car drivers, motorcyclists and cyclists have all to share britain's roadways, a situation that persists in pretty much all countries, with one or two notable exceptions on mainland europe. the keyword here would seem to be 'share', one that persists, almost without any specific meaning. priorities would appear to revolve around size and speed: "i'm bigger and faster than you are, so the road is more mine that it is yours." however, particularly with the commuter in mind, whether walking, cycling, driving, motorcycling or riding the bus or train, everybody has a single objective in mind.
getting to and from work or school.
consider the ceo of a hypothetical company who rides his brompton to and from the office each day, while the janitor for the building drives his ford fiesta. once through the front door, there is no argument as to the hierarchy, but assuming they use the same roadway to get there in the first place, there's every likelihood that the janitor feels he occupies the higher ground. though it may not be the same throughout the world, there still persists in the uk, the mostly mistaken notion that people ride bicycles because they can't afford a car. surely no-one would actually choose to ride a bicycle with so many more practical alternatives available?
it would be nice to think that this is a situation that has ameliorated over the past few years in the shadow of the 'bradley bubble', but in point of fact that's quite probably not the case. riding a bicycle in the hebrides is likely a far more pleasant state of affairs than for those domiciled in inner-cities or more urban areas, but with an annual influx of ever increasing tourist numbers (you'd scarcely believe the number of foreign plates perambulating islay's roads, even at this time of year), cycling life is slowly changing and we need to be a tad more cautious than was once the case.
however, the velo club peloton has substantially increased in numbers since the solo days of the turn of the century, meaning, among other things, that there are about ten more, once sedentary blokes, now riding round in circles past more distilleries than anybody really needs. the local truck and bus drivers are marvellous and we rarely, if ever, have to worry about being mown down by a forty-foot trailer on a mission. but it would be stretching credibility just a smidgeon too far to paint a picture of unrivalled acceptance across the board. as with everywhere else, there will always be individuals for whom the cyclist appears as a target; not, you understand, one at which they point their motor cars, but a very small portion of society that they have deemed necessary recipients of their displeasure or car horns.
at some time, face to face will occur.
this happened recently to one member of the pelotonese who found himself in discussion with a confirmed island motorist. keen to defuse the situation, he proffered the use of his bicycle, challenging the individual to ride a mile or so along the road and back. all credit to the fellow, he accepted the challenge, but failed miserably. somebody had to go and get him.
i'd be fibbing if i said it's not rather fun to win the argument now and again, particularly when achieved in such a fashion. so maybe, rather than jumping up and down and deliberately getting in the way as a form of protest, simply riding a bicycle is its own favourable argument. and that suits me just fine.
monday 7 january 2019
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................prior to the 1930s, santa claus wore a tan coloured suit. the red colour came via the illustrative work of thomas nast, who created a miniature santa claus who could slide down chimneys, but wearing the red suit that we all know and love. it wasn't long before this miniature santa became a full size santa, though quite how the latter made it down a chimney has never been fully explained. though it was nast who first opted for red (despite occasionally drawing him in a green suit), this change in colour has often been mistakenly attributed to a fellow by the name of haddon sundblom. the latter undoubtedly standardised the santa image with his work which associated the jolly chap with the beard with the coca-cola company, but he wasn't the first so to do.
though we are now accepting of santa in a red suit, the image of a rotund saint niklaus was previously one that was in flux. though i may be guilty of stretching credibility just a tad, prior to 2004, similar accusations could have been levelled at the common or garden cycle jersey. i really would be pushing my luck to state that rapha were solely responsible for re-defining the humble cycle jersey, but it's hard to argue against their popularising a black and pink combination. though pink, like yellow, had long featured on the leader's jersey of a grand tour (the giro), due to modern-day stereotypes, it was hardly recognised as the sort of colour to be worn by the big, the tough and the strong, unless you were the female of the species.
no doubt, amongst the great and the good, there are still blokes who would rather take up ballet dancing than be seen wearing pink, but to paraphrase, if it's good enough for vincenzo and marco, it's good enough for the rest of us.
and then there's just plain black.
