The Belated Gender Neutral Rapscallion Reach Around Gran Fundo
A few moons ago, the absolute geniuses from the Jens Voigt Army planned a brilliant route in response to the Rapha Gentleman's Race. If you're not familiar with the tension that lies between those 2 groups, it's worth reading every single page on JVA's site (including anything archived or sub-ed). Get the picture? It's brilliant and hilarious... and I still wear the shit out of my Rapha because I love it.
The set-up is this: Rapha has an exclusionary vibe to some and riding bikes is a simple pleasure, designed for a multitude of personalities and goals. The title of this ride is a direct response to the Gentleman's Ride. Since then, not many shots have been fired and only a handful of people even noticed the stones being lobbed over the Willamette River in the first place.
The point is that JVA pulled together a brilliant route and we've been wanting to ride it since we first saw it.
And ride it we did:
At the drive-in.
Many friends of Mettle that made it out to the Mettle Sunrise ride on the Solstice came for this ride organized by Jake (btw, be on the look out for a new YouTube channel from him!). Even at altitude we had hot temps but once again, it was a ride that generated more smiles than "spots of bother" and put this route on the maps of our minds as a stunner of a day:
