Not Just Another Sport

In a short film celebrating the launch of the new Rapha kit, a handful of Team Sky riders discuss the highs and the lows of racing, their ambitions for the season ahead, and why cycling is so much more than just an ordinary sport.

While there are many great themes and phrases throughout the eight minute film, I think Peter Kennaugh's sentiments about the ubiquitous influence and education of cycling nicely sums up my longstanding commitment to the sport and culture. Cycling has taught me "about culture, about food...taught me about the body...you just learn so much about everything. About every aspect of life through cycling. The traveling you do, the different people you talk to and come into contact with."

Relax. Watch and enjoy. Then grab your bike and go for a ride.

Assynt

"The roads around this part of north-west Scotland dip and tumble over the hills, the rough tarmac made to absorb surface water and sluice it away. A disorienting topography incised by sea lochs, uniform in its small-scale chaos: too many bends, too much water, too many hills, too many kinks in the coastline. The west coast often seemed to be to our east thanks to the contortions the landscape imposes on the roads."

Another brilliant piece of cinema from Rapha.

Disproving Survival of the Fittest: Field Testing the Validity of Social and Evolutionary Darwinism (or Cole and Justin's Rapha Ride) PARTE DOS

As overwhelming and uneventful as it may be to collect and process performance data, the benefits from analysis tremendously outweigh the tedium of assessment. While the raw numbers are of course useful in their own right, the usefulness when considered in contextual is simply astounding (e.g. food intake and performance). Increasingly reliant upon technology, numerical data, and supplements cycling (and other endurance sports) has long carried the money trumps ability monkey. While wind tunnel testing and SRM power meters are undoubtedly useful, there is an undeniable appeal to the simplicity of riding based upon feel while fueled by real food. To be fair, I appreciate the cycling computer, love to track my statistics over time, and enjoy the yumminess of Clif Bar products (most of which actually fall into the real food category; just mixed together and baked; minimal processing), but part of appeal to a Rapha-esque Ride is the testing of physical and mental limits. Stripping away all the "lack of training/not enough time on the bike" excuses, minimizing technological assistance, and riding without a parade of support vehicles (although I do sincerely appreciate the spectacular refrigerator organization) harks back the golden age of cycling and recalls the pure joy of pedaling.

Disproving Survival of the Fittest: Field Testing the Validity of Social and Evolutionary Darwinism (or Cole and Justin's Rapha Ride) PARTE UNA

Despite its routine beginning, the fourth Friday of May quickly earned a place in the annals of blogging history. Some of you may be wondering, "Wow, the title for this entry is so perplexing and the first sentence so captivating; I can't wait to read about this epic day! Hold on a minute though, the fourth Friday of May was nearly three ago! If this day truly was so memorable, why the delay?" Well, in response to these very insightful points I would likely begin by drawing attention to the hypothetical overuse of exclamation marks. Quickly thereafter, I would be sure to segue into a long winded apology for my poor blogging etiquette (being sure to mention my week long marathon of a move as well as my dedication to successful and timely completion of work projects; all the while reiterating my heartfelt appreciation for the all my readers) and then be sure to offer some sort of witticism about the claw-like shape of my hand due to the intensity of the Rapha Ride and subsequent inability to use a keyboard with any proficiency. Diverging readerly attention almost entirely from these initial feelings of disappointment and defusing a potentially volatile social encounter, please allow us to begin, in earnest, the retelling of this epic tale.