there have long raged arguments in the art world and beyond, whether black can truly be regarded as a colour. black results from an absence of reflected light and though there are differing shades of black, mostly they all result from a complete lack of colour, in the true sense of the word. when applied to cycle clothing, it has resulted in an altogether different sort of argument, mostly revolving around that of visibility. it's hard to argue against the sight (or lack) of a cyclist at night dressed all in black; hardly the most pragmatic of choices, given the myriad of distractions afflicting the hapless motorist of a darkened evening.
but in situations pertianing to the racing milieu, a potential lack of visibility is hardly of major concern. it's a salient factor that has once again been satisfactorily exploited by the chaps at imperial works through their new association with jonathan vaughters' education first, world tour cycle team. in a week or two, the new jersey design created for the partnership, will be launched at the tour down under, but prior to that, there's the not altogether small concern of training miles and participation by one or two riders in the australian and new zealand national championships.
rather than undermine the grand unveiling, rapha have created an all-black team kit for use in the above circumstances, one that became part of cycling's heritage as of late yesterday. if you were quick to the link, it's possible you might have acquired an example of its extremely limited availability, but if you missed out, there's always next weekend, when the 'real' kit becomes available, one that promises to , yet again, break with tradition, but still incorporating a smidgeon of pink. some traditions should simply not be ignored.
rapha/education first 'blackout' team kit
sunday 6 january 2019
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................i'm sure that the first part of the following, is a tale which i have related on a previous occasion, but since i harbour uncertainty as to whether that is truly the case, i'm banking on my reader experiencing the same doubt. so here goes.
in the early part of last decade, the mighty dave-t moved from his southern disposition to the southern portion of the rhinns of islay. for the previous five years, i had been riding solo around the principality, convinced that my daily distances equalled those of mark beaumont and at a speed that would make peter sagan blush. unfortunately the reality of the situation was considerably different. the mighty dave, however, was well practised in the art of riding quickly while outwardly expressing a stillness of purpose. were you to compare, he would exude serenity, while i appeared to be creating a jacuzzi without the water.
however, on meeting for the first time outside the gates of bruichladdich distillery and heading off into the wide blue yonder, i was on the verge of noting black spots in front of my eyes. and were the speed worthy of remark, the distance was almost double that of my usual perambulations. on returning to the distillery (mid-point between our respective abodes), we made our goodbyes and i pedalled squares all the way home.
if nothing else, surely a demonstration of einstein's theory of relativity?
on realising that my previous ministrations had been of a rather paltry nature, bicycle rides in the company of the mighty dave-t exploited the iniquities outlined above, introducing me to higher speeds, greater distances and many of the hitherto unknown technicalities of echeloning up or down uiskentuie strand. and the best part was that not only did i become a smidgeon fitter than had once been the case, but i enjoyed my bike riding to a far greater degree. no matter what the modern-day, digital world tries to teach you, old school takes some beating.
in the intervening years, though i truly have no idea quite how popular thewashingmachinepost actually is (i rarely glance at my site statistics), more and more time has been invested by me in filling these black and yellow pixels. as you might be surprised to hear, so doing hasn't necessarily led to an increased number of kilometres covered each week. yes, there have been bicycles to ride, components to click, clothing to be worn. but in the process, photographs have to be taken, images which always take a lot longer than you'd think, particularly when using the timer and hoping to remain within the frame.
therefore, i still have the problem of riding fewer kilometres than i feel a cyclist of my lowly standing ought to be covering in a month. the welcome relief to this was the recently completed festive 500, making it a challenge on two fronts; finish and ride farther than usual. of course, the pedants amongst you will immediately point out that i should surely acquire a strava account and participate in their seemingly random (to me at least) challenges. but, to my way of thinking, that would only mean robbing peter to pay paul (not that i actually know any local cyclists named thus): increased kilometreage, yet decreased social status.
i'm inclined to remain with the old-school, as portrayed by the mighty dave. i'll ride as much as i can, while refusing to play the numbers game. the sooner we realise we're all going round in ever-decreasing circles, the better for all of us. ben lieberson was not wrong when he proclaimed #outside is free, so enjoy that and ignore the numbers.
that's the fun part.
