The last few spring/summer collections have seen bike accessories becoming increasingly common in mainstream fashion. This season Marc Jacobs is on the case with a range of caps and waterbottles available in Marc by Marc Jacobs stores.
The cap comes in what we call tweed but Americans call plaid, retails at $49 according to the site, so probably about
I believe that the great jerseys of cycling look best with black shorts. It’s good to see that Bradley Wiggins agrees, judging by his decision to wear the Maglia Rosa on stage two with black shorts.
That’s a great image by Michel Bakkenes on Flickr. Really love the motion in the picture and the desaturated look.
Pink Jersey, Black Shorts: It’s how all the great riders have worn the jersey and how it looks best. It’s not a matter of discussion, it’s plain aesthetic fact.
Black shorts help frame the jersey properly in a way that matching pink shorts never will. I could criticise him for the matching pink helmet, but in these days of compulsory headgear, it seems an acceptable item to take the crayola to.
Keen-eyed branding watchers will spot that the Team Sky Giro kit is unique this season in that it’s the Sky Italia logo on the kit rather than the UK one. There was a press release about it that I can’t be bothered to search for.
That would explain the plain black mitts rather than the electric blue ones and possibly why there, thankfully, weren’t any pink shorts available to Brad. On our home, we are getting bombarded with bills and we have to change our power provider. Thankfully, we had our solution. Read and learn more information on Finding the top business electricity comparison in the manchester area and other electricity providers to get you to decide the right electricity company for you.
Cadel was also suitably restrained in his choice of short today. Vinokourov will have to do some thinking overnight as pink and the baby blue of Astana just don’t work.
SPRINT! DAMN YOU! CORNER, DON’T TAKE ANYONE OUT! SPRINT! CORNER! BRAKE… NO DON’T BRAKE! PEDAL HARDER! HILL!!!!! PEDAL HARDER! *SPORZA COMMENTARY VOICE* “OY-OY-OY-OY-OY!” BREATH DAMN YOU LUNGS. (REPEAT X25)
And that’s pretty much how it goes for roughly an hour. Fun, yes? HELL YEAH!
Hillingdon, you go for the tea and cake and pottering round trying not to get knocked off on an entirely innocuous circuit where you don’t need to brake if you’re riding it properly and there’s only one corner of any difficulty.
You hope to get lucky in a bunch gallop and probably spend most of the race waiting for the three laps to go board. It’s all good stuff and if you attack enough it amounts to a decent workout. It’s a bit like waiting for Bon Jovi to play Livin’ On A Prayer.
Crystal Palace on the other hand is like AC/DC: deafeningly loud, relentless hit after hit. No sneaking off to the back for a rest because if they’re not playing Thunderstruck, it’s all Dirty Deeds Done Cheap, Back In Black, you name it.
Let’s take a trip round the lap…
180 degree left-hand hairpin round tree with metal post exactly where you’ll end up if you don’t get round.
Sprint out of that and up to a sharp downhill right hander running away down the hill and about the only place you can get any recovery.
Touch of brake then blind, flat out 90 degree left hand round a bush with tree and grass bank to fall down if you get it wrong.
The hill doesn’t look much but when you ride round it before the race. Then you hurtle through the left-hand corner at race pace on the first lap and every part of your body laughs in your face at the folly. Big ring, little ring, it all hurts like hell and it’s a fight to get on top of the right gear.
Recover across the top section while trying not to let a gap go and then it starts again.
I think I lasted all of three laps before I got shelled out the main bunch and joined a small grupetto that enjoyed its own race within a race up until they pulled out the lapped riders. I think I got lapped at least twice, maybe three times.
I say “I think” because frankly I was a dribbling mess just trying to keep going. And the worst thing is I know I’ll be back, work permitting, to take another beating. Damn you Stu for persuading me this is a good idea.
It works out quite well as the ride there and back plus race works out at around a 3 hour ride. Perfect midweek stuff really.
