By Guest Author • 3rd February 2012 • Posted in Misc
Words – Andy Waterman
Photos from 2011 Edition of the Fidea Cyclocross in Leuven, Belgium
If you had done a straw poll of the 61,000 spectators that swamped the dunes of Koksijde on Sunday, very few would have predicted that Rob Peeters would be there to steal second place from his more illustrious countrymen. Nys, Albert, Pauwels, Stybar: these were the names on people’s lips, and with good reason. Between them these four have dominated the present cyclocross season, as they have done for the previous half a decade (or decade in the case of Nys). Cross throws up innumerable surprises, but this year the form book predicted it was going to be a whitewash for the big four. The writing was on the wall: the rest would be fighting for scraps.
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By Jeremy Dunn • 13th January 2012 • Posted in Misc
Cyclists are a superstitious breed; they do a lot of strange things a lot of the time. If you hang around enough start lines, bike shops or even just your fellow riding partners, inevitably you will catch a glimpse of their true quirky selves at some point. The upside down ‘lucky’ number 13 (as seen here) is but one example of the kind of superstitions which will likely come to light. The thinking in this case being that if you were the one to pull the dreaded number from the pile then you’d better make the best of it and turn it upside down before pinning it on (and remember to always pin from left to right, starting at the top.) Well, today being Friday the 13th, that most superstitious of days, we thought it would be good to take a look at some of the others we’ve heard of. Interestingly, there are two more of these Fridays this year, one in April and another in July (gasp), so why not enter some of the more interesting cycling superstitions you’ve about (perhaps they’re your own) in the comments section below? Rapha will then pull together some of the better (stranger) ones and revisit them in April and July.
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By Collyn Ahart • 8th December 2011 • Posted in Misc
Portraits by Mark Phillips
When two cyclists move in together, there’s the inevitable joining of the things, trying to figure out how to store 14 bikes and three bike boxes, the class warfare of leaving muddy bikes in the kitchen, and that old chestnut: constant laundry. And not just any old load will do. Caked in mud returning from the winter hills, almost every ride seems to merit pre-washes and extra rinsing.
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By Konrad Manning • 10th November 2011 • Posted in Misc
On any normal November day the fields and woodland on the Hotond in Belgium are deserted. Any of the little passing trade stops at the inn which butts up against the redundant stump of the whitewashed windmill here. This is the highest point in east Flanders, standing above Ronse, at the southernmost edge of a rolling area of wood and farmland known as the Flemish Ardennes.
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By Joe Hall • 28th October 2011 • Posted in Misc
The word etiquette in English derives from the French étiquette - a "list of ceremonial observances of a court" - which in turn descends from the 16th century noun estiquette, a licence or permit, a ticket. Whilst these French words are now obsolete, the English term etiquette lives on and so, I hope you’ll agree, should the practice of good road riding manners.
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By Guest Author • 18th October 2011 • Posted in Misc
Photo: Ben Ingham
WORDS: Andy Hampsten
Our final day's ride would tackle the Galibier 100 years after the Tour first scaled it. All of our guests were excited and a bit nervous to finally get on the famous slopes. Earlier in the week we rode 100 miles from Aix le Bains to La Grave over the mitochondria-abusing Col de Glandon; before limping most of the way up the Col du Lautaret to our new base hotel in La Grave for the high Alpine portion of our adventure. This was a rude introduction to the Alps, but everyone made it before dark, and we now knew what a true Tour stage was like.
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By Joe Hall • 26th September 2011 • Posted in Misc
It was the Olympic Games which originally conceived of the colour scheme in the 19th century, the five colours representing the continents of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania, the white background symbolising peace. However, the UCI was allegedly born out of a dispute within the International Cycling Association, over whether Great Britain could field a team combining England, Wales, France, Scotland and Ireland. The five-man breakaway contingent of Belgium, France, Italy, USA and Switzerland formed in 1900 to create the governing body we know and love today. Fortunately for Mark Cavendish, and many other men and women of the Empire, Britain were allowed into the organisation in 1903. And so, 46 years since Nottinghamshire’s Tom Simpson sprinted into the rainbow jersey, the maverick from Mann, Mark Cavendish, becomes 2011 World Road Race Champion. God Save the Queen.
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