Bluegrass Bobcat

The Bobcats are no-nonsense, foam-and-nylon knee pads which should survive most things short of a nuclear explosion, bedecked in a natty black, grey and yellow colour scheme. They’re designed to conform to your knees in a bike-riding position, which means that when you first pull them on and stand up, they look somewhat protuberant. The internal neoprene and fabric construction makes them comfortable in the short term but also warm, despite their open backs. For climbs I pulled them down over my ankles to let my knees breathe. They’re loose enough to put on over your shoes (don’t do this if it’s wet) and the straps are nice – large and easy to use with gloves, clamping the pads down for a secure fit. I found that the straps were slightly longer than I strictly needed, which led to some flapping, but this was a minor issue which was undetectable when actually riding and would likely have been resolved in any case by wearing a size down. A fine, bombproof pair of knee pads, but perhaps not suited to all-day wear.

Barney.

Barney Marsh

Barney Marsh takes the word ‘career’ literally, veering wildly across the road of his life, as thoroughly in control as a goldfish on the dashboard of a motorhome. He’s been, with varying degrees of success, a scientist, teacher, shop assistant, binman and, for one memorable day, a hospital laundry worker. These days, he’s a dad, husband, guitarist, and writer, also with varying degrees of success. He sometimes takes photographs. Some of them are acceptable. Occasionally he rides bikes to cast the rest of his life into sharp relief. Or just to ride through puddles. Sometimes he writes about them. Bikes, not puddles. He is a writer of rongs, a stealer of souls and a polisher of turds. He isn’t nearly as clever or as funny as he thinks he is.

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