Yawp Cyclery Kits are Available

Here's a little good news: Yawp Cyclery kits are now available to order. Here's more good news: if you're interested but don't know what size you wear, there is a Primal fit kit at the bike shop and you can stop by and try on samples. If you haven't worn Primal's Helix kit before, you should know that it's one of the nicest kits out there. It feels like you're being hugged all over by puppies. 

We need to have your payment and order by Monday, April 13th, and kits are due to arrive by June 12th. Pricing to pre-order this Primal Helix kit is as follows:

Jersey: $95

Bibs: $130

Shorts: $120

We hope to meet women's minimums as well. If we don't, Primal says that typically ladies prefer the shorts over bibs.

If these kits look like something you'd want to wear, stop by the shop or give us a call and we'll get one on the way for you.

Being fast isn't as important as looking fast.  --Walt Whitman

Blog Postponed on Account of Dirt

As they say, it's time for a 20-mile loop somewhere. Well, that somewhere is here! Stop reading this blog and get out there.

What do I do with My Rapha Bag?

A very kind person recently gave me a Rapha 'cross jersey--a fine thing in both the world of gifts and the world of cycling apparel. I don't wear many things that are not wool, but so far I am quite impressed with this jersey. Twice I've left the house wearing nothing but the jersey (and pants, etc.), and the temperature has fallen drastically during my ride but I've stayed warm. There's a classy and thin shoulder pad on the right shoulder, for carrying my bike over barricades, I presume. As I'm not leaping many barricades these days, that shoulder is where I keep my parrot. In any case, the jersey isn't the point of this blog.

The jersey came with a little bag, that in itself is also quite fine. I own very few things that are made as well as this bag. Someone even took the time to write a little paragraph about...well, I'm not sure what, exactly, it's about. It may be about an animal that accidentally wandered onto a cyclocross course.

It may also be a rewrite of that Schwarzenegger movie Running Man, which was probably a rewrite of "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell. Clearly, the protagonist, or "you," are certainly going to be eaten if you get caught by these gun-toting, jodhpur-wearing, hunter-cyclists. This reader was unfamiliar with the word "jodhpurs," and a quick google image search explained that jodhpurs are the answer to the question, "What would I wear if I wanted to look silly?" In any case, close reading isn't the point of this blog.

The point of this blog is to pontificate the function of this little bag. I'm going to presume that, the Brits being such tidy people, the bag is for toting your dirty cross jersey home after the race, because you don't want to get the back seat of your Aston-Martin muddy. However, if you're the kind of person who either doesn't race much or who rides to and from races, that leaves you with a very nice bag that has no function. Obviously, I tried this first:

This wasn't ideal. The bag has no insulation, and carrying beer at the end of a tether tends to shake it up. I then though it might work well as a tool bag, so I put a spare tube into the bag. It immediately turned into a Rapha-style premium inner tube.

This fine, premium inner-tube is fully woolen and stylized with a pink stripe. When I used this spare tube, I felt just like I was on Le Mont Ventoux, losing the Tour de France in the 60's. Unfortunately, the bag isn't ideal as a tool bag, as the straps, as fine as they are, tend to get tied up around almost everything else in my bag.

The only function that occurs to me now is to ship a bunch of these Rapha bags down to the south pole and distribute them to the penguins there to be used as Huddle Sacks.

"I'm dry and out of the wind. Thanks, Rapha!"

Obviously, saving the penguins has been the overall goal of this blog since its inception, so I guess we've met with success. That's not to say we're giving up. We'll be back next week with a first look into penguin mittens. They're so cute! We'll see you then.

Snow Day

I was going to write a post about biking in the snow, but this video is essentially 10,000 pictures shown in rapid succession, which is worth 10,000,000 +/- words, and I don't feel like writing 10,000,000 words. So here you go!

The Yawp Cyclery Wool Jersey Pre-Order

We're going to order a run of our first shop jerseys. If you want one, there are two ways to get on board. The first way is to sign up for the Yawp Company. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you should read this. If you don't want to sign up for the Company, you can still order a jersey. Yes, you too can look good and feel even better. These merino wool jerseys are being made by Soigneur, and you can find their website here. Check out their customer feedback page, too. 

If you haven't worn merino wool before, you should know it's woven from condensed clouds, fluffy sheep magic, and distilled puppy joy. Its soft, doesn't itch, is cool in the heat and warm in the cold. You can wear merino wool--even a jersey--for days in a row without washing it. 

We're still waiting for final approval from the manufacturer, so we might tweak the design here and there, but the jerseys will mostly resemble the mock-up below. Expect the price per jersey to be in the neighborhood of $175. Yes, it is expensive, but it's a fine garment. You can read some third-party reviews here and here. 

Sizing

Soigneur's website gives the following chest measurements:

• XS – < 88cm = < 34.6 inches
• S – 88 - 93cm = 34.6 - 36.6 inches
• M – 94 - 99cm = 37 - 39 inches
• L – 100 - 105cm = 39.4 - 41.3 inches
• XL – 106 - 111cm = 41.7 - 43.7 inches
• XXL – 112 - 117cm = 44.1 - 46.1 inches

Here are some additional measurements: 

For the ladies: We know that often when a garment is supposedly unisex, it means it's cut for dudes and you have to deal with it. We checked with Soigneur to make sure these jerseys are for you, too. They said they make a women's jersey without the elastic hem, and that the response has been very positive.

Deadline

We need to have your order and your money by Monday, March 2nd. Please stop by the shop or give us a call.

Video of the Week