saturday 5 january 2019
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................i will readily admit that i have a tendency to take a cynical view of velocipedinal matters that cause me either confusion or despair. possibly it's a sideways quirk that manifests itself as a knee-jerk reaction, a defensive means of coping with changes in the cycling firmament, but i prefer to think of it as my bequest to society, pointing out where it all went horribly wrong. history is littered with wrong decisions, the wrongness of which was only realised some considerable time later. since i'm arrogant enough to think that i have an innate ability to be right, i'm banking on offering several resounding 'i told you so's', in the fullness of time.
i offer the above as a presage to a (hopefully) brief discussion of the apparently unstoppable rise of the so-called 'e-bike'. considering one of my office colleagues is the proud owner of a specialized turbo vado, possession of which has provided her with a new lease of life on a bike, i'm not going to be so naive as to dismiss the existence of such machinery out of hand. like many of you, e-bikes are decidedly not for me, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a substantial market for such machinery, one that may conceivably bring many into the fold. but the majority on offer seem principally aimed at the commuter or leisure market, one where i think their benefits will be most appreciated.
where i draw the admittedly arbitrary line, is in the number of e-road bikes that seem to be infiltrating the time-space continuum.
lest you think my days are spent perusing the cycle industry archives and press-releases to keep a beady eye on such matters of the electron, let me disavow you of that notion right now. but, when, like me, you are a famous member of the cycling media, these matters are likely to infiltrate just when you least expect them. the most recent, and the very one that gave rise to this unwelcome monologue was the new trek domane+ e-bike, a carbon-framed road machine with drop bars incorporating a bosch electric motor capped at the obligatory 25kph. and therein lies the core of my cynicism.
according to trek, the domane+ is a "drop bar electric road bike that makes longer, faster road-rides possible." those are mighty words, but sadly words that seem largely unfounded. for starters, though the trek is probably a tad lighter than the specialized described above, even using the lowest assistance setting, i reckoned to reach a maximum of 60 miles (100km) on a single charge. even if the domane+ manages an extra ten miles (16km) per charge, those road bike rides are not necessarily going to be a great deal longer, if at all. and given that an old fart such as myself managed to achieve an average speed of over 26kph on an analogue bicycle while attacking last week's festive 500 challenge, i fail to see the validity of the claim to be faster.
though i must assume that trek understand their market far better than i ever could, any serious demand for an electric, drop bar, carbon road bike would strike me as a stark contradiction. all of the velo club peloton have chosen the analogue road bike as a means of testing their mettle against the elements and each other; to augment that with an electric motor would seem almost like cheating. riding a top-of-the-range road bike, powered by one's own muscle-power, is the very beginning of acquiring bragging rights, both in and out of the coffee shop. why would any self-respecting roadie wish to sully such childish needs with electricity?
friday 4 january 2019
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................there's a certain amount of conceit having someone like myself undertake a review of componentry such as this campagnolo record twelve-speed groupset. for starters, the cream of professional cyclists have probably already given it a much harder time than anything i could manage and any perceived failings or misfires will likely have been fettled within a centimetre of their existence. subsequently, all that would remain would be to place all this shiny metal and carbon into very attractive boxes and seal them with a roundel of campagnolo tape. in which case, is there any real point to the scribblings you're (hopefully) about to read?
well, if i may be so bold and forthright, yes, i think there is. for starters, though i pride myself on a practised ability to ride a bicycle as well as anyone else in the peloton, i'm pretty sure that there is many a team manager or directeur sportif who would be inclined to disagree. and though we may heap admiration upon those who legitimately wear a team jersey, it's suprising how few of them have the faintest idea as to the workings of their bicycles. that's mainly why the professional entourage always includes a large, well-equipped truck and a team of mechanics with the skills to ensure everything continues to work exactly as the manufacturer intended.
you can no doubt already see the marked differences between me (and, by implication, you) and them. for starters, though i had online professional assistance, the record components (front and rear derailleurs, caliper brakes, levers, chainset, cassette and chain) were all affixed to my ritchey logic by yours truly. i do have a reasonable grasp of bicycle mechanics, but i'm a long way from being an expert. so, the purpose of sending such desirable componentry to the inner hebrides, carries a smidgeon more responsibility than doing so, simply because vicenza thinks i'm a nice guy.
