The importance of cool

Some intriguing cycling insights in November's Observer Sport Monthly.

First, top tailor and ex-roadie Sir Paul Smith on the importance of two-wheeled style:

"I remember when I started racing there was one boy who nearly always won and he'd got black socks instead of white socks.  Me and my friends were harassed by that 'How could he win? He's got black socks!'

Did you think of wearing black socks yourself?

"No, far too uncool. I'd sooner lose but look good.  No, that's not true. But the main thing with this boy was how brave he was. Even though I had a dream of being a professional cyclist, I would never have achieved it, because I'm not brave enough."

Sir Paul also admits, for the first time, that the horrendous crash that ended his racing career was probably caused by his "Buddy Holly" sunglasses -- which were so dark and thick-framed that he couldn't see where he was going.  Bet they looked cool, though.

Sunglasses were a rarity on British cyclists in the fifties and sixties -- a sure sign of a "Leaguer" and their funny continental ways.  Even when I started racing in the eighties, the majority of the pack were bare-eyed -- it took Greg Lemond and his huge-lensed Oakleys to make them acceptable.  And I still think the original Oakley Factory Pilots were the coolest cycling eyewear ever.  I had a blue pair and, despite their annoying tendency to lose their foam pads at critical moments, they were great.  Still available, for inflated sums, on E-bay.

Also in the magazine, an entertaining Q&A with triple Olympian Bradley Wiggins -- who displays a likeable obsession with various collectables: including scooters, guitars, boxing memorabilia and fancy shoes. 

"It's just what I am, whatever I go into I try to be the best at it....I have mad passionate periods discovering something and have to become a world expert on that". 

A male cyclist with obsessive tendencies, driven to take things to the extreme? I think that's most unusual, and will come as a surprise to the relatives of cyclists everywhere.