thewashingmachinepost




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being gary fisher and the bicycle revolution. gary fisher and guy kesteven. bluetrain hardback 254pp illus. $39.99

being gary fisher - guy kesteven

"Let's tell people how much of a buzz just swooping round your first corner is, or how awesome getting your feet off the floor, cranking those pedals and flying along feels - however old you are or whatever shape you're in."

being gary fisher - guy kesteven

in the late 1980s, in need of a more practical means of velocipedinal transport than a steel, ten-speed racer, i bought one of the new-fangled mountain bikes. as it turns out, the shop in kilmarnock from which i acquired the original muddy fox courier belonged, in part, to graeme obree, perhaps an innocent portent of things to come. of course, along with many who partook of the mountain bike revolution, i had no intentions of going anywhere near a mountain. and the commute from troon to prestwick was flat enough to have no direct need of gearing that would presage the advent of 'everesting' as a cycling pastime.

being gary fisher - guy kesteven

however, what the mountain bike had going for it at the time, was its american heritage, reputedly evolved from the desire of a group of hippies on america's west-coast to throw themselves down a hill in marin county. the chances of that being reprised on the carrick hills near the former butlins, south of ayr, were small to non-existent, but that didn't stop a group of intrepid and, if i'm honest, rather intense folks forming a mountain bike club to do just that.

though i greatly appreciated the three chainrings up front and a decent spread of sprockets at the back, along with tyres that offered a great deal more comfort than had the 25mm tyres on the steel road bike, i didn't quite get the mountain bike bit. but the fellow responsible for coining the name had been in at the birth pangs of the 'invention' that ultimately saved the bike industry for probably more years than they could have reasonably expected.

being gary fisher - guy kesteven

unlike tom ritchey, scot nicol and joe breeze, however, gary fisher - for 'twas he - didn't actually build his own mountain bikes. the original fisher mountain bike frames were built by tom ritchey. however, with one eye on the potential commercial benefits of being in on the ground floor, he and fellow enthusiast, charlie kelly, gave "this new type of bike a name. Then I took that product out of the village, personally spread it round the whole world and made an industry out of it..."

but gary fisher didn't arrive at the mountain bike, fully-formed, replete with bright, pin-stripe suits, goatee beard and handlebar moustache. not only was he involved in the ministrations around mt. tamalpais and the repack run, but gary fisher spent his teenage years as a confirmed road racer who trained and raced as hard as anyone in american flyers, eventually becoming embroiled in the hippy scene of the mid to late sixties.

being gary fisher - guy kesteven

"I wasn't going to cut my hair, so I cut the racing instead. [...] When I started going to see the Grateful Dead, they sounded like shit."

being in the right place at the right time offered the opportunity to become more involved in that scene, other than observing from the sidelines. working with others, fisher developed light shows for the bands of the time, along with working on sound development for the public address systems needed to let ever-increasing crowds hear what was happening on stage. effectively, it was the same scene that spawned the future mountain bikers, exploring their surroundings by opting to hurtle down gravel slopes on cruiser bikes scarcely designed for the purpose. refining those machines to survive their repeated hammerings, eventually led to the ancestors of today's springy farm gates.

being gary fisher - guy kesteven

'being gary fisher' is a unique book on every level you care to consider. even the physical book eschews the spine that usually features on hardbacks; the book title is printed across the grouped pages, held together solely by the fastening to the front and rear covers and the glue that holds them all together. and that's only the beginning of its weirdness. during the pages concerning themselves with the acid scene of the sixties, the graphics and typography are every bit as disorienting (in a very good way). for those who remember david carson's 'ray gun' magazine, this will make you feel quite at home.

being gary fisher - guy kesteven

yet, unlike several issues of ray gun (interviews printed in the wingdings font), the oft times glaring graphics never actually impede the reader; 'being gary fisher' is every bit as easy to read as any other on the market. however the combination of text and graphics have produced a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, courtesy of alex fergusson and ultan coyle.

but my praise ought best be reserved for co-author, guy kesteven, ("Guy, I need to write a book...") who has taken the life and times of gary fisher and created a narrative that defies you to put the book down. i read this book in far fewer sittings than i had expected, because at the foot of each page was an invisible voice saying, "just one more..."

