposite direction.

the revolution will not be misconstrued.

roberto heras photo: cycling weekly

posted on thursday 30th october 2008

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merrily we roll along

schwalbe ultremo r

many of the items reviewed on thewashingmachinepost fit into the category of speedy reviews; by this i mean items of cycling apparel, books, etc. putting on a new jersey, for instance and popping out to cover 70km or so, in weather appropriate to the item in question, generally gives you all the information needed to write a comprehensive review. granted, this won't let me tell you whether it fell apart after six months use, but if i waited that long to write a review, you'd all have fallen asleep in the corner. similarly with books - some publishers send the review copies well in advance of publication date, some don't, but i am now reasonably practised in the art of reading quite quickly in order to post the review while the book is still in print.

so why am i telling you all this? mostly because i have a couple of items sitting in my in-tray (not true, they're on a bicycle, but this makes me sound more business like) that will take a tad longer than the norm, and i want you to have advance warning of their impending reviews. firstly, and very topically since the clocks went back an hour on sunday, i have a very fine led front light from knog: it's fairly easy to tell whether it lights up the road ahead, but of more pressing concern is how waterproof it is; how likely it is to stay on the bike over crappy road surfaces; how long you can get a decent beam on a single battery charge; and most importantly, does it look cool when the bike is leaning against the shed door? all these questions and more will be answered in the fulness of time.

secondly, because this is a very good time of year to test tyres, i have a pair of the new schwalbe ultremo r rubber to place upon my chris king customs and attempt to abraid them as much as possible on what little we have left of our road surfaces. i still have that road that is brought only on special occasions. the new ultremos assure me that they provide even more puncture protection than the present incumbents, which might be difficult since i have had no punctures whatsoever on the several pairs i have employed. but there's more; the standard ultremos were very light for their class, but the new ones have dropped another 15g, yet still offer at least the same as their ancestors. 15g is about half an ounce in old money, but remember that it's rotating weight, and just the sort of heaviness we want to lose.

so the above two are about to be spin cycled, and it may be a week or two before you find out whether either are something you might like to consider. but you can't say i didn't tell you. you also might just like to know that the instrument of torture for both items will be a museeuw mf5 carbon flax frame - it seems christmas came early.

posted on wednesday 29th october 2008

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welcome to great coffee/ride of the falling rain cycle jersey

debbie jersey

ok, you're going to really hate me for this one, but it gives some of us about seven days of smugness and one-upmanship - not something that happens too often here in the centre of the known universe. last thursday, fresh from the print room at endura custom clothing, arrived our first order of welcome to great coffee/ride of the falling rain jerseys, specially designed and produced for debbie's cafe on islay. as mentioned in the braveheart ride report below, the intention had been for mrs and mrs hastings plus offspring, along with yours truly, to look like a team time trial at the very same ride. however, the weather worked against us, and the only opportunity we had to display the new team colours was while we dripped on the floor of st joseph's academy, kilmarnock, after several miles in driving rain and gale force winds.

not unnaturally, these jerseys have become objects of desire, with several folks asking whether they could purchase one for their very own selves. and the answer is a qualified 'yes'. if you have already contacted debbie, expressing an interest in acquiring said jersey, then rest assured the initial order incorporated your request. and there are also a few more for those of you who may now be thinking that seems not a bad idea. that the answer is a qualified 'yes' is due to the fact that debbie is on holiday until next tuesday (4th november), so unfortunately, none of them will be going anywhere until she returns (don't shout at me - i'm only the messenger). what makes this even worse, is i have absolutely no idea how much they cost.

however, if you have had a gander at the excellent quality of jersey shown above, beautifully and expertly translated from my rather rudimentary design by alan at endura, and fancy adding one to the cycling wardrobe, drop debbie an e-mail and let her know what size you'd like, along with a postal address, and i'll make sure that the very first thing she does when she gets back, is send you a missive explaining retail cost plus postage.

and just to stop you reaching for the e-mail software to contact me, they are simply a rather fine example of polyester and not sportwool, as some folks have already enquired.

but they don't half look good

welcometogreatcoffee

posted on tuesday 28th october 2008

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chris hoy scholarship

chris hoy

as i am often fond of saying, sometimes you get the mountain, sometimes the mountain gets you. unfortunately, in this case, it was the latter. anthony mccrossan of cyclevox, invited members of the media, including myself, to murrayshall house hotel in scone (pronounced skoon for those of you not of a scottish disposition - a venue chosen for its association with scotland's stone of destiny) for the launch of the chris hoy scholarship, an ambitious project to support the development of future scottish olympic cyclists. and since i was already on the scottish mainland for the weekend's braveheart ride, i figured i'd stay over and travel to scone for the press conference today.

