perhaps a number of us compare cities - uk cities - on the basis of just how cycle friendly they are, rather than whether there's an asda store nearby or a largish rohan shop. if we pick on scotland's two major conurbations - glasgow and edinburgh - without actually being or indeed, having been, resident in either, the external view is that edinburgh would be the more favourable location for pedalling and commuting. no doubt there are those domiciled in the city of my birth who feel that to be a slight on its character, but i think it's a testifiable fact that you'll see more folks on bicycles along princes street than you will in any comparable artery in smiles better.
of course, in terms of going really fast round square corners, there is probably less to be compared or argued: on the eve of the tour of britain start in glasgow a few years ago, the evening racing around george square and environs was a spectacle to behold. a similar evening event is due to take place around edinburgh's grassmarket on saturday 30th may this year as a part of the nocturne series, but the real racing in city centres will happen soon enough, featuring the top teams in britain and a league table for winning.
city centre racing was really popular in the nineteen eighties when channel four would televise the weekly events, featuring some of britain's finest racers of the day with the occasional international star thrown in for good measure; if memory serves correctly, robert millar took part in the glasgow kelloggs race. and very much to the credit of a number of folks, most notably the lauded cyclevox of smith, mccrossan and ward, we are about to be treated to the 21st century version of racing that many of us recall with much affection. and possibly just because it's the 21st century, and cycle racing has moved on apace, while the riders will still be expected to ride in circles, they will no longer be alone.
the tour series of 2009 will be fought out between cycle teams, rather than individuals (no more mann the man in black) likely making the racing more tactical and thus filled with intrigue. ten teams will take the start at the first round in milton keynes on 21st may, followed by round two a week later in exeter. the whole season of city centre races will almost flash by, with the final race of the series scheduled to take place in southend-on-sea on the 25th of june: ten races in little over a month.
the tour director is former twice british road race champion, brian smith: "i was brought up with city centre racing, racing that i found really thrilling. now that i'm on the other side of the barriers, i'm hoping to bring that same thrill to the current generation of british cyclists."
if you pop over to the tour series website, it will perhaps not escape your attention that there are no races north of the border, making it a bit more of a trek for some of us if we want to see what is sure to be some of the best competition on two wheels for many a long year. but as with the initial city centre cycling, the pictures will be on the box from race one to race ten and you won't even need to subscribe to anything to watch. coverage will be on itv4 which can be nabbed through a standard sky subscription if you already have one, or through freeview and freesat. hopefully we can look forward to some sensible programming with no more staying up past the witching hour with bleary eyes, as was frequently the case in the latter days of channel four's coverage of the eighties' version. but even if it turns out otherwise, it'll be worth the wait and worth the late night couch time.
if you live in any of the towns and cities partaking of the tour series cycle races, you might fancy volunteering your services to help things move as smoothly as befits your locale. clock over to the website and note the info required, then do the only decent thing and let them know you're available.
"let's put city centre racing back where it belongs - in the heart of the cities and the heart of the viewers". brian smith, tour director.
posted on tuesday 24 march 2009
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................never lose sight of the fact that it is essentially a man's world in this cycling game: while one or two of the majors offer a token range of women's clothing, even this is geared towards the sporty girl rather than the girly girl. nicole cooke and her pals ride what we would all regard as a man's frame: straight top tube rather than a curved step to avoid catching the petticoat in the finishing sprint. around this time last year i was again in london, only this time accompanied by my daughter (early twenties), who basically has no interest in bicycles or cycling whatsoever - apart from the rather fetching pink serotta in cyclefit.
day one was a washingmachinepost day, when we trundled far and wide to visit the ever widening range of acquaintances that writing all this has brought; day two involved me trailing around behind the kid in a sweet shop entering every clothing shop the length and breadth of regent street. i'm sure that someone living in the general direction of the big smoke will correct me if i'm wrong, but the saving grace was topshop in oxford street: not because there is anything remotely of interest to the avid cycle journalist within its glittery walls, but because the management have thoughtfully provided benches just inside the entrances allowing bedraggled fathers and husbands a few minutes (hours?) respite, while the other halves, or offspring ransack anything with a coat hanger.
