https://www.vulpine.cc/en-us/blogs/archive.atomVulpine - Archive2022-11-23T17:47:46+00:00Vulpinehttps://www.vulpine.cc/en-us/blogs/archive/choosing-the-best-possible-rain-fabric2022-11-23T17:47:46+00:002023-10-04T12:19:02+01:00CHOOSING THE BEST POSSIBLE RAIN FABRICJack Kelly
Originally posted on 29th August 2013 by Nick Hussey
When I began creating Vulpine I started looking for the BEST fabric for a rain jacket. Each manufacturer has an individual definition for ‘best’ performance. My best fabric would create the most comfortable stylish jacket in adverse conditions. It had to work, and last. Quality and performance.
When I began creating Vulpine I started looking for the BEST fabric for a rain jacket. Each manufacturer has an individual definition for 'best' performance. My best fabric would create the most comfortable stylish jacket in adverse conditions. It had to work, and last. Quality and performance
Most comfortable does not mean the most waterproof. No matter what the marketing tells you, here's an industry secret (and I've no agenda here, because I could have chosen whatever fabric I wanted): There is NO ideal fabric that can be both perfectly waterproof and breathable. Its a two way system. You have a sliding scale between point A, where no rain gets in, and point Z, where no sweat builds up inside. Higher quality fabrics improve the compromise considerably, but lets be clear, its a compromise. The Perfect Waterproof and Breathable Fabric is a marketing lie.
Ever noticed how you buy a really expensive waterproof garment and you still get wet? Its not because its rubbish at stopping water get in, its because you're sweating so damned much it has nowhere to go. So you get wet from your own perspiration. Then bacteria break the sweat down and you stink. Yack. ….Not with Epic Cotton.
Why Epic, and what is it?
Epic is a process of applying a technologically advanced silicon treatment developed over years and many millions of dollars. The yarn is extruded through the Epic treatment, leaving a microscopic layer of silicon on each thread. It is then woven and retreated. The fabric is then tested many times before it leaves the factory. It takes months to even make the fabric, let alone a garment. That's why our Epic garments have taken so long to restock.
This process is completely different from a 'DWR', where an entire fabric or garment is dipped into a coating. This is a common, cheaper way of proofing garments, but it rubs or washes off. Epic does not. It lasts the lifetime of the garment, or specifically 200+ washes. The Epic treatment is part of the (excuse the pun) very fabric of the garment, rather than an outer layer, so it stays.
Epic can call itself "waterproof' (actually a legal definition), but because we don't tape the seams of garments with plastic (reduces breathability) we cannot, so ours are 'showerproof' or 'water-resistant', which in our case means "really well proofed against water and wonderfully breathable, but there's not enough space or time to go into this much detail".
Any owner of a Vulpine Original Rain Jacket or Harrington Rain Jacket will tell you of the pleasure of seeing water droplets sit on Epic Cotton before reaching a large enough size to fall or slide off. You can go out in a storm and simply shake the jacket off before entering a building. It'll look almost unworn.
The jackets have received incredible reviews in our first year:
"The details are impressive and it is my current favourite" – Editor's Choice, The Independent Newspaper's Best Summer Sports Gear (and only cycling garment chosen).
Top 20 stylish accessories for Winter – The Guardian, Weekend supplement.
"The Cotton Rain Jacket bristles with practical cycling ideas. All of which are very Impressive." – Tim Dawson, The Sunday Times.
The Vulpine Rain Jacket has to be one of the finest garments on the market – Brian Palmer, The Washing Machine Post.
"Made with rainproof cotton, the Vulpine Harrington rain jacket would be an ideal addition to any cyclists' wardrobe as it is ideal for commuting or going down the local. Features such as reflective cuffs and its magnetic buttons make Vulpine's latest creation a definite winner on a garment that looks as smart off the bike as on it. – John MacLeary, The Telegraph
The reception has been so wonderful we decided to make shorts and trousers from Epic too. It's stretchy but hold its shape and is tough, so its ideal for high movement and stress areas like knees and legs. Plus you can ride through a puddle, get covered in muddy water, and simply shake it off your legs or bum.
Its also not frightened of scrapes and brambles, so its a fantastic MTB and touring fabric. Epic is not flimsy. Think more comfortable than jeans, but as tough, if not tougher.
To tell you the truth, I'm really not a fan of that name…EPIC. Its a bit SHOUTY MARKETING. But its a trademark and it's awesome stuff, so heh.
The only other pitfall with Epic is you have to wash with a bit of care, but nothing out of the ordinary. Wash cool, without conditioner. Conditioner binds with the fabric, nullifying the Epic treatment. Luckily all you have to do if this happens is rinse it throughly and preferably tumble dry and its good as new.
But DO wash it regularly. Sweat and dirt will stop the Epic working. You might not notice because its very hard to make Epic smell. But bacteria will eat at all that dirt, like any jacket. You don't need to be afraid of washing Epic fairly regularly, in fact we positively encourage it for best performance.
The other great advantage of Epic is that its cotton. Cotton for a performance garment?? Firstly, it looks great. Its not crinkly, there's no static buzz and funny looks as you walk into the boozer. It cuts great for tailoring and gives a crisp, smart but casually stylish look. It will age like most cotton garments, losing a little colour as it is washed, so it looks great as it gets older and more used.
Epic Cotton is woven, its not a plastic sheet, so it naturally has tiny holes in it. So as you move the warm, moist, or rather sweaty air is pumped out through the fabric and out into the big wide world. So you stay comfortable and odour free. Luckily the way Epic works means that water tension on the fabric surface means that water doesn't enter. So it really is a great two-way barrier, letting warm moist air out and stopping cool wetness getting in.
And its windproof. Stainproof (yep, that includes chain oil). Anti-bacterial. ECO-safe (cotton is natural and will eventually biodegrade and silicon is inert). Quick drying.
All this adds up to our decision to use Epic Cotton. The best possible comfort in rain. The greatest style in its field. We could choose anything. You get the culmination of all that research. Check out the amazing reviews and enjoy. We're really proud of these garments. We literally can't make them fast enough.
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https://www.vulpine.cc/en-us/blogs/archive/why-vulpine-make-the-best-merino-wool-cycling-clothing2022-11-23T17:45:28+00:002023-10-04T12:16:23+01:00Why Vulpine Make The Best Merino Wool Cycling ClothingJack Kelly
Originally posted on 26th August 2016
There’s a lot of it about you know? Merino wool. A LOT.
10 years ago it was pretty specialist outdoors stuff. Now, everyone is at it. But, just as A Bike isn’t automatically a A Great Bike, or A Cake isn’t necessary A Tasty Cake, A Merino Top isn’t always going to be A Great Merino Top.
It’s all about the ingredients, and how you mix them. Our ingredients are better, and with our outstanding, freakish, nerdy, obsessive attention to detail, the cake (wooly cake??) we bake means we makeThe Best Merino Garments.I don’t just say that because I’m biased, or full of the marketing BS we’re all attuned to. I say it because I checked it, researched it, tested it, asked around, and, with our new range, we’re proving it.
“Go on then. Prove it.”
Lets just start with a Merino Wool 101. This is why we use it so much at Vulpine:
It’s odourless because its naturally anti-bacterial. Like really. Try making it smell. Days. Weeks. The salt that builds up will make it stiff, but it won’t smell. That means you can go to your big business meeting relaxed, not paranoid.
It’s comfortable when wet. Sweat, rain, hose attack. Merino wool is hydrophilic on the inside, so it drags water off your skin, making you more comfortable, even when you’re soaked through.
It’s as soft as a baby rabbit’s bottom. Or, indeed, a baby merino sheep’s bottom. (Rabbits are more appealing). And as the grade of wool increases, it gets even softer…We’ll come to our grade later.
Merino wool cools you in the heat. We sweat to lose heat, and merino is extremely efficient at pulling hot sweat off your skin. So you cool faster.
Conversely, merino wool keeps you warmer. Heh, its wool after all! The fibres trap warm air, and merino takes water off you when its cold, yep, even when wet. Merino is a great survival fabric.
It’s stretchy. So its great for movement…Like cycling, where the position is very different on the bike, to off it.
It’s stain resistant. Though drinking red wine on your commute isn’t recommended…
Machine washable. High grade merino doesn’t shrink. Just avoid heat.
PURE Unlike many brands, our merino tops are pure 100% merino wool. Not blends. That means more of the above. Synthetics are much much cheaper than merino wool, with good reason. Those hardy Merino sheep don’t produce great wool just anywhere. It’s the harsh, high, grim conditions that their coats excel in to keep them warm, cool or dry, which makes it so expensive to farm.
EXTRAFINE The thinner the merino wool strands, the softer the garment. We use world leaders Merino State, and their extrafine merino wool, which is so soft you’ll smile (this actually happens with testers), tougher, and even hangs more flatteringly. That stuff is at a premium, so it’s not cheap, but the difference is clear, even just from holding it. We’ve upgraded this year, and the difference is world beating.
