You don't get many opportunities to tackle a ride of over 200 miles with full support. On Sunday September 6 a group of up to 300 riders will leave Manchester for the 220-mile journey to London.
The Rapha Manchester to London Challenge has just opened for entries. Riders will set off from the Manchester Velodrome at dawn on a fully supported a ride through the Peak District, Midlands and Chilterns, before crossing the finish line at London’s Olympic Velodrome.
The inaugural event raised £140,000 for Ambitious About Autism, and in 2015 the organisers hope to double that figure.
It’s a cause close to the heart of Rapha founder Simon Mottram as his oldest son, Oscar, has a severe form of autism.
Shortly before the first Manchester-London ride, Mottram told the Telegraph's Jonny Cooper: "Autism is profound and life changing, and I feel you shouldn’t just tinker around, you should really go for it. It's an ambitious ride; 220 miles is a long way. And that’s why the charity is so successful, it’s really ambitious for people with autism."
The first Manchester to London was run under clear skies and with a substantial tail wind.
Writing on the Rapha blog, course designer Emma Osenton said: "We awoke to thick mist, the Lowryesque redbrick terraces held still and quiet in a blanket fog. Nothing beats the sensation of setting off into the unknown. sunlight began to crack through the morning cloud as we made our way into the Peaks. Soon a fierce sun heated the day, golden light flooding field and fell.
"We rode past recently harvested lands, yellow corn stubs shaven by an army of machines as we rode along on ours. Spirits were high, with some riders deep in thought as the ride went on and others chatting gently, sharing fears over the hiss of freehubs followed by breathy climbs.
"Rolling England distracts the mind … before a sea of London lights play with a tired, caffeine-fuelled brain. It was as if the weather gods, whoever they may be, had blessed us with a stunning day."
Entry to the second Manchester to London costs £150. Full details are on the Rapha website.
21 thoughts on “220-mile Rapha Manchester to London returns for second year”
Wow.
350-odd km, food and a
Wow.
350-odd km, food and a timing chip, £150.
400km, £9.50. http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/14-66/
Know which I’ll be doing.
andyp wrote:Wow.
350-odd km,
Really, which one, do tell?
Don’t get all chippy because you don’t like Sportives (which this is basically.)
‘chippy’? A purveyor of fast
‘chippy’? A purveyor of fast food, or a carpenter? I haven’t come across another meaning. Do you want curry sauce with that?
I do like sportives…I ride them. For instance, I’ll be doing the Puncheur in March.
But do go ahead and make more assumptions. You just make yourself look daft.
…but £150 is ridiculous.
andyp wrote:’chippy’? A
What about the adjectival definition? 😉 http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/chippy
I wouldn’t pay £150 either, but I’m sure it will be good and I’d also bet that it takes a lot of organising.
Well that was a nice
Well that was a nice distraction, really fancy building up for one of these having seen the BBC Scotland Adventure programme on the 1400km+ Audax
Couldn’t agree more. £150
Couldn’t agree more. £150 indeed! That’s Rapha for you.
I’ll get chippy – Sportives
I’ll get chippy – Sportives (especially Rapha ones) are for rich billy no mates with no real concept of true road cycling culture i.e. touring, Audax, cyclo cross, 6 day track, road club riding and racing. £150 is about 7 years club membership which will get you a sportive just about every week, and some friends (unless you want to talk about derivatives or sacking large numbers of normal hard working people to increase your margins).
Rant over…..I feel better.
Dropped wrote:I’ll get chippy
Maybe not everyone wants to join a club or doesn’t have the time to train with a club and may dislike the sniffiness inherent in the ‘true road cycling culture’!
I look at sportives as the cycling equivalent of taking part in 10Ks or half or full marathons organised by charities or companies who make money out of getting the general public to tackle a run. Most of these runners don’t know about the athletic club scene; the small summer league races or the cross country races in the winter that take place between competing clubs. They just want to run a race as a personal challenge. This is the same with sportives. £150 is relatively expensive but when a football match ticket is around 50 quid doing something like this once a year doesn’t seem so pricey.
darrenleroy wrote:Maybe not
I don’t know any clubs like that. If anyone is talking up a ‘true road cycling culture’ it is new brands like Rapha with their slick marketing of expensive clothing and talk of “glory through suffering”.
