Of all the things Rapha has achieved in the last 15 years, the Rapha Cycling Club makes me most proud. Together we have built a thriving global riding and racing club with scores of local RCC groups. In 2019, I will be taking a more active role in the club to ensure it remains the most exciting and progressive cycling club in the world.
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A club like no other
Rapha Cycling Club founder Simon Mottram tells us what he is most excited about for the club in the first part of the season.
06 March 2019
Ride Leader Programme
Members are already coming together around the world to ride and we want to be there to support you in more places. To deliver this we have been trialling a Ride Leader Programme across Europe that will enable us to enlist experienced, proficient cyclists to lead our RCC rides. We are now rolling the programme out starting with our Clubhouse Chapters. These will be up and running by July, then we will roll out to a further 30 locations throughout 2019, with cities in Canada, North America, across Europe, Asia-Pacific and Australia. The ride leaders will be fully insured with third party cover, so you can ride with us in total confidence – most riding clubs don’t offer this. Alongside the Ride Leader Programme, we are establishing a network of partner cafés that are ideal meeting points for rides, where RCC members can expect a discount on their coffee.
RCC Summits
Last year’s RCC Summit in Taiwan was my favourite weekend of the year. We’ll host another RCC Summit later this year with details to follow soon, and I am excited to let you know that we will also be bringing as many members together as possible at the UCI World Championships. Keep an eye out for what we’re doing in Yorkshire.
RCC Escapes
Around the world there are many regular RCC events already taking place – we call them RCC Escapes. We have been developing this range of extraordinary local rides over the last few years, from tributes to the Classics to long-weekends away with overnight stays. The emphasis is on bringing members together at least four times a year in each of the countries we operate in, to ride the best roads their region has to offer, and meet other members and make firm friends. The trips are designed to be self-sufficient, with a little help from your local RCC team. We encourage all members to organise their own Escapes with fellow club mates. Here is just a selection of upcoming rides around the world;
RCC Escape Catalina Grave
Los Angeles
23rd March
RCC Escape Fens
East Anglia UK
16th March
RCC Escape Girona
Spain
21-24th March
RCC Escape Kaohsiung
Taiwan
22nd-24th March
RCC Escape Jeju
South Korea
12-14th April
RCC Escape Mie
Japan
4-5 May
RCC Escape West Virginia
USA
May
RCC Escape Gravel
Australia
May
Exclusive Products
You may already know we have an RCC x Paul Smith collection arriving in May, designed exclusively for members. Before this, there will be an RCC colourway of the new Classic Rapha shoe in April. In the coming months you can also expect to see an exquisite mini-pump made by Silca and a new Giro Aether helmet in club colours. There’s also exclusive access to additional RCC content in the new Rapha Custom online platform that we have just launched.
Priority Access to Rapha Products
I want to make sure that members get first access to our biggest launches and particularly our limited edition products so you are less likely to miss out. In February, members received priority access to the Pantani collection followed by a special version of the CANYON//SRAM design at the start of March. The Nelson Vails collection in honour of the former US champion and Olympic medallist will arrive in April, and a special edition Aeroblock print collection in May. There will be at least four more priority access moments later this year on products that we’re keeping under wraps for now.
The RCC Remote Control
We are constantly adding new features to the iOS version of the RCC app. This is the first place you should look to find out what’s happening near you and connect with other members. We’ve just launched a ‘groups’ feature which means that you can quickly find your nearest group of members, whether at home or travelling. The next significant upgrade will be an enhanced chat function including one-to-one and custom group chats. By adding these features, we intend for the app to be the one place for all club interaction and information.
If you haven’t used the app recently why not take a look.
It has become clear to us that the Android version of the app needs significant improvements and consequently we are rebuilding it from scratch with the aim of relaunching it by the end of May.
Meet the Pros
For all of our EF Education First Pro Cycling and CANYON//SRAM events in 2019, RCC members will be given priority access to tickets. That means whenever Rapha and the pro teams are together, RCC members will be at the heart of it. For the Classics, there will be an evening with Sebastian Langeveld at our Amsterdam Clubhouse, plus a chance for RCC members to tour the EF team bus at Gent-Wevelgem and to ride with the CANYON//SRAM team.
Gent-Wevelgem
31st March
EF Education First Pro Cycling & Canyon//SRAM
Tour de Yorkshire
2nd-5th May
Canyon//SRAM
Tour of California
12th-18th May
EF Education First Pro Cycling
Brussels Pop-Up
June 3rd
EF Education First Pro Cycling
OVO Women's Tour
June 12th-16th
Canyon//SRAM
La Course and l’Etape du Tour
July 23rd
Canyon//SRAM
Ride London
3rd-4th August
EF Education First Pro Cycling
Tour of Britain
8th-15th September
EF Education First Pro Cycling
World Championships
21st-29th Sept
EF Education First Pro Cycling & Canyon//SRAM
Japan Cup
19th-21st Oct
EF Education First Pro Cycling
From here on in, I will be communicating with you much more frequently with updates on the club so you know what’s happening around the world. I will adopt the title of RCC Club Captain as a visible sign of my commitment.
I hope to see you on the road soon.
Simon Mottram
RCC Club Captain
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