DETAIL That fabled attention to detail is then applied to the raw fabric. It’s all very well having lovely fabric, but the fit and features need to be nailed too.
No Scratchy Labels.Why is it garments are ruined by a cheap viscose label sewn next to the skin? We print all the info on the inside. So simple and obvious, why don’t other brands do it? Cost.
Flatlock Stitching.Rather than have seams that rub and chafe, we sew them flat, so they’re not irritating you. That’s why even ultra distance runners choose our T-Shirts.
Cut. Each top is cut for comfort on and off the bike. We invested thousands of hours on fit. We spend a lot of time on the shoulders and arms, so they don’t rise annoyingly when you’re on the bars. The back is longer, so there’s no unwanted ‘exposure’. The fit is athletic, but not tight, so it’s flattering.
Quality. It doesn’t stop with the fabric. We use brand names like YKK zips and Scotchlite reflectivity. The factories we use are high end, with specific merino wool experience.
Those Pleasing Little Details. Those extras that we deliver, like V-stitched buttons made from natural Corozo nuts on ourPolos. Or reflectivity that’s subtle, but is placed for maximum real-world effectiveness, on ourAlpines. We think about every single facet.
If you find a better pure merino garment on the market than ourExtrafine Merino range,contact us, we need to know, because we didn’t think you could. Seriously. There’s a reward.
I’m obviously incredibly proud of what we’ve created. I hope you enjoy wearing them as much as we have in years of testing, and for years to come. Extrafine is a fantastic investment.
It’s simple. Our Extrafine Merino Wool is machine washable. You can hand wash it, but it’s fine chucked in the washing machine, as long as…
No heat, keep it cool.
No conditioner (the enemy of all performance fabrics). But, if you rinse it out, you should be fine.
No biological powder or liquid. This trips the essential oils.
Dry flat (I use a clothes horse).
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https://www.vulpine.cc/en-us/blogs/archive/a-fond-farewell-to-a-unique-colnago2022-11-23T17:37:29+00:002023-10-04T12:12:37+01:00A FOND FAREWELL TO A UNIQUE COLNAGOJack Kelly
Originally posted on 23rd January 2012 by Nick Hussey
It was supposed to be forever. A bike I would have throughout my life. The components might be replaced, but the steel heart would remain.
It was supposed to be forever.
A bike I would have throughout my life. The components might be replaced, but the steel heart would remain. Something I had always wanted, that had my own story and I could be proud of.
2 years ago I had an amazing opportunity. Through my cycling friend Chris Haworth, we were working with Ernesto Colnago, the Greatest Ever Italian Framebuilder to create unique bikes forThe Fireflies, a super tough but friendly charity ride through The Alps, in aid ofLeuka. It was a genuine dream come true. To be involved with my childhood heroes, and help create the very frame I had lusted after as a teenager, plus raise money for a fantastic charity.
The Colnago Master was THE steel racing frame of the 70s and 80s. Its what pros rode on before the advent of quality aluminium, titanium and of course carbon. But I could never afford one. Here was my chance to make good on a dream, but actually with Colnago!!
This was and is a unique project for Colnago, creating frames designed specifically to help raise money for a charity and charity cyclists. We were getting top-end EPS Carbon and Master-X Steel frames made. I went for the Master. Much prettier, with its chrome lug work, classic looks and slim silhouette.
The project got a fair bit of presss attention. Here’s some stuff with nice photography, especially of the EPS. You’ll be able to spot my grinning face holding up Chris’ EPS if you’re inclined!:
The frames arrived (after much archetypal Italian delay!) in late May, just a week or two before the ride. A ride organiser had connections with Rapha and they gladly gave us space to hand them out, built up with Campagnolo groupsets, from their pop up cafe in Central London. There were about 15 EPS and 15 Masters, all handbuilt in Italy to each rider’s exact measurements.
For Those Who Suffer We Ride – Motto of The Fireflies
It was a massive day for me. A frame built exactly to my specifications, unique in the world. And here I was handing them out to other grinning faces. Chris had come from his home in the Alps to be there. He’d been the lucky bleeder who’d been travelling to the Colnago factory to see work in progress.
I built my bike from scratch. I’ve always loved building bikes, choosing each and every component myself, deliberating over it in the months before. I loved the curl of fresh paint popping out of the rear-mech hangar as I screwed out the specially designed nut, to give a clean thread. I loved tighten up the Record cranks and starring at them gleaming on an otherwise bare frame….I made sure I was alone that morning, savouring every component as I tightened each piece of metal and carbon onto my dream bike.
This is no lightweight by contemporary standards. For a high-end bike, it is heavy. But it is super-light by steel standards. So I expected a comfortable but sluggish ride.
The first trip out was a genuine revelation. The acceleration was the real eye-opener! This bike is spritely. It kicks if you kick and corners with utter confidence. Colnago are famous for their superb geometries and awesome handling. Now I got it.
That acceleration was coming from a great tubeset and frame building technique. The tubes are uniquely crimped to add stiffness. I admit to thinking this was just cosmetic, but I could feel it. What a bike! I was in love.
But this was never going to be my Forever Bike. When I sent my measurements sheet off to Colnago I was sending them as a chap with back problems that I thought were solved. When the frame arrived I was receiving it as a man with permanent spine problems and degrading disks. I couldn’t get it to fit.
My clubmates teased me for my maximum stack height on the fork, and up-turned stem. It ruined the sleek racing lines of the bike.
I’ve ridden this baby 5 times, for about 200 miles in total. Every time was bliss. I even managed to ride 95 miles in a hilly sportive. It was a last hurrah and the bike was joyful. I threw it round corners, my favourite pastime. Bliss.
For the last year or so I’ve just been looking at it and hoping I could get to a state where I’d be back on it. But I’ve got worse and the saddle/bar drop is a no-go.
Friends have said I should keep it. I helped create it. But I believe bikes are meant to be ridden, not hung on walls. And more to the point, if I sell this, I can get something else that’s beautiful, that fits me and actually RIDE it!! So off it goes.
If you love someone, set them free…Nothing like a bit of Sting to polish off a blog. Yuck.
Full build:
Frame: Custom Fireflies Master-X. 54cm seat tube, 55cm top tube. Fork: Steel chromed Colnago Master. Headset: Campagnolo Record 1". Head spacers: 4cm stack. Stem: Deda, 11cm. Bars: FSA Wing Pro 42cm. Seatpost: Campagnolo Chorus Carbon 27.2mm. Saddle: Selle San Marco SKN. Chainset: Campagnolo Record 53/39, 172.5mm. (In my opinion the most gorgeous cranks available). Bottom bracket: Campagnolo Chorus Italian thread 102mm. Rear mech: Campagnolo Chorus long cage. Front mech: Campagnolo Centaur. Cassette: Campagnolo Centaur 13-29. Chain: Campagnolo Record. Shifters: Campagnolo Centaur. Brake calipers: Campagnolo Centaur. Wheels: Campagnolo Zonda clincher. Quick release: Campagnolo classic chrome, not nasty black ones. Tyres: Continental GP4000S Tubes: Continental. Bottle cages: Elite Ciussi Inox. Cables: Campagnolo. Pedals: Time RXS Carbon.
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https://www.vulpine.cc/en-us/blogs/archive/build-your-own-cycling-company2022-11-23T17:27:52+00:002023-10-04T12:03:10+01:00BUILD YOUR OWN CYCLING COMPANYJack Kelly
Originally posted on 28th March 2014 by Nick Hussey
I have learnt that starting a successful* cycling company from scratch fascinates many of the people I meet. I think they were once like me, longing to make that leap. It is not easy. Here’s some babblings to explain what it feels like, and what I’ve learnt.
The office motto
I have learnt that starting a successful* company from scratch fascinates many of the people I meet. I think they were once like me, longing to make that leap. It is not easy. Here’s some babblings to explain what it feels like, and what I’ve learnt.
*Well, I’m told we’re the name on everyone’s lips, but we’re still tiddlers.
I longed to do what I was most passionate about for most of my adult life. I had always wanted to do my own thing since I was a kid. I lacked the idea, the maturity, experience, support and probably the fear of regret. Until 4 years ago.
Maybe you want to start your own business, teetering on the edge of a terrifying leap. Or maybe you wonder what the hell goes on in the background. I’m going to try and tell you what its like. Its a bit weird. I’m still not entirely sure why.
The first and foremost two words that describe my experience are these:
Fun
Exhaustion
I have never ever been so tired in my life. I tell myself (and my long suffering wife Emmalou) it’ll get better soon. It can’t possibly get harder. And it does. You find new resources to cope, new depths of fatigue to ignore, new and inventive ways to inject espresso into your eye sockets.
Actually, one thing I learnt was to stop drinking coffee. I’m far more awake for it. Its the spike/dip thing. The dips are bad, Adrenaline is way better for you. Probably.
Its huge fun because you get to do, to an extent, what you want. I had to raise investment so I have shareholders, so no, I don’t do exactly what I want, but almost entirely! They trust me, and if its a good decision and makes sense, I do it.
