Not the Euros...

Euros? Superbowl? Premier League? F1? If you’re still reading, congratulations, because we know that such subjects can put a die-hard roadie to sleep.

Down here in Soigneur-land the only thing putting us to sleep lately has been too many 3am bedtimes as we watch the Tours-de-Tadej and soon the Olympics.

But as tough as the sleepless nights can be, there are tougher challenges to surmount. Number one would have to be finding a willing ear amongst non-cycling friends and family to discuss the latest stage with. Who here knows the pain of opening a conversation with “Did you see yesterday’s stage? How does Poddy do it? How good is Jonas after his injuries?” only to be met by vacant stares or the perverse claims that a penalty shootout is a viable way to decide a winner (although we suspect Remco Evenepoel wouldn’t complain about adding football shootouts to cycling stages).

We also know of another challenge faced by many of our customers. It’s the “convincing other riders to wear Soigneur” challenge. We know our jerseys are good. We get emails and pics every week from customers raving about how comfortable and stylish their jerseys are. We’ve seen personally how Soigneur-wearing riders will gravitate towards each other in a mutual admiration society, and loudly refute any ignorant questions about merino being hot or itchy.

Think about it - when did you last see riders gushing to their riding mates about their latest polyester / plastic-fantastic jersey from some faceless factory? Friends shouldn’t let friends wear plastic.

This was brought home to us recently when we met up with a visiting riding mate who hadn’t packed for the chilly days of Rotorua winters. Seeing his goose-bumps we offered a Soigneur jersey for him to wear. A few hours later we finished the ride and our friend handed back his borrowed jersey with the comment “Wow, that’s such a comfortable jersey”, followed the next day by him buying his own Soigneur jersey.

Obviously we want more people wearing Soigneur jerseys. We also want world peace, fewer cars and more bikes. But let’s start with the easy wins. Lend a mate a jersey and help spread good vibes.

Just don’t complain to us if you never get it back.