MMT has been busy collating a series of happy snaps and social media memes as a record of COVID-19 and its impact on Melbourne. Most of these photos have been taken whilst MMT has been out and about on his bike. Speaking of which, MMT is quietly chuffed at doing over 1000 km in June.
So the photo below, isn’t included in the gallery as it was taken in Sydney. MMT thinks it perfectly captured the insanity of what was occurring in Australia’s grocery stores back in March 2020.
Chapeau!! to the Newtown branch of NSW Fire and Rescue service. Readers you can find MMT’s COVID Gallery <-here.
Melbourne’s seemingly endless run of cool sunny days has continued well in June. MMT has been out and about on his beloved Domane, most days, cruising around the bayside suburbs. Melbourne hasn’t returned to pre-COVID 19 normal yet, but it is noticeable that traffic has increased. So with that in mind its been with some pleasure that MMT has been riding around in Loffi gloves.
MMT thinks he first saw Loffi gloves in an edition of Treadlie, one of the more enjoyable Gen-Y/Hipster magazines available in Australia. Treadlie has a reputation for being a ‘cool hunter’ magazine for cycling afficiandos in Radelaide. MMT has even visited the original shop back in 2010. MMT digresses.
So back to Loffi gloves. The supplier Loffi, is based in the UK, which means that if you live in somewhere like Australia, the exchange rate doesn’t work in your favour. MMT purchased one pair of the Glove 2.0 for 35 UK quid. The picture shows what the gloves are like. So quite apart from being ‘cute’ they are also extremely warm and comfortable. They are perfect for cool winter rides and seem to handle bad weather very well. So far MMT rates them 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 out of five smiliey marvs.
Happy, happy clappy gloves that are warm and soft on the hands.
They took a few weeks to arrive not helped by Fedex needing MMT’s mobile number in Australia. MMT received a somewhat embarassed email from the owner of Loffi, Jack Hudspith. Personal email from the owner…whoah that did happen ;-)!!! The owner included a pair of thermal inners at no extra expense to make up for the slight shipping SNAFU.
The origin story for the goves can be found here in the company’s mission statement. here’s a chunk of it liberated for your edification and education:
And so the idea for Glove was born – with the hope that a friendly, human interaction such as a simple wave could be the answer – and a step in the right direction at least. Ever since, our aim has been to help prevent negative interactions, spread some goodwill and encourage more people to cycle and create a friendlier environment on the roads.
The wave and the smile on our gloves are basic and positive tools for social interaction, have no language barriers and are universally understood, which we think has made them so popular around the world – we’re up to 43 countries and counting!
MMT is seriously considering buying a second pair and hopes that Loffi is working on a fingerless version of the glove for the warmer months.
It has been a long, long, long time since MMT did a product review. However, something special popped up, that was just too cool. MMT felt compelled to share with all those digital citizens, who quite sensibly, pay no attention to this blog.
This bit of blurb is stolen directly from the ‘Handmade Cyclist’ website.
“Fausto Coppi ‘Il Campionissimo’ is one of the true legends of cycling. Idolised in Italy, his reputation lives on as one of the classiest riders of all time. Twice winner of the Tour de France and five-time winner of the Giro d’Italia, Coppi was famed for his effortless pedaling style and climbing ability. But Coppi was also a master of cycling’s dark arts, never more succinctly put than in this classic quote.”
“The design pays homage to the classic Bianchi jersey Coppi wore in his heyday – when jerseys and bikes were simple and beautiful.”
Now due to the current state of the UK Pound vs Aussie Dollar, roughly $AUD30 + freight, this was a rather expensive mug. But just look at it. Its sooooo….beautiful. Also, MMT secretly hopes that when he reappears back at work post-COVID-19 planning, that the quote will freak out the FIGJAM Gen Y, MMT works with.
Let’s face it the last 3 months or so has been bloody awful without competitive cycling. Watching the fairly boring replays of the Paris-Nice 2020 on SBS, is no substitute for a fully fledged spring classics season. So it was with some excitement that MMT heard through his favourite podcasts that the UCI had published a revised 2020 event calendar.
It looks like this. MMT hasn’t figured out how to show the Women’s events yet, so accusations of sexism please.
Now a few aspects of this schedule are immediately obvious, such as the enormous overlap between one day races and grand tours. Spain has lost all of its races, except the La Vuelta. MMT reckons that cyclists being earmarked for the Tour Guangxi would be looking for danger money.
But what’s interesting about this compressed season is the impact that it may have on the grand tours. It seems to MMT that teams will be forced to choose which races to prioritise. For a team like Ineos, they may choose to skip many of the one day events. For a team like Quickstep, MMT guesses that it will write off the Giro. The French and Dutch based teams will have serious thinking to do. One wonders which of the tours, Mitchellton-Scott will prioritise?
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