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rapha merino winter collar
i can only but apologise to andrew and daphne at this is cambridge. it was, i can only surmise, an error made in haste. this current fashion for socks that reach half way up one's chiseled calf muscles has made the art of dressing in a hurry a lot harder to accomplish when still in the throes of awakening from the slumber of the gods. you may also have found it a tad incongruous to roll up the leg of your bibtights far enough to pull the socks to the full height of their pink-edged significance. i know i do. so i blame it on both socks and tights combining to create a single iniquity.
to compound matters, i failed to notice the error until my return from a lengthy bike ride, one featuring a constantly rising wind that eventually became the frankenstorm. so after dragging my pathetic frame all the way up the stairs for a shower, i noticed that i'd worn the left sock inside out. instead of saying tic.cc, it merely displayed a raggedy set of stitches.
my apologies.
the best part, however, of committing such a sartorial faux pas is that it's one of the less obvious ones. to demonstrate, i sat for half-an-hour in debbie's at lunchtime, scoffing a double egg roll, soya cappuccino and a chunk of mrs washingmachinepost's fabulous christmas cake. and nobody sniggered; at least not at my socks. of course this could have been because my feet were encased in a fine, thermal pair of neoprene overshoes.
however, in my defence, such an error driven, somnabulent dressing regime had not been a total failure, for i had deftly managed to wear my thermal merino winter collar with the rapha logo front and centre. you'd scarcely think this to matter a great deal, but i'd be a little less tolerant if the logo were upside down or at the back. unlike the inside out sock.
i'm assuming that the western version of the latter item (western as in the john wayne, clint eastwood definition) is worn predominantly to protect the incumbent from sandstorms, as can often be prevalent in desert regions of the midwest. (though i doubt clint ever received the benfits of merino). in late december in the hebrides, sandstorms are conspicuous by their absence, whereas cold, rain saturated, galeforce winds most definitely are not. in fact, as of the end of october, they've been remarkably common, a feature that makes the wearing of a winter collar not only an arguably stylish accessory, but an immensely pragmatic one.
there is minor disagreement, however, over just how it should be worn. joe generally places his outboard of a pro-team softshell, while i am very much of the opinion that a merino collar ought to be placed atop the jersey prior to the softshell being donned.
the former method does make it simpler to push and pull while in flight, but leaves it dangerously exposed to the elements. my own preference seems to repel all untoward draughts while keeping neck and upper chest perfectly toasty, even when the zip is lowered for ventilation.
what we are agreed upon, no matter the colour or style we have chosen to wear, is that it is every bit as essential as a decent pair of softshell gloves or waterproof overshoes and hardly a purchase that will frighten your bank statement. even at its regular price of £30. it's now even better when you consider that rapha have reduced that by £10 in their winter sale.
no need to apologise for that.
wednesday 30 december 2015
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