Its also fun to be cheeky. We very nearly won Best Brand in our first year. All good clean fun.
And that’s what is REALLY good fun, for me at least. I see the fruits of my labours. If I had done nothing, Vulpine would not exist. If I had not stayed up all night that night, we’d have missed our production slot and we may have gone bust in those early days. If I hadn’t direct messaged Jools 2 years ago instead of watching TV, she wouldn’t be driving the company forwards. Etc. etc. That is addictive. There is almost no waste. You have a thought, we discuss it, we decide to do it. We do it. That is addictive. And to me, decisions, or cause and effect, is fun.
Fun & exhaustion = running your own business
An early design for the Vulpine Softshell. It hasn't changed much, except in the right places.
What are the worst moments?
Having to do an extremely detailed spreadsheet explaining the colour and size of every trim, button, fabric, size breakdown etc of our Spring Summer 2013 order, at 5am, with no sleep for 2 days, the night my son Millar came home from hospital, because I was indeed about to lose a production slot the next day if not completed. That was the hardest thing I have ever done. I believe I cried, unable to see the numbers through a fog of emotion, frustration and extreme tiredness. *violins*
When our production was delayed and we lost a huge (huge) sum of money because we had nothing to sell. That was scary. Staring down the barrel of a gun. Where your company may close because of something you can’t control.
Not seeing my son grow up (though that’s changing, and heh, its my fault).
Messing up a customer’s order. Any customer. They're rare but they stay with me. No jokes.
The launch day, about 9pm on 13th March 2012, when our new marketing email system looped and sent an average of 148 emails to EACH our new customers, just as I crawled out the office after a huge day. I was mortified. But the only thing to do was to sit there and email every single customer a personal apology. But there’s still the one chap who called up the office to shout at us. I never got to say sorry to him, because I had to unsubscribe him. You can’t keep unsubscriber info! Gutted.
Unsubscribers! Rare but each one makes me wince. What are we doing wrong? What can we do better? Arrgggh.
No stock. Kind of a cool problem to have, but it has to be sorted before you become frustrated. We’ve spent a lot of time on that these last few months.
Never having time to cycle, apart from the commute. The great irony of a cycling entrepreneur.
The best?
The lovely tweets and emails from customers. The unsolicited compliments. My god, we’re maybe actually doing this ok, aren’t we?!
Calling people up telling them they’ve got the job. (Of course telling unsuccessful candidates they haven’t is not nice).
Belly laughs in the office.
Our first office was on a farm near Box Hill, on the Olympic Road Race route. We've moved four times as we've grown. Hello piglets.
When a finished product lands on your desk.
Working in cycling.
A big piece of press. Like this one, in the Guardian, a total overnight gamechanger for us! Levis vs Vulpine.
Any great review.
Getting to fund a racing team. In the Tour of Britain!! A dream come true.
A customer who corners you (well, not corner…you know what I mean…) on the bike, or at an event, and tells you how much they love their garment.
Or even better, a stranger who comes up to you and says how great their top is and don’t you just love your jacket and those nice Vulpine guys?! And then you say that its your company. He he.
Being able to say what I believe in, without running it past anyone, or fearing repercussions. Honesty is so underrated as a way to live and sell. And there are so few opportunities in corporate/business life.
The moments that stand out so far, in order
Giving my notice at my old workplace in December 2009, with the butterflies in the stomach of the unknown.
Getting a companion for the journey. Lily the dog.
I'll have that one please Mrs Dog Breeder
Pulling out of Dragon’s Den just before the shoot (phew).
The really early days. My wife took a picture of me in the first Softshell Jacket sample. I'm wearing pink shorts. The sample was good.
Turning down a huge offer from a multi-national sportswear company before we launched. (I didn’t leave a corporate environment to go straight back into one).
Our logo, created by Us Design in Autumn 2011.
When the first delivery of Softshell Jackets arrived, ripping open a packet and inspecting a garment, thinking, my god, this is actually happening.
The fear before launch. That maybe I had created something stupid that nobody would care about. Self doubt that became paralysing fear of failure. I had to push through it. I’m not all confidence (honest).
Launch day. Obviously!!
That Levis vs Vulpine article (again). To be the most read article on the Guardian that day. I really did punch the air with delight.
My trip to the Tour of Flanders to meet some journos. Cobbles and pro cycling. My favourites.
Cobbles. Pippo. Hello Pippo.
The first Vulpine Cycling Fete. Putting so much into that on my own, worrying if anyone would turn up, and people pouring in as the doors opened. Wonderful. And then all the nice things that were said, thinking maybe I’d done something ‘good’ for cycling, not just a business concept.
Ricky Feather delivered my bike the morning of the first fete. Big big day. BIG day.
Taking on my first employee in November 2012, Jools.
Jools modelled for us before working here. This is the first shot we took on the first shoot day in February 2012.
Seeing Chris Hoy and pro cyclists wearing our gear.
Marveling at the press behind the Oliver Spencer collaboration blazer. Blimey, we have come a long way!
Ok, fine, its becoming a bit of a back-slap-a-thon. Vulpine is going great guns. We run out of stock faster than we can keep up and we’re growing so fast I feel like I’m on the outside looking in. It doesn’t feel real. But we’re only 2 years old. We’re still tiny. I can assume nothing. There are things in the pipeline that I can hardly believe are happening. Stuff that will change how you perceive us and may change my life. I know I’m a tease, but you’ll know soon. But I/we mustn’t be presumptuous. Early days, all that.
The night at the Victoria & Albert Museum was really special. It was also our first night away from our new baby, Millar!
Here’s a few things I’ve learnt
Racing bikes and riding distance taught me that we always have depths of reserves we didn’t know existed. Starting a company is hard as hell. There are no breaks. It gets harder. That vision I had 4 years ago about choosing my own hours and riding on weekdays is total b*llocks. My hours are the waking ones. My rides are short and sweet. Family is the most precious of all. Its a sacrifice I've chosen to make. Tough.
I can’t complain. I chose to be here. This is my path. I do winge about my fatigue. But I have no right to to. None. This is luxury. I am always grateful….I still moan though.
If I think about how much there is to achieve, I choke and stall. Just put one foot in front of the other.
I can only be good at a few things. Listen to everyone.
Ignore advice liberally. If I’d listened to the advice I was given I’d ever have started Vulpine, because everyone said it wasn’t possible. Listen to and respect everyone. But everyone sees the world from their eyes, their perspective. Which is often wrong. So do have faith in yourself…but not blind faith.
Entrepreneurs must be arrogant but also self doubting. Arrogance to push through the barriers, but doubt as a control to temper that bullishness. Its a hard balancing act to get right. I may not be balancing.
There are a lot of lovely people, often strangers, desperate to see you succeed. And a lot of very negative voices. The more negative they become, the better you’re doing. Unless you go bust, in which case I’m talking sh*te.
Successful companies actually run out of cash fast, because you’ll have to load up on stock/staff, etc. You’ll need investment. Learn about it. Nobody ever taught me anything about investment. Its not nearly as scary as it sounds, and its essential to grow.
Don’t just make ‘stuff’. Have morals and beliefs. Stand for something. People want to get behind something real. Do that and the best staff will come to you and they’ll be fantastic hard working allies and friends. We don’t just work for money, we want to work for something we believe in.
Don’t try and take the product photography yourself!! Ha ha. Oops.
Three months in, we did this. Good for the soul. Good to meet you.
I could talk for days about what I’ve f***ed up, got right and remember dearly. As I set up the next ramps in growth, staffing and projects I become philosophical.
I’m not saying we’re the best, and we’re definitely not the biggest. But starting your own company is an extraordinary, terrifying, satisfying and grim process. If there’s a little I can do to shed light on the process and give you a shove in the right direction, then I hoped this helped.
Fellow entrepreneurs will happily help out others. We know how hard it is.
We want you to do it too, because we love it so much.
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https://www.vulpine.cc/en-us/blogs/archive/what-vulpine-believes-in-how-we-can-change-cycling2022-11-23T17:25:24+00:002023-10-04T12:04:20+01:00What Vulpine Believes In & How We Can Change CyclingJack Kelly
Originally posted on 27th January 2017 by Nick Hussey
Cycling is my life. Has been since 1986. Its never been better. But there’s so much more to do. I don’t just want to make things, I want to make cycling better. Therefore, that’s what Vulpine needs to do. Join me (said in a creepy cult leader way).
BEFORE
Back in 1986, bikes were for either paper rounds or racing cycling. It was just for kids and, apparently, Tour de France riders (strangers I met thought I did the Tour, and genuinely wondered why we weren’t all in France in July.) Cycling was a downgrade, the sad option for those that couldn’t drive. It wasn’t cool or beneficial. Health discussion was centered around AIDS and smoking then, not sedentary lifestyle and diet.
Cycling was going nowhere slowly, alone, unloved, except for The Hardcore.
It took me a long time to crack into that clique. Once in, there were no women. None. It was a harsh world of impenetrable unwritten rules, masochistic rites of passage, and a wash of suspicion and snobbery created because we were so alone in our passion. It could have quickly pushed me out and away into something else if I wasn’t head over heels in love.
