The Good Companions

When Harry Binns turned twenty he invested in a pair of cycling shoes which would last his entire racing career. Most likely influenced by the exploits of his hero, Fausto Coppi, Binns acted on a back page advert presented to him in an issue of Cycling & Mopeds - 'Ride like a Pro. Choose Lombardia Shoes'.

A month later a pair of fine, Italian leather Lombardia cycling shoes were delivered to an address in Harrogate. To Binns they represented the romance of adventure, and the allure of the open road. By revisiting one of the few pleasurable lessons during his time at Harrogate Grammar School, he reverentially christened his footwear 'The Good Companions'; this in eponymous reference to the famed J. B. Priestley novel of the same name.

Along with Thorncliffe, Binn's and his 'Good Companions' would become inseparable. He was able to quite literally follow in the footsteps of his mentor, and enact a form of acquired metabolism; leeching the 'terraferma' of Lombardia into his own blood stream. This 'shared skin' empowered Binns; akin to the wearer of the Maillot Jaune, he rode with greater force.
© Sixteen Ninety-three 2014