Tuesday 20 January 2009

Don't speak too soon.

The great smell of turd.

Just as I was celebrating a clutch of ex dopers making their way to Argentina it come to pass that Rock Racing will be staying at home, doubtlessly due to the lack of cash which plaguing them at the moment. (BTW what is the collective noun for a collection of ex-dopers?).
So spare a thought for young Ivan, he'll have less to talk about whilst he's riding and might actually have to get down to racing, poor thing.

The organisers in Argentina are after $30,000 from Rock Racing, and have said if they don't pay up the Rockers won't be asked back. As threats go this one is pretty lame, this time next year there won't be a team to not ask back. Still, maybe there's a lesson there for other race organisers, that is, if it smells like a turd it is a turd, so don't invite it to your race, cos you could finish up with it all over your face, or something similar!

Your father is your brother and your sister is your mother....

And as I glance to the right, I see my diary and I see only a little over a week until the Cross worlds kicks off. Sadly I'm not going, but I strongly recommend that if you ever get the chance then GO, GO NOW.

I've seen worlds on the road, the track and at the cross and of them all the cross worlds, especially a cross worlds close to Belgium is best of the lot. Insane crowds, atmosphere that most sporting events would give their right arm for and a supply of beer and frits that would keep a battleship afloat. (can you float a boat on frits?).
You'll come home totally knackered, hungover, unwashed and feeling sick from the diet, but it will have been worth it. You will have dozens of new friends, heaps of illegible names and addresses written on muddy slips of paper, several email addresses you cant read, friends for life and a detailed knowledge of swearing in Flemish. In short you may well need a week to recover and even longer to come to terms with the experience, but it will have been worth it.
Next year forget taking the family to the beach, stick 'em in a camper van, fill it with beer and live the dream.

That Columbia kit in full.

In a previous life I had a rather sad obsession with team kit. Sadly as I grew up i left this childish phase behind and moved on, until now.
So welcome back team High on Columbia and their fourth kit in 12 months.
I guess they're still using the same design family as with previous efforts, but this year having dispensed with the 4 year old and his big crayons they've moved onto the teenager and his obsession with Alien, or Alien II, or return of Alien, or carry on up the Alien or what ever the movie was called. So now we have a pretend six pack on the jersey and a few big black lines that have obviously been used as a guide to coloring in.

Why my obsession with team kit, general sadness I guess. But get any group of cyclists together and the second major bone of contention will be team / club kit.
In the past I rode for a club that changed it's jersey from one that looked predominately like the Belgian National champs to one that was mainly white with a few splashes of color. Que one rider immediately buying up all the old stock and making us all offers for our old kit.
More recently there was a club that split in two as a result of a new kit design, one group hated the new jersey so much they went off and founded their own club and as result had to design a new jersey! Er.... no I don't get it either.

Nowadays I'll concede that Ton Ton Tapis was a comedy classic and a work of genius. That Castorama jersey is still appaling and no matter how many years pass will always continue to be so. But so often my esthetic decisions are based on who rides for the team, hate the rider, hate the jersey. Used to quite like Rabobank, then along comes the chicken, now I hate it. Saunier Duval? Never liked it, now it enduces a mouth frothing fit.
So High on Columbia? actually I totally love it, best jersey ever worn in the peloton, oh except for Peugeot (Yates, Millar, Duclos and Piper).



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