About 25 years ago I was just "getting into" proper cycling; a bike was slowly morphing from a toy, through merely a mode of transport and finally into a machine to have fun on and explore the world. I was learning to mend and replace bike parts, just starting to enter the murky world of "specialist clothing" and hanging around bike shops being an annoying teenager. I absorbed and learned from snippets of the Tour De France that were sneaking onto the television and then "The High Life" appeared on the goggle-box; a Granada TV documentary about Scottish cycling pro Robert Millar, a sporting champion unsung and unrecognised by a British public that were hugely ignorant of cycling, despite him bagging several stages and winning the King Of The Mountains jersey, achievements that would have him front-page news these days. Here was a man who was small, weedy, thin, not particularly handsome, grumpy, quite the loner and could do wonderful things on a bike. I could identify with all of those attributes and I could work on the "wonderful things on a bike" bit. I had my first hero. Two images from "The High Life" have stuck indelibly in my mind; the camera car trying to follow Millar as he shot down an alpine descent, greasing his way between on-coming cars and cliffs as he pulled away to finally disappear from shot around a bend, and him sitting in the back of the team car at the end of a stage peeling his team jersey off walnut-brown arms to reveal a torso of Scottish-White skin beneath. I was totally hooked. A spark had been lit. This would be the sport for me. I only saw it the once, if it was repeated I never caught it, the programme came out on video but is almost impossible to track down, and there are mere gobbets available on the web. So it is with a giddy heart that I find out that "The High Life" is finally available on DVD (apologies if this is old news to some), I do hope the damp mists of time have been kind to it and not let the memories sadly rust a bit. Where’s my credit-card? www.bromleyvideo.com
A Hero Returns
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I believe the accepted form for this kind of argument is "I know you are, you said you were, but what am I?".
Also the ability for drivers to see things is far worse as it's significantly obstructed by the frame of the vehicle.
So in your analogy I am the charming, caring creature that saves other animals through heroic actions and ends up as the new Prince of the Forest, whilst you are an horrific prehistoric lizard activated by pollution that blunders through civilisation smashing it in pieces by belching out yet more toxic pollution. Okay, seems fair.
@GravelIsNothingNew Yup - had a similar bag from Giant a few months back. It undid from the top velcro fastening, but remained attached around the ISP on a TCR. Resulted in a costly repair job to the ISP.
"Stone the crows though Nige, even they have some standards." Hence why I didn't suggest you go on! Rendy Vs Jack Cycles in a debate... That would be like Bambi trying to fight Godzilla 😂
Do you drop litter on the basis that you are only one of the thousand doing so so whether or not you do won't make any difference to the problem? Do you dodge paying your taxes on the basis that you are only one of 40 million taxpayers so your contribution won't help anything? Same sort of logic, and it's nonsense.
@ktache Yes, I still have hopes that in years to come we will see it changed to a high emissions vehicle exclusion zone rather than a come and pollute if you can afford the charge zone. However it has had a massive effect on air quality, it's not just the roadside detectors that show it is working, you can literally see and smell the difference.
I'm always hopeful, but people don't think for long... or not enough of us *do* something after the thinking. It may be "too early to tell" but AFAICS after we all eagerly forgot about the "pandemic which doesn't get mentioned", the roads pretty much returned to normal. Albeit with a lag and possibly more remote working now. And all the bikes went back into the sheds / onto the balconies, or were consigned to the odd Sunday outing along the canal / in the park. People tend to do what others do. The "hopeful" part is that a "critical mass" can be achieved locally. And cycling *can* be such an efficient, low cost, easy access, adaptable transport method. And - yes - even "social" and "fun".
Would recommend looking elsewhere if your head is on either the smaller or larger ends of the scale. The cap will either be too loose and peak will tend to flop down annoyingly, or it will be tight and uncomfortable. For contrast the GripGrab ones are not only less money but they are at least available in S/M, and M/L.
1 thought on “A Hero Returns”
More on the DVD, and Britain’s greatest ever pro cyclist
http://www.thewashingmachinepost.net/bob/index.html