it would seem a bit hypocritical of me to forcefully suggest that, should you have designs set on either a record or super-record twelve-speed setup, that you have it professionally attached to your bicycle. there are factors of which you need to inform yourself before bolting stuff together, much of which is not contained within those dinky little booklets contained within the well-designed boxes. i'm reasonably sure that's the case in order to forestall any home assembly.
however, having apparently correctly installed everything, there's the not insignificant matter of taking the whole lot for a ride, which is where my own expertise comes into play, even if ineptitude might be a more appropriate word. aside from having everything work as designed, it needs to continue so to do whatever the terrain (within limits), whatever the weather and whatever the riding abilities of the chap or chapess in the saddle. campagnolo's twelve speed record groupset is not exactly cheap; the recommended retail price in the uk hovers around the £1700 mark. that would once have placed it firmly upon the horizons of only the most serious of cyclists. but a rise in the sport's popularity over the past decade has brought the expensive and well-specced carbon bicycle within the sights of those with a large disposable income and a desire for velocipedinal status, irrespective of any actual need or ability.
i resolved, therefore, to subject both bicycle and groupset to the vicissitudes of the annual festive 500, where the daily quest for kilometres subsumes any perceived niceties and requires a reliability that will not interfere with the aforementioned daily quest. i cannot deny that those eight days failed to offer the level of hardship that is normal at this time of year, with no rain to speak of, remarkably little wind and most amenable temperatures. however, none of those minimise the state of many of islay's single track roads, nor of the loose gravel and belgian toothpaste that peppers their surfaces, yet i experienced nary a misfire throughout those festive kilometres.
though i religiously cleaned and lubricated the narrow twelve-speed chain at the end of each day's ride, it never once gave an indication of wishing to skip a beat. gear-changing was impeccable and continues to be so, demonstrating that precise and definite italian tooth engagement many of us know and love. with a 36/52 chainring combination allied to an 11-29 cassette, there's still frequently the need for a left-right two step that afflicts all compact setups. perhaps those brought up on the latter will have little idea of which i speak, but if you were raised on 53/39, you might comprehend. 53/39 sports a 14 tooth gap between rings, but both 34/50 and 36/52 compacts are separated by 16. thus, moving into the outer ring often necessitates shifting up to a larger sprocket to maintain a similar cadence.
on the occasions when i decided to shift up at the rear and simultaneously do likewise at the front (or vice versa), everything went exactly to plan. there were no dropped chains, no chain suck and no errors based on the previously mentioned ineptitude.
advantage, campagnolo.
i mentioned in my first detail of this groupset last year, that i experienced serious tyre rub under the front brake caliper due to a lack of clearance above 28mm rubber. while still surprised that this should be the case (a problem that did not arise with campagnolo chorus calipers), setting the front wheel a few millimetres lower in the fork dropouts and tightly clamping the quick-release skewer, seems to have provided an effective remedy. when time allows, i do intend to try alternative rubber, but i really don't think the problem should have occurred in the first place.
that said, i have nothing but praise for the modulation and stopping power offered by the record calipers. islay is hardly renowned for its hilly profile, but there are one or two agreeable descents/ascents on which to exercise our smattering of descending skills, such as they are. one of these exists at foreland, a road that leads to/from kilchoman distillery. as it begins its downward trajectory, there is a blind corner which would probably be better taken slowly, but that would be to lose out on some free speed. intent on taking advantage of the latter, in pouring rain (prior to the festive 500) i attempted the 'heads down, no nonsense, mindless boogie', only to meet a delivery van going in the opposite direction. the knee-jerk reaction is/was, to pull hard on the carbon brake levers while looking for somewhere comfortable to fall.
despite the rain and the shortage of distance between bicycle and van, i safely pulled to a halt. my kind of brakes, calipers that still has me doubting the need for discs.
