One of the trickiest bits of the bici-almeria annual training camp/holiday trip is creating, designing and sourcing a jersey for each year. Obviously it is only a tiny run in terms of kit orders but for the bici-almeria spring week it is one of the key ingredients to a good group vibe. For the guests it is nice to have a momento of the trip, for me as the proprietor it is exceedingly fulfilling on ‘kit day’ seeing a group resplendent in bici-almeria kit on the magnificent roads of Almeria, it matters not whether there are 3, 6, 10 or 16 riders – the buzz cannot be overstated!
In 2010, following on from a successful inaugural small group trip in ’09 – I decided to kit out the trip for the first time. Gear Club were producing kit for Reading CC at the time so I approached them for a small run of bici-almeria jerseys. We came up with a simple white jersey trimmed with a very Iberian red and yellow theme. Like all subsequent jerseys, the red indalo figure has pride of place. The 2011 jersey was a identical in design but the colour theme moved from red/yellow to a black & grey theme.
2010 & 2011 jerseys
In 2012, for what turned out to be the last time, Gear Club again provided the jerseys. This time I went for something quite different. Deciding against a black jersey, my heart was set on something like the classic Caisse d’Epargne / Illes Baleares jersey of the late 2000s, as the Almeria sun really is quite hot even in April. So I took a punt on a grey/silver based jersey, incorporating blue trim and green/white/green bands and collars to represent Andalucia, as well as a very natty Spanish flash on on the rear pocket! Bibshorts were also made to match.
my sketch …. and how Gear Club made it happen 
For the 2013 trip (which was a extended 6 week stay in Spain) I decided that I really wanted a kit that was manufactured in real cycling country rather than the far east or eastern Europe. So I explored various Spanish, Italian, British & Belgian kit suppliers. Then I remembered that I had an old jersey from a trip with Marty Jemison back in 1995 and fished it out from the depths of my kit drawer. Made in Belgium it proudly boasted on the label, plus the condition was still pretty good. So I tried to track down Decca who made the jerseys. Well Decca had obviously changed a bit since 1995, a new logo, Flemish-only website. So I emailed them and they were keen to work with me as they were just launching in the UK. I knew waht I wanted this year. I had decided that from now on each year I would base my jersey on a old pro team design. After much design back and forth we came up with a jersey like that worn by Movistar in 2011. Still a classic and still one of my favourites …
2013 Movistar inspired jersey
In 2014 Decca again supplied the kit, the chosen theme this time was Cervelo Test Team from 2009. Back to a mainly white design that proved popular with the group. We also had custom bibshorts made up by Decca in 2014.
2014 bici-almeria jersey … love it!
So onto 2015 .. plans are in the pipeline … new supplier being sought … looks like we will be using top-end Belgian kit maker Bio-Racer in 2015 and basing the design on a more retro pro team – the Italian Jollj Ceramica of the 1970s …
Watch this space
UPDATED JANUARY 6th …
Here it is … hot off the press the 2015 bici-almeria jersey
