I also don't think it's equivalent to wearing a football jersey. In cycling, the kit is part of the trophy, you can't just decide that you can wear the colour. It's akin to being able to buy a replica gold Olympics medal. By all means, the team kits nobody should give a damn about, but I can see the point for the winners jerseys. Do I care enough to tell someone to their face? Absolutely no chance
@@dundeedideley1773 all sports apparel makes chamionship clothing for the public. the difference is its not worn in game by pros. but it still has the team name, player names and says champions of what year. hats, jerseys, jackets, t shirts, ect... even bigger than apparel is rider issued bikes, some collect and im sure ride them, i dont see the harm in that either.
@@dundeedideley1773 Footballers don't choose what kit they wear, and get honorifics on their arms for winning x trophy, competing in y league, and Messi had the word Goat on his kit. They also produce "champions 20xx" shirts.
We have a town in Iowa called Cumming, which is a local bicycle hangout. They used to run an endurance gravel race called the 24 Hours of Cumming (solo and 2- and 4-person teams).
I love thermal bib shorts! They're perfect for the time when it's too warm for thermal tights but you need a bit more warmth around your junk or changing temperatures in spring or autumn. For example you can combine them with leg warmers when you start in the morning while it's chilli outside, but you already know it's going to be warmer in 2 hours and too warm for tights but still cold enough to want to be warm downstairs. Totally underrated imo!
This. Also: thermal shorts usually have some sort of weather proofing so if you do get caught out by a bit of rain you're not immediately soaked and riding a soggy chamois.
I use those Velosambas with my folding bike and they work well, but I have an amusing story for when I tried them on my gravel bike. I had been riding for about 3 miles when I somehow realised that I couldn't unclip them. The soles were so flexible that no matter what I did I couldn't unclip. So a chilled out ride turned into a very boring and slow version of the film Speed, I had to keep moving whilst I figured out what to do. Fortunately I live in the countryside so there were no traffic lights to deal with. I had just decided that finding a grassy verge or hedge would be the best option, but figured out a better one. I took the left hand shoe off whilst riding and came to a stop. Job done.
Funny story - I used to watch the TDF with my son when he was about 8 years old - and we used to ride a tandem bike together. One day - we happened to pass a cylist that was wearing a yellow jersey. My son - innocently sitting in the stoker seat - very casually asks the cyclist we are passing "Wow - did you win the TDF? that is awesome". We all had a good giggle.
Years ago, with a local cycling advocacy group, we did a "noodle" ride around town. Pool noodles were attached to our bike that extended 1.5m from the bike. These wouldn't be a long-term solutions but as an awareness, they were fine. However, I did find that cars didn't want to get "hit" by flimsy foam pool noodles so they kept a further ~1m away from the end of the noodle. That begs the idea that perhaps a .75m noodle may be sufficient to keep cars 1.5m away.
Most people don't know what a horizontal distance of 1.5m looks like. Nevermind, in a country with the imperial measuring system where most of my friends still use exclusively inches, feet, miles, pounds and stones. I grew up in a country with the metric system and wouldn't be able to tell exactly what that distance should look like from the inside of my car either lol. It would have to be practised on a some manoeuvre yard to get a hang of properly. Besides, at least in the UK, most drivers will exceed the speed limit in place by up to even 15 mph (in 30mph zones 100% of the time by my experience) if they think the conditions suit that speed, so the distance should automatically be much more than 1.5m. The whole "minimum passing distance" is nonsense.
@@82vitt The thing with 1.5m it i's pretty easy, because most traffic lanes will be 3-3.5m, so you just have to give half a lane of space, with no judgement needed. In a lot of situations that is easiest achieved just by putting your left wheels across the centreline, which needs almost no judgement at all. The fact that there's been no attempt to explain passing distance using anything even as basic as that is a whole different thing......
@@ColinSmith2001 How many people in the UK know that a lane is 3-3.5m wide? How many know how wide their car is? A Range Rover is 2.21m wide with mirrors out. Btw, their website provides all the measurements in inches. So in that case, giving half a lane will leave 1.5-1.8m space for the cyclist, which, with the right hand edge of the bicycle being approx. 1m from the nearside kerb, means the car will be passing the cyclist at 0.5-0.8m distance, which is already far less than the required 1.5m. Your last point is exactly what I was on about. Impractical.
@@82vitt if you are a government looking to spread the information nationally, then describing things in lane widths or car widths would seem to be the easier route than focusing on what 1.5m is........ The "across the centreline" ends up near enough the same thing in an even easier approach, and is what WMP were using for enforcement in the early days of the close pass work, even before the HWC change
Your group dynamics are mad 👍. You guys are so smooth (or the editing is so good) that you don’t speak over each other as you debate a topic. Soooo funny too 😂.. excellent stuff, very enjoyable 👏👏👏
I have a great picture of a friend looking very unhappy beside the “pity me” sign. It was our first bikepacking trip and we all took FAR too much stuff with us - we needed that laugh!