but, of course, with the emerging cycle revolution, this bastion of vacuous fashion has gained a degree of credibility via the bicycle bling for geared up girls concession/franchise that has now infiltrated the ranks:cyclodelic. on thursday april 9 the store within a store will open in topshop in oxford street, providing women's cycle specific clothing and accessories designed and handmade by amy fleuriot and sarah buck. amy is a former london college of fashion student while sarah is a textile graduate and ex-cycle courier, and their cyclodelic range offers items from as little as £10, including handmade capes (not £10), bags, satin cycling caps and even customised bar tape.of course, you can't just open a shop in london; that would never do, so one week later, on thursday 16th april, amy and sarah are holding a cyclodelic champagne bicycle treasure hunt (what a darned good idea - can we do that on islay?) - not exclusive to women, but you take your chances when the invite says bring a-z and lipstick. launch time is 7pm from middleton place off foley street.
now shopping can have real meaning.
posted on tuesday 24 march 2009
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................continuous hours are now spent in the wind tunnel, removing every extraneous little detail that might hinder the forward motion of the progressive world of the bicycle. quite obviously the biggest hindrance to forward motion is that big lunk sitting in the saddle, and while it's possible to become ever more svelte as far as the co-efficient of drag is concerned, some of us can only manage just so much to resist comparison with a moving baffle. so the cycle manufacturers beaver unhindered on our behalf, smallenating that gap between head-tube and fork crown, carving cunning little slots in the fork legs to create airfoil sections, and smoothing that shiny, black, carbon tubing until it resembles cast-offs from hans rudi geiger's modelling studio.
it used to be that the elegance of form was the province of the rider: hugo koblet, jacques anquetil, fausto coppi and one or two others that escape the grey matter at present, but the days when lance's mantra it's not about the bike were much to the fore have headed south. it's very much about the bike nowadays, though i'm not always complaining. however, we're not all attemtping to survive the poggio and cipressa in the hope that we may never have to buy another drink in italy again: sometimes stuff enters the equation. stuff that has to be carried from a to b, stuff that might be necessary in the workplace, stuff that might be needed for a change of attire on reaching somewhere.
when we were kids, stuff could be carried over the handlebars, swinging into the front wheel at the most awkward of moments, or should the ctc be uppermost, hooking a couple of panniers on a rack wouldn't have been seen as too ostentatious. however, a modest degree of decorum is occasionally called for (for some of us more often than for others), though this degree should ideally be capable of carrying as much stuff as is seemly on the back of the finely honed athlete; it has to be capable of a level of casualness that is unlikely to impinge on the elegance exhibited by those mentioned above. and the stuff carrier has to be practical.
rapha pretty much covered this with the original fixed backpack, a stylish container that has just sustained an off the bike trip to london, as well as on the bike holding on tightly to not only a pair of converse all-stars, but this week's comic, video and stills cameras, rudy projects, and ipod and a 15" macbook pro. you'd really never guess from its physical profile. but sometimes enough is just not enough: if i'd like to slip into something more comfortable, then there has to be somewhere to put the less comfortable until needed, or simply to keep the air fresh.
that would, of course, require a much bigger backpack, and by bizarre co-incidence, perren street has obliged. still ensconced in a dark corner of washingmachinepost towers somewhere, is a pair of rucksack panniers, capable of being unzipped and strapped to a waiting back. sadly, ergonomics were not front and centre when such were designed, because when in place, the top of the rucksack/pannier prevents looking ahead due to helmet interference. rapha's current backpack offering obviates that problem entirely, so surely a bigger one risks a degree of interference? not so, since the new, enlarged backpack has increased its girth, rather than its height, and in the same manner as the accordion player at duffie's on a saturday night, it can fold flat(ter) when not in use.