there are many more kilometres for this groupset to enjoy and it will be interesting to note just how long both gears and brakes continue to provide such excellent service. despite all having been installed by my experienced, but certainly not campagnolo qualified hands, i have had no need of adjusting the cable tension on front or rear derailleurs or either of the brakes. fitting twelve rear sprockets into the space formerly occupied by eleven, allowing continued use of existing wheelsets, means tolerances are subsequently raised. any play in the cables can only result in sloppier or non-existent gear shifting. yet gearchanges remain close to perfection, arguably more impressive than on the eleven-speed groupsets. but vicenza has changed the means by which the rear mech tracks across the sprockets, resulting in substantially enhanced performance, no matter your level of ability. it would not be overstating the case to classify this as the current state-of-the-art.
though i have ridden electric groupsets, i still think them to be a solution looking for a problem. but when mechanical works this well, batteries are an alleged luxury i'm happy to do without.
campagnolo record twelve-speed groupset
thursday 3 january 2019
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................jacketage is an important part of cycling life at this time of year. or perhaps a more succinct way of putting it, would be to point out that jacketage is more of an important factor in winter cycling and that's true for a number of reasons. for starters, the temperatures tend to be a tad less warming over the winter period, frequently accompanied by precipitation or, perhaps more festively, snow. both the latter are best kept on the outside, something that the average jersey, even one with winter pretensions, is not particularly good at. it's for that reason alone, that we have need of jacketage.
an ancillary, yet every bit as important, rationale behind the need to feature at least one winter jacket in your wardrobe, is based on the randomness of the velocipedinal malfeasance. punctures and mechanical malfunctions were conspicuous by their absence throughout every last centimetre of my recent successful attempt on the festive 500, but that's hardly a reason not to be prepared. at the risk of jinxing the whole situation, i rarely suffer from punctures, but on the infrequent occasions when they have asserted their unwanted presence, they've usually done so on the outer edge of nowhere in particular.
as i have portrayed on many a previous occasion, many of scotland's hebridean islands, including islay, are frequently strafed by atlantic gales, the ominous presence of which have historically curtailed luxuriant arborial growth around the outer fringes. thus, having need of stopping to fix anything on the bike is likely to result in a speedy reduction in body temperature without one iota of shelter to be seen for miles. on such occasions, a winter jacket is less of a desire and far more of a necessity.
however, as with many an item in this material world, there are winter jackets and then there are winter jackets. and though the folks in vicenza sure as heck know their way around twelve sprockets and a carbon derailleur, is there any good reason to trust their judgment when it comes to jacketage? on the basis of the last few weeks, it would appear the answer to that question is a resounding 'yes'. the winter c-tech jacket from campagnolo gets off to a brilliant start by incorporating the letter 'c' into its title. long-time campagnolo aficionados will doubtless recall the eponymous c-record groupset, which most of us will recall with affection and possibly even a derailleur or chainset in the bike shed.
however, nostalgia and quiet reverence are scarcely of much use when riding in winter weather. so water and wind-resistance, combined with breathability and the ability to remain 'race-fit' over any make or model of jersey, no matter whether the pockets of the latter are stuffed with stuff, becomes of far greater allure. but, in point of fact, there is no real need for that to be the case, when the c-tech jacket is blessed with two substantially-sized rear pockets of its own. i cannot deny that i'd have been more happy with three external pockets, purely for reasons of separation, but the c-tech jacket's cargo-carrying capacity was never called into question, accompanied as were the two, by a zipped third version.
though thankfully i encountered no endless downpours, i did comfortably survive a lengthy period of dousing by rain, a heavy shower that promised to ameliorate in a matter of minutes, but then failed so to do.
though it's a habit of which i disapprove, i realise i am on the outside looking in when it comes to the carrying of mobile smartphones. should you be of just such a persuasion, there's a small, zippered pocket at lower-left front for the carrying of an ios or android device.
having earlier referred to the race-fit(ness) of the jacket, this desirable profile is immensely enhanced and reinforced by a semi-neoprene tail, not only fending off rear wheel spray, but enforcing a welcome seal from the rear-facing elements. a similar material is employed at the cuffs, making the interface between jacket and gloves as effectively weatherproof as you'd hope it would be. the c-tech's breathability was, to all intents and purposes, as state-of-the-art as state-of-the-art needs to be. but should you find yourself bathed in more perspiration than you'd prefer, there are a couple of zipped air vents to better regulate the temperature.
