according to scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, the nation will have the opportunity to once again, vote whether it wants to become an independent country, despite the previous opportunity in september 2014 being referred to as a once in a generation occurence. nine years later seems to be playing fast and loose with the phrase 'once in a generation'. however, notwithstanding the legal battle soon to ensue as to whether such a referendum is constitutionally appropriate, members of scotland's parliament and active members of the scottish national party (snp) have already embarked on a propaganda campaign to educate the rest of us as to the benefits of independence.
it remains to be seen whether this will be an easy or uphill task.
however, not everything is equal between those north and south of the border, a situation that is only to be expected. for instance, medical prescriptions are free in scotland, but demand a fee in englandshire. and though a situation long past my own experience, it is allegedly cheaper to undertake further education in scotland than south of the border. however, england has made it a statutory requirement that children should leave primary education at age eleven, having been taught to swim as part of the curriculum, while in scotland, it is devolved to each regional council as to whether primary school children are taught to swim while at school. it is not, as in england, a statutory requirement.
yet, even in england, though learning to swim is a mandatory part of the educational system, learning to ride a bicycle is not. bikeability training, whether in scotland or england, is not compulsory, a factor that has become particularly observable locally. several years past, argyll & bute council axed their road safety department as part of cost savings, even though there was funding apparently available that would have allowed them to continue for a further three years, rather than running a feasibility consultation as to what the public demanded in the way of walking and cycling facilities. the money spent on that consultation would have funded the road safety department probably without drawing any adverse comment from the funders.
i'm led to believe that argyll and bute council was one of only two scottish councils who opted not to sign up to bikeability scotland, but operate their own cycling instruction programme, overseen by (you've guessed it) the road safety department. now that the latter is no more, though the schools are free to conduct their own training programmes, in fact, they are no longer provided with any direct council support, and there exists no independent body to provide certificates to those deemed to have passed.
on learning of this situation, i contacted bikeability directly to ask what it would cost for islay's primary schools to sign up to the scheme, and whether they could do so individually. the reply received indicated that there would be no joining fee, and that each school could apply individually if they so wished. i passed on this information to the schools locally, but as far as i know, none have taken up the option, therefore islay's primary school children receive no co-ordinated cycle training whatsoever. granted, the covid pandemic put paid to pretty much any training of any kind, but as far as i'm aware, now that restrictions have been relaxed, i see no attempt to reinstate pedalling at school.
that, to be quite honest, is both disappointing and potentially dangerous. with islay heading towards thirteen distilleries spread across the island, while the popularity of islay single malts continues to increase, there are more and more large, articulated trucks plying the island's roads, frequently through the streets of the villages, en-route to the distilleries. with no specific cycle training available, this means that any child on a bicycle is able to pedal on those selfsame streets without restriction, possibly taking their lives in their hands as they do so.
emily cherry, the ceo of bikeability harbours ambitions of cycle training becoming a statutory requirement within primary and secondary schools, extending to any adults who feel a need to learn to ride a bike. when so much emphasis is placed on learning to drive, and with different categories available, depending on the type of vehicle for which a licence is required, it does seem a tad out of sorts not to have made cycle-training compulsory many, many years ago. as it stands, i know not whether ms cherry's desire extends as far as scotland, or whether holyrood will find it within its remit to require it to be the case, given their prevaling attitude to swimming instruction.
but surely institutionalised cycle training cannot be left to the whims of regional councils, whose impetus so to do, depends greatly on how they apportion funding from the scottish government? one can only imagine the outcry if the same set of circumstances were to apply to driving instruction. if either government is serious about encouraging cycling as a qualified repsonse to climate change, they really need to become every bit as serious about implementing statutory instruction in schools.
bikeability scotland | bikeability uk
monday 5 september 2022
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................i am old enough in computing terms to recall the days when serial ports and parallel ports were the sole means of attaching a printer to either pc (the latter) or a mac (the former). modernity has brought us the universal serial bus meaning that there's no longer any need to buy a different printer depending on the type of computer used, as long as the printer manufacturer offeres an appropriate driver.
islay teleservices, as was, in the early 1990s featured exclusively, windows computers with their large parallel ports into which printer connections were not only plugged, but additionally affixed by means to two lengthy screws. connecting and disconnecting was not the simple job it is nowadays. however, long before the inkjet became the defacto standard for both home and office use, there was the dot matrix printer which operated in similar fashion to an electric typewriter, only a tad quicker.
disappointingly, these printers were also remarkably noisy, and i recall not only teleservices, but islay high school, placing the printer inside a wooden box with a clear lid, allowing conversations still to be held while it hammered away in the background.