increased chunkiness does not, however, come without its concomitant problems; more bulk, leads to increased momentum, leads to a wider range of unwanted movement. so while the current offering has a chest strap that fulfils a necessary function, the enlarged newbie sports a reasonably substantial waist strap too, married to increased lumbar padding. the rubber rapha zip tags on the original were, in some cases, found wanting in the strength department, so these have been discarded and replaced with the power rangers version, while the myriad reflective dots still abound on every relevant surface, belying the low visibility charcoal fabric. and all the existing features remain.
the original price (currently £95) has been increased to absorb the increased carrying force of the enlarged fixed backpack, but not by very much (to around £125), an increase more than justified by the new storage space for more stuff. if it comes down to numbers, the eleven litres you used to have will shortly be augmented by another seven.
just in time for riding to the start of each stage without cadging a lift in the team bus.
posted on monday 23 march 2009
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................it's a funny old world in cycle clothing: whereas the average soccer or motor racing fan has access to a seemingly endless list of items demonstrating affiliation for whatever it is they have an affiliation for, similar coverage in the world of cycling is a patchy affair, even to the extent of denying the availability of third party products without hide nor hair of an official replacement. (try buying a white men can't jump colnago cap) obtaining one of the current pro team jerseys isn't that much of a problem in most cases, but since that seems to have become the total nadir of graphic design these days - with one or two notable exceptions - this is hardly the palliative that it might once have been.
the real problems seem to be in obtaining jerseys, caps et al that might be ideal for affiliation with a bicycle or component of the same name; campagnolo have a whole range of interesting apparel, but not actually designed to complement that rear derailleur. it's a great deal harder to buy a t-shirt, polo shirt or baseball cap (should the latter be thought of as a necessity). i was the man in the middle in negotiations to revive an old-style jersey from days gone past, where the progenitor/sponsor of said garment decided they wished not to be associated with cycling in its current form. the worst that could possibly have happened, as far as i can see, was that folks nipped out and bought some of their product. i believe opticians would refer to this as myopia.
of course, fortunately, not everyone sees things this way. chris king precision components, while perhaps a tad conservative on the new releases front, have no seeming reservation on providing aficionados of their aluminium products with the relevant soft goods. if you've kitted out the bicycle with a ck headset and/or bottom bracket, or perchance a pair of wheels, none are exactly the billboards you might like to demonstrate your superior componentry choice, even though they can be had in particularly bright and inviting colours. so the obvious answer to such a predicament would be wool, lycra or cotton with that all important logo somewhere abouts.
of course, brash is perhaps a particularly unseemly way forward, an adjective that could not be applied to a pair of chris king socks. made by defeet in north carolina, a pair of ck wool-e-ator feet covers arrive in a colourway combination of pewter/charcoal with a twin racing stripe up the front and the chris king logo wrapped around the ankle. according to the rapha style guide, one should not be wearing black socks unless training or racing at the domestique level; these are heading in the direction of noir, but haven't quite made it there yet, so i am happy to grant exception, and willing to argue my case with the perren street style council.
since over half the fabric combination consists of merino wool, these socks can but delight in the hot, hard slog into a headwind - just like uiskentuie strand today, in fact - the fact that they remain all but unnoticeable in use only adds to the value. and while the casquette continues to make a welcome return to that under the helmet - hardman look, a white cap with central championship stripes and chris king branding will attest to the favouring of portland's finest on the carbon fibre (or whatever frame material floats your boat). the socks can be had for $12 (£8.50) in small, medium, large and extra-large, while the italian-made cotton cap manages $18 (£12.50). the range also includes a range of t-shirts, a full-zip jersey, a workshop apron and other nice stuff.