the high collar was both effective and welcome, while there's no real denying that the presence of both the flying wheel logo on the left chest and a vertically positioned campagnolo script logo atop the left sleeve, add copious quantities of kudos and coffee shop/pelotonic bragging rights. this can be demonstrably underlined should you be seen astride a record or super-record twelve-speed equipped bicycle, but i did ride an alternative to check its compatibility with other gear systems.
it passed.
campagnolo offered a range of branded clothing many years ago, before deciding to call it a day in the garmentage industry. yet, here we are in 2019, but a few years after they decided to once more get involved in the cycle clothing market. i for one am extremely glad that they did; this is every bit as effective, stylish and well-made as their groupsets.
campagnolo's c-tech winter jacket is available in dark grey or blue in sizes ranging from xs to xxxl. retail price is €249 (£224)
campagnolo c-tech winter jacket
wednesday 2 january 2019
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................rapha's festive 500 was designed as an aproachable challenge, undertaken at the time of year when many of us could be dragged to the dark-side and likely to join the ranks of the world's couch potatoes. it's hard not to think of the festive period as one when sloth and torpor gain the upper hand, watching endless repeats of agatha christie's poirot and previously seen episodes of vera. (incidentally, i could find none of the many satellite channels available that chose to show either 'holiday inn''white christmas'.)
surely a travesty?
an average of 63 kilometres each day would seem designed to cause barely a ruffle in that of domestic bliss; leave the house early enough and it's possible to be home in time for a sumptuous repast at lunchtime, just after her/him indoors has had time to have a lie-in, shower and make a cup of coffee. unlike the festive challenge that gave rise to the 500 (graeme raeburn's 1,000km), and assuming you have the requisite days off work, it's just the very velocipedinal undertaking that provides bragging rights on return to the office in the new year.
though my attempts over previous years have varied greatly in intensity, dependent on the proximity of inclement weather fronts, this year there has been little in the way of hardship. that has allowed me to concentrate on the act of reviewing, in this case, the campagnolo record twelve-speed groupset currently in place on the ritchey and an as-yet, undisclosed aluminium bicycle, received but a few days prior to the festive break. should rapha be willing to offer an embroidered roundel as recompense for my considered ministrations, i intend to defer receipt in favour of their making a donation to world bicycle relief.
for others completing the challenge today, i would heartily receommend that you do likewise. it may or may not have been purgatory at the time, but i think it only right and proper that those considerably less fortunate than ourselves, ought to benefit from our festive perambulations.
but while i may be keen to undermine any thoughts of this year's 500 having been a personal challenge, i feel i must pay testament to a sunday morning colleague who has, in my estimation, embraced the difficulties imposed by his circumstances. while those who regularly inhabit the likes of rapha's san francisco club ride in warm idyllic conditions, clad in bibshorts and short-sleeved jerseys, this fellow has gone the extra mile (so to speak).
though he has been a longtime friend, he and his wife only moved to the hallowed isle earlier this year, taking over the local shop/newsagent in one of the island's villages. thus, while i cheerfully completed 103 on holiday from work kilometres in bright sunshine on christmas eve, he had need of waiting until the shop was closed for the day, before heading out in the evening to ride in total darkness. bear in mind that this is a very rural and agricultural community in which sheep and cattle don't always respect the limits of their designated fields. sheep don't always appear to be white after darkness falls, and cattle are invariably some choice shade of black and streetlights are mostly conspicuous by their absence.
christmas day and boxing day allowed him the luxury of daylight, due to the shop remaining closed on both days, but since then and excluding yesterday morning's sunday ride, he has ridden in darkness, unfortunately interrupted by two punctures. i can think of several cyclists who struggle to replace an inner tube in daylight, never mind do so miles from home, in the pitch dark. it would have been easy to use his business circumstances as the perfect excuse to enjoy a series of restful evenings, but that's not the sort of nutter he is.
by the time you read this, he will doubtless have accumulated sufficient kilometres to thoroughly deserve his embroidered roundel and the approbation of the entire peloton. no doubt there are many other festive 500 participants who have endured far more harrowing barriers to successful completion and probably a goodly number who sanely decided to call it a day. all deserve at least modest applause.
but always remember that 'epic' is our birthright.
monday 31 december 2018
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