being gary fisher - guy kesteven

following his 'conversion' to the ways of the knobbly tyre, the book continues by relating how things developed from fisher mountain bikes, the shop, to fisher mountain bikes, the production factory and the ups and downs that creating a successful commercial reality entails. on asking at bluetrain publishing where you could all get hold of a copy, and the uk pricing, taz told me "It's only available via Trek US at the moment and selling out fast. So the next print run will be available in the UK, we'll make sure of that!" if you're across the pond, i'd encourage you to search out a copy; if you're on this side of the atlantic, i'll let you know when the book is released in the uk. even if mountain bikes don't float your boat, you still need to experience this book.

bluetrain publishing

monday 28 december 2020

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knowing when to stop

rapha festive 500

had i been undertaking the festive 500 for the eleventh time, yesterday would have been one of those days to be subtracted from the time available. days like that - and in many instances, there has been more than one across the eight day challenge - are definitely what turns a procedure into a challenge, creating a mixture of envy and disparity when viewing images of those on america's west coast supping froth on a balcony overlooking a beach, calm ocean and wall to wall sunshine. i have petitioned rapha on more than a single occasion to implement some sort of weighting system, to ease the pain of having to complete the challenge over only six days.

but the soft southerners have only deaf ears to such heartfelt pleas.

however, as implied in my opening paragraph, 500 kilometres are not on my to do list this time round. so 80 - 90kph winds and driving rain were seen from the safety of my sitting room, while watching kung fu panda 2. but it would be insolent and disreputable of me to deny that, even in the described weather conditions, i seriously considered venturing out, even if only for a few hard won kilometres. to place all in some sort of perspective, calmac cancelled all of saturday's sailings.

but, viewed from yet another perspective, there were two levels of potential stupidity waiting in the wings. for starters, had i ventured out of doors, even on the cyclocross bike, not only would i have been a danger to myself, but i'd have been either a fast-moving or slow-moving danger to motorised traffic. headwinds are mere gruntwork for which you either have the gearing capacity and leg strength, or you don't. crosswinds, however, are far less predictable, and if they're intent on pushing self and bicycle into the middle of the road without warning, that's at least two of us that ought to be worried.

then there's the very reasons why i opted not to undertake the festive 500 this year. firstly, not only for yours truly, this has been a somewhat harder year than usual. due to circumstances outwith my control, i have ended up doing two jobs simultaneously since lockdown, and i could really do with the break. if you read my short piece on how to ride the festive 500, based on ten years' experience, you would know that the modus operandi was to arise at 8am, don the apparel du jour, eat a hearty breakfast and be out on the road around 9am. that has to happen over eight days, followed by a ninth when the velo club hold the new year's day ride.

then, it's more or less time to return to work.

giving it a rest this year is providing me with the opportunity to stay in my bed until a ridiculous time of the morning, yet still offering the chance to head out for a few kilometres and perchance a soya latte, whenever the mood takes me. but in spite of all the foregoing, there is another more important reason for giving those 500 kilometres a miss in 2020. christmas and new year are, so i'm told, the time of year when it's important to be with family. mrs washingmachinepost has been a cycling widow for the past ten christmases, and my grand-daughter celebrated her first christmas, at the age of eight months.

there are times when even the most ardent cyclist needs to realise when it's important not to go out on the bike. not just because there's every liklihood of landing somewhere on another island farther north, but because it's the right thing to do at the time. irrespective of those twelve italian gears on the bike and state of the art waterproofing, just imagine how mrs washingmachinepost would feel if i chose 80kph winds and rain, over staying indoors (for once) with her at christmas.

believe it or not, there are times when the bike ought best stay within the confines of the bikeshed irrespective of the weather.

photo: rapha

sunday 27 december 2020

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it shouldn't happen to a cyclist

specialized turbo cotton

work ended at noon on wednesday, followed by the aforementioned socially-distanced christmas lunch, leaving christmas eve as a day of alleged leisure. in keeping with my disavowanceof this year's festive 500, i began my curtailed festive 240, by taking a luchtime ride to debbie's for coffee and, in this case, a cheese and tomato toastie. in pleasant, if slightly chilly weather, i dined al fresco, though the chill unfortunately cooled the froth on my soya cappuccino. having met another member of the velo club peloton, we both rode home together, wishing each other a happy christmas before heading to our respective homes.