there will be a road test of the chris king bottom bracket just shortly
posted on sunday 22 march 2009
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................when i first moved to islay, i tried to find what i expected to be a small township in the north of the island, travelling almost eight kilometres along a singletrack road hunting for the location marked on my ordnance survey map. sadly, i failed miserably, but happily met the folks i had been hoping to see walking towards me along said road. you see, when you're used to mainland scotland, a name on a map is generally a town or village: on islay, a name on a map guarantees nothing at all - in this case the township i thought i was looking for was, in fact, a house.
our trip to london at the beginning of this past week unwittingly placed us in a similar dilemma; off to lambs lane, hackney to visit tour de ville. jos, who lives upstairs, knew we were coming and had suggested we might like to visit on tuesday even though they are officially closed monday and tuesday. since this fitted in with our following visits, we figured this would be a plan; except we were looking for what most of us would recognise as a bike shop - front door, big window with stickers and posters and a couple of bikes padlocked (this is london) outside. and that's kind of where we went wrong.
tour de ville is not your ordinary cycle shop no matter what crietria you apply. for starters, while the large open courtyard leading into the shop has the name writ large on the brickwork, along with graffiti like bike caricatures, these are shielded from wandering souls by two heavy, black gates. these, of course, were closed because the shop was, well, closed. however, without boring you with locatory details, we found the place, jos opening the gate while apologising that he didn't do mornings too well.
if ever you wanted a bike shop that you could hang out in, tour de ville is it; if there is anything new on sale, i don't think we saw it. orderly rows of lovely european steel bicycle frames in colours rarely seen nowadays including a roger de vlaeminck badged colnago (with his initials engraved on the fork crown and photo on the head tube). there are components that were made before mark cavendish owned his first trike, along with a full campagnolo toolkit in the workshop still in every day use. jos made magnus maximus coffee, keith proudly showed a creative front wheel spoke pattern, and we just marvelled at the surrounding velocipedinal machinery.
ironically, on our i think we might be lost trudge to get to tdv, we had popped into a proper bike shop which wasn't too impressive at the time, and lost any lustre whatsoever by comparison. jos and keith are excellent hosts and their acquired stockholding really makes you wonder what our (my) fascination with carbon is all about. if ever you find yourself in london, do yourself a massive favour and take the tube to hackney and walk on to lambs lane, because there will be a huge gap in your quality of life if you don't.
one day, all bike shops will be like this (again).
posted on saturday 21 march 2009
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................having returned from a couple of days in london - not the simplest of escapades for a couple of tuechters - external apparel for two days of who knows what and how light can i travel? has to be carefully thought out. boring me settled for a north face softshell, aided and abetted by the fact that on leaving islay, the rain was incessant or, as we like to say in the hebrides, incessant. the more outdoor and macho mr hastings had character to build and an agenda to follow, thus he dressed in the very latest hand-made, islay woollen mill tweed cycling jacket.
currently only two of these jackets exist (i have the other one), but because we are nothing if not fastidious and worried over litigation, these are to be tested within an inch of their lives through the extremes of weather it is still possible to acquire here on the rock. in the interests of variety, the two jackets are not the same, even superficially: if you take a peek at the photo above, i have a greeny tweed, while jez's is a brownish colour with a tweedy pattern. so what's it all about? well, perhaps similarly to rapha's tweed softshell, the idea runs kind of along the lines of owning and wearing a cycling jacket that can just as easily be worn into the office as it can on the bicycle (of whatever variety), or even as a civilian pedestrian; mr hastings demonstrated this ideally while we got lost in deptford.
as i alluded above, the tweeds are woven by the islay woollen mill in bridgend, then hand-sewn and sculpted at tormisdale croft on the rhinns atlantic coast. prototype one has the regulation three rear pockets plus two angled front pockets just below shoulder height. prototype two (mine) has a fourth zipped pocket (uci legal) at the back and no front pockets at all. since version one, the collar has been tightened slightly, and i fear we may need to either add a drawcord around the hem, or simply pull it a bit closer to the bib three-quarters. of course, my principal worry is the degree of sartorial improvement i currently suffer, combining said jacket with rapha's leather town gloves and a pair of dromarti's marresi italian leather cycling shoes; i just don't usually dress this formally, especially on the bicycle.
