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.

Simpson goes 3D

When Simpson was invited to participate in this year's Bastille Day Vulpine Cycling Fete, we didn't foresee the amount of preparation it would entail. Hats off to the hardened annual village fete stall holders as it's an art in it's own right. We commissioned our creative department with the task of coming up a with concept for our stand. It had to be transportable, easy to assemble, practical and look good. Obviously we can't reveal too much about the end result, you'll have to come along to the Fete and witness it for yourself but let's just say we're very excited by it!

The event takes place this Sunday 14th July at The Lion in Teddington, and runs from 12-6pm with big screen coverage of the Tour as well. It's also a special day for us as Stage 15 of this 100th edition Tour revisits Mont Ventoux, we remember the anniversary of Tom Simpson's passing some forty six years ago. Why not come along and say hello, it should be a great day!

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.