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prendas lisboa rain cycling cap

flooding on the glen road

the weather overnight leading from friday into saturday was, to put it mildly, a bit crap. the heavy rain bore remarkable similarities to the archetypal stair-rods and, as a result, there were several examples of localised flooding as i premabulated the estates on saturday. as a creature of habit (which i will vehemently deny, if it comes up in conversation), i headed south along the high road, where habit has me turn off onto the lower portion of the glen road (we are nothing if not creative in our roads nomenclature in the hebrides). the junction between the two roads was well under water as a result of the roadside ditches having overflowed, in close proximity to the river that feeds into the laggan.

prendas lisboa rain cap

a few hundred metres along saturday's parcours, between the abattoir and avonvogie farm, the ditches had once again overflowed, submerging a lengthy portion of reconstituted road surface under a few centimetres of flowing water. though such a shallow depth is of little concern, the waters around here are almost all of a peaty brown-ness, leading to stretches of brown water rapids that conceal any hidden pothole dangers 'neath the surface. it was only a matter of metres before my tyres were once again submerged by flooding just past the cattle grid.

of course, the term flooding is a relative one; though i was loath to speed through these sections, lest i spray my person with rainwater, they are as nothing compared to the devastation seen across parts of britain in recent months. however, all the while i continued on my convoluted discourse to lunch at debbie's, the rain was less than keen to back off to any degree.

my post lunch travels (the habit thing again) most often take me past kilchoman distillery by way of foreland estate, by which time the weather had brightened considerably, but frequently interspersed with the prendas lisboa rain cap occasional shower, leading to an on-off raindance, with specific regard to my rainjacket. as i rode past saligo bay, i pulled over to allow a bmw safe passage in the opposite direction, the driver of which pulled to a halt to inform me that the road ahead was flooded, so she had turned back. having experienced this particular flooded location on previous occasions, i thanked her for her concern, pointed out that i had no engine likely to stall, and continued on my merry way.

as if solely to undermine my insouciant arrogance, at the far end of the flooded section could be seen the roof of a motor car, evidently stuck in the water, being attended to by two gentlemen with a breakdown truck. though the dark brown water rarely exceeds ten or twelve centimetres in depth, armed with waterproof socks, i was naive enough to figure i could get through unscathed. however, i was a tad concerned that i might be unable to pass the car and truck without having to put a foot down in the swirling waters, so, despite having assured the bmw driver to the contrary, i'd to turn round and cycle back the way i'd come.

i am, you will doubtless have learned over the years, more than used to cycling in the rain. but the weak link in the chain (if you'll pardon the pun), has frequently been my casquette; even when worn peak down, as real men prendas lisboa rain cap and women always do, the cotton-ness of the average casquette cannot be regarded as protection against the elements. fortunately, during saturday's meanderings, i was not wearing an average casquette. for andy storey, the remarkably fine fellow in charge at prendas ciclismo, had sent me a lisboa rain cycling cap, constructed from a lightweight, breathable and waterproof fabric.

the lisboa cap is all but covered with tiled, reflective prendas logos; it's possible that, in the dark, when caught in car headlights, such all over reflectiveness might conceivably be visible through the vents of my helmet, but i admit that it's not a possibility i attempted to verify. however, the waterproofing i can reliably attest to, having been on the receiving end of a deluge earlier that same day. i should admit that the anti-bacterial, sweat-absorbing lining probably worked as well as intended, since i was blissfully unaware of excessive head-borne perspiration upon my return to the croft.

with the probability of little by way of meteorological respite between now and next march, it is eminently possible that this will become a well-used garment over the course of the next seven months. though i realise that few of you live on scotland's west coast, it's not the only place on earth to suffer from a lot of rain. and just by way of confirmation, the cap was sent from poole in dorset on a thursday and arrived in the hebrides on the following day. it's their superpower.

andy is awaiting your call.

the prendas lisboa rain cycling cap is one-size-fits-all and retails at the remarkably modest price of £14.99. | prendas lisboa rain cycling cap

tuesday 3 september 2019

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