All this reminds me of my brief stint in the British Merchant Navy.. although a lifelong Anglophile, I had no idea the British were so.. we ll so unforgiving. If anything or any action was not spot on (as perceived by some unwritten code of course) you were ruthlessly criticised for it. Bu t if you made the grade, well that was really something!
So I would be scared to death to join a British cycling club back in the 1950s or indeed now unless I did my homework first. I could try and join an Exeter-based club with a south London marque with mudguards or worse, apparently, a fancy pants RRA kitted out as per some boring spec per the catalogue and just be laughed off the pavement. Although I don't think I 'd take "Being a Bit of a Raleigh" as an offense. And that shows you what I
really don't know about British cycling.
By the way, just when did the "all black" regulation (or was it just one o f those unwritten but ruthlessly applied British customs) for time trial kit
end?? And how could one wear a cycling cap? Brim up or down. Or tu rned backwards. Or indeed, no cap and just Brilliantined hair? You guys wil l tell be the wrong thing no doubt just to get a laugh when I show up...
Peter Kohler Washington DC USA
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