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This Sunday, 1st April, Rapha and cycle store Ronde will be celebrating the Tour of Flanders and welcoming Rapha to Edinburgh. The Ronde Van Edinburgh will be a two hour-plus ride taking in the cobbled climbs of the city, followed by a screening of the Tour of Flanders 2012, refreshments (including cheese from Iain Mellis and beer from Innis & Gunn) and the chance to look through the Rapha Spring Summer '12 collection.
Photos & Words by Phil Gale
One step up from a dirt track, the country lane is the proving ground for many British cyclists. They are narrow, winding and often barely big enough for a car. As you pedal away from the grey of urban concrete, green fields and hills open around you. Looking over the countryside's patchwork quilt of rolling hills and shifting hues, textures undulate from field to field. And as you become more and more acquainted with the contours of the lanes, the drag of everyday life leaves you and the energy of the countryside invigorates both body and mind.
On Sunday 26th February at 7am, 20 or so cyclists with beautiful moustaches will leave Pavé in Barcelona to ride to a lovely country house called La Comensalat in the village of L'Espugla Calba. They would love you to join them, although you will need to have to a moustache (a real one). You'll also need to ride the 150kms if you want to have your moustache shaved at the end. These forçats de la route will then be treated to a calcotada, a delicious regional dish. The event is organised by Pavé in collaboration with Rapha.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège, known also as La Doyenne, is the oldest one-day race still in existence. First run in 1892 by L'Express newspaper, the 270km Monument takes place in the rolling, forested Ardennes region of south-east Wallonia. The voluptuous nature of the course makes it very punishing; add bad weather conditions and you have arguably the hardest of the spring classics.
The voting is over and we can now reveal our winners of the 2011 Festive 500. It was a remarkable event, with the cumulative kilometres of all riders reaching somewhere close to 1.5m. Not only did we see a lot of distance covered but the volume and quality of the films, photography, illustrations, and writing (and even music) astounded us.
The large number of entries meant that inevitably we’ve had to overlook many worthy riders. It’s also been brought to our attention that there were some discrepancies in voting. We would like to clarify that the decision of the Rapha judges is final and so, without further ado, here are our winners and notable mentions (in reverse order, naturally).
With due respect to my Australian colleagues, the cycling season doesn’t start, in my mind, until that race named after the newspaper that I cannot pronounce [Omloop Het Nieuwsblad]. In Northern Europe, the start of the pro calendar is marked by crap weather and a juddering internet stream on my laptop featuring Flemish commentary. Not the seemingly fantastical Australian summer and the laid back training jolly that is the Tour Down Under.
As per usual, espressos, handshakes and stamped passports were exchanged before we started the fourth ride of the week. For a second time we climbed the Gorge before travelling through the Barossa Valley, where some of us slowed down to sample a few of Australia’s finest wines.
Conditions were extremely hot as we stopped to see the Sprint at Kersbrook, then rode over to witness the KOM at Menglers Hill. Menglers is a short but gruesome climb, one that would take us to the finish at Tununda. Greeted by what seemed to be the Devil’s own road, some stopped to take photos while others received kisses. Most definitely the attraction of the day.
