Reports and features
Down Under, tan lines look as though they have been etched on with a laser. After years of riding in these conditions, these markings become part of you. In the off-season they are more subtle but only just. Tan lines are permanent, natural tattoos that confirm the years of dedication, the countless hours in the saddle, and always exposed to the sun.
I don’t have any harrowing tales from the recent inaugural Rapha Women’s Prestige. Run along the same lines as the Rapha Gentlemen’s Race, the Prestige is an unsanctioned and unmarshalled ride, with more emphasis on teamwork and camaraderie than on winning. Covering 116 miles of spectacular Californian terrain in and around San Francisco, my overriding feelings of the experience are ones of satisfaction and gratitude. Last November, I moved from Portland, OR to Madison, WI. The move was difficult and left me missing friends, food, coffee, climate and terrain that I’d grown to love. The Midwest has been good to me so far though, offering a mild winter in which I could ride with a pretty amazing group of people.
If there is one thing that we have learned here in our first year at the Rapha Cycle Club San Francisco, it’s that this great city has a lot to offer in the way of cycling. It’s so understated and so rideable that I’d go so far as to suggest that San Francisco and its outlying areas has some of the best riding in North America.
The 2012 NE Gentlemen's Race will welcome a collection of regular invitees, veteran teams and a selection of new entries. The Race Director has made eight team slots available for the 4th annual race and will once again present a challenging parcours of gravel and tarmac over 120-140 miles.
We all want to be pro to some degree. From your socks to your sunglasses, the beauty of road riding comes in many forms. Surely one of the big draws is how close we can get to experiencing the sport the way the professionals do, and demonstrating sartorial science in your choice of apparel.
A film by Nick Livesey with Ridley Scott Associates for Rapha
"The only way to define Museeuw's true 'North' was to meet him in the ancient forest. From there the trajectory of the back story was formed, and thus began the filming process."
After more than six months of arduous training and qualifying rides, four Rapha riders headed to Paris in August 2011 to participate in Paris-Brest-Paris. The oldest and certainly one of the longest road races still in existence, the 1,200km plus journey is not for the faint of heart, head or legs. Here are their accounts.
The Col du Galibier was first scaled by cyclists at the Tour de France in 1911. Henri Desgrange, the Father of the Tour, heralded it as a great victory for mankind to defy the laws of gravity and climb this giant.
If you have purchased a jersey this year and lost weight through riding, Rapha would like to offer you a 50% discount on your new size jersey.
High-grade merino performs significantly better in reducing physiological stress during exercise than its polyester counterparts.
In this exclusive short film, Rapha founder and CEO Simon Mottram talks to Sir Paul Smith about the celebrated designer’s love of cycling.
The 1910 Challenge ride honours Lapize and his contemporaries, as well as Steines and Desgrange, giving four amateur riders the opportunity to cycle the same route as the leg-shattering stage 100 years ago.