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a few hours in london town
glasgow, like many a town and city these days, offers the coffee connoisseur an often less than impressive set of options for the supping of froth or, perchance, something a tad stronger. though the number of city-centre coffee outlets has increased almost exponentially in the last decade or so, quantity sadly doesn't always equate with quality.
to a greater or lesser extent, the coffee catering has captured the middle ground, predominantly through the proliferation of the usual subjects: starbucks and costa. it is a sad reflection in the defamation of the word barista, that there are still those nominated as such who believe that a double-espresso equates to twice as much coffee as would be served in a 'single' espresso and that it ought best be served in a cappuccino cup. the problem has almost reached similar proportions as that of inappropriate and unnecessary apostrophes.
having suffered such coffee bean iniquities on my way to london for this year's rouleur classic, it was of great joy to meet once more with andrew meo, the man behind (quite literally) those highly desirable rocket espresso machines. as at last year's event, andrew had set up shop in conjunction with mick and andy at prendas, bordering a couple of comfy looking leather sofas being gainfully employed by ian parkinson for the next instalment of the rouleur podcast. as if this were insufficient cycling culture in such a compact and bijou space, doctor d (rohan dubash) had set up shop opposite rocket, intent on assembling a steel moser frame with an appropriate and period correct selection of campagnolo componentry.
i should point out that, equally as garrulous as yours truly, the last time i visited the stand on thursday eve, rohan had managed to get as far as fitting the bottom bracket, headset and a couple of polystyrene wraps on the main tubes. still, the show was on for a total of three days.
from my own, narcissistic point of view, i can but congratulate the folks at rouleur towers for their choice of venue. having arrived at euston station from glasgow central about an hour in advance of the doors opening at victoria house, it was but a straight line from euston along upper woburn place, past tavistock square and russell square. meaning at evening's end, 'twas but a simple matter of retracing my straight-line steps to the evening's accommodation.
along with yours truly, you may well be questioning the logic in undertaking a four-day trip by way of ferry, bus and train for a mere five hours in the big city. but we all know that's not quite how the whole thing works. i know of a few individuals who flew from islay to new york, via glasgow airport, for a bruce springsteen concert. in my case, those five busy hours were filled to overflowing with earnest conversations that would have bored the earrings off mrs washingmachinepost, had she been daft enough to accompany me south.
as i'm sure i bored everyone within earshot, i've been writing this stuff for just over 21 years; it would take a committed hermit to do so without having made the acquaintance of many others plying their own furrow within the same milieu. thus, having been kindly invited to attend the 2017 rouleur classic by publisher, bruce sandell, i had a ready-made set of victims on whom to impose my scarcely revelatory observations. i like to think i have never been one to indulge in name-dropping, a laudable quality to be admired in anyone within the cycle industry, and one i aim to continue in these black and yellow pixels during this present conversation.
famous people who were in attendance, but with whom i did not necessarily 'shoot-the-breeze' included johan museeuw, fabian cancellara, david millar, philippa york, brad wiggins, brian smith and several others who doubtless conversed with the aforementioned ian parkinson on those leather sofas after the excellent matt barbet had interviewed them on stage.
i did say hello to matt.
for those who have not attended a rouleur classic in any of its incarnations, it has demonstrated an uncanny ability to reflect the quality and diversity of the magazine in three-dimensions specifically by eschewing the extremely large format espoused by the national cycle show inhabiting birmingham's exhibition centre each september (with the possible exception of the mavic stand with its two motorbikes).
this is arguaby the more select and quality end of the cycling world, populated by such as s-works, lightweight, focus, assos, velobici, colnago, endura, cervelo, campagnolo, continental, giro, poc and many others that would probably take too many pixels to list. each stand was manned and woman'd by the very folks you'd need to talk to in order to satiate all those questions that have been nagging for months.
business is thus conducted in comfortable and mostly salubrious surroundings, interspersed by frequent visits to the bar (not by me, i might add) on the way to or from the auditorium in which the great and good were spilling their innermost secrets to mr barbet. most of us, yours truly in particular, are mostly inured from these industrial goings on, aware only of the turning of the velocipedinal cogs (if you'll pardon the pun) via regular perusing of the cycling media. that, most likely, ought to be the point at which the post enters the fray, but we can't all be perfect.
with luck and a following wind, there will be another rouleur classic at the same time in 2018, an event that i would respectfully suggest you make the effort to attend. let's face it; if i can do it, so can you.
monday 5 november 2017
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