'Cycling has given me camaraderie with other men again,’

with an old Holdsworth with toeclips

In the month that they shut their doors of their shop for the last time after 90 years I think that’s a good send off.

Not sure what Planet-X will do with the brand now, tbh, I’m expecting more ‘retro’ steel frames with inappropriate wheels.

And to think he actually got into cycling just to to wear the poncy clothes. Same reason he got into a band I guess.

He’d look better cycling in this getup I reckon

^^^^That is his brother isn’t is [ embarrassed by 80’s knowledge but step sister loved him.

I think MTB ers talk more when riding as its just easier to do this, than in a chain gang ,so there is a greater camaraderie there.

What he needs to do is develop some outlandish and unsubstantiated views on a range of topics that he knows next to nothing about, develop a beard gut, develop a love of all things pastry based , grow a beer and /or a love of real ales then ride an inappropriate bike somewhere – [ SS, fat bike , FS when not needed – so many options]

Its good to have a positive article on cycling tbh from a cyclist- who cares that he does it differently from me he loves cycling I love cycling its all good. Seems ovelry image conscious for my tastes tbh
However he did the Etape so he can obviously pedal some

I would love to get an ancient bike and ride L’eroica on it – so yeah – I get where he is coming from

Just to make you jealous I am ,roll on next Friday !Flying to Pisa for L`eroica with an old Holdsworth with toeclips (no yak leather shoes though !)

I AM jealous. Very. I have hankered after a Holdsworth Whirlwind for some years now. One came up on Ebay but was in such good nick that I didn’t bother bidding for it – figuring it would go for way more than I could afford. In then end it went really cheaply – kicking myself!

I am the same with mid 70s Dawes .I wanted a black Super Galaxy tourer and a Double Blue racer as a 14 year old .I have yet to see what I want in the right condition and price !

can’t decide if its him being pretentious or the writer trying to get as many plugs in as possible dreaming of the commission he will get from the bike fitting company, the clothing company and David Millar’s company in spain.

I reckon its the latter as there is absolutely no way a bloke is going to talk about his yak leather shoes – why yak leather? What is so good about yak compared to cow other than it is more “exotic”.

It sounds more like a monty python pisstake sketch than a real article.

but fair play to the Kempster for getting involved in a proper sport and he does look in good condition for his age, so there is defo something to be said for it… wonder if his litespeed is up for sale?

and just to add, he looks no more foolish than any of the other thousands of mamils and weekend stormtroopers…….

I can’t speak for any mamils, or weekend stormtroopers – of which I am neither, but does any cyclist actually leave the house thinking they look stylish?

Kemp obviously does, but really?

TheArtist – never to be seen in lycra, ever!

This is a good positive read about the attitude of cyclists like Mr Kemp, Keith Rapha (not his real name) and others.

I can’t speak for any mamils, or weekend stormtroopers – of which I am neither, but does any cyclist actually leave the house thinking they look stylish?

[ponce]Stylish, probably not. But on the road bike I do wear red, white and black as my bike is red, white and black.[/ponce]

does any cyclist actually leave the house thinking they look stylish?

God no – unless you are off to the gay club its not a great a look and it is function over style [ to be fair that is my style in general]

Mt road bike is black so i dont match it in attire as I tend to wear something bright yellow – like that fetching number you were wearing on Monday HtS.

Camaraderie with other men… er.. what. is. that. ?

I’m quite amused to hear you all laughing at the notion of “camaraderie with other men” with a forum full of (mostly) other men that you only know through cycling.

😆

wonder if his litespeed is up for sale?

Get in the queue matey! My Litespeed mtb needs a sibling. 😀

Camaraderie suggest we like each other Graham
Are we not just here to point out how wrong we all are 😉

In essence Graham you are wrong

When he invites me to join him for a spin in the Chilterns he wears a peaked cotton cap reminiscent of those worn by early Tour de France riders, a merino-blend jersey in vintage team colours and yak leather shoes with aluminium buckles evocative of old-fashioned toe-straps – all crafted by Rapha, the iconic British brand that now kits out Team Sky

Sounds like an excerpt from American Psycho

Has the word ‘aspirational’ been mentioned yet?

🙄

In essence Graham you are wrong

An excellent point my friend 😀

I met the writer of that article whilst riding the Haute Route Pyrenees – he was there to cover it for Cyclist magazine (he did their story on Haute Route Alps last year too).

He’s a nice, normal bloke – does a lot of the European articles for Cyclist.

I think it’s great that well-known, style-conscious, exclusive-club member types see bikes as cool and positive things. It balances out the image the rest of us give it )

I think MTB ers talk more when riding as its just easier to do this, than in a chain gang ,so there is a greater camaraderie there.

depends who you’re riding with 🙂

Probably a bloke who’s genuinely interested in cycling (cool) just a bit difficult to see that as the write up sounds a bit pretentious and **** with all the catalogue poses and twaddle about what he’s wearing. Thing is, did he go into a shop and say “Ooh yak leather shoes with aluminium buckles evocative of old-fashioned toe-straps, yes I’ll have a pair” or did he see some shoes and say “they look nice let me try them on, ooh comfy” ?

Lets give him the benefit and say the latter.

Are telegraph readers generally rapha fanboys?

Actually, it looks as though the Telegraph article is about 4 years too late

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/400222/gary-kemp-the-big-interview.html