Joe Parkin may not be a household name, even in cycling circles, but he’s done a hell of a lot as both a rider and an author. Heck, he was even Editor of the best mtb magazine in the world, Bike, and then its road spinoff Paved, for a couple of years. His books A Dog In A Hat and Come And Gone are two worthwhile and entertaining reads on life as a road pro, doing the dirty work of a domestique in Europe and then back in the USA as a more accomplished rider.

He was also of a time when helmets weren’t compulsory in the peloton, and the all-time classic piece of headwear was the ‘hairnet’ ‘helmet’. What it lacked in actual protection it made up for in buckets of style, and the Brancale was the one to have. Joe waxes lyrical about his hairnet on Brancale’s ‘Stories’ section of their website…

“It was early fall, 1990, in Dublin, Ireland. I had just finished the final stage of the Tour of Ireland and was collecting myself a little, off away from the crowds and the other riders. I’d gone for the long breakaway — me and Irish rider Martin Early — but our bid had been shut down by one of the other teams. There wasn’t too much time to think about what could have been, though, before I was mobbed by some young boys looking for souvenirs. 

They took the race numbers off my back and the bottle I hadn’t tossed away in the finale. I’d already had an Avocet cyclometer stolen earlier in the week, so I was pretty protective of the new one, but they did ask for it. They even asked for my jersey and shoes. I think they would’ve taken my shorts and socks if I’d offered.

And then one of them asked for my helmet…”

Read on here…