i should perhaps have mentioned that, on extricating the speclalized from the bike shed prior to the above, i noted that the ritchey sported a flat front tyre, a technical malfeasance i was honour bound to repair on my return. even taking into account the fact that modern-day tyres seem hell-bent on being more than just a little difficult to fit pretty much any wheel rim you care to mention, i thought i was looking at fifteen minutes tops for the tube replacement, a target time that was more or less achieved.

though 'tis the season to be jolly, it's also the season in which a set of mudguards would scarcely go amiss. thus, but a week past, i had refitted the pair of bicycle quickguards that had offered such sterling service last winter. however, on replacing the front wheel, i noted that one of the two prongs that connects the stays to the q/r clamp had snapped, rendering the front guard unusable, though initially, i figured i'd leave the rear version in place.

however, having replaced the front wheel after cleaning the inner and outer faces of the carbon forks, given the agricultural demeanour of the ritchey frame, i figured i'd remove the rear wheel and guard to give the chainstays and seatstays a decent scrub. at which point, the loss of a front mudguard became one of the least of my yuletide woes. for the last few months, the bike has ridden on a pair of specialized cotton pro tyres; not brand new, but having seen only minimal use prior to fitting to the campagnolo boras. you can but imagine my disappointment on discovering that the tread on the rear tyre had delaminated and separated itself from the casing at several points around the circumference.

i have long been an advocate of making regular pre-flight checks of the bike, especially at this time of year. had the tread decided to remove itself completely as i rode cheerfully past saligo bay during the weekend ahead, i might have been lucky to get home in time for hogmanay.

and so began an afternoon of tyre replacement, figuring that if the rear tyre had delaminated, it was surely only a matter of time until the front one did likewise. unfortunately, the two replacement tyres, from different manufacturers (tyres are like socks; there never seems to be a matching pair lying around) took over two hours to fit, during which time, three inner tubes were sacrificed to the cause, along with my two thumbs and a large proprtion of my back muscles.

that was not the manner in which i had envisaged spending christmas eve, but it does encourage me to advise those undertaking the festive 500 to make daily checks of both tyres, chain and any cabling still visible. those of you riding on zwift just need to re-examine your life choices.

saturday 26 december 2020

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let's not do this again next year

kent truck park, december 2020

at the time of writing, i have just returned from our annual office christmas lunch, conducted in a nearby hostelry, sat two at a table with social distancing between each. argyll and bute, and thus islay, is currently at scotland's level 2, where two people from different households are allowed to meet indoors, hence the above mentioned table arrangement. i'm pleased to say that a fine time was had by all, though we did miss the christmas crackers this year.

christmas conversation, as it does at this time, briefly mentioned the year past, most notably the dearth of visitors due to covid restrictions, and, to be perfectly honest, how much we'd all enjoyed having the island pretty much to ourselves for most of the year. our host for the afternoon, surprsingly enough, totally concurred, saying that with the support of local residents, the hotel had managed to weather the hospitality storm remarkably well. surrounded as we are by more than just a few whisky distilleries, common consensus, considering the fact that the scottish mainland is about to enter level four on saturday, while we move up one step to level three, was that, all considered, it was more than likely that the islay whisky festival will be abandoned for a second year in succession. and despite many of us relying on the whisky dollar to pay our wages, this might be something to look forward to, a sentiment probably not shared by the world's whisky aficionados.

however, i recognise that my selfish reason for hoping this to be the case, is a bit like agonising that the microwave doesn't work, when there are millions starving in countries across the globe. no whisky festival meant considerably fewer cars and motorhomes on islay's roads, and even though only three out of nine distilleries are situated on single-track roads, perambulating the estates was notably less fraught than in previous years, while passing places were visited far less often.

surely minor problems, however, compared to those suffered by cyclists on the uk mainland?

however, the reluctance or prevention of many folks travelling during the summer months, meant far fewer rode the ride of the falling rain, numbers all but equalling its first year of existence when only those and such as those were aware of its existence. in our relatively isolated island bubble, that meant fewer folks with whom to have a saddle-based conversation, and making it a far less ostentatious event than has come to be the case. additionally, the revived tour de islay, held on the first saturday of the whisky festival, turned into a solitary affair, with only yours truly, visiting all nine (closed) distilleries in one day and raising money for the local eventide home.

i have no real need or great desire to visit the distilleries, but doing so alone wasn't quite the experience it could have been with company.