the idea of printing has always been about transferring words and imagery onto a specific substrate; in most cases, varying weights of paper, though canvas and plastics have also become popular in both the art world and industry. printing, as we understand it, has existed for over 5,000 years, though the oldest printed book wasn't created until 1377. woodblock printing existed in europe until the 15th century, when johannes gutenberg invented the printing press on which each subsequent development has been based.
but the words print, or printing have taken on different connotations in recent decades, with the advent of three-dimensional, or 3d printing. also known as additive manufacturing, 3d printing is usually employed to create a three-dimensional object from a computer aided design (cad) model or digital 3d model, utilising anything from powdered metals, plastics or liquids fused together to create the final product. it is already possible to buy 3d printed housing, buildings which can be erected in a matter of one day, rather than the weeks normally required for a bricks and mortar example. and if it's possible to do that, it's a mere walk in the park to created a 3d printed bicycle.
in fact, 3d printed bicycles already exist, though currently, not at the cutting edge of the world tour peloton. several 3d printed components are already available to purchase, and silicon valley based superstrata already offer a one-piece carbon-fibre thermoplastic composite frame, with the added bonus that the customer can have a made-to-measure service. this offers the possibility to a return to customisation even for the professional peloton. when team bikes were still fashioned from lugged or tig-welded steel, it was little problem for the manufacturer to offer each team member a custom sized frame. with the bulk of the world's racing bicycles now created by the monocoque carbon process, that option effectively disappeared several years ago. it's simply too expensive to create a different mold for individual riders.
the advent of 3d printing promisies to restore that, for us, as well as them. it might also reduce our reliance on the far east for bicycle production; currently the expertise resides in and around taiwan, augmented by favourable labour costs. however, if your labour is undertaken by a cad operated 3d printer, it probably won't really matter where production takes place.
a few weeks past, i asked the almost rhetorical question as to what might follow on as the next step from the carbon fibre bicycle frame? though my original question sought the material from what the next generation of bicycles might be derived, perhaps i was guilty of incorrectly framing my query. maybe i should have asked how the next generation of bicycle frames would be produced? i'm already aware that this is an area in which the finest technicians of not only the bicycle world are working, and we'll probably see the results, perhaps sooner than you'd think.
my luddite tendencies will likely always have me yearn for a lugged steel frame, something that could no doubt be achieved by a 3d printer without my realising, but should that fail to be the case, there are always expert frame-builders such as richard sachs on which we might rely (even if there's still a lengthy waiting list). doubtless the creations arising from 3d print will continue to secrete the cables inside, but i now wonder just how long it will be before a combination of 3d printing and artificial intelligence will create the first complete bicycle; wheels, tyres, components all in one?
how many would bet against someone already working on that concept?
sunday 4 september 2022
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................in the 1970 song by australian band, the mixtures, the lyrics offer a somewhat idealised notion of just what riding a bike might bring to the party. but the third and fourth lines of the first verse declare 'ridin' downtown in a hurry, honey, down south avenue'. i daresay that 'south avenue' was only added for rhyming purposes, but the first part, though presumably taking place in australia, seems not to be the case in england (and quite possibly wales and scotland too - we may be ostensibly separate nations, but people are essentially the same top to bottom).
if i had the time or the incentive so to do, i'm sure i could find my now prescient quote, where i cast well-directed aspersions in the direction of those who claimed that cycling's finest hour had finally arrived. the covid pandemic caused all manner of distress across the globe, but one positive outcome was the notable increase in cycling activity. even on islay, right at the beginning of lockdown, i noted at least three unrecognised individuals on bicycles, though i'd be fibbing if i said they continued much past those initial weeks.) this brought encouraging moves from government and councils via the introduction of what can now sadly be seen as temporary cycling facilities, along with the designation of cycle shops as essential services, keeping the somewhat narrower wheels of industry turning.
i do regard myself as an optimist, but seemingly one with greater perspicacity than those who really ought to know better. there were claims from councils and cities across the world that the relative freedom conferred upon cyclists and pedestrians would be the future, that they would take whatever steps were necessary to ensure a pollution free future for their citizens. however, it has been demonstrated time and time again, that the majority of populations will reach for the car keys with little persuasion. only a few weeks following the lifting of lockdown restrictions, several countries reported vehicle pollution levels in excess of those seen prior to the pandemic.
in the hebrides and scotland's other islands, motorists benefitted from the government's 5p reduction in fuel duty, once again favouring the motorist, even as many towns and cities demolished or removed the previously mentioned temporary cycle provisions. and i read recently of a scottish council in which a majority voted not to implement charges for owners of electric vehicles during the current cost of living crisis, a commenter succinctly pointing out how this was surely of great benefit to that most poverty-stricken portion of society, "...tesla owners.