It was at once wonderful but also bit pants. I expected it always to be like that.
NOW
Now? It’s, you know, everywhere. It still shocks me. I hardly need to go on. Everyone knows about Team GB, Team Sky, Hoy, Wiggo, Cav & The Trott-Kennys, Boris Bikes and the Ride 100. But also cyclist menace clickbait articles, MAMIL mid-life crisis pisstakes, red light jumping Daily Mail comment rants and GoPro crash footage (from both ‘sides’). It also seems rather agro. All this stuff sells clicks. What a sad world.
Who’s on these ‘Sides’? There are no sides, just occasional dicks who shout loudly for all the attention. Most of us are drivers, cyclists, lefties, righties, rich, poor and everything in-between. And we like each other in real life. Not very clickbait…
Cycling looks unpopular, unsafe and inconvenient. It looks like you have to take a leap into the unknown. That is a tragedy in my eyes. The lost happiness, the worsened health. Yet we know different.
Once you try, you’re hooked. The world needs more addicts.
It becomes an all encompassing passion started by a Ride 100, a LEJOG, finally saying enough is enough to a packed misery Tube, or the gentle persuasion of a bike mad partner to ride along a towpath on a sunny Sunday morning. You and I know cycling is wonderful. It saves lives, changes lives, creates new friends, even creates creative ideas and is THE BEST THING EVER (after love & cake).
Cycling has an image problem on The Outside, but its changing. I think we as Vulpine can help a bit, as can we all.
There’s this general idea accepted by the public that it’s healthy and fun, but often too unattractive, inconvenient and intimidating to take up. Everyone loved learning to ride a bike as a kid. Something is going wrong.
Lets change that, positively. Nobody ever changed their mind whilst being shouted at. That’s not how we’ll do it.
I think its my duty, as well as my desire, to help more potential cyclists start riding bikes. Who doesn’t want to share their passion?
Stuff Vulpine Believes In:
Every new cyclist is a good cyclist.
The snobs and old school moaners “Cycling was better when the 5 of us had it to ourselves” can get stuffed. There’s too much judgementalism in cycling. Too many cliques.
Not interested. Talk to my happily waving hand.
Whatever bike you ride, however fast, whomever you are, as long as you don’t ruin it for the rest of us, you’re welcome.
Show The Joy
Joy is literally my favourite word. It’s a hugely powerful, addictive, pure concept. It doesn’t sit on the fence, you can’t ignore it, and you can’t hate it.
So lets share joy. More smiles. More fellow cyclist selfies. More saying hello to passing strangers. More wooping wailing descents and excited blogs. More over-gesticulation evangelization to strangers at parties.
More joy. Get the joy out, we’re going joying.
I can give the joy factor a good solid nudge with Vulpine. We can reach thousands of cyclists and non cyclists with joy. I’m trying to do that right now with this blog (hello you!). Vulpine can help through our imagery, messages, the choices we make and the opinions we choose to share, not sit on the fence on. Vulpine should call out the dicks (a bit), and big up the heroes. But mostly, you know…..
Joy.
By not-at-all-coincidence, I gave my staff this last week. I guess you could call it a mission statement (blarg):
“Vulpine must lead A New Cycling. Vibrant, convenient, friendly, welcoming, inclusive & creative. With positivity, we will push beyond old cycling pre-conceptions and cliches to get more people cycling. More cycling = greater health & happiness for us all. We don’t just, and shouldn’t just make stuff.”
Inclusivity & Snobbery
Inclusivity in everything, because ALL cycling and ALL cyclists are great and should be supported.
The mountain goat roadie sufferwhippet. The £5 off Gumtree first few rides wobbler. The under (un)paid pro cyclist super-blogger woman. The disabled hand cycling City commuter. The downhill ripping fist-bumping panda-suit wearing ramp-smashing lunatic. The newbie. The old timer. Everyone. Me (even me).
We don’t care what clothes you wear, we won’t look down on you. We make cycling apparel that you can choose, or not. I’m not saying you’re a better or worse person for wearing it or not, you’ll just have a better, simpler, more convenient and confident day. Choice.
Women Are Ace (haven’t you heard?)
I wrote this on our Facebook the other day. I was angry.
“Until random chesty brand ads aren’t printed. Until there’s a full women’s TDF. Until companies design for women. Until female racers get equal distances. Until women walking into bike shops aren’t patronised. Until podium girls are history. Until then.”
Vulpine devotes equal time to women and men, because that is the world we live in! Why wouldn’t that be the case? Its so simple and obvious. I employ more women than men, because it ended up that way. I took on the best candidates. It’s hard to employ only men in cycling. How does this happen?
Vulpine gets a fair bit of attention, we can show that the New Cycling includes women in everything we do. The hardest step is getting everyone to understand it’s not just some righteous battle, it’s just screamingly obvious. Not obvious enough….
Not Everyone Can Just Hop On A Bike
We don’t hear about about disability and cycling much. Everyone possible should be able to experience the joy of cycling. Freedom, mental and physical health, sociability. That’s why our charity of choice is Wheels For Wellbeing.
It’s Easier Than They Say
Cycling can be intimidating. What bike? What clothes? I’m sweating too much. I look like a twonk. How does that work? I have to spend how much?!
Despite running a high-end cycling apparel company, I’m here to say YOU DON’T NEED A SPECIAL BIKE OR SPECIAL CLOTHES TO RIDE. You just need a bike that works and whatever you have on. Vulpine are for the next stage, when comfort, convenience and style become priorities over the initial stage of What The Hell Am I Doing?! And don’t worry, we all did that in the beginning. We can give you advice. We’ve all been there. Justtweet, contact oremail us. Seriously, why not? We want to help and share our experience, not just sell stuff. More joy in what we do.
Attractiveness
Its an anodyne word, but one with deliberately width of meaning. Cycling is at once ultra cool and intensely naff. It needs to be normalised and attractive (I.E. you want, NEED to ride!) to all.
Cycling to me is vibrant, creative, fashionable, sociable, tough, relaxed, multi faceted, pretty much whatever you want it to be, but absolutely always worthwhile.
If I can make cycling more attractive, then more people will feel they can take the leap and begin, or continue cycling.
If events like the Vulpine Cycling Fetes (back soon) get across the vibrant creativity and diversity of cycling, perhaps that will do the same.
Cycling is something that grabs you by the soul and sucks you deeper. We need to get rid of the barriers and the elements that make people hesitate. We can help cyclists fall deeper in love, through creativity and culture. Call it indoctrination. I do.
Fear, Safety & Helmets
Cycling is safe. Fact. Don’t let Them tell you otherwise. Its simple, and it’ll change your life for the better. They don’t want that. Don’t listen to Them.
A major part of that is I want to remove The Helmet Debate from cycling. Not helmets, I wear one myself, but the distraction of the shouting about them. It’s a red herring and makes the cycling community look divided. I wrotethis piece for The Guardian last year. I can summarise it like this:
Cycling saves and improves thousands of lives. Helmets stop people cycling because a lot of people don’t like helmets. Helmets are good, but you don’t have to wear one, because cycling is statistically really safe. Do what you like, its your choice, but its a disservice to cycling to shout at each other about it. Lets be friends, we all love cycling after all.
Don’t Ruin It For The Rest Of Us
I believe in collective responsibility (boo, hiss). Each human’s acts create ripples, positive or negative. All our actions matter.
You jump a red light? You’re part of the problem. You are damaging cycling and cyclists. If a driver sees 1 cyclist jump a red light, and 100 that don’t, he’ll remember the 1. Human nature. Don’t be the 1. We don’t like you, the drivers definitely don’t like you. Don’t make life harder for others, for your convenience.
Drop a gel wrapper out in the country lanes? You are the problem. Look after others, who will in turn look after you, and we’ll all benefit. I mean, come on, its not that difficult. Its common f’ing decency.
Oops, contradicted myself on the joy vs shouty thing. I didn’t say it was easy!
Summary:
EVERY CYCLIST IS A GOOD CYCLIST
SHOW THE JOY
INCLUSIVITY NOT SNOBBERY
WOMEN ARE ACE (OBVS)
CYCLING FOR THE DISABLED ROCKS
YOU DON’T NEED SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
CYCLING IS SAFE
DON’T RUIN IT FOR THE REST OF US
Call me out if we don’t stick to these principles. I’ll always reply on my twitter@aslongasicycleand in my occasional Ask The Founder Anything sessions on our social media@vulpinecc.
We’ve come a long way, as Vulpine in 5 years, and in cycling over the last decade particularly. But neither have gone far enough.
Time to make cycling even better, for everyone. Through doing the right and joyful thing.
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https://www.vulpine.cc/en-us/blogs/archive/how-to-make-your-bike-fit2022-11-23T17:18:07+00:002023-10-04T12:06:23+01:00HOW TO MAKE YOUR BIKE FITJack KellyOriginally posted on
Right across the scale, from towpath pottering to hardcore racing, getting a perfect fit for your bike is perhaps the most misunderstood and essential part of cycling to get right.
