..........................................................................................................................................................................................................

prendas/santini watneys red barrel s/s jersey and cap

iconic' is a much overused word these days, probably mostly by me, particularly when applied to bicycles or cycle jerseys. though i doubt he'll tire of hearing it, i'm pretty sure andy storey at prendas has regularly heard or read the word in connection with the substantial range of prendas apparel to which such an adjective rightly applies. should typecasting be thought necessary, i harbour the faint desire that the the vetement z jersey, every bit as iconic as it gets, might be seen as applicable to yours truly, if only on the basis that i still have a ponytail and hail from the same city as robert millar (as was).

a complete lack of grimpeurship and top line speed surely ought not be a barrier to jersey membership?

of course, it depends very much on your take on cycling's rich heritage, which particular riders took your fancy, and in which teams. hanging on the wall on the landing is a framed wool peugeot jersey, signed by robert millar, a jersey with which i identify the scot more than with vetements z. however, allowing for the variation in petrol sponsors, you might associate the black and white chequered hoop with either tom simpson or even the great eddy merckx.

which is, as far as i'm concerned, the joy of wearing team clothing in which i was never officially chosen to compete. this adds to the potential mystery of the cycling milieu; were you to meet me en-route to nowhere in particular, even if clad in a white-on-black peugeot jersey while you were similarly clad, we could each imagine the other to align with our own facet of hero worship. that state of affairs could only be multiplied were we both to be found wearing a prendas mapei jersey and bibshorts. if it helps, should that be the case, my headspace would belong to johan museeuw, whose hand i sycophantically shook at the national cycle show many years ago.

but to imply that the so-called iconic jerseys are somehow 'better' than those less well endowed in the heritage department, would surely be to mislead the great unwashed? while i enjoy a glass of san pellegrino, taking care not to alert richard sachs to an occasional predilection for the fruit-flavoured canned variety, i'm not so sure that their orange and white brightness holds the same cachet as eddy's molteni arcore. but that salient fact does not diminish the satisfaction of being thus clad while, indeed, holding an actual glass of san pellegrino.

but if i might return, however briefly, to the notion of typecasting, it was a recent e-mail from prendas advising of the arrival of a watneys red barrel jersey and cap, that had me immediately think of the mighty dave-t, a longtime prendas endorsed rider, and general all round decent fellow. this was a team that briefly punctuated various belgian parcours in the 1970s, captained by frans verbeek and contracted to publicise watney's red barrel beer across one of the major european cycling nations. and to continue the cycling apparel story just a smidgeon in a different direction, verbeek is the founder of belgian cycle clothing purveyors, vermarc, suppliers to patrick lefevre's deceuninck quick-step world tour squad.

this official watneys licensed jersey brought this recollection from the mighty dave. "I remember little about the Watney's trade team from the seventies, but I did have the good fortune, or otherwise, to win what I think was a 7 pint tin of Watneys in a 25 mile time-trial. At the time, I believe it was referred to as 'Party 7'.
"The prize was put up by the pub situated three miles from the event start (which was mainly downhill). From the départ, I slipped into the 108 inch gear on my Worksop-made Carlton 531, and never looked back. At the finish, i was handed the Big Red Tin.
"Mind you, I do hope the brew being revived tastes better than that of old, which, as I recall, doubled as the ideal garden defence against slugs."

if potential purchasers of this excellent santini jersey, featuring a full-length zip, three rear pockets, with a zipped fourth outboard on the centre pocket, need some adopted heritage, the mighty dave is more than happy to license his own recollections about party 7. the matching casquette is, as can be seen from the accompanying images, simply the icing on the cake.

the prendas/santini watneys red barrel is available in sizes ranging from xs all the way to 8xl, priced at £66.99, with the cap priced at £8.99. the mighty dave-t would like to offer his gratitude to prendas for supporting him throughout the islay stages of his career.

watneys red barrel jersey | watneys red barrel cap

tuesday 25 august 2020