however, i'm sure that there are others more conscientious than i, who would perhaps delight in this degree of smartness, and in all honesty look a tad more comfortable in their skin when attired in such a fashion. and if your hand is up, there's good news and there's bad news: the good news is that the possibility of owning one of these bespoke jackets may not be too far away; the bad news is that it might be further away than we'd both like, because we keep thinking of tweaks and twiddles that will hopefully improve the final offering, and i'm not sure this phase wil be as short as either of us would like.
if you'd like a few more details or whatever, drop me an e-mail and i promise i'll take up even more of your time.
thanks to all those who passed comment and ideas in london. you almost made it seem like we knew what we were doing (actually one of us did, and it wasn't me)
posted on friday 20 march 2009
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................the racing season has now started in earnest, paris-nice being almost regarded as the signal that such is the case. starting on saturday 7th march, the race contentedly ran its way south the to the town of nice on the mediterranean coast leading to an impressive win by caisse d'epargne's leon sanchez, despite rallying attacks by the favourite, alberto contador. while i was unable to watch every single minute of eurosport's fine and comprehensive coverage, i believe the race passed without public incident, just as one would hope.
of course, this was in france, where road cycling is a part of the country's heritage, and an accepted part of daily life, from this part of the season, to the three weeks in july, where the gendarmerie ensure all runs safely and according to plan. seemingly we cannot expect this to be the case on this side of the channel. this particular weekend saw the start of british cycling's premier calendar series, a series already hit with the withdrawal of the tour of wessex and the chas messenger road race, both suffering, i believe, from difficulties over policing. however, the bikeline two-day race went ahead with a prologue on saturday morning, then came to an abrupt halt over the course of the afternoon's stage when police stopped the race, citing cases of cyclists crossing the white line along the centre of the road, thereby 'putting lives at risk and inconveniencing other road users'.
i will confess to not being present at the event, nor to having spoken to either the organisers or the police, so much of what follows is based on conjecture. however, should the above reason indeed be correct, does it not seem somewhat unrealistic to expect a peloton of racing cyclists to confine their efforts to one side of the road? why is it so unseemly in this country to ask for, and receive at the very least, rolling road closures for a professional event? in the annual london-paris ride, while an attendant phalanx of motorcyclists accompanies riders to the ferry port on the channel, on reaching france, rolling road closures are a part of the service, and it is not left to the police to ensure this is the case. even more satisfying is the apparent acceptance of the french motoring and pedestrian public with this state of affairs.
according to hearsay evidence, the principal reason for riders perhaps crossing the centre line, if such was the case, was due to strong winds and the necessity of riders to form echelons to beat the draught. surely, the police have at least a basic understanding of the whys and wherefores of modern cycle racing, that echelon riding be an acceptable and not unexpected feature of even a british road race? at this point at the start of what promises to be a fine series of road races befitting the increased number of professional teams contesting the season, it does not augur well for the next eight events. i do not pretend to be aware of the requirements for policing other sporting events in the uk, but having seen film of the enormous police presence required whenever glasgow rangers play arch rivals, glasgow celtic, one wonders of the resultant outcry if strathclyde police were to cancel such matches due to their perceived danger to the public. as far as i know, such has never come to pass. but then that's football and not cycling, the former seemingly occupying a more privileged position in british society.
perhaps british cycling should quit this country entirely as a venue for road races, and simply negotiate with one of our european neighbours for road space and police co-operation to run the premier series abroad; for one, the weather would probably be a tad more pleasant, and we could have a darned site more than nine races.
posted on sunday 15 march 2009
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