Riding With Cindy

The Women's Range is set to launch in the next week or so. The catalog imagery was all shot through the Sicilian hills surrounding Siracusa, Italy. Lucky for us in North America one of the women who helped make the shoot possible lives here in Portland, Oregon. On a crisp early morning last week we met outside the offices of Wieden + Kennedy where Cindy Lewellen and new Rapha Continental Rider Joe Staples spend their waking hours.

At intersection of Skyline and Germantown Road there is an abandoned Ice Cream shop. Seems like the perfect place to stop and partake in an icy treat. Maybe not when snow and ice are coating the trees, as they were that morning, but soon, when the sunshine starts earlier and warmer temps are not on the horizon but in the air.

Cindy definitely looks the part in her Red Stowaway jacket and climbs better than a good number of her male counterparts. However, she also acts the part as well, the consummate professional, on and off the bike. A pleasure to ride with the first time out.

With a background in running and working with Nike in the Portland area the transition to the bike seemed like an easy one. This is where Joe would insert a story of her attempt to race a triathlon - one that she easily won - and how she took a towel with her to completely change between the transitions. And change she did while easily beating her competitors by minutes.

Transitions seem to be a strong point for her, but even so the one from running to the bike can be a little tough. Cindy also talked of how different it was to go from solo running every day to trying to ride in a group with other people. "The thing that I did find to be a bit discouraging, was how difficult it is to get people [other cyclists] to talk about the sport. To let me in on all the little secrets and tips that everyone is always keeping to themselves."

And while it might be true, with certain circles in cycling, Cindy gives the impression that this matters little to her. She evokes the feeling of just charging ahead. For a lady that owns motorcycles and tames wild dogs (no idea if this is true, just what Slate says) she can certainly hold her own on the bicycle.

It will be great to see this entrance into the women's side of things. A change, certainly, but with Women Cyclists like Cindy our side I we will be just fine.