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café du cycliste petra gilet

caf«du cycliste petra gilet

situated in the southwestern desert of jordan, are an array of tombs and temples carved into pink sandstone cliffs. the archaeological site, dating from 300bc, was originally known to its inhabitants as raqmu, but we'd more likely refer to it as petra. its treasures are accessed via the narrow canyon of al siq, perhaps the best known of those treasures being the greek-styled facade of the al kazneh temple. there have been several appearances of the site in movies over the years, the highest profile of which would surely be from the indiana jones series, where harrison ford finds the holy grail.

caf«du cycliste petra gilet

petra's location remained unkown to the world until its re-discovery in 1812, but my first acquaintance with these exquisite sandstone carvings was through the paintings of the inestimable david bomberg. declaring that, until he visited jerusalem in 1923, he had "never seen the sunlight before", bomberg painted the landscapes of jericho and petra during a four year stay in the region. he made two trips to petra in 1924, escorted by an arab guard, after the location had been suggested by the military governor of jerusalem, sir ronald storrs, a gentleman who had previously purchased an earlier work by the british born artist.

caf«du cycliste petra gilet

some two decades later, bomberg set up the unofficial borough group, teaching many of today's luminaries of the art world, including frank auerbach, the late roy oxlade, dennis creffield and leon kossoff. of course, it's highly unlikely that the nice folks at café du cycliste named their extremely lightweight gilet after the 'spirit in the mass' as espoused by david bomberg. particularly, the item under review, which has nothing rose-coloured about its almost intangible presence.

there are those, including the mighty dave-t, who fail to see the benefits conferred by the wearing, or even the carrying of a gilet, but the dry, yet cold, weather currently being experienced in the hebrides, strikes me as the ideal climate in which to clad oneself in an armless jacket. i confess to having held similar misgivings to those of our directeur sportif in years gone by, but now, for me at least, there's no denying the benefits to be obtained.

caf«du cycliste petra gilet

if it doesn't impose too eccentric a light on proceedings, it all comes down to the arms. having never studied biology or human anatomy (other than at figure drawing classes), i fail to comprehend why it is that, as the honed athlete becomes warmer with velocipedinal exertion, it is the arms that are first on the list. considering the substantial girth of my chris hoy thighs and thomas lang calf muscles, i cannot conceive why it is that they manage to assume a comfortable body temperature, without a propensity to overheat. yet, if early perspiration is to be identified, it will be identified on the arms.

caf«du cycliste petra gilet

thus, when the ambient temperature and climatic conditions dictate that a simple, yet long-sleeved jersey is insufficient cladding, it's conceivable that, during the transitional weeks of the year (autumn to winter and spring to summer), a windjacket might be considered overkill. just ask my arms. in cases such as the above described, a gilet is often the perfect solution, and i'm pleased to relate that café du cycliste's petra gilet has indeed proved to be the perfect solution over a period of mid-october days.

caf«du cycliste petra gilet

the black with white dots frontmost portion of the gilet is both windproof and waterproof, though i confess i have yet to get any portion of the garment wet. the hem features an elastic countenance, the stretchiness of which is designed to cope with any variance in form. in my case, i had stuffed a compact digital camera, a mini-pump and a folded waterproof jacket in the rear pockets of a café du cycliste long-sleeve jersey, with which petra coped admirably. the full-length zip and generous collar allow for easily adjustable ventilation during the final sprint, but kept me windproof and cosy when dropping back to the car for bottles.

caf«du cycliste petra gilet

the undotted rear panel resembles nothing more nor less than a small portion of a chiffon dress; there are thicker spiders' webs than this. it's expertly constituted to provide strategic air-conditioning, and allows petra to be scrunched into a tiny ball and crammed into the smallest of pockets (i know; i tried). it also allows access to those previously mentioned rear pockets, without recourse to unzipping.

i'm sure the mighty dave-t would have an issue with the price, a pound sign that offers only a few pounds change from £100. but, the price of windproof convenience on the bicycle surely cannot be overestimated?

café du cycliste's petra lightweight gilet is available in sizes from xs to xxl, only in black with white dots. it is priced at £92

caf&e du cycliste petra gilet

tuesday 22 october 2019

twmp ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................