By Guest Author • 25th February 2013 • Posted in Rides
by Tim Dawson vintagebicycle.wordpress.com
Bordeaux-Paris is one of cycling’s lost classics. Once regarded as the toughest one-day race in France, the ‘Derby of the Road’ saw the peloton roll out during the night, making the tough, near-600km parcours more gruelling still. Last staged in 1988, the sight of the world’s finest riders heading into the darkness in the early hours was once a highlight of the racing calendar. Among my collection of original cycling photographs is this beautiful image of George Pilkington Mills, winner, in 1891, of the first edition of the race.
Read the entire post »
By Guest Author • 4th February 2013 • Posted in Rides
Words and photos: Collyn Ahart
Big cars and big portions, the indiscriminate kindness of strangers. Loud talkers and bellowing laughter, long gaits, relaxed jawlines and baggy denim. Whilst you can find all these stereotypes, the real DNA of Americans is movement. To say “he’s really going places” is as much about social mobility as it is about how many state lines you can cross. In America, to so many people, particularly those of us who grew up there, the bicycle was our first taste of freedom. Our first step up the ladder of independence. We’d been told the stories, we’d heard the myths: if you can move, you can go anywhere you want to go, be anyone you want to be. You are your own master. Manifest destiny on two wheels.
Read the entire post »
By Guest Author • 15th January 2013 • Posted in Rides
Words and photos by Nate King
The sun rises and oats simmer slowly on the stove in a concoction of raisins, cinnamon, and unrefrigerated milk - the norm here in Manizales. Coffee, likely grown no more than a 30-minute ride from here, percolates through the filter, filling my small flat with the millennia-old aroma of the morning.
The internet gets a quick perusal. Snow. Rain. Wind. Frigid temperatures. Winter’s icy tentacles are wrapping themselves around my home and hemisphere half a world over, squeezing hard, extracting every joule of thermal energy from everything they touch. Cruel timing, as friends and acquaintances begin their sojourn into the heart of the Rapha Festive 500, like the Missouri Donner Party staring into the snowy eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada. I wander into the warm sunlight and peer east, towards the towering summit of a volcano where today’s ride will take me to an altitude of 3600m - in January.
Read the entire post »
By Joe Hall • 27th December 2012 • Posted in Rides
© Stefan Rohner: Day 1
At the time of writing the Festive 500 global bunch has collectively amassed over 1 million kms. On Strava alone almost 30 people have already broken the 500 mark with a good group on track for a cool 1000. You people are truly mad for the mileage. Here’s a quick roundup of some of the highlights we’ve seen online. Good luck for the coming weekend and remember, every kilometre counts!
Read the entire post »
By Simon Mottram • 21st December 2012 • Posted in Rides
Despite the controversies that have engulfed the sport over the last couple of months, we should not lose sight of the incredible performances and undoubtedly historic victories we’ve seen out on the road in 2012. Here is my review of the season’s best racing exploits, those rides that got my pulse thumping. Keen-eyed race fans might spot that I’ve combined some new selections with choice displays of panache from earlier in the year. And while it appears to be something of a trend that the second half of the season is less dramatic, it has nevertheless been a bumper year for road racing.
Read the entire post »
By Jeremy Dunn • 4th October 2012 • Posted in Rides
PHOTOS: John Watson - Prolly Is Not Probably
Once all the teams riding the 2012 Rapha NW Gentlemen's Race had been launched into the early morning fog of Mt. Hood, our job was made very clear to us. Head Commissaire, Gerben Gerritsen, doled out instructions for the day and Chris DiStefano and I were told explicitly: "You two stay behind with this clipboard and guard all the beer." It would be nowhere near the arduous task that faced the riders out on the course, but a thought crossed my mind as Gerben departed in the sweep vehicle: "Finally, a job that the two of us can handle."
Read the entire post »
By Guest Author • 24th September 2012 • Posted in Rides
Words by Dirk Kaufmann
Only a week after the pro peloton rides the last ’Monument’ on this year’s race calendar - the Giro di Lombardia - the Mobile Cycle Club travels to Basel to join up with Obst & Gemüse for a Swiss interpretation of the Race of the Falling Leaves. Discovering the scenic beauty of the Jura Mountains, we will traverse rich woodlands, climb jurassic limestone peaks and enjoy the magical range of autumn colours.
Read the entire post »