I've written this for road bikes, as it is the most complicated and there are various differences with MTBs and the plethora of other types of bikes. Thesame basic rules apply though. If you're comfortable, you can ride for ages without long-term injury. And indeed you can ride faster.
Right across the scale, from towpath pottering to hardcore racing, getting a perfect fit for your bike is perhaps the most misunderstood and essential part of cycling to get right.
I have 'fitted' bikes for god knows how many people over the years and I am always at pains to point out that there are many differing schools of thought and it will need your personal touch. I am no expert. I've just done it a lot, using the most widely accepted rules.
Bike fit importance increases exponentially as the distance increases. So with a 1 mile tootle on a Barclays Bike, you could probably ride with your knees behind your head. (Go on, try. I'll take photos). But the greatest challenge of a challenge event like London-Paris or the Etape is comfort.
Cycling is low-impact and as gentle or hard on your body as you choose, so its a great sport for everyone. But with distance comes repetition and you are 'locked' onto a bike in the same position for hours, often. This means each tiny misjudgement in position becomes ever more exaggerated with time. A tiny niggle in your knee can become excruciating pretty quickly. Which is why correct position and building up into training are so important.
Comfort prevents injury means more cycling means greater performance.
Anyone, everyone, undertaking any sort of mileage or time in the saddle must treat getting their position right with the utmost seriousness. And we at Vulpine don't really like seriousness that much. But this is SERIOUS (you getting this?!)
The concept of comfort even entering conversation is seen as a bit twee by many racing cyclists. But if you're uncomfortable its an early warning sign of injury. I'm not talking the discomfort of lactate-burnt legs. That's a sign of winning the war against training pain…Grrrrr. We're talking back ache, knee niggles, wrist tingling and shoulder tightness. If you get any of these regularly, something is wrong, and it is only going to get worse if ignored. These aches and pains are not part of training and don't make you tougher.
The following do not provide a training benefit, or improve your PB: Hospital appointments. Lying on a physiotherapist's table. Pills. Bed. Operations. Complaining.
Yep, niggles become injuries, even chronic ones. So get your position right! Trust me, I'll never ride properly again. More (but not too much) on that later. Ok. Impassioned plea over. To practicalities.
A BIKE THAT FITS
By bike, we specifically mean frame, as everything else is built around it. Beyond frame the only other choice is wheel size. BMX riders are exempt, because they're not going to be riding distance….Are they? (You're not are you?!)
Some smaller riders may prefer 650c wheels.
But you know what, I'm not going to tell you what size is right for your height, reach and leg length, because the best thing to do is discuss your needs with a friendly recommended bike shop.
Many people now buy their bikes online. If you're experienced and have your position and understanding of frame geometry dialed in, then no problem. But the irony is that many cyclists buy bikes online to save money, when this is the worst period in your cycling life to buy without advice or experience.
What extra you pay in buying direct from a bike shop you save over and over in service and within that sizing advice. A great bike shop will service your bike, set it up for you, and most importantly save you making position mistakes that come from incorrect size purchases and worse.
NEW TO CYCLING? BUY FROM A REALLY GOOD BIKE SHOP!
Ok. You have a bike. It may or may not have been set up initially by a bike shop. You need to set things up in this order.
1. SADDLE HEIGHT
You do this via the seatpost (or seatpin) sticking out of the frame, probably with an Allen bolt, perhaps a quick release.
Set a height that feels ok. On a bike trainer or leaning against a wall (you may need help with this!) pedal a bit. Put the crank arm at its lowest point on your chosen leg with the ball of your foot over the pedal axle (wear the shoes you'll ride in). Is your knee slightly bent, so you're not 'reaching' for the pedal? Do that. Then put your heal on the pedal. Your leg will be straight, but comfortably so. Adjust until you feel at your best. Bingo.
Experienced cyclists riding distance will measure their seat height in increments of millimetres. You should mark it against your seatpost with a little tape, or a wee marker pen. Measure from the centre of the cranks to the top of saddle. That is your seat height. Write it down or email it to yourself.
This is the most important measurement on the entire bike! I once rode 500 miles in Ireland with a seatpost that had slipped down 5mm. I had knees like melons by the end. Didn't ride for two months afterwards. That's how important this height is to distance cycling.
If you find you are 'reaching' for the pedals or rolling your hips, your saddle is too high. You'll likely want to adjust (fettle!) this over time. Change only by small increments.
2. SADDLE POSITION
Your saddle needs to be flat. If its not, you're setup wrongly. Use a spirit level to get this right. The only athletes that have angled saddles are, well, athletes and likely doing time trials or triathlon to a good standard. *Don't try this at home kidz*.
Next up, set up a plumb line, or heavy bolt tied to string. With your cranks set horizontal, your knee should be over the pedal. To fine tune, hang the plumb line from the tip of the boney outgrowth at the top of your shin (tibia) where your knee tendons attach. The plumb line should bisect the pedal axle.
Loosen the bolts at the top of the seatpost, where saddle attaches and push back and forth until right. If it is very far back or forward you've either got the wrong bike size, or you have very unusual skeleton! At this time, the ball of your foot is over the pedal axle.
Saddle position affects saddle height, so go back and look at this again.
THINGS THAT CHANGE YOUR POSITION ONCE YOU'VE SET IT: New shoes, pedals, saddle, cranks, even shorts. Injury. Age. Experience. Training. Stretching. Complimentary exercise, especially core work.
So keep checking and adjusting over time. Even (especially) over the years.
3. HANDLEBARS & BRAKES
There are a number of adjustments here that inter-relate. The overall aim to to have a head, neck, back, arm and hand position that is comfortable for hours (though if you're new to distance then it'll ache anyway, so build up, don't just jump straight in).
How will you know this? Well the neck will be relaxed and not cricked upwards to see. The shoulders dropped and relaxed also. Arms with a slight bend to absorb shocks, as straight arms ricochet everything through to the shoulders. And comfortable wrists with hands that can easily work on the brakes. On road bikes there are three positions, tops, hoods and drops. You need to reach all. More later…
Your bike came with a stem, that attaches the handlebars to the fork. It is likely attached at an average length. We'll work with that for now, but is the first component to be changed when buying a new bike, as stem's are so personal.
So, first up, put your hands on the 'hoods' in the position your bike was set up with. This is the most used position on a road bike, as it is comfortable and it gives you easy access to the brakes and gears.
How does it feel? If you have to crane your neck up to see forwards, you are definitely too low and/or forward. This can be altered. Are your arms slightly bent and you feel relaxed, not stretched?
Gently unscrew the face plate on the stem that holds the bars in place. Now they can rotate. I'd start with a position so that the 'flat' of the bottom curl of the bars is facing slightly upwards and the hoods rise above the level of the top of the bars. Now put your hands in the drops. Is this comfortable? Can you see forwards? Can you reach the brakes?
You may need to adjust the brakes in their position on the bars to improve reach. This is a bit more advanced and may need someone more experienced. It also messes with your bar tape unless a slight adjustment. But do make sure the levers are obscuring the front of the bars, not turning in or outside them, and are secured tightly.
Ok, you have something that feels as good as it can for bar & hood position. The stem makes quite a difference and there are a number of potential adjustments here.
If its a new bike the fork is left uncut so that you can have a high positioned stem if you like. Spacers are placed under the stem where it attaches to fill in the gap. This gives a more relaxed position. If you are not very flexible (which is frankly most of us) then set the stem high* like this.
*If you're not a confident mechanic, don't do this. Changing the stem in any way apart from adjusting bar angle via the face plate involves removing the stem and therefore decompressing the headset, which are the fork bearings. It is easy to get this wrong at first, either over or under tightening, so its worth being shown at first.
James looks effortlessly comfortable aboard his (custom) fixie. Note the old school quill stem, with less adjustablity.
See how the added height helps you. If there is a noticeable difference in comfort and improved 'feel', stick with it. If you're still straining, we have two courses of action left. Stem length and stem angle. Lets do length first…
In this new setup, sit on the bike with your hands on the hoods. Comfy? Where is the front wheel hub in relation to the handlebars? Do the bars obscure the centre of the wheel or is it in front of or behind. If obscured, you have a good stem length already as long as you are comfortable! If the hub is behind the bars, then it is likely too long. If the bars are behind the hub, it may be too short. Too long is the greater of the two evils. You will need to buy a new stem. They don't HAVE to cost much. Many cyclists have piles of stems they try before they get the right fit. Me too.
So you've adjusted your bar angle and hoods. You need to get a different stem, and your position is STILL not comfortable in terms of being too low. I have this problem, as I have numerous herniated disks in my back that'll never go away. You need to 'flip' the stem.
