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muc off s.c., 15. and a.b
on saturday morning, having sent a text to number one son to ask if he fancied tagging along on a bike ride to ardbeg distillery (he claimed to be otherwise engaged), i set off in a southerly direction, fully prepared for the forecast rain of which there was little outward sign as my front wheel headed onto the low road, followed by the rest of me. in anticipation of an ultimate soaking, i had taken the trouble to clean and lubricate the chain; as far as i know, the only significant indication that i might be on the fringes of obsessive compulsive disorder. however, my rather laissez faire attitude to everything else in life would probably mitigate against it being something worthy of concern.
the girl serving at ardbeg's old kiln café provided a double-espresso worthy of the name and on enquiring in which direction the rest of my bike ride would take, announced that my riding from bowmore to ardbeg for a coffee (about 22km) was the best thing she'd heard all day. is it really that unusual to ride such a distance for a double-shot?
at any rate, the rain duly arrived on the outward part of my journey, heading towards debbie's for lunch. as i have informed on previous occasions, islay is still largely an agricultural island, frequented by tractors, pickups, sheep and cattle trailers and at present, one or two combine harvesters. for both bruichladdich and kilchoman distilleries have made great play of their 100% islay single malts, featuring ingredients sourced entirely upon the isle, with the possible exception of the yeast. for this reason alone, the island's arable farming has taken to the growing of golden barley at their behest.
hence the combine harvesters.
but when those combines, tractors and pickups enter and exit the fields, they frequently leave a trail of earth and mud, added to by the presence of livestock which refuses point blank to remain behind the fence. i think you can probably see where i'm heading with this; a seventy kilometre round-trip across many of the island's singletrack farm roads all adds up to a bicycle and particularly the chain, splattered with stuff that leaves it in a less than pristine condition. so on return, the chain had once more to be cleaned and lubricated.
in this, i'm probaby no different than many other velocipedinists across the country. we like to maintain our significant carbon fibre investments in order that they remain at our service for as many years as possible. but, and in my opinion, it's quite a sizeable but are we not guilty of failing to maintain the rider; you and me?
take a look back through the annals of cycling history and you'll find it highly unusual to come across a professional rider displaying even a five-o'clock-shadow let alone a fully-featured beard. fausto coppi allegedly sent any of his team back to their rooms were they to have the temerity to arrive at breakfast unshaven. aside from the fact that i figure i'd look positively ridiculous with any facial hair, i have great sympathy with coppi's stance and thus ensure that aside from every weekday, i also make time to shave prior to any and every weekend bike ride. even on sundays.
to accomplish this daily chore and to ensure that i maintain that windswept face in a tip-top state of freshness, these ministrations have been carried out with the assistance of some excellent products from muc-off's athlete performance range. shaving cream would appear to be the most obvious necessity here, but in order that my face and legs take on the tactility of a baby's bum, shaving has been followed by liberal application of their luxury aftershave balm. and though not expressly directed by muc-off, i have ended my day by slathering that very same face i described to you earlier with a luxury moisturiser featuring spf15 for uv protection.
you would be correct in pointing out that uv protection is hardly required as a preparation for a good night's sleep, but if you looked out my sitting room window at present, the last thing you'd be concerned about would be ultra-violet light. i have, therefore, employed muc-off 15. principally for its avowed moisturising properties.
until the arrival of muc-off's shaving cream, i had made use of another shaving preparation which required a shaving brush. not unnaturally, i'd assumed that muc-off's preparation would do likewise, but in point of fact, that shaving brush has become surplus to requirements. it is now a case of scraping out a quantity of muc-of shaving cream from the sizeable tub (which arrived in some very impressively designed packaging) and spreading it all over the desired portion of my face prior to subsequently shaving it off with my trusty, multi-bladed razor. trying to forth up the cream with a shaving brush was something of a redundant exercise, though muc-off do also offer theirown shaving brush, so perhaps i'm not doing it right.
the cream is possessed of a slathery thickness and an uncommon aversion to being diluted by water, a very handy state of affairs when shaving those sculpted legs in the bath or shower.
however, after an entire week of shaving with the cream, slathering my shaved face with the after shave balm and ending each day with the moisturiser, though i'd be loath to have myself described as metrosexual, i may just have found a method of slowing down the ageing process. my only wish now would be that muc-off additionally provide the shaving cream in a smaller, more convenient travel pack. generous though the quantity within that large tub is, suitable for a three week stage race, i'd like something for the one-day classics.
muc-off's 250ml tub of shaving cream retails for £14.99. a 120ml tube of aftershave balm also retails at £14.99, while the 50ml can of spf15 costs &19.99. fausto would have been impressed.
monday 16 october 2017
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