Another great episode! Thanks as always for all the amazing content. Regarding the viewer question about the best touring locations. This is my preferred type of riding so I put a lot of time and planning into destinations. My criteria and non-negotiables are riding quality/weather, nature, car traffic, food/drink, culture, and cost. My typical tours are 1-3 weeks. My top in Europe have been Andalucia. Seville - Constantina - Cordoba - Zuheros - Alacala la Real - Granada - Antequera - Ronda - Malaga. Have done Tuscany twice and it's absolutely glorious (many natural hot springs), and Corsica last spring break. Started in Bastia and counterclockwise to Bonifacio along the west coast then went into the central part of the island to Corte - back to Bastia. Any of these options are incredible but always check the weather forecast and trends when you're thinking about riding. In the Americas, Colombia is total VIP. Lived in Medellin for five years and it will always be my second home. Cycling is their national sport so you're welcomed in every village and town. Thanks again for all your hard work Emily, Jimmy, and Francis! Love the show.
I live SE of Boulder and have a flatish 100km Gravel route that takes me North to Hygiene and then South back home. It's great for Z2 rides when you want to be away from cars and have a nice view of the Rockies. It's also quite clean up there.
Thermal shorts are great for cold starts in spring/autumn! Start the ride with legwarmers/kneewarmers, remove them if/when it warms up. It's a good compromise, they're not _that_ warm. Full length winter bibs are great, but only if it stays cold. My summer shorts are freezing on cold mornings, even with legwarmers.
as a bike messenger i can say that velosambas are arguably the best cycling shoes for the work we do. they are great for short walks and going up and down the stairs as well. pretty decent rain protection up to a certain point. all of my bike messenger friends love them and we all actually ordered a second pair because we thought they might get discontinued. in the last edition of ecmc (european cycle messenger championships) majority were wearing either velosambas or shimano spd sandals :) they are definetely great for some of us. love ur content, keep up!
We have a town in Denmark called Snave. French kiss is probably the best translation. It's a small city with 200 people but got famous after a movie. Since 2001 they have had around 100 signs stolen every year. So now they write the name on the road instead.
I like thermal bib shorts. I don't use thermal tights but do use leg warmers. I can swap between lighter and thicker bib shorts depending on the temperature to be more comfy.
My hometown in Mississippi has a street named Aiken St. Well close by is another street named D*ck St. The signs were stolen so much, the city replaced the sign post with a 10ft post.
Great to hear the shout out for Woods Cyclery, I visited there only a day before watching this episode. (Though I was almost asked to leave for handling too much goods without the means to purchase. 😂
As for wearing the rainbow jersey, yellow jersey, etc. Here's a perspective to consider... Would you wear a Super Bowl ring you didn't win, or an Olympic Gold medal that you didn't win? There are certain articles that are, in and of themselves, the winner's "trophy". Generally speaking it would be widely scorned to wear these items without having earned them. While I admit that there is a parallel between wearing replica jerseys of your favorite NBA star or Soccer player or NFL team, cycling team kit is more considered an earned right of passage. I think there is a case to be made, (and probably some financial benefit to teams and riders), for the UCI to start allowing rider names on the kits and encouraging the marketing of officially licensed team/rider apparel. However, I still think the rainbow bands, maillot jaune, etc should be reserved for the actual winners.
I see no prob with wearing replica team kit. Go to any park and scores of kids are playing footy with their favourite teams colours on. Even when I played football folks turned up for training in Wolves, Albion and Villa gear (guess where I am from!) Go to a footy match and there are thousands of them (unless you support Walsall LOL).
A great area for rides I did on a family holiday was the Sorrento Peninsular. You've got the Amalfi coast, Pompeii/Herculaneum and Vesuvius. Plenty to see and do while off the bike.
Thermal bibs shorts rock - ideal for commuting to work when we have chilly mornings & slightly warmer evenings, with leg warmers there's at least 6 weeks at the start and and of the winter when these are ideal
Some great riding in the mountains behind Nice. Been to Tenerife a few times. Amazing, but you need to be very fit before you go. Even the flatter coastal rides are very lumpy.
There used to be a 'Poor Hole Lane' in Broadstairs that someone would amend to 'Poo Hole lane'. The council would then dutifully come and change it back. It became a family tradition to see who was winning whenever we went past- The phantom amender or the council...
My intro for in-ride fueling were these discontinued SiS Rice like Banana Choclate bars. So light and easy to eat. Now I'm on Cliff Bars - specifically the Peanut Butter Banana ones with Cliff Gel cube assortments.
I would endorse what others have said about reporting drivers, I used to work for the biggest NE police force and I know that a lot of drivers are prosecuted for close passes and other road related offences based on submitted camera footage, its definitely not a waste of time.
I'm a big fan on thermal bib shorts. I have three pairs. On the one hand I hate having stuff covering my knees. It always seems to give me knee problems. And they tend to be a bit water resistant, which is great in changing conditions.
I have a Fairlight Secan on order that I plan on adding silver finishing kit too. I think it looks incredible and really makes a bike stand out in a classy way.
Yesterday, cycling through the Shropshire Hill’s I completed a segment named after a lake the road ran adjacent to. It was called “Black D*** Lake”….and is clearly marked on Google maps. Only in the UK.
Sometimes I am tempted to attach a pool noodle with a sharpie marker to my bike. Some car drivers are more concerned about their car's paint than they are about their neighbor's life.