The stem you were given is angled, usually to take account of the angle in the forks, so it is roughly level as it extends to the bars. By removing the stem and turning it over (this won't work on old quill stems or integrated bar units!!) you are angling the stem and therefore bars upwards. This gives height and eases your reach. You've now maxed-out your options. If you have,and its still uncomfortable, this bike is never going to be right for you. I have this problem. My bars (unusually) need to be higher than the saddle. So I had this beauty made by world-class frame builderRicky Featherlast year. She is my pride and joy. The position to many (including me) looks pretty bizarre, stupid even, for a road bike. But I don't care. It means I can ride.
Check that position out! You want that position? Right, well carry on slamming…
(Note that I tinkered with this a bit and raised the bars and put the saddle back after Ricky delivered it. Heh, I'm always tinkering).
Ok, you've changed a number of positions. Run through it all again. Tweak until each 'fits' with each other. Find that ideal mix.
And this is where I thump the desk and get passionate about why correct bike position is so important.
I got to the point where I could only ride custom frames, only ride for an hour (as long as I stop to stretch) and can't do a lot of things normally in daily life because I SLAMMED MY STEM. I have a degenerative spine disease that I may have got later in life anyway, but was definitely accelerated (into my teens!!) by having a very low position.
Slamming is where the stem is as low as the bike will allow. This is 'pro'. Some pros do it. Many don't, as they now know it does them no favours with injury or efficiency, as it can affect power transfer.
It looks very cool. But it looks much less cool when you have someone hunched over the bars, straining to look up, evidently not supple and experienced enough to handle what is essentially the cycling equivalent of putting a massive spoiler on a family car.
There's no speed gain from hobbling to bed with a bunch of painkillers in your system. Spine injuries to cyclists are increasingly common. We are not as experienced or nearly as supple as professional cyclists. A position like that puts immense strain on the spine and it's disks. Once is the disk has prolapsed, it'll never be the same for you again. It'll press against your spinal cord and give you immense pain. You may not be able to walk or sleep. You will get intense muscle spasms, like cramp that doesn't go away.
Andy Schleck's ultra slammed position. Check out the stem position and length. BUT he is a pro. And he handles a bike like a drunken giraffe in a tumble-dryer, so think on!
Look out for the signs. Tension, tingling, long term aches, white lights in your eyes, etc. And don't slam. Slamming is for boy racers.
5. ADJUST. IMPROVE.
Hopefully now you have a good basis from which to improve your position. You should gently tinker until it feels right for you. If you're comfortable, lower your position. If not, raise and shorten. Yes its less aero. But beds are really un-aerodynamic.
Or better still, if you're spending decent money on bike bits, spend the money on a professional bike fit. At around £100-250 this is worth infinitely more than the cash spent on lighter wheels or a Garmin. A great fit will give you peace of mind, improved comfort, safety, power transfer, aerodynamics. The lot.
And if you're just happy pootling about and you feel good, carry on. Bike fit is just a necessary evil on the way to maximum enjoyment of the thing we love in all it's forms:
Cycling.
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https://www.vulpine.cc/en-us/blogs/archive/songs-to-spin-to-part-vii-death-in-vegas-aisha-trevor-jackson-remix2022-11-23T16:45:17+00:002023-10-04T12:07:22+01:00SONGS TO SPIN TO, PART VII: DEATH IN VEGAS – AISHA (TREVOR JACKSON REMIX)Jack Kelly
Originally posted 16th May 2011 by Nick Hussey
What a tune. Iggy Pop’s finest contribution to music? The tone perfectly suits his voice.
Death In Vegas – Aisha (Trevor Jackson Remix)
What a tune. Iggy Pop’s finest contribution to music? The tone perfectly suits his voice. As dark as night, unsettling, thudding, fearful. Its great to grit your teeth and climb to. You might find yourself looking regularly over your shoulder. NOT recommended for woods at dusk. Taken from an awesome mix by DJ supremo and joyously lovely chap @euanmcrath
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https://www.vulpine.cc/en-us/blogs/archive/songs-to-spin-to-part-v-the-xx-vcr-fourtet-remix2022-11-23T16:42:42+00:002023-10-04T12:05:16+01:00SONGS TO SPIN TO, PART V: THE XX – VCR (FOURTET REMIX)Jack Kelly
Originally posted 1st March 2011 by Nick Hussey
This has a sort of optimistic but thoughtful energy that’s great for winding around parks in summertime and pottering along warm evening hedgerows.
The XX – VCR, Four Tet remix. *CLICK TO PLAY*
This has a sort of optimistic but thoughtful energy that’s great for winding around parks in summertime and pottering along warm evening hedgerows. It makes me want to freewheel down tree-lined country lanes thinking about how good life is and how much I love this feeling.
No, I’ve lost none of my sentimentality since the last Song To Spin To! And thank you to my friend and DJ genius@euanmcgrathfor his awesome recommendation. Enjoy.
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https://www.vulpine.cc/en-us/blogs/archive/cycling-eating-like-you-mean-it-the-bonk-nutrition-for-long-rides2022-11-23T16:41:25+00:002023-10-04T12:08:41+01:00CYCLING, EATING LIKE YOU MEAN IT & THE BONK: NUTRITION FOR LONG RIDESJack Kelly
Originally posted 9th February 2011 by Nick Hussey
When you go ride your bike for exercise you get hungry. If you do a long ride, you get really hungry and you enjoy a slap-up meal afterwards. Simples.
Typical View Whilst Bonking
When you go ride your bike for exercise you get hungry. If you do a long ride, you get really hungry and you enjoy a slap-up meal afterwards. Simples.
But if you ride a REALLY long way, or keep doing it day after day, eating can become a joyless task, a necessary evil, fraught with discomfort.
I’m talking about the massive rides. The Etape du Tour, charity multi-day rides, stage races, 24 hour mountain biking events likeMountain Mayhem.
The sheer volume of food necessary to keep you going becomes difficult to manage. How come? Your body can run happily on fat for weeks. It’s an ultra-efficient source of fuel and there’s loads of it (some more than others, ahem). But fat doesn’t burn well without carbohydrate. Your body doesn’t have large handy stores of carbs, because it gets converted into fat if it sits around. So you need to keep topping up, especially if you’re working hard. Really hard exercise uses up a lot more carbs, so you have to replace them mid-ride…..
If you run out of carbs you ‘Bonk’, or you get ‘The Knock’. Your body can’t provide energy properly, and you feel dizzy, wasted, destroyed, unable to turn the pedals. You may not even be that fatigued from riding, but it is hell. You can recover by smashing down the gels, cake, fizzy pop, etc that you so desperately crave. But the damage is done. The group is lost, the lap time is awful, everyone is waiting for you and the fun is gone.
That is why it’s essential to eat loads of carbs on long events. It is simply not possible to ride an event like The Marmotte without carrying and consuming a fairly impressive number of gels, bars, bananas….Etc…The number depends on many factors but the ability to get it right is only really possible through one key thing: Trial and error.
You have to ride for 8 hours plus, to push yourself to the nutritional limit and find out where the edges are. You WILL bonk. We all do. You need to work out what you react best to. Do local sportives, training rides to a far city and back, multiple loops (bit boring?!), whatever. Just something that takes alllllll day!
A major limiter is whether you can actually stomach that amount of food and specifically sweet sticky carbohydrates. Some riders can consume 2 gels an hour for 10 hours. Not me! I’d be chucking it up half way through that. Most riders need to chop and change, to prevent stomach upsets. Bars, fruit, gels, drinks, even sandwiches. YOU DO NOT WANT TO LEARN THIS ON YOUR BIG DAY! The slopes of many an afternoon mountain pass in The Etape are streaked with vomit.
During the Tour of Ireland, the hardest event I’ve ever done, I would stop at a garage about 140K into each 210K stage to stuff my face with ham, cheese, Pepperamis, crisps, salted peanuts; anything savoury! The cravings were insane! I always avoid processed sugar sources like chocolate bars and sweets, as they give you a sugar rush that messes with your insulin levels and leaves you fatigued. But they’re very tempting, especially if The Bonk is upon you.
The irony of being totally depleted of carbs is that I feel nauseous. That feeling of extreme, rather wonderful hunger is replaced with staring at a plate of lasagne trying not to think of the bile rising up the back of my throat.
What helps is to keep eating. Constantly. Eat a good breakfast, nibble your snack selections throughout the race/event, don’t bonk (DON’T BONK!), then meals afterwards and even snacks at night. For multi-day events I used to have a full meal at the end of each ride and another a few hours later before bed. I’d take an energy drink to bed, and leave snacks within reach. Nom nom nom nom nom….
It’s important to bring the things that you get on with. I really don’t react well to the more chemically gels and drinks. I prefer ones likeTorq, that are natural and organic. "HTFU", I hear you mumble. But your guts are being pushed to their limits. Greg Lemond has written of how he had no time to stop when he had the very common trots that Tour de France cyclists are afflicted with. He just did it in his shorts and it poured down his legs. In front of The World.
One massive and proven help, that seems minor, but I and and many others swear by it, is to get an easily absorbed carb/protein mix into you with 10-15 minutes of finishing. The body needs that stuff right away. You can get recovery drinks with the perfect proportions of nutrients. But I prefer a litre of milk, as its gentler on a carb-ravaged stomach. I also usually down a more savoury energy bar like a seaweedBounce Bar. They’re a weird green colour, but they’re damned good.
