By Jeremy Dunn • 12th May 2012 • Posted in Women
photos by Jake Stangel
This woman should need little to no introduction from us. She has been with us for a while now, from photo shoots in Italy and California to riding with the Rapha Continental during the summer. And that is before we even mention the daily rides and races where we get to see her here in Portland, Oregon. Whether she is riding motorcycles as photo support for the Cascade Classic Stage Race cheering for us at the side of a local Crit, participating in the Rapha Women's Prestige or just pedaling alongside as we head into the hills. It is safe to say that Cindy Lewellen does it all. If we could add one more thing to that list it would be the CycloFemme ride that she is leading tomorrow May 13th. More information about CycloFemme can be found here. But keep reading to see Cindy Lew's official Rapha Women's Ambassador Questionnaire…
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By Jeremy Dunn • 12th May 2012 • Posted in Women
Every time a holiday rolls around our inboxes are full to the brim with gift buying guides. We delivered ours on Wednesday (you can use the code MOTHER12 at checkout this weekend for 20% off women's products). We reached out to a few of our friends to see what they were doing for their mothers. There was a cycling theme that ran through the gift giving, whether it was the young racer thinking about her mother that had raised a family of cyclists, a husband and his love for the mother of their children, or a heartwarming anecdote of the racer and his realization that his mother was one as well. Shopping for Mother may quickly be over but that doesn't mean you should stop thinking about the one who brought you into the world, and besides, mothers can always use a great gift, no matter what time of year.
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By Guest Author • 11th May 2012 • Posted in Women
Words by Fiona Adler
In just three more sleeps, we'll be on our way. Sian, Nickola, Michelle, Lysiane, Lisa and I - each taking a chunk of time out of our lives, to travel and ride together in France and Italy. After convening in Paris, we'll head south to our home for a week - a gîte called Velo Vercors in the village of Saint-Jean-en-Royans, in the western foothills of the Alps. From our base we'll explore the mountains and countryside. We then train over to Italy and have a few days of unstructured time, where we plan to give our cycling legs a rest (and most likely our shopping legs a workout) as we split up to visit Milan and Florence. We'll regroup at Hotel Belvedere in Riccione (on the Adriatic coast) for part two of our riding journey. One of our first rides will be the Nove Colli Gran Fondo (and yes, that translates to Nine Mountains).
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By Jeremy Dunn • 10th May 2012 • Posted in Women
In some parts of the world this weekend will be a full on celebration of all things related to those wonderful ladies that brought us into the world — our mothers. However, there is also something else happening here in the world of cycling that on this day is making a push to bring more women to the world of cycling. The CycloFemme ride day was announced in March and in a little over a month has grown to almost 150 rides happening in 12 countries around the world. Check out the complete list on the CycloFemme site and see if there is one happening in your area. The founder of the ride is one of our Rapha Women's Ambassadors - Colorado based Sarai Snyder. In keeping with Joy and Lauren, the first two ladies to be introduced to the world we sent through the same introduction questions and some extra insight into the CycloFemme project.
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By Ian Cleverly • 8th May 2012 • Posted in Women
Words: Ian Cleverly | Photos: Gerard Brown
Rouleur's Ian Cleverly accompanied the For Viored-Brookvex team to the Tour de Feminin Krásná Lípa in this extract from issue 30, on sale now.
Following the opening day’s presentations to the public, racing gets underway with a 110km stage starting and finishing in the town of Krásná Lípa itself. It is stupidly hot. We park up in the feed zone and hand up bottles on an incline, mostly successfully – although some are knocked flying, others missed as a couple of our riders pass in the middle of the bunch, frantically waving their arms. It is a tough lesson to learn.
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By Guest Author • 1st May 2012 • Posted in Women
Words by Fiona Adler
These days my cycling gets squeezed between raising two children, running a business, maintaining some semblance of a social life, and the daily grind of getting dinner on the table each night. Which means I ride mainly in the dark (and often still half asleep). I’m normally pretty happy for cycling to take 3rd step in life, however I am extremely excited to be writing this just four weeks before jetting off to Europe to ride at leisure with five cycling friends (each fabulous women that you’ll meet soon).
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By Jeremy Dunn • 20th April 2012 • Posted in Women
In cycling circles, the word ‘pro’ has been used with increasing frequency in the last few years. In fact, one could say that it has nearly reached ‘epic’ proportions. Which is precisely why it deserves investigating once again. Over the next two weeks, Rapha is launching our latest Pro Team range. In addition to new Pro Team Base Layers, there are updates to the Pro Team Shorts and we also have something for those of you who are fans of the chartreuse colourway. Here at Rapha, all this Pro Team activity has reignited the age-old debate: what does the term ‘pro’ actually mean? Is it something tangible, something that happens to your legs after countless shaves and miles? Is it the way you wear your cap, or the length of your bib shorts? Or is it simply a question of attitude? To help explore this highly-contested subject, Rapha wants you to join the debate by telling us what you think makes for ‘pro-ness’ in a rider.
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