I’m comfortably into training mode again, and have been for some months. I feel at home in this routine and it’s something I’ve done for most of my adult life with occasional interruptions. With triathlon in mind after the 2009 season I’m enjoying getting out on the bike again, and it’s helping my running.
Today I found myself out on the bike wearing a jersey that I first wore about 17 years ago. How’s that for longevity? It looks in good nick too. It’s an old club jersey from Severn Valley CRC. That was my first cycling club that I rode with when racing as a junior and then a 2nd cat. senior. Those jerseys you never throw away, even if they get a bit holey. All my other kit seems to have disappeared, not to have survived, or just doesn’t fit any more. I’m getting skinny again but when I was a teenager I was about 9 and a half stone (about 133lb or 60kg) and didn’t have shoulders or a chest. A decade of rock climbing changed that.
So, time for some new kit. Somehow, given my poor memory I remembered saying something back in the days of junior cycling. Back in those days I had really nice bikes and hardware but I skimped on the clothing. As a result I still remember many long, freezing club rides when I made pacts with my cycling companions to chop up our bikes into little bits when we got home. We never did of course, but it reminds me of the rubbish gloves, awful water”proofs” and crappy layers that we used to wear. I can’t imagine how I did the winter mileage that I did often feeling as bad as that. I’m impressed by my younger self! So I remember saying that when I’m older and have a proper, respectable job I’ll buy only the best, high quality cycling gear. I mentioned this to Kim and she actually remembered me saying it. I find it funny trying to imagine my 18-year-old self, and also trying to imagine my 18-year-old self imagining my 35-year-old self. I wonder what I thought I’d be doing by now.
So going on what the younger me is trying to tell me, Castelli & Assos are the way to go. Well, Castelli anyway. Given that what I buy today could last me more than a decade, it doesn’t seem so expensive any more. It’ll be very interesting to see if modern, quality kit will make me feel good in the cold and the wet. I’ll have to tell Kim how much these things cost in terms of per decade of use.
Look out for the scorpion.