Lastly you need electrolytes. These are the salts (mineral salts, not just sodium chloride) that help vital bodily roles, such as heart function, blood pressure, you know, BIG STUFF. You don’t want to run out of them killing yourself up a climb, 22 hours into a marathon event.
We are constantly excreting electrolytes, or ‘salts’, in sweat and urine. If you have to drink lots, especially when it’s hot, you lose lots of salts. So you must replace them. You can go down the natural route, checking which foods have what minerals, like potassium in bananas. But that’s a faff when you’re riding hard, and easy to forget when you’re exhausted. Take a tube of effervescent pills likeNUUN, to drop in water bottles as you refill them and/or use gels and bars that have salts in them too. In extreme heat, be careful not to under hydrate, as this can either lead to minor dehydration and loss of performance at low levels, but is of course very dangerous if you get really dry. If you stop sweating on a hot day, you are in need of immediate help.
Over-drinking at cause you to pass out all your electrolytes, and you can suffer from other, less common, but equally serious ailments. A number of London Marathon runners died in one year from seeing it was warm and over-drinking to compensate. Marathons are very hard, but not that long. They would have been fine.
The rule of thumb is again, to learn from experience, but also not drink once you are thirsty, but before. Constant sips. Try and keep your urine pale straw in colour. If you aren’t going to the loo, or are going very frequently, or the urine is dark, be warned. Again, get experience on rides. Know yourself.
To summarise a lengthy blog:
GET USED TO YOUR PERSONAL FOOD AND DRINK REGIME. DO LONG RIDES TO TEST IT. TAKE STUFF WITH YOU THAT YOU ENJOY AND CAN STOMACH. EAT QUALITY GEAR, NOT PROCESSED RUBBISH. KEEP EATING AND DRINKING OFTEN AND A LITTLE. DO NOT BONK! TAKE ELECTROLYTES. FOR MULTI-DAY EVENTS ALL OF THE ABOVE, PLUS: EAT/DRINK A RECOVER DRINK OR SIMILAR STRAIGHT AFTER YOU FINISH. DON’T WORRY ABOUT GETTING FAT. UNLESS EACH DAY’S RIDE IS LESS THAN 6 HOURS OR SO, YOU’RE HIGHLY UNLIKELY TO! FOR SUPER-LONG EVENTS EAT AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY, MORNING, EVENING, NIGHT. TAKE NON-RIDE FOODS WITH YOU THAT YOU CAN ENJOY AND SNACK ON AFTER RIDES. BAGS OF NUTS, BEEF JERKY, DRIED FRUIT ETC. HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR RIDE. AND YOUR NOSH. MMM.
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https://www.vulpine.cc/en-us/blogs/archive/do-cyclists-dream-of-electric-sheep2022-11-23T16:38:25+00:002023-10-04T12:09:32+01:00DO CYCLISTS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?Jack Kelly
Originally posted 6th December 2010 by Nick Hussey
Cyclists are a particular bunch. Particularly the particular bunch of ‘full-time’ cyclists, in particular. By full-time I mean, obsessive, not pro. That accounts for a great many of us, including me! Obsessive in that we may not ride everyday, but we THINK about cycling all the time, and obsess about bikes, kit choice, training, etc.
Cyclists are a particular bunch. Particularly the particular bunch of ‘full-time’ cyclists, in particular. By full-time I mean, obsessive, not pro. That accounts for a great many of us, including me! Obsessive in that we may not ride everyday, but we THINK about cycling all the time, and obsess about bikes, kit choice, training, etc. These definitions are difficult, as I could say racing cyclists, but that leaves out off-road riders. And it can include sportive riders, or not, dependi….Oh hell, you get the idea, let’s just carry on eh?
We obsess because we love cycling and all the trimmings that are involved, but also because cycling is so BLOODY COMPLICATED. If you’re a runner, you get some well fitted trainers and a top that won’t rip your nipples off, you don’t eat just before, and you’re off. Sweet.
But cyclists…Well, just take a look at a cycling forum. Any forum will do. It is mayhem. Contradictory advice, experts who are proved absolutely right, or wrong. Tyre choices that are a joke, or perfect. Interval regimes that will make you a god, or absolutely not. Frame materials that will cause you to weep with joy as you glide transcendentally, or crash horrifically as punishment for your insane choice. It’s all so immensely complicated it must seem terrifying to the new rider.
But luckily we have electronic things to help us. The latest, and best (not a lot of argument on the forums here, unless you get into cost…Oh lordy!) are watt meters. These measure your power output, and are the best measure of how good you are. It also tells you how good your kit is. WOOT! This can be illuminating, and also potentialy deeply destablising. The level of obsession that can be entered into here is marriage-crushingly geeky. But it’s oh so so so fecking interesting! Now can see if those carbon wheels you got are worth it, or if dropping in the saddle 3mm gives you X amount, or if….ARGGHHHHHH.
Now I did sports science & physiology at university, and specialised in biomechanics. So you’d have thought I’d be all over a watt meter. But I’ve been riding so long my theory is that cycling is so complicated, so difficult to pin down and so individual that I’d just be entering a world of pain. I’d want to know everything and analyse each and every choice. And I’m just not good enough for it to matter and it’ll just spoil my enjoyment of all the other myriad choices in cycling, like which route. I just love riding bikes. I have the freedom of being mediocre. Pros and top riders need watt meters. (I’m not being sarcastic, they really are brilliant.)
Cycling is as easy and as complicated as you want it to be. And that’s the beauty of it. You can jump on a shopper and pootle about in the sunshine, picking up cheeses at delis and carrying puppies in baskets. You can chuck yourself off bits of rock and woop and squeal and rip through forests. And you can rip through yourself, mouth gasping, teeth barred, a little machine telling you how good you are, or not.
People too often say one way is better than another. That can become the currency of cliques. Just enjoy your way of cycling and level of obsession. As long as we cycle.
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https://www.vulpine.cc/en-us/blogs/archive/impure-bike-thoughts-part-i-chainsets2022-11-23T16:35:28+00:002023-10-04T12:10:52+01:00IMPURE BIKE THOUGHTS, PART I: CHAINSETSJack Kelly
Originally posted 17th February 2011 by Nick Hussey
I, like most people, have slightly naughty thoughts about various things. Most of my thoughts involve ladies, but amongst these desires there is a liberal smattering of bike related paraphernalia. Thankfully for my long suffering wife I’ve not tried to combine the two. Yet.
Shimano XTR 2011…AINT NUTHIN WRONG WITH A LITTLE BUMP N GRIND.
I, like most people, have slightly naughty thoughts about various things. Most of my thoughts involve ladies, but amongst these desires there is a liberal smattering of bike related paraphernalia. Thankfully for my long suffering wife I’ve not tried to combine the two. Yet.
Chainsets have natural impure thought appeal. They are round. They are shiny. They are smooth, strong, but languidly curvaceous. I’m a design freak, sorry. I get off on this.
Campagnolo Record Croce D’Aune….DIRRRRTY
Inevitably I am a Campagnolo cranks fan. Nobody (not wanting to start a groupset preference WWIII here, but sorry, nobody…) but Campag do cranks quite so beautiful.
But not just any old Campag. No paint or funny finishes (what is going on with Black Record??). Shiny alloy or untainted carbon only. I have a bit of a thing for late Eighties/early Nineties stuff. This may be because it was a period of sexual awakening for a teenage me. Or it is more likely that that was when I was racing properly, and that’s what I saw the pros rode and I couldn’t afford it.
Race Face Deus XC…OOOoooOO MATRON!
I am in danger of starting a chainset collection. I don’t really do collecting, but they’re so damn purdy. Am I alone in thinking this?
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https://www.vulpine.cc/en-us/blogs/archive/songs-to-spin-to-part-i-underworld-jumbo2022-11-23T16:34:02+00:002023-10-04T12:19:41+01:00SONGS TO SPIN TO, PART I: UNDERWORLD – JUMBOJack Kelly
Originally posted 31st January 2011 by Nick Hussey
There’s something about the motion of cycling that creates a bubble of thoughtfulness and creativity. It’s perfect for really getting into music. And performance enhancing to!
There’s something about the motion of cycling that creates a bubble of thoughtfulness and creativity. It’s perfect for really getting into music. And performance enhancing to.
I find the clean dream-like repetition of electronic music is the perfect soundtrack to cycling. This one is a perfect example. The constant unending beat of pedals. A great one to push hard to. It’s my 4 minute TT effort on the wattbike track. I close my eyes and lose myself in it. What do you lose yourself to?
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https://www.vulpine.cc/en-us/blogs/archive/favourite-places-to-ride-part-i-trough-of-bowland2022-11-23T16:15:20+00:002023-10-04T12:17:09+01:00FAVOURITE PLACES TO RIDE, PART I: TROUGH OF BOWLANDJack Kelly
Originally posted on 21st March 2011 by Nick Hussey.
