The Coast to Coast's unsung Spandex heroes
 Back to Articles
|
0 Comments |  |
| Wednesday, 1st February 2012 | Written by Mark Banham |
Over the last 29 years, the Speight’s Coast to Coast has seen many heroes come and go. Names like Steve Gurney, Richard and Elina Ussher and of course Robin Judkins seem as much a part of the race as the boulders of the Deception Valley.
But history’s brush is broad and often paints over the people whose small contributions have made a big difference. I’d like to take this chance to highlight two such people who perhaps have never had the recognition they deserve: Carl Sandquist and Joseph Shivers – the DuPont scientists who in 1959 invented Lycra.
Every competitor in the Coast to Coast inevitably goes through the same “What on earth am I going to wear?!” scenario that afflicts adolescent girls around the world every Saturday night. The thing is, when you’re dressing for three different outdoor sports simultaneously, it is a somewhat vexing problem.
On a bicycle travelling at more than 20km/h, the vast majority of the work you’re doing is just overcoming aerodynamic resistance (that’s why we all wear those spray-on clothes and herd together like wildebeest). Running routes like Goat Pass, calls for clothes that are durable enough to tolerate a bit of bush-bashing, and practical enough to withstand the inevitable inclement mountain weather.
And in the kayak, the golden rule is “don’t paddle in anything you wouldn’t be happy swimming in” (it’s not a bad idea to apply that principle to your choice of river too) so clothes that soak up water like a sponge or hang loose in the water are a big no-no.
Plus, as for any outdoor pursuit, if your clothes chafe, bind or otherwise drive you insane after a couple of hours then they’re about as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike and should be converted to mountain bike cleaning rags immediately.
Put all those requirements together and you end up with a few options; typically they’re a mix of nylon for durability and sometimes a bit of good old kiwi merino for comfort – but all of them will involve Lycra (also known as Spandex or Elastane).
Although Sandquist and Shivers probably never laid eyes on the Coast to Coast course, let alone raced it (as American scientists in the fifties I suspect they would have been long-socked, short-shorted basketball playing types) they have made as big a contribution to the race – and adventure sport in general as anyone.
No doubt the closing ceremony of the Coast to Coast has a fairly full schedule, but if there is a spare moment, I wonder if race organiser Robin Judkins might like to raise a glass of Speight’s in a toast to Jo and Carl – the Coast’s great unsung heroes.
But history’s brush is broad and often paints over the people whose small contributions have made a big difference. I’d like to take this chance to highlight two such people who perhaps have never had the recognition they deserve: Carl Sandquist and Joseph Shivers – the DuPont scientists who in 1959 invented Lycra.
Every competitor in the Coast to Coast inevitably goes through the same “What on earth am I going to wear?!” scenario that afflicts adolescent girls around the world every Saturday night. The thing is, when you’re dressing for three different outdoor sports simultaneously, it is a somewhat vexing problem.
On a bicycle travelling at more than 20km/h, the vast majority of the work you’re doing is just overcoming aerodynamic resistance (that’s why we all wear those spray-on clothes and herd together like wildebeest). Running routes like Goat Pass, calls for clothes that are durable enough to tolerate a bit of bush-bashing, and practical enough to withstand the inevitable inclement mountain weather.
And in the kayak, the golden rule is “don’t paddle in anything you wouldn’t be happy swimming in” (it’s not a bad idea to apply that principle to your choice of river too) so clothes that soak up water like a sponge or hang loose in the water are a big no-no.
Plus, as for any outdoor pursuit, if your clothes chafe, bind or otherwise drive you insane after a couple of hours then they’re about as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike and should be converted to mountain bike cleaning rags immediately.
Put all those requirements together and you end up with a few options; typically they’re a mix of nylon for durability and sometimes a bit of good old kiwi merino for comfort – but all of them will involve Lycra (also known as Spandex or Elastane).
Although Sandquist and Shivers probably never laid eyes on the Coast to Coast course, let alone raced it (as American scientists in the fifties I suspect they would have been long-socked, short-shorted basketball playing types) they have made as big a contribution to the race – and adventure sport in general as anyone.
No doubt the closing ceremony of the Coast to Coast has a fairly full schedule, but if there is a spare moment, I wonder if race organiser Robin Judkins might like to raise a glass of Speight’s in a toast to Jo and Carl – the Coast’s great unsung heroes.
Latest Articles
Simon Yates, the man who cut the rope on a climbing expedition with Joe... Keep Reading
Stay Informed
Keep up to date with news, information, updates, magazine issues, and more!