so, as a more subdued christmas eve only serves to highlight that family and friends are probably still where they were, instead of over here, and we enter an enforced period of restrictions that may or may not be lifted before the end of january, it's as well to be thankful for the fact that we are cyclists. should the isles subsequently find themselves placed at level four (or greater) in the next few weeks, even then, i'll have the option to ride outdoors without any apparent limitations on distance, ostensibly saved by my island existence. but on the off chance that some of you might effectively be stuck indoors on a turbo-trainer, watching an animated parcours on an ipad, at least you have that.

as i have scarcely concealed, i'm not a great fan of either peloton, echelon, or zwift, but i do have to admit that it's better than nothing. and just as an added aside, with canyon bikes and several other german retailers having curtailed all shipments to the uk until mid-january due to brexit, and campagnolo having done likewise, if you think you might need parts for the bicycle in the immediate future, procrastinate no longer; either get online and order what you need right now, or pay your local bike shop a visit very soon. the popularity of cycling hasn't been this high for many a long year, but that popularity can wane very quickly if you can't ride your bike due to a lack of inventory.

i don't mind saying that i think brexit to be an enormous and catastrophic mistake, particularly when added to the present covid crisis. a degree of prudency means that riding a bike should hopefully see us through the next few months of imposed disarray. at which point, might i wish you all a merry christmas, and i'll see you on boxing day, when you'll need to wear a face mask to read the post (just kidding).

thursday 24 december 2020

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energy saving

studiomom cargo bike

it is, to put not too fine a point on it, all about energy. not only its usage, but its storage, for energy is of little use unless you can take it with you. from a cyclist's point of view, the principal source of energy would be carbohydrate, with a bit of assistance from fat; one burns quickly, the other a tad more slowly, but unless you can take it with you, there's a greater than evens chance that neither you nor the bicycle will make it past the garden gate. so i gobble up my plate of porridge every morning, storing its energy goodness in my muscles, and carefully (i hope) expend it across the weekend kilometres. obviously enough, if i fail to make it home without collapsing in an ungainly heap, i may need to add a few more porridge oats to the recipe.

regular riding, at various speeds and distances, will ultimately hone your body to a level where it maximises energy storage and usage to the point of usable efficiency. but at some point along the way, depending on distance and effort, it may become necessary to replenish that energy. that's why the domestiques are perenially returning to the team car for sticky bottles, and musettes get caught in handlebars and wheels at the feed stations. it's no secret that the pros ride a few more energy sapping kilometres than do we.

you need only pay attention to features in 'the comic' each week, to garner that there are many different recommended methods of increasing energy output, via training, nutrition and spending a veritable fortune on 'unicorn hair' carbon fibre. the exact proportions of carbohydrate, fat and protein in an athlete's diet, seems to vary depending on who is dishing out the advice, and every now and again, there will be a revelation that upturns all previous advice, enabling yet another bookshelf of training manuals. a lot has changed several times since fausto told us to "ride a bike, ride a bike" and "ride a bike"

studiomom cargo bike hydrogen battery

however, the waters of velocipedinal motive force have become a tad more muddied of late with the rise and rise of the e-bike. such machinery, though requiring varying input from the rider, has need of electric energy to provide the pedal-assist. a bit like speedily cycling a long distance on one plate of porridge; the faster i go, the quicker i burn through the porridge, the more pedal-assist, the quicker the battery drains. currently (pun intended), the most practical way to re-charge the battery is to plug it into the mains till the indicator lights go out.

but that electricity needs to be generated at some point in the process, a state of affairs that causes consternation in some circles, depending on how environmentally sound is the method of so doing. aside from which, the current state of the art, for both electric bicycles and electric cars, is the ubiquitous lithium ion battery, the manufacture of which has provided environmentalists with a substantial cupboard full of arguments. if only there was a a pragmatic means of storing renewable energy until required. that, if, i understand matters correctly, is considered at least one of the holy grails within the energy industry.

and it's a holy grail that shows both progress and promise.

australia's lavo technologies, have made it their mission to provide a credible hybrid hydrogen energy storage system, one that has not only made inroads into home energy techniques, but has now been applied to the e-bike by studiomom, a design studio based in arnhem in the netherlands. the lavo system entails storing energy, generated by solar panels or wind power, in proprietary metal hydrides. already a lavo battery has the ability to provide energy for the average home, lasting up to two days. applying the principles to powering a cargo bike is probably child's play by comparison.