and sadly, that's likely how it's always going to be. though governments are always at pains to point out how much they're investing in cycling and walking, never stopping to admit those to be a mere fraction of the money heading in the direction of the motoring public. and it appears that it is legislation and thinking of that nature, that has led to a distinct downturn in the number of folks cycling. and, as mentioned above, though the recent figures published, concern only englandshire, i figure it's more than likely the same trend could be seen across the entire nation.
the statistics to which i refer now show that those cycling at least once a week has dropped from 11.6% in 2019 to an embarrassingly low 9.1% between november 2020 and the same month in 2021. during that same period, car use increased by 4% (though still 23% less than 2019). so if car use is down on pre-pandemic levels, how come fewer people are cycling? admittedly, cursory checks this year would suggest that cycling might once again be on the increase due to the oft-mentioned, cost of living crisis, bringing the holy grail of questions, 'when will cycling numbers increase independently, without a pandemic or rising costs as a catalyst?
a recent feature in the guardian newspaper interviewed an admittedly less than representative sample of cyclists who had decided to shelve the bicycle forever, predominantly at the behest of removed cycling facilities, declining driving standards (which even we have noted this far west) and perceived danger from traffic. whatever means is chosen to get to and from work, school or the shops, it should be worry and danger free. nobody should have to risk injury or death as a result of their chosen method of transport. sadly, britain's obsession with the car and continued prioritising of same, has meant that cyclists, instead being allowed to save the planet, are being marginalised and often dangerously so.
the revolution truly cannot come soon enough, but i fear it might never actually get here. at least, not in my lifetime.
saturday 3 september 2022
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................summer has not been particularly kind to the hebrides, though, in mitigation, it hasn't been overly cruel either. granted, as i write, we're on the second or third day of our faux heatwave; perhaps not hitting the temperatures experienced by half the world and london town, but for an island marooned in the north atlantic, it's been pretty decent. i confess that i'm too much of a wimp to have been seen in public baring arms (so to speak), but my supply of bibshorts has been given a pretty decent airing since around mid-june, and i harbour hopes that that particular aspect will live on at least until the end of the month.
however, sunny, windless days can hardly be described as appearing worthy. though probably in a group of only one, i long for the days of strengthening headwinds and more than the occasional drip of rain that pervaded last weekend. i can see perfectly how aberrant such behaviour will appear to the majority, but the constitution wants, what the constitution wants. given the prevailing weather conditions usually experiened on scotland's west coast, i can see little wrong with having become acclimatised to riding in wind and rain.
and while that might seem like some confused form of bravado, i can assure you, that is very far from the truth. as i have previously related, my early years of road cycling on the hallowed isle were blighted by the perennial wind, one that pretty much persists throughout the year. when riding with the mighty dave-t, i burnt both his ears moaning about the wind, and how much more fun cycling would be were it to drop for more than an hour or two. sage that he truly is, he pointed out that, if the wind truly bothered me that much, perhaps i ought to take up chess or indoor bowls.
since that day, i have embraced the headwind, welcoming it as my friend, along with the precipitation that inevitably accompanies it. i'm not joking when i say that i now look forward to this weekend, with a weather forecast that has already put paid to an outdoor lunch-time gig with the pipe band. i have illustrated these words above with the forecast as it stands at the time of writing (i have previously waxed lyrical on the unreliability of such meteorological prognostications), but i think it only right and proper to underline the eagerness with which i look forward to saturday's solo ride.
though the rainfall appears to have ameliorated slightly since i checked first thing on thursday morning, and the windspeed too, it's genuinely hard to convey my sense of joy. the met office has already issued a yellow warning for rain in the region, with a low chance of rainfall exceeding 60-100mm. but i have goretex and overshoes, plus an eagerness to once again accustom myself to riding in the inner ring and one of the largest three sprockets. i realise that, typed in black and yellow pixels, this may seem as velocipedinal bluster, safe in the knowledge that none of you will be here to witness whether i actually practice what i preach.
but it's not, because at last, we're getting some proper weather.
friday 2 september 2022
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................as far as i'm aware, 20mph is the lowest statutory speed limit that exists on britain's roads. i have noted the occasional 15mph sign, but those have usually been placed on narrow access roads, rather than any that are used as a direct means of getting from a to b. the 20mph speed limit is most frequently to be witnessed near schools or hospitals, frequently phrased on green edged signs as the familiar 'twenty's plenty'. converting that into tour de france numbers, we're looking at 32.4kph, numbers that the majority of britain's cyclists would struggle to achieve. even the now ubiquitous e-bike has its motor capped at 25kph, a shade above a more sedentary 15mph.