The Forest of Bowland is very close to my heart. It lies between Lancaster and Clitheroe in Northern Lancs, and puts paid to the stereotype of Lancashire as a grim industrial county. Bowland is beautiful, both barren and lush, timeless and quiet. It’s an ideal alternative to the often manic tourism of The Lakes, which lie no more than an hour’s drive North.
20% Climb at Sykes, out of Dunsop Bridge
The Forest of Bowland is very close to my heart. It lies between Lancaster and Clitheroe in Northern Lancs, and puts paid to the stereotype of Lancashire as a grim industrial county. Bowland is beautiful, both barren and lush, timeless and quiet. It’s an ideal alternative to the often manic tourism of The Lakes, which lie no more than an hour’s drive North.
Bowland is where my wife Emmalou grew up and I’ve been visiting since and riding around there for 15 years. We even got married at the Inn at Whitewell, in the Trough of Bowland, a fantastic old unpretentious but cosy hotel with incredible English food and a perfect stop off for a pint or a long weekend. Weekends are booked up 1-2 years in advance though! It was featured in the first episode of The Trip, and Steve Coogan & Rob Brydon stayed there the whole time they were shooting.
Emmalou & My Arm, Just Married at Whitewell (sentimentality hijacks the blog for a sec)
For road riding, I recommend a trip starting from Whitewell, go to Dunsop Bridge, head West around the Bowland Fells to Quernmore, then to Wray. You can see over Morecombe Bay and Heysham Nuclear Power Plant to the West as you climb. This is the less difficult part!
To complete the circle, head back to Slaidburn and then onto Dunsop Bridge again. 50 miles of unstinting beauty and some long steep climbs. Bring the compact! The hardest part are the Eastern fells towards Slaidburn. You’ll need a gilet or jacket for the often bitter winds and changeable weather. And the descent down into Slaidburn is awesome and challenging, with blind spots as the road briefly rises, or disappears behind tight bends. The roads are quiet, and to my constant amazement, being used to riding in SW London and Surrey, the drivers will stop and wait for you on narrow roads and before the numerous cattle grids.
Sitting by Lythe Fell Road, Checking Results of Milan San Remo! (Awesome descent over the other side). *CLICK TO VIEW FLICKR GALLERY*
Gisburn Forest is the obvious destination for mountain biking. It’s got proper rated trails, for everyone from me and the Mrs when we go picnic pootling, to black routes for rocky full-suss challenges.
There’s loads of accommodation round here, though I can’t recommend that many places apart from Whitewell, as I always stay in Emmalou’s village, Chipping (which, along with Wray and Slaidburn, are very beautiful.)
Bridleways Galore!
If you fancy it, give me a shout with any questions. Enjoy.
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https://www.vulpine.cc/en-us/blogs/archive/tales-of-a-pro-cyclist-coffee-addict2015-03-25T15:23:00+00:002023-10-04T12:18:07+01:00Tales of a Pro Cyclist Coffee AddictJessica King
A professional cyclist from Canada, a patient partner sharing the vision, and one single cup of coffee, drunk in Portland, that created the dream. Orica Green Edge rider Christian Meier has opened La Fabrica Cafe on a mission to bring fine coffee to Girona.
I became friends with Christian and Amber Meier through Instagram. I’m a massive pro cycling fan. Christian is Canadian and races for Orica Greenedge, Australia’s top team, as a specialist climber. They live in Girona, one of Catalonia’s key cities, and a place I adore. It’s home to many English speaking and Northern European pros. Scanning over his Instagram @christianmmeier I found his wife, Amber’s account @meierwife. It was a warm, loving, fun account of what its like to be married to a pro who's often abroad, or out training, in a foreign country. Their instagrams are full of affection for each other, and being a bit of a softy, I said how much I loved seeing the reality of two ‘normal’ people whose relationship blossoms under unusual circumstances. Oh, and their Dachsund puppy Awsker.
Christian is a coffee nutter. He does his own bean roasts and all kinds of other stuff I don’t understand. He was called up to the 2014 Tour de France on a few hours notice when Michael ‘Bling’ Matthews crashed prior to the Yorkshire start. In the mad rush (imagine the panic, thinking you’re not riding the Tour, the biggest hardest race on Earth, then you are!) Christian forget his beloved Aeropress. Now I know nothing of coffee, but I knew this as a big deal to him. Riders need their anchors and coffee was Christian’s ‘get through this’. So I and a few others tweeted out to the Great British public to find Christian some great coffee. He soon had fans bringing him awesome beans, fresh ground coffee, and he even got an Aeropress coffee maker! Sorted.
All this, along with being obsessive foodies, led to Amber & Christian opening La Fabrica Girona in the last few weeks. A beautiful old bare-brick space in the Old Town of Girona. It’s a cyclist’s space that is as friendly as it is classy. Pros hang out there, as do passing tourists and local families. The coffee is amazing, and it’s just got the right vibe. The Meier’s love for each other and what they do, be it coffee, socialising, cycling or food, is only too clear. Girona is my cyclist’s paradise. The roads are amazing, the food is incredible, the drivers and locals are cycling clued-up and chilled, and there’s the Meiers with the perfect ride start or end. You can hire bikes at Girona Cycle Centre, owned by Brit/Irish pro Dan Martin, as I did when I last visited. It’s a highly recommended bike mecca.
Now on to Christian and Amber, in their own words. Go visit.
– Nick
HIS STORY: I like coffee and I like riding my bike. The two go so well hand in hand and both have become strong passions of mine. It started at Stumptown (a cafe in Portland) where I tasted the best "coffee with milk" I had ever had. Fresh roasted coffee (no sugar) and whole milk – it was unlike anything I had ever experienced. I have spent almost every "coffee with milk" experience since trying to match that one coffee. I’m a professional cyclist, which is my full time gig. Coffee has always been something I have wanted to explore further whilst still being able to ride my bike.
Any pro cyclist living in Girona will give you the same good reasons that we all stay. That's why so many of us live here now. The training is fantastic. The food, the weather and the people are great. You have the mountains one hour away in one direction and the coast 1 hour the other.
Our concept of a cafe was formed some time ago. Even at the time it seemed right. And the more we thought about it, the more it appealed. We knew what we wanted to do and shared the vision. That’s not to say it wasn’t a very intimidating and scary process. Going after a big dream always is. We were and still are afraid of failure, negativity and skepticism.
We still ask the same question, "what if we aren't good enough?" We finally opened last week. The support and encouragement we’ve received has been overwhelming. Being the first specialty coffee shop in Girona, we have been getting a mix of professional cyclists, coffee lovers, tourists and alleyway wanderers. We don't ask for much from "La Fabrica". My wife and I just want to break even at the end of day and give people a place to enjoy a damn fine brew. That and I get to buy all sorts of fun coffee gadgets that the wife would have never let me buy without the cafe! It's an adventure we see ourselves continuing for the next 3-4 years or until I retire. I might need to come up with a second retirement plan now though.
HER STORY: Basically I cracked. We’ve been based in Girona for eight years and one day I woke up with the hard realization that I needed something for me. Cycling was taking up every ounce of our life. From the way Christian sleeps, to the way that he eats, to the amount of walking he can do a day – it all comes down to his cycling career. I knew when we got together what being married to a cyclist would involve and while we’ve been living here in Europe I dedicated myself to being the best housewife I could be. Don't get me wrong; they were eight great years of travel featuring sleeping in, extensive book reading and spontaneous adventure. But after living so long with no job and only grocery shopping to get myself out the door in the morning (minimal mental stimulation) I knew my days of early retirement were going to have to end. When Christian would leave I’d be miserable, as my "job" would be put on hold. With no laundry, grocery shopping or dinners to prepare I found myself a bit low. I took some online courses, learned Spanish and became a nanny for some local families. But I was craving a schedule. A 9-5 with 30 minute lunch breaks and a reason to put on nice clothes in the morning.
The grass is always greener on the other side, eh? My favorite job, and where Christian and I first met, was in a little coffee shop in Vancouver. So we had always toyed with the idea of a small cafe or restaurant. People would often ask us what we were going to do "after cycling" and although we didn't know exactly what the plan was, we knew it would be a job that involved people. There would be some sort of culinary addition and it would be based in Europe.
When I was about to crack (see above) Christian randomly suggested our retirement plan – open a cafe in Girona. We were having a lazy afternoon when the idea was brought up. We analyzed every single pro and con. This took four hours! By the end of the evening we had decided to lay all our cards on the table and go ahead and open our cafe. This was in August of last year. We worked out we would need to complete a task each day in order to open on March 2nd. Even then we were still missing a bit of paperwork!
It’s been a huge process. Every detail from the exposed copper to the types of coffees we use, have all been thought out and planned to be part of what we want to bring to Girona. It's corny and a bit too mushy to say out loud but here it is. Christian basically created a cafe so that I would have something to be passionate about. An outlet and opportunity to grow as a person and develops new relationships and be in my element. He has given me one of the greatest gifts I have ever received and could ever ask for – my dream job.