If you visit one of the 20 cities with an RCC chapter - from Mallorca to Manchester, Sydney to Singapore and beyond - you’ll find a whole new group of people to ride with. Last month, Rapha sought to test this philosophy of ‘global club, local community’ by bringing together seven RCC members from four countries and three continents. Nestled in a wood lodge in New York’s Catskill Mountains, the group bonded over a long weekend of road riding, while testing out the latest club kit – now available online and in-store.
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All Together Now
The Rapha Cycling Club (RCC) exists to bring cyclists together. Wherever you ride, you won’t be far from other members of our 9,000-strong (and growing) club.
07 June 2017
Day One / Friday Evening
Unfazed by the snow and the wind whistling through the Catskills, the group dropped their bags and set out for an evening “leg loosener”. 50km later, and the ride hotted up after a wrong turn up the aptly named Devil’s Kitchen. If you can’t take the heat…
“I’ll be talking about that ride for years. The group dynamic, the roads, the snow(!) and that absolute WALL of a climb all made it unforgettable.”
– Eric Hill
“My fingers were numb and I could barely see the road in front of me. At the top (finally, at the top) I hid low by the side of the road, out of the wind with my hands stuffed inside my jersey. It felt like I was in the Hateful Eight. I wanted to nail the door shut.”- Ben Chatfield
Day Two / Saturday Morning
It was ice cold Americana all the way on Saturday morning. A frosty start saw the group layer up for their loop out to lunch at the fabled Phoenicia Diner. The throwback menu and ‘60s decor was straight out of an old high school TV show. “It was especially entertaining to have an international crew experience this local legend together,” said Karen Yung, a New York local.
“After the first climb, all I saw was smiles - and it was evident that this group was tough as nails. Over the coming days we would smash out 250 kilometres, take in some magnificent scenery on secluded roads, as well as eat (proper) greasy american burgers, slurp ice cream in picturesque diners and make new friends.”
– Marius Nilsen
Day Two / Saturday Evening
Weekend afternoons are for siestas and following a well-deserved snooze, the group quickly hopped back onto their bikes for a sunsetter ride out to the azure-blue Ashokan Reservoir and back – through the darkness.
“Kilometres or miles? Due to the international nature of the group, we used both - sometimes to our peril (or delight, whichever way you look at it!)”
– Kelton Wright
“Spending a weekend with complete strangers that became great friends in a matter of hours is not something that happens many times in your adult life, but seems to happen a lot when you’re on a bike.”- Brett Moen
Day Three / Sunday
The weather abated on day three, bringing sunshine to the frozen landscape. The riders woke early to hit sunrise, and the energy shifted up a gear when it was warm enough to take arm and leg warmers off. From then on, the group basked on sunbaked roads all the way into the afternoon, when ice cream and beers marked a glorious end to the trip.
“Some kind of magic transpired. We explored new roads, exchanged jokes and even cooked for each other after the long days. The best part as we said our goodbyes? We had even better reasons to visit (and ride) new places around the world.”
– Karen Yung