My team has been promoting a road bike race in a town called Sequim (Washington state in the US) for years. The race course passes through an intersection of two streets: Woodcock and Kitchen Dick.
About the silver finishing kit. I have bars and stem form zipp (service course) in silver and it looks super cool on my metallic orange commuter. That being said, the nice bike has full black finishing kit.
Cavendish also doesn’t leave gaps to the side for anyone to squeeze through. I think more often than not, hasn’t he been the one squeezing through next to the barrier?
Several years ago, Watts Dixon of Revolution Cycles in Greensboro, North Carolina, put on a century ride focused on hitting the towns of Erect, Whynot, and Climax.
45:30 I had a similar light (no lezyne, off brand) and while it was sort of nice to have there were many issues with it. One was the lane width it projects. Another issue that I had was the it is not very visible to drivers, especially if you are driving in a city or in an area that is well lit. I also had a bid issue with thing crossing the projection, in my case it was my legs and/or pedals. I think that the ideal product would bring the visibility to the driver direct line of sight, or at least high enough that it can be easily seen. Maybe no shine a laser onto drivers, but perhaps the right product would increase lateral visibility or maybe even make cyclists look much larger than they are. On the other hand, I remember that there was a product a while ago that would project a laser grid IN FRONT of the rider. This was not aimed as a visibility aid but to actually allow for quick and easy identification of debris or obstacles on the road. Not sure why it was discontinued, I would have loved to give it a try.
Thermal shorts rule! Here in the Northeast US, we have a lot of cold and rainy days that hover above freezing. I slather embro on my legs and wear thermal shorts to avoid soaked, cold knee warmers causing discomfort. Pactimo makes a pair with a soft fleece lining and water resistant outer, and there's nothing else I'd rather slip into on a cold ride.
Velosamba shoes are an underrated for commuting ! I used to use SPD flat pedal platform on my gravel by XT pedals for commuting and it was was too dangerous, my foot got of the pedal so many times. Now i use those pedals for commuting or when i use my bike to go to town or things like that and they are brillant. Great look (at least here in france, no "1st minister" look issue), i can wear them all day long at work (confort is ok BTH) and they are rigid enought to stay efficient while pedaling. (sorry for my english, french guy here)
Thanks for the support 🤣 if I should make a comparaison, I would say velosamba are for casual / bike shoes what gravel is for road / mtb … the perfectly imperfect compromise
Bikepacking and gravel in Europe, 2 destinations: Denmark and the Netherlands guys! Brilliant riding along the coast in both. In the Netherlands dedicated cycle paths all along the coast from Zealand in the south to den Helder in the north all along the dunes, the dune slacks and the woods and heathland behind. all the time never far from a beach side coffee stop! Should be on everyone's bucket list. In Denmark the route along the west coast of Jutland is brilliant with loads of gravel in it - many of the small village roads even are gravel here too. The islands too have some great picturesque riding as well.
Thermal bib shorts are just a slightly heavier fabric - they’re excellent for spring and autumn when the weather changes quickly (as it does in the U.K. every 5 minutes) or for chilly starts - they are good for gravel rides if you don’t want to spend £160 for bib shorts with a pocket…
question that needs answering! What's the deal with white cycling shoes, especially on gravel! I'm a 60 plus cyclist who was a bit of a footballer when younger. White boots were out of order back then and I've carried that over to cycling for the last 15 years.
On your recommendations of rides in europe. My ex partner and I cycled from Estonia to Poland and the roads are soo well maintained and its soo flat until you get to the south of Lithuania and Poland. it was an amazing trip with just some easy straight roads. But Tallinn, and Riga are incredibly beautiful cities with amazing countrysides
That bit about the Varia works well in the UK and in some states in the US, but many states, including Florida, where I live, don't have license plates in the front., so it wouldn't do any good. My Go Pro mouned on the front of my bike will get their plate, but not really their transgression.
My girlfriend and I both wear Velosambas for commuting and we're very happy with them. Yes, they're not the best shoes for walking long distances in but for a bike mechanic and barista they have enough support to not be uncomfortable while being on your feet all day. It saves having to take a spare pair of shoes with us whenever we ride our road bikes into work. It's also handy if my destination is quite a distance, and I've got to ride back. Flats are awesome, but sometimes it's just better to be clipped in, especially when there are a few climbs in between or it's raining. I ran MTB flats for better grip, but they just chew up normal shoes quickly. I had the Chrome shoes before, which died on me and therefore bought the Velosambas to replace them. A niche product for a niche use case. About the jerseys, I think they shouldn't sell winners or world champion jerseys at all, because they're essentially medals of the cycling world in my eyes...but as they sell them people can do what they want. Team kit is fine though.
I used to live up beside "Muff" in Ireland. Tourists would always be up getting photos by the Muff Diving Club. Can't blame them honestly. I also have a photo from a trip to the states with a sign that says "Dismal Nitch."
Clif Bars: I used to love them. Took them on many backpacking trips. One by one they just put me off. You chew, but your body decides it can't swallow. I am down to just one flavor that doesn't give me a gag reflex.