since i'm sure you are all well aware of the best laid plans of mice and men, you can probably sympathise when this didn't quite plan out the way i'd hoped; chris hoy launched his scholarship fund in perth while i was cycling from bruichladdich to bowmore. and i doubt he noticed. however, launch it he did.

the scholarship has initial plans to support two young talented scottish riders in attending the uci sprint school in aigle, switzerland, and to eventually run its own chris hoy academy, possibly at either the new velodrome being built for the london olympics, or at the new chris hoy velodrome to be constructed for the 2014 commonwealth games in glasgow. (in the opinion of thewashingmachinepost, the latter would be by far the preferable option.) depending on funding and chris's time he will endeavour to hold some 'cycling school days' across scotland to help the grass roots of the sport.

said chris:
'i'm extremely proud to launch this new project, that will put something back into the sport that has given me so much. i'm excitied about finding talented riders, investing in them, and developing future olympic stars. cycling is a fantastic sport; green, healthy and fun. i hope this scholarship will, over the next few years, encourage ongoing participation and development of riders.'

gavin hastings, former scotland and lions rugby captain, has agreed to take on the role of patron to the fund, which has three levels of corporate partner: gold, silver and funding partner. it has been developed in conjunction with cyclevox and chris's management company 110sport, chris hoy logo and now has its very own website at chrishoyscholarship.com. the rather clever logo, turning chris's initials into a velodrome, was produced by peloton design

chrishoyscholarship.com

posted on tuesday 28th october 2008

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nokon gear and brake cables

nokon cables

earlier this year, campagnolo released onto an unsuspecting public, the notorious red ergopower levers that were originally destined for the professionals only. and, as you may remember, these were supposed to be a bit stiffer than the consumer versions available to the rest of us. since my record ergopowers are now just a shade over five years, and were stiff enough to use at the best of times, i didn't figure there was too much point in spending a small fortune on a new pair of levers even if they had those all-important red bits on the front.

at some time, assuming you have a conscience at all, those gear and brake cables are going to need replacing; yes, i have the same tendency as everyone else to leave it as long as possible, but eventually you simply run out of excuses, and the old cables have to go. that point actually arrived last june, but since it makes a great deal of sense to replace the bar tape at the same time, that became the major stalling point. style guru that i am, i was expecting to place blue colnago tape on my fsa carbon bars: it's a blue colnago, so why the heck wouldn't i? except ever since the days of mapei sponsorship, it has been well nigh impossible to get hold of the blue tape, and this summer, it seems, was no exception.

to conjoin with this colour co-ordination, windwave had sent me a set of nokon gear cables and brake cables in special order blue (i did say i was a style guru), cables which have been sitting in a brown envelope in thewashingmachinepost bike shed since way back then. due to italy's annual august shutdown, it was pretty much the end of september before two rolls of colnago blue bar tape arrived in the mail, and consequently a wet sunday in october before all this made it anywhere near the company colnago.

nokon cables, for those of you who have no idea of which i speak, are composed of a varying number of little aluminium alloy bullets which are threaded over an inner frictiionless liner. inside this, the stainless steel wires will hopefully glide smoothly. the cunning part of the plan is that each bullet has a rounded end that fits comfortably inside the concave bit at the other end - it would almost make a rather stylish necklace, and costs just about as much. this snake like design allows for some pretty drastic direction changes, should such be required or desired, without adversely affecting the efficiency of whatever is on the end of the wire. when t-mobile still existed, and shimano were still intent on the cables protruding from the sti levers, the team mechanics used nokon cables to run zabel's gear cabling under the bar tape without mucking up his gear changes.

nokon cables

of course, such versatility comes at a price, and i'm not just talking money here. there's an outside chance that a degree in mechanical engineering might be a pre-requisite, in order to understand the large, fold-out fitting instructions, though assuming you have the guts to take it on, fitting proves a bit more finnicky than daunting. to run the wires from the ergo levers (everything but the new dura-ace will have a different method for shimano gear cables) along and under or in front of the bars means using pre-sized bendy outers that are remarkably flexible and suffer not from compression stresses. as mentioned previously, the inner wires run in a flexible inner sheath which has to be threaded into the bendy bits, though the kits arrive with this pre-fitted to the bits of blue bullet alloy (you are following this aren't you?). of course, depending on the fit required on different frames, these are set up for what would appear to be the longest stretch required, in my case, i had to trim the inner sheaths to fit, and here started the finnicky bit, because if you're paying up to £80 for the complete set (yes, really), you don't want to be cutting where you shouldn't. in similar fashion to a carbon steerer, measure twice, cut once.

