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Kitted Out

04.05.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 2 Comments

Okay, some of you have sent in pictures of your club kit — the matching jerseys and ancillary gear you wear on your club rides. Today, I’ll start featuring some of these from time to time.

The first examples come from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

This is from Team McAllen, the home club of our friend Ramon H. (That’s not Ramon in the shot — either on the left or the right). A nice orange-yellow gradient into the white, so the club’s name can be easily read. What you can’t see on the guy’s shorts is that the pale green stripe on the left leg is spotted with darker green palm trees in silhouette. Like many clubbers, Ramon says he only has the jersey–no bibs. However, he says he does try to wear the jersey whenever he’s out on club rides.

Ramon, you’ll recall, is one of the ringleaders of the 5 a.m. bike rides in the Valley. “We usually organize a weekend ride just with the folks in that group,” he says, “as opposed to riding with the local cycling clubs.  Yes, there are talks of coming up with a jersey design just for this.” 😀

Ramon also sent along a picture of another Valley club’s kit:

It’s the Sports Federation of the Valley. Between them and Team McAllen, it appears the Valley has some spiffy looking cyclists!

What? You think your club has a better-looking outfit? Well, put your picture where your mouth is. Send shots of you, or your fellow riders, all decked out, to rainycamp AT yahoo DOT com. I’d love to feature y0u, too.

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Categories // Accessories Tags // clothing, team kit

Club Kit

03.20.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 4 Comments

When I posted about my new Penn State jersey last week, I mentioned that I had run into our club ride that was departing in the afternoon after a postponement because of morning rains. I noted that most of the riders were wearing their club kit.

“People who regularly go on club rides usually wear club kit?” one commenter wrote. “Huh. Would never have occurred to me to do something like that.”

Well, I don’t know about your club, but we like the look of our club jerseys. Up until last year, a new version came out every year. The picture below shows our current look.

The name of my club is the Circle C Ranch Cycling Club (CCRCC), after the name of the neighborhood in which most of us live. The white version of our club kit came out in 2011, and we haven’t created a new one for the current year. The blue one in the middle is the 2010 version. I’m also in the 2010 version in the banner at the top of this page. The CR emblem is the logo used by the Circle C Ranch subdivision — a “circle” with the letters C and R (for Ranch). We’ve had the circle changed into a sprocket ring. We’re cyclists, after all! This picture was taken on a warm summer day, but club members can also get a load of accessories, all color-coordinated, such as shorts, tights, arm warmers, wind vests, thermal jackets, and cycling caps. Lots of our members have all these and more.

In addition, on many rides you’ll find people in older versions of our kit. After all, the jerseys don’t wear out that quickly, so they’re still wearable.

Other clubs in the Austin area have their own kit as well, such as Lake Travis Cycling, the Austin Cycling Association, Tough Cookies, Austin Flyers, and more. They’re all well represented at area group rides.

So I was wondering, in light of the comment above, do you cycle with a club that has its own kit? Do you wear it on club rides? And if so, what does it look like? I’d love it if you sent me some pictures of your own club’s designs — preferably being worn at a local event. In future weeks, I’ll revisit this topic with some more samples of what folks are wearing out on their rides. Send pictures to rainycamp AT Yahoo DOT com.

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Categories // Accessories, Equipment Tags // clothing

Of Head Covers and Jerseys

03.11.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 11 Comments

I’m over that illness, finally. I was over it Friday, but wasn’t able to get out and ride, because we were being deluged with much-needed rainfall. The rain was even heavier on Saturday. Maybe there’s a chance my grass will come back after all.

Sunday, we awoke to more rain, but by 10 a.m. it was gone. The day turned into the most perfect spring day I can remember. I got in some yard work, but by 2 p.m. my wife wanted to ride. We went out for a Mopac loop, and extended it by cruising through a new upscale neighborhood to look at houses we will never be able to afford. Our 15.7 miles was an ideal way for me to get back on the bike without overtaxing my respiratory system. Since this is Spring Break week, I’ve got a lot of riding ahead over the next seven days, so there’s no reason for me to try racking up miles right now, this instant.

But as we were in the last mile of our ride, passing the Starbucks where the club rides begin, a large group of cyclists pulled out of the parking lot and crossed right in front of me to the bike lane. It was the club B ride. They were leaving at 3 p.m. instead of 9 a.m. because the morning downpour kept everyone inside. I chatted with some of my friends briefly, then broke off to head home. I wanted to tag along with them, but as I said — no reason to push it.

I would have been a little out of place, anyway, because I wasn’t in club kit. I was wearing a new jersey my wife and son got me for my recent birthday. And there’s a story behind that.

Back when I used to play a lot of golf, I treated myself to a Penn State head cover for my driver on the day I successfully defended my Ph.D. dissertation at said university (I’m a proud Nittany Lion). When my son saw it, he was inspired, and for Christmas that year, he rounded out my collection by giving me head covers for Southern Illinois University, where I got my bachelor’s degree (I’m a proud Saluki), and the University of Minnesota, where I got my master’s (I’m a proud Golden Gopher). Out on the course, they were always good for conversation starters, because few golfers sport head covers from three different schools (“Uh…are you confused?”). I’ve been carrying them around for almost ten years now.

So when I opened the package my son sent for my birthday, what do I find? A Penn State bicycle jersey! I had thought about getting one myself, and now he — and Mrs. Noob — have saved me the trouble. There are hints that I might have the bicycle equivalent of golf club head covers! Let’s see — Father’s Day is only a few months off, and then there’s Christmas again… Only time will tell.

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Categories // Odds 'n ends Tags // clothing

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