RideLondon calling

This past weekend saw RideLondon fever hit the capital. We went along to Excel in London's Docklands to witness the masses as they signed on! It was great to see such a well organised event and more importantly just how popular cycling has become. We also couldn't resist the opportunity of a seat on Sir Bradley's throne!

With the allure of closed roads, riding last years Olympic Men's Road Race route, taking in both Leith and Box Hill and literally racing against the pros - how could the event not be a success! On the downside we were sorry to hear about Olympic gold medalist Joanna Rowsell crashing out of Saturdays Women's Grand Prix race, especially after meeting her on the Wiggle stand earlier on in the day - see for yourselves, visit the link!

http://blog.wiggle.com/2013/08/07/ride-london-2013-in-pictures-part-one-wiggle-honda-team-in-the-grand-prix/

Froome with a view

We've been out and about experiencing the Tour from various venues around London. This year's edition has been an amazing spectacle, captivating both cyclists and non-cyclists alike, so what better way than to share the experience en masse.

Having had our launch party at cycle café Look Mum No Hands, this venue proved to be the best all round for witnessing each stage as breaks and attacks happened. By the final day it felt like we had that 'Cheers' bar rapport going on plus we got some great cotton caps courtesy of Le Coq Sportif! Further along Old Street the tendrils of a giant green octopus entrapped in a building marking the entrance to the Whitecross Street Party formed a great landmark for those trying to find the venue.

A summer fete and the giant of Provence

It was an epic weekend with the Vulpine Cycling Fete coinciding with stage 15 of the Tour visiting Mont Ventoux. Like Chris Froome we'd prepared for this day and were ready to face anything. The heat was our main concern as the temperature increased throughout the day but like all the major Tour contenders we survived intact!

It was great to see so many people, both adults and children, enjoying the day and our 'Lucky 50' target game, Cycle Show's Matt Stephens being one of the best at it! We also held a prize raffle draw for one of our Tour t-shirts plus an Ambassador musette. 'Lucky' #28 was the winner with father and son sharing the prize.

Week One of the Tour

With not only the arrival of issue two of our magazine but also the launch of our Tour t-shirts, keeping up with the Tour itself has been a struggle. It's amazing, even with the multiple formats available to view the race, it's still difficult to watch each stage. On Tuesday we found ourselves on a train to East Anglia following the race via the Twitter feed. The way in which the information was being relayed felt like we were listening to reports coming back from a far-off war.

Maybe it is in that respect, each stage being an individual battle in the overall campaign for victory. We're backing Mark Cavendish for the Green points jersey and so are you judging by the sales of our Maillot Vert t-shirts. We're looking forward to seeing the big name GC contenders coming into play more as the race heads into the mountains in the days ahead.

Blasting the past

Sometimes your view of the past can be greatly distorted, most of the time you only remember the good things and ignore the rest. At the weekend we rode in the 'La Retro 1903' historic bike ride organised by Anjou Velo Vintage. Starting from Angers via Brissac to Saumur covering a distance of 82 km. The route was created to celebrate the 100th edition of the Tour de France.

The ride was graced with the presence of several tour legends, notably Raymond Poulidor, Jean-Marie Leblanc, both pictured, Bernard Thévenet and Joop Zoetemelk. Part of the condition of the ride was that cycles only up to 1987 could be used; strictly no cleats or brake lever style gear shifters were allowed. We were supplied a bike for the ride from a pool of vintage cycles. It was a total lottery but in true Simpson style we landed a late 70's Peugeot, which turned out to be a gem of a bike. However good the bike, the use of down tube mounted gear shifters brought back many memories but did make you realise just how far bike technology has progressed.