this brings into question the original calls by government minister, grant shapps, to impose licence plates upon an unsuspecting cycling public, in order that the police and other traffic officials might identify the miscreants who disagree that twenty is indeed, plenty. though many of us here possess the ability to exceed 32.4kph, not all of us could sustain that velocity for any length of time, and road conditions surrounding those 20mph zones usually mitigate against achieving the sort of speeds on a bicycle that might place the junior members of society in any sort of danger.
however, the above is now a moot point, following an apparently official admission that the department of transport has no inention at this time of progressing the licence plate idea.
and in more or less the same breath, it admitted that any moves to enforce compulsory insurance for cyclists had also been dismissed. the licence plate model was pretty much always a non-starter, if only because bicycles are not built to feature plates of the size necessary to render them effective. additionally, it has been admitted by many in officialdom, that the administration costs of such a scheme would surely outweigh any perceived benefits. but can the same be said of compulsory insurance; or even advisory insurance?
as i made plain in yesterday's paean to british cycling's membership renewal missive, as one with little or no interest in the competitive milieu, my annual membership subscription is paid primarily for the benefit of third-party insurance. this is something i opted to do following an episode of matt seaton's 'two wheels' column in the guardian newspaper many years ago. mr seaton was a proponent of cyclists possessing at least third-party insurance to fend off any unwanted court-ordered payments following perhaps a moment's inattention on a traffic-busy road.
though illustrated by way of a specific example, it's one that can be easily replicated across the nation. bowmore main street has a gradient that exceeds nine percent at its steepest point, a road that allows for unfettered downhill freewheeling on a sunday morning as we head out for the weekly ride. unfortunately, the local averagemarket is open at departure time, encouraging mid-morning shoppers to park and subsequently cross the road, having opened their car doors without thought for surrounding traffic (that would be me). after all, it's mid morning on a sunday; what could possibly be travelling towards them at speed, of which they might need to be aware?
though i do not possess the bike-handling abilities displayed by wout van aert or mathieu van der poel, i like to think i have sufficient command of my bicycle that i could avoid an open car door, even if in close proximity. but if my avoiding action takes me into the path of another car, pedestrian or cyclist, it's not altogether unlikely that such a collision might result in demands for financial compensation, should i subsequently be proven to be at fault. without insurance and its concomitant access to legal representation, that could be an expensive scenario to defend.
my race membership of british cycling (similar benefits can be acquired through membership of cyclinguk), however unlikely that designation might appear, costs me £46 per year and offers £20 million third-party liability insurance and legal support. that's less than four pounds per month; i figure almost all of us spend more than that on coffee. though i'd be hesitant to agree that any government ought to impose a statutory requirement for cyclists to require insurance, i genuinely hope that those of us here will recognise the benefits to be gained from becoming an insured cyclist.
you know it makes sense.
british cycling membership | cyclinguk membership
thursday 1 september 2022
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................in the very early years of thewashingmachinepost, when the name still elicited more than just a few raised eyebrows, i was signed up for the late-lamented braveheart ride in kilmarnock. during pre-ride conversations, somebody genuinely asked what the blog was all about. as one who rarely uses a few words when many would suffice, i was about to obscure matters even further, when a friend of mine interjected by saying "it's all about road bike culture."
from my point of view, i thought that to be a very apt description, one that i hope still applies to this day, having almost come full circle. as you can imagine, in the nascent days of the post, the industry was hardly falling over itself to shower me with review kit, so almost my entire output was the pixelated version of verbal diarrhoea, using the largest inscrutable words of which i was familiar (and one or two of which i wasn't). in the intervening years, it gradually became easier to acquire items for review, such as bicycles, books, clothing, componentry etc., but now that recent usurpers have commenced video reviews of the same thing, i felt it was time to step back, given that i have no intention of straying from the written word. and there are only so many reviews of the same thing that can be watched or read at a single sitting.
it may often be an overstatement to describe the majority of cycling books as literature, but i feel there are sufficient in number that not only contribute to the velocipedinal world, but are convincingly erudite in their ministrations to be an asset to the literary ideal. maybe. it's a bit harder to justify any item of cycling apparel as a meaningful aspect of bicycle culture, but taken in splendid isolation, though i may be on shaky ground, i'm going to take it as another box ticked. bicycles, by their very nature, are the prime examples of cycling culture, so their infrequent inclusion by way of reviews would surely be another box with a tick in it?
