Words: Max Leonard
"Ardnamurchan Point to Cape Wrath: north-east seven to severe gale nine; backing north; six or seven later…"
– The Shipping Forecast
The first Rapha Continental UK ride explored Assynt, a remote area of northwest Scotland. The riders encountered gale force winds, roaming deer and – at the end of four miles of broken track – a beach of white sand that would not have been out of place in the Caribbean.
Photos: Wig Worland
Based in Bristol, Robin Mather is one of six UK frame builders collaborating with Rapha for the UK Continental project. Robin's attention to detail, handcrafted lugs and distinctive touches have made his bikes increasingly coveted, on this sceptered isle and beyond.
When did you start designing and building frames?
The first bike I built was a school project in 1992.
WORDS: Ira Ryan | PHOTOS: Jake Stangel
Ira Ryan lists out everything you could possibly need for five days of riding in British Columbia. See the film, words and more photography of the rides here »
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It all starts with one giant bag:
Extra large duffle (you could fit 2-3 bodies in this thing if you cut them up right) BaileyWorks Rapha Continental bag, black (of course). Within this you stuff with the following contents:
Starting next Tuesday August 2nd, we will be releasing the latest in our summer series with the Rapha Continental. The springtime was left to our exploration of the Tour of California route with Tim Johnson, which was all well and good. This time around we had another guest and a whole new set of adventures in in the Rockies. For the whole month of August —each Tuesday and Friday — we will be releasing a collection of films again with DropTree Productions - photography by Jake Stangel and write-ups that chronicle riding the course laid out by the organizers of the 2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge. Formerly known as the Quizno's Challenge (thank you cycling gods for the name change) the race traverses a few of the Rocky Mountains well known climbs and hits some of the best cycling destinations in the country.
Sorry ladies, one hates to be the bearer of bad news, but it is official, one of our own Rapha Continental riders, Mr. Pierre Vanden Borre is officially off the market. This past weekend saw Pierre marry his lovely lady Erin in a fantastic ceremony hidden away in the New Hampshire countryside. Everything about the wedding was fantastic. Fellow Continental riders Cole Maness and Peter Rubijono were there to help celebrate (and Pete made his tie out of an innertube in case you were wondering). Since summer was in full swing we decided to make a full go of it and hit up all the best riding, swimming and roadside eating spots found North of Boston.
"You're not wearing a helmet. Is that because you want everyone to see that fancy hat you've got on?" This is Rapha Continental Rider Ryan Thomson commenting from behind the windscreen of "Big Jän" the dark blue Sprinter van that we have been piling in to explore road rides around the United States. It may seem a bit rude at first, but, Ryan has a right to say things of this manner to passing cyclists. One reason for this is because he always wears his helmet, always, you could say almost religiously. The other reason is because he took a bit of a tumble last week when we were riding through the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. He was wearing his helmet at the time, but the resulting injuries will keep him off the bike for the next six weeks.
The Rapha Continental is back on the road and the State of Colorado is doing its best to set the stage for the upcoming USA Pro Cycling Challenge. From what we have seen so far this should not be a problem because this fine State is not lacking in the "epic" department. This is stated full well knowing that this is a word that gets a bit misused these days, and we are not exempt from this misuse. However, with some of the vistas and roads (and elevation) that have been our entry to the Centennial State the word seems to be the most concise form of expression. Even our newest riding partner Nick Legan, the Tech Editor for Velonews may have uttered the word upon arrival at the top of Monarch Pass, or was it Cottonwood?
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