But so what? There is bollocks spouted wherever there’s money to be made (and even when there isn’t). You don’t have to buy into it, cycling can be whatever you want it to be.
If people want to spend/donate £150 to do this event that’s fine with me. A charity benefits and they hopefully have fun and maybe achieve something they wouldn’t otherwise do. It’s not for me to decide whether it’s good value or not. If someone else prefers to do a £9 audax that’s great too. One is not better than the other.
@notfastenough – if you do it then it would be great if you could write about it on here afterwards. Go on, I dare ya 😉
If you do then I’ll donate £20. That’s a promise.
http://www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/page/get_involved/make_a_donation/index.cfm
Simon E wrote:
@notfastenough
Seconded, GPS trace of your route and there’s another £20 in the pot
As Simon says, Road.cc could post guest article from you 🙂
Dropped wrote:I’ll get chippy
Muppet. Away and polish your downshifters/sandals.
I think you’re being a bit
I think you’re being a bit mean for something which is raising awareness and money for a difficult condition affecting child and parent / carer. The Rapha website states that the £150 covers the event and any remaining cash goes to the charity plus entrants are encouraged to raise more themselves.
If doing a £10 Audax is your preference then I suggest you do that and donate the remaining £140 to the Autisim charity
I’m in a club and enjoy the
I’m in a club and enjoy the club runs, the camaraderie, the events, the tea and cake etc, but you know what? I might do this just to raise money for the charity, and piss off anyone who thinks I must be a clueless newbie.
Besides, being Rapha, you just know that all the little details will have been taken care of and the large fee won’t feel too bad to those who actually experience it. Much like the rest of their products.
Ah I read it – the £150
Ah I read it – the £150 doesn’t give any donation to the charity.
They’re asking for riders to fund raise £750.
It’s all in a good cause – but I struggle with asking people to sponsor me to have fun. Do fishermen or footy players do similar things ?
There’s clearly a market for these things – doesn’t mean it’s right or audax is wrong. Each to their own.
my girlfriend gave me some
my girlfriend gave me some Rapha shaving cream and post-shave balm for Christmas – the first Rapha items I’ve ever owned, as I’ve always found their stuff very expensive.
The shaving items certainly do the job, but I cannot see many riders I know ponying up £150 to ride from Manchester to London?
We awoke to thick mist, the
We awoke to thick mist, the Lowryesque redbrick terraces held still and quiet in a blanket fog.
Nothing beats the sensation of setting off into the unknown of East Manchester, luckily all the matchstick scallies and matchstick feral dogs hadn’t got up yet before we got the hell out of dodge on our expensive bikes.
As we left ‘The North’ sunlight began to crack through the perpetual tupperware sky that blankets the city and we made our way into the Peaks.
Soon a fierce sun heated the day, golden light flooding field and fell.
Haha, looks like this is
Haha, looks like this is gaining momentum already, thanks Simon E and kitkat!
I better discuss a pass out with the missus!
notfastenough wrote:Haha,
It’s for charidee mate! No need to ask 😉
Yep, what else could I mean?
Yep, what else could I mean? As in ‘Chip on your shoulder.’ Andyp, you might not have said much, but the reply from Dropped just shows the snotty attitude of some ‘real’ cyclists, who make it seem like ‘Real ale.’ If an event is not up your street, fine, but no need to look down your nose at it, it’s just as valid as whatever you get up to. Its pretty clear who is making the assumptions about this event, and they don’t like being called out on it.
I’m sure it will be good and
I’m sure it will be good and well organised too. I still wouldn’t pay £150 to ride it.
Thought I’d respond to this
Thought I’d respond to this as I rode this and was inspired to do so by all the negativity within this thread, amongst other things. I spent my £150, I paid for a hotel and I rode this. I raised over £3000 for charity and had a wonderful day on the bike. It was one of the best days out I’ve had and was ridiculously well organised and the feed stations were incredible. So a massive middle finger to all you miserable gits.
Back to the club runs now though.