and then, of course, there's what many of us would surely accept as the very embodiment of culture: visual art. my goto woman for the latter would be brooklyn's taliah lempert, whose constant explorations of the form embody an impressive range of work over many a long year. and there are others that fall into a similar category; early editions of rouleur magazine, when guy andrews was in charge have often been appreciated as high art, along with the work of photographers such as ben ingham, scott mitchell and a whole slew of others whose names i have temporarily forgotten.
tim hilton, in his revered tome, 'one more kilometre and we're in the showers' claimed that the average sunday peloton would contain a higher proportion of writers, artists and graphic designers, than any other portion of society. ironically, that very point was demonstrated by the cover of his book. in the days before the internet took serious hold, rapha exploited the world of print in a manner only rarely seen, but perhaps most recently extended by the inimitable quoc pham, purveyor of excellent cycling footwear.
and then there's british cycling.
i have heard and voiced, several occasional moans about britain's velocipedinal governing body, but in this case, i can only but offer praise. though i first joined solely for the third-party insurance offered by annual membership, according to the square, stickered and folded card that arrived through my letterbox earlier this week, i subscribe to race membership, a blatant misnomer if ever there was one. ensconced within was a plastic, credit card sized membership card, clarifying my subscription as silver, featuring my name, address and a very small box in which to feature my signature which, thankfully, is every bit as small.
the opening flaps describe aspects of my membership, thank me for my support, and point out the inherent green-ness of the pack, printed as it is on 100% carbon offset paper stock. and that plastic membership card is apparently constructed from recycled fibres and entirely compostable. however, the most notable aspect is the impressive graphic design of the whole enchilada. a recent interview with former apple computer president of design, jonny ives, elicited the information that steve jobs advised that the single most important aspect of designing anything, was 'care'.
steve and jonny would be proud of british cycling's membership division.
wednesday 31 august 2022
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................sponsorship in any sport can be viewed as a necessary evil, but its implementation in the world of cycling makes life altogether different than many others. granted, max verstappen's red bull formula one team and several of his peers might be viewed in the same light as cycling, but it appears, from the outside looking in at least, to possibly be a tad more stable in its commercial application. obviously, if red bull decided that current sponsored cyclist, wout van aert, looked to be a better prospect in the light of climate change concerns, than a gas guzzling single-seater race car with little in the way of redeeming qualities, all those wearing branded jackets, t-shirts and baseball caps, would look a tad silly.
though many cycling teams are owned by individual and independent companies, those teams tend to be known by their sponsors: ineos grenadiers, jumbo visma, movistar et al. when the sponsor changes, so does the team name. football/soccer teams do not fall foul of the same criteria; glasgow rangers and manchester united can be sponsored by whomsoever they like, without having need to change the club name. however, attempting to deal with cycling's broken sponsorship model is well beyond the capabilities, or desire, of thewashingmachinepost.
but looking at the reasons as to why certain businesses apply their financial largesse towards cycling teams is an endlessly interesting subject. ostensibly, the situation offers a quid-pro-quo; the team benefits financially to ameliorate the often substantial costs incurred by professional cycle racing, while the sponsor gains hopefully benevolent and targeted marketing opportunities. sadly, from the spectator's point of view, it's not always entirely clear just what those emblazoned jerseys are promoting.
jumbo visma, for instance, or alpha vinyl. and who would have thought that movistar was a phone company? but occasionally, the rationale behind cycling sponsorship breaks that particular meme.
alba development road team is a scottish-based women's elite development cycling team. its principal objective is to provide a platform, support, guidance, mentoring and race programme "...to fulfil potential and achieve individual objectives." and though it's only a development team, it still incurs financial demands in the pursuit of those objectives. thus, sponsorship from petrofac, an energy solutions company with over 8,000 employees in 30 offices worldwide was no doubt, a very welcome addition to the team coffers.
it would be stretching credibility a tad too far to say that their sponsorship of scotland's only all-women elite race team is based on altruism, but marketing would appear to be only one consideration. as part of the deal, the alba team will run nutrition-focused sessions with petrofac in aberdeen, as well as a number of cycling events, including a 50km road ride in october. and the sponsorship also forms a part of petrofac's bid to improve employee wellbeing and encourage its 750 staff in aberdeen to move from the 'sofa to the saddle'. thus, it would seem, petrofac have what might readily be described as more humanitarian expectations from their sponsorship.
and while this will hardly make even a tiny chip in the structure of professional cycling sponsorship, you have to admit, it's quite comforting to observe.
petrofac | alba development cycling team
tuesday 30 august 2022
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