according to studiomom, "Hydrogen technology is the promise of emission-free energy and makes it possible to transport three times as much energy per weight unit compared to a state-of-the-art (lithium-ion) battery." the cargo bicycle has been designed as a toolbox, allowing a high degree of adaptability, depending on intended use. at present, there has been no mention of pricing and whether this development is competitive with present battery technology, but since, as mentioned, hydrogen is emission free, in tandem (another intended pun) with the ability to harbour renewable energies, there's no doubt that it has a distinct environmental advantage, presumably placing it on a footing similar to our analogue bicycles.

and lest you think that my velocipedinal parochialism knows no bounds, it's not only bicycles that may soon benefit from hydrogen power, for studiomom has also turned its glance towards lifestyle products, such as a hydrogen-powered barbecue. considering that the technology originates from australia, that might be akin to taking coals to newcastle.

studiomom | lavo australia | photos: studiomom

wednesday 23 december 2020

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is there a point to this?

tractors in mud

i have frequently related my sometimes compulsive desire to ride my bike only if the chain is mirror bright, shiny enough to glint in the winter sunlight. it has occurred to me that this obsessive fastidiousness may be a tad detrimental to the chain(s) in question, for my cleaning method makes extensive use of the elephant in the room, wd40. in itself, this is not entirely inquitous, given that said product acts as both degreaser and lubricant in one fell swoop. unfortunately, its lubricating properties are a little short of heavyweight, evaporating a smidgeon more speedily than i'd prefer. thus, if applied immediately prior to a bike ride, things are probably pretty much ok. however, i have found myself being overly reliant on an application of wd40 following the previous weekend's bike ride.

in the latter case, though my chain remains ready and willing to reflect all within line of sight, it might conceivably be less than efficacious in the lubrication department. and despite being guilty of holding a healthy suspicion of anything that smacks of marketing rhetoric, i tend to think that a bona-fide chain lubricant offers greater protection from the elements than something that stops the garden gate from squeaking. however, there's no denying that old habits die hard; in mitigation, the chain has previously been liberally coated with revolube, a chain lubricant that has a tenacious hold on my twelve-speed sideplates, and one that allegedly stands by to repel all boarders, including wd40.

however, there's no denying that an impossibly shiny chain also demonstrates the annoying ability to show up the rest of the bike in the cleanliness stakes. though it hardly bears repeating, this island has its history in agriculture, one that persists today, albeit employing far fewer individuals than was once the case, predominantly, i shouldn't wonder, because enormous tractors demonstrate a startling, if expensive efficiency.

the majority of islay's farms are home to sheep and cattle, all of which have need of being shifted between parcels of land that are frequently some distance from each other. this usually entails a farmer driving a quad-bike behind a flock of sheep or herd of cows; at such points, you realise that those animals are not house-trained, don't wear nappies and sure as heck have no idea how to use toilet paper. it makes little difference that said farm animals may have passed several days previous, because you know just where all that 'stuff' is going to end up.

but, of course, the blame for a dirty bike cannot be laid squarely at the hooves of the animal fraternity. many farms now grow barley for both bruichladdich and kilchoman distilleries, and though seeding will not take place for a number of months, the fields need preparation, the effect of which takes those huge tractors into muddy fields and back out again, scattering muddy, enriched soil all across the singletrack roads. on a wet day, it's not unusual to return home astride a bicycle that bears little resemblance to the one on which i set out.

but it's winter, and these circumstances are going to pervade for more than just a day or two; a dirty bike following every ride is hardly an unexpected situation. and on the basis that we are looking at a repetitive situation, is there any real point in my cleaning the ritchey each week? though it's the sort of question that engenders endless discussion, especially following coffee and mince pies, there really is only a single correct answer to the question, one that begins with 'y' and ends in 's'

bicycles are living, breathing entities that provide us with endless hours of pain and suffering, for which we should all be eternally grateful. it may be purgatory at the time, but you and i both know that it's positively heroic by the time we've had a warm shower and a change of attire. it's at that particular point that the bucket or basin ought to be filled with warm, soapy water, a sponge grabbed from beneath the kitchen sink, and half an hour of elbow grease applied to steel, aluminium or carbon.

remember, a bicycle is not just for christmas.

tuesday 22 december 2020

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