nokon would seem to prefer you to have the exposed sections of wire on both sets to be covered with the sheath front to back. i was quite happy to do that with the rear brake cable, but previous experience doing this with gear cables led me to leave those long stretches of cables along the down tube as just shiny, bare wire. and that included the under bb section.

i took a leisurely day to fit both brake and gear sets to a campag record/chorus groupset, and despite a minor niggle with clamping the front brake wire (which, as far as i can fathom, has nothing to do with the nokon set), all went together rather well. best fitting bit is that cable that runs from the right chainstay cable stop to the rear mech. the colnago cable stop seems to be too small to fit any other make of outer cable (including campag) whereas the nokon setup has cured that completely.

ideal or otherwise, the weather and work meant that the first outing for my new cabling was on saturday's braveheart ride - a baptism by drenching if ever there was one. while on the start line, footering with a rubbing brake pad, sean kelly said that i'd need my brakes to work well then of all days. happily, despite a bit of rubbing, mostly due to a lack of fine adjustment on my part, both brakes and gears worked extremely well. and replacement of the rear gear cable has stopped me having fake red campag levers. life is easier now.

is it worth it? maybe. i cannot dispute the excellent function of the new cables, though the setup on the colnago didn't require any bizarre routing, and a standard set of campags may well have achieved the same thing. however, if i may refer you to my style guruness, they look very good indeed, and you may find the look worth the rather steep price of admission. since the forthcoming season seems to promise a fine spread of crap weather, i shall keep you informed as to how well they fare through it all.

if you fancy a look at the rather threatening affixing instructions, you can do so at nokon.com. nokon are german made and distributed in the uk by windwave. check with them for uk dealers.

posted on monday 27th october 2008

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braveheart 2008

bravheart ride 2008

having had the luck to be on a ferry that actually went to from islay to scotland on friday morning, the hastings family and myself made it to kilmarnock for the 2008 braveheart ride and dinner. a surprise to brian smith, who was expecting to have a half empty table for thewashingmachinepost in the evening. and just to make us feel completely at home, weather had been specially imported; gale force winds and driving rain from morning until darkness fell. the full route was to be over about 71km, but a police incident on the furthest part of the course led to escape route number two being employed and the distance shortened to 61km.

however, due to the rather inclement weather conditions, the organisers were urging participants to drop to the shorter 32km loop, which seemed fine by us - and that included brian, sean kelly and most of the entered riders. several riders, including richard hallett, opted to attack the full distance, but conditions over the fenwick moor caused many to question their decision, particularly richard who punctured at the furthest part of the route. of course we all got completely soaked, but i must say thanks to rapha for designing a wealth of clothing all of which i wore to keep me warm and cosy.

having received the shipment of welcome to great coffee jerseys 9available to you all very, very soon) just before we left, this was to have been their stunning debut. sadly the only chance to see them was when divesting of wet outer garments on return. endura custom clothing did us proud.

thanks to all those who popped over during the day and evening to say hello and have a chat - much appreciated. thanks to brian smith for all sorts of stuff; to alan miller and walkers cycling for such excellent organisation, which just gets better and better every year (even if alan does look more fraught on a similar basis); but an extremely grateful thanks to those who stood out in such appalling conditions for most of the day to make sure that none of us got lost and to point us in the right direction - your cheerfulness, tenacity and dedication made the day. i cannot say thank you often enough.

bravheart ride 2008

the evening's dinner in the park hotel, kilmarnock was our first experience of this annual event. despite such proceedings being not generally of my liking (or of jez's), the evening started out well yet again due to the influence of mr smith. with unrestricted access to the evening's guests we were able to have a debbie's jersey signed by chris hoy, mark cavendish, graeme obree (with whom i had a very pleasant chat; the man looks incredibly fit and healthy and was great to see at the event), scott sunderland, then later by thor hushovd. the jersey will be placed on the wall in debbie's on islay for all to see.

main feature of the evening was the braveheart auction, during which donated items are sold to members of the assembled multitude to raise money for the fund. top selling item of the evening was a 1984 king of the mountains polka dot jersey donated and signed by robert millar, which sold for £3,300 ($5250). if ever there was further evidence required of robert millar's standing in the scottish cycling psyche...

the auction raised around £30,000 ($47,750) towards the braveheart fund, a superb testament to an essential part of modern scottish cycling. congratulations also to our masters of ceremony, david harmon and anthony mccrossan, as well as the auctioneer who was very entertaining. the ride and dinner are generally held end of october each year: i know you'd enjoy it, so keep a look out for the 2009 date nearer the time.

congratulations also to brian smith and kerry keeble who became engaged on friday evening. couldn't happen to a nicer couple.

braveheartfund.com

posted on sunday 26th october 2008

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