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rapha pro-team training jersey & pro-team training bib shorts

rapha training jersey and bibshorts

islay's high-road stretches pretty much from the village of bridgend, all the way to port ellen, a distance of some ten miles along a singletrack road. to enable traffic to travel in both directions, the parcours is peppered with passing places, correct use of which is notionally governed by advice in the highway code. i have produced a couple of leaflets on behalf of the community council explaining this predication in several languages for the benefit of visiting motorists from abroad. however, you and i both know that, as second class citizens, the chances of a motorist pulling into a passing place to allow the cyclist to continue unfettered upon his/her way, are slim, to none at all.

lest i should be accused of over generalisation, i should give credit where credit is due, for this past saturday, the driver of the t&n woods articulated trailer, was kind enough to pull over in my favour, on the basis that he was closer to the passing place than was i. in the case of following vehicles, assuming i've noticed them in time, i will always pull in to allow safe passage, purely on the basis that i'm unequivocally slower.

rapha training jersey and bibshorts

despite the fact that, in essence, i'm simply going round in circles, with coffee in the middle, i have invented a cunning plan. in my experience of various training books i have reviewed over the years, there really is rarely anything new under the sun to bolster one's performance on the bicycle. yes, there have been a number of technological aids, such as heart-rate monitors, power-meters and the like, but ultimately, they only inform as to progress or stagnation. even extensive use of a power-meter won't make you faster, per se.

however, my own training theory revolves around those passing places mentioned above, but in essence, my method really only encourages strength training, the reason for which i will now make plain. dependent on wind direction, the cunning plan is to ride like billy-o into a galeforce headwind, no matter the derisory numbers displayed on your bar-mounted device, and on encountering an oncoming vehicle, viewed in the distance, you pedal like there's no tomorrow, to reach the passing place before the car gets there. if that doesn't improve the strength in your legs, pretty much nothing will.

if it's speed training you're after, simply turn round and do the same in the opposite direction.

rapha training jersey and bibshorts

rather obviously, such a prodigious undertaking is best accomplished, clad in bona-fide training garmentage, such as rapha's recently released pro-team training jersey and accompanying bibshorts. i have little quibble with the function, cut or quality of either of these items, but i have to say, i'm a bit confused by rapha's release and marketing policy. if i mention that the temperature displayed on my garmin remained steadfastly below four degrees throughout a four hour training ride, you might begin to see where i'm coming from. and that's before taking galeforce windchill into account.

imperial works' marketing campaign for these garments, shows a small peloton of short-sleeved, bibshort wearing riders, with a backdrop of blue-sky and palm trees. that's a far cry from the hebrides, suffering as it was, at the hands of storm jorge in the back end of february. if i might quote directly from rapha's website "...our Training Jersey is made with a lightweight, open-structured fabric on the front panels for wicking and breathability. On the back, a close-knit fabric provides added sun protection..." tell me anywhere in the uk at present, in which just such a jersey would be considered appropriate apparel?

rapha training jersey and bibshorts

i am well aware that rapha is no longer simply a british, or even european-centric business, with outlets all across the world, from portland in america's pacific northwest, to the oppressive warmth of southern australia. however, it somewhat beggars the question as to why they would offer a jersey with perforated front panels and a thickness less than that of the kitchen roll mrs washingmachinepost has placed on the windowsill to the good folks who have just watched windswept editions of omloop het nieuwsblad and kuurne-brussels-kuurne. even riders in the rapha sponsored ef pro-cycling were clad in bibtights and rainjackets.

my question would therefore be, why were we not issued long-sleeve thermal training jerseys and thermal training bib-tights?

rapha training jersey and bibshorts

however, always willing to suffer for someone else's art, and being in possession of an original pair of rapha bibtights minus a pad, from well over a decade past (you really have to admire rapha's build quality), i set out to test the veracity of my cunning training plan. there's no way on this earth that i was going to ride in a paper-thin, short-sleeve jersey, in temperatures perilously close to zero degrees, so i made use of a pro-team insulated jacket augmented with a pro-team lightweight shadow jacket, just in case of rain.

the pro-team road shoes were concealed 'neath windproof overshoes.

the bibshorts feature a principal fabric offering a degree of compression while in motion, but if i might once again quote from the website "these bib shorts are durable and comfortable - the ideal pair to build a race-winning base in mild to warm conditions." if you can ignore the ludicrous thought of any training undertaking by yours truly contributing to any race-winning successes, the mild to warm conditions will not reach here for several months from now.

rapha training jersey and bibshorts

that said, despite the necessary thermal augmentation, rapha's training kit was impressively comfortable throughout my chilled training exertions. i've always maintained that a quality pair of bibshorts ought to be a tad strenuous to put on, meaning no untoward movement in the heat of battle; these fit the bill perfectly. and though i've worn many a decent cycle jersey in my time, the fit and look of this example (dark navy) was quite superb.

you may be interested to learn that only one car beat me to a passing place, versus five cases where i got there first. my leg strength is now demonstrably impressive, followed as saturday's ride was, by another storm jorge curated ride, midst 90kph headwinds, on sunday. it was neither mild nor warm either.

if you're intending to participate in one of those lanzarote-bound training camps anytime soon, or you do actually live where there are blue skies and palm trees, this pairing is just ginger peachy. in fact, you could probably race clad in both, without voiding the warranty.

rapha's training jersey is available in purple/navy, light blue/gray blue, light grey/white, orange/carbon grey, carbon grey/black, dark navy/navy, in sizes ranging from xs to xxl at a retail price of £85. the training bibshorts are available in black with black bibs, or black with white bibs in sizes xs to xxl. retail rice is £140.

rapha.cc

monday 2 march 2020

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