Ride Velo has never been to Romford before and, an hour into the journey, we were seriously considering why we were enduring the traffic jams to get across London to a place that we’ve successfully managed to avoid for several decades without worrying about it. If we’d known what an Aladdin’s cave we were about to enter we would never have questioned the sanity of spending a beautiful spring Sunday afternoon stuck in the car negotiating the dubious driving skills of the inhabitants of Essex, rather than enjoying the country lanes of the Kent Alps on a road bike.
Read MoreThe All New R.E.W. Reynolds
Many of us who get into cycling immediately start chasing down the lightest carbon fibre bikes, and snap up replica apparel as worn by our pro cycling heroes. After we’ve been riding for a little while, however, we look back at the history and heritage of cycling, learning about the great riders as they tackle the most iconic climbs. Images of pain, heroism and grit etched on the faces of the true stars of the sport, such as Hinault, Simpson and Coppi put the likes of Contador and Froome in the shade. And the clothing… well you only have to look at the shocking new Tinkoff-Saxo kit to know that the teams of the 60s, 70s and 80s just oozed style and sophistication compared with their modern equivalents.
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