taxi777

In response to Henry’s inquiring question regarding the RAPHA presentation and ride.

1. Absolutely no schwag as far as I know. I didn’t go back for the after movie and food. (Which was free)

2. The set up and organization was top notch. I knew nothing about Rapha or Palo Alto bikes. I thought Rapha was some political organization when I got the invite! Unfortunately I was “out of it when I arrived to the event, on top of not knowing what I was getting myself into. At one time, long ago I had a bad experience in New Orleans with a free invite (no strings attached) event, which turned out to be a “Time Share” hard sell that we literally escaped from through a back door after excusing ourselves for a bathroom break. I though I was going to end up in some “White Slavery” Camp on some F’d up Polynesian island of the lost!

3. Palo Alto Bicycle is a great bike shop and organization. The store is beautiful. (It opens the whole length of the store to University Ave and is really inviting open and glitzy. A total Bike Porn Shop! The Bikes are off the charts! Hot! Those Pink hubs and headset washers just POP! Can I say I was turned on by the Rapha Bikes? Extremely sexy! The clothing is phenomenal, with the Rapha threads outstanding. It makes you really want to wear black/pink : ). I don’t know if Pink is the new Black or Black is the new Pink? They have Handcapie and other great lines there too.

4. Everyone of the employees was over the top friendly and accommodating. All of them really seemed to be happy and proud of working there. The mechanics section looked like a drill team. Constantly cleaning and polishing everything as they go.

5. Ron informed me that he purchased his “Seven” there and really liked the store.

6. I want to go back there as soon as I can get some $$ together to buy some of their threads. I would absolutely buy one of their bikes in a second if I get the chance.

7. { I unfortunately was having a really bad day. No sleep, completely gaffed from Saturday and I realized Sunday night that I had double dosed on some extremely nuclear medicine! (My fault, I need to be more careful…could have killed myself)}.

The ride started out really fun. It had the genuine peloton feel with some many experienced cyclists going at a brisk pace. When we hit the hills I got really nauseous and my heart was beating out of my chest. Later on after I quit I had a couple of really bad dizzy spells and I fell sound asleep on the train. I slept 12 hours when I got home. Oh well… I’m a Senior citizen now so I just have to live with the lack of consistency in my physical well being.

Pete.. A RAPHA/Palo Alto Cycle fan

BlastRadius

Rapha is definitely the tops in bike schwag, mucho $$$.
PA Cycles is nice too, but Trek/Lemond heavy. I think they had Bianchi but very few.
Thanks for the info Pete.

taxi777

Henry, when was the last time you were there, just curious.
I saw some other good bikes, maybe they're trying to branch out? They had a sweet "Yellow" Seven...OW! good thing I don't have a credit card...

Hope I get to do the ride again.

Pete

0_o

Hey Pete I am so glad you made it to the Rapha ride. Sorry to hear you were not in top form for it... and I should have told you that Rapha was a clothing and cycling company in that email to ya , dd'oh! .
BTW Rapha's Jerseries are totally worth the $$ ...
This was Rapha's 2nd group ride,earlier this year they threw a small ride before the AMGEN Tour of California. Every ride they throw seems to be a last minute thing , which sucks but I am glad you were able to make it to this ride.

0_o

we want pics of the ride lets see them we know you have some...

taxi777

Hey! Thanks...No worries on the Explanatory!

I like the adventure of going in cold to something. You can just tell looking at that stuff it's top notch. Are you going to the next one?

I'm definitely going for sure. I think I'll get some sleep first.

Check out my blog>>>>> for picts

Haven't had time to Photobucket them yet.

jinws

The only thing I enjoy more than my Assos bibs is my Rapha's jacket.


sooo nice!

If I had the money, I'd definitly sport more Rapha stuff. I think my next item will be their fixed shorts.

0_o

dude you are single you should be able to sport and afford more Rapha than me
. Easiest way to get more rapha swag is to create yourself a Rapha fund...stash away 25-$75 a paycheck until you have enough $$$ to get something .

Pete , I hope i can do the next Rapah ride, crossing fingers .

jinws

Single as in not married yes, but girlfriends are still expensive. Well, I should put away beer money for Rapha gear. I'd be head to toes in Rapha in no time. So little money, sooo many toys, I also want to pick up another lens or two for my 40D.

0_o

i know it's hard to save and than having to decide what to spend the cash on... bike , camera or other things .
I feel for ya on the new lens thing, I've been wanting a new lens for my F5, Nikon's AF Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8D , but blew my cash on building a new bike. There's a site called KEH https://www.keh.com/onlinestore/home.aspx which normally has some really good deals on new and used Camera gear.

sweetnsourbkr

Seems like PAB is trying to change their image a little? Maybe not ... all this talk about $$$ kinda speaks volumes.

Pizza Man

Pete,

Sorry you didn't feel so good.

Great to see you out there, even if it was just for the first climb.

The ride was great and the post ride food and movie were pretty good, but surprisingly no hard sell from the Rapha folks.

That Rapha stuff looks real nice though, maybe we can pool our money and time share one of the jerseys.

cp

kster

I have one Rapha club jersey; expensive, but it does feel great when worn.

jinws

Thanks, I know about that site.

I got some grief (from the SO) last week for wanting new tires. Someone offered me a deal to test out the new(not released yet) Ultremo R for $55 a piece. I thought it was a good deal, tires like that automatically adds posure + 3 to my stats. But I ended up passing the deal. oh well, at least she doesn't know about the filters and CP I just got for the camera. "what? that thing on the lens? no, I didn't buy it, it came with the lens."

taxi777

[quote=[B]Pizza Man[/B];7298676]Pete,


That Rapha stuff looks real nice though, maybe we can pool our money and time share one of the jerseys.

We'd have to flip a coin for sloppy 2nd's!!!


jinws- I also want to pick up another lens or two for my 40D.

Dude I'd sell my wife for a 40D...hmmm come to think of it my Wife's a 40 double D!

spingineer

Thanks Pete for inviting me ... I had no idea who, or what Rapha was ... all I knew was by the initial glance of who was riding, I knew I was in trouble (especially after the hammer fest to Alpine Dam, and up Mt. Tam the previous day). After turning onto Page Mill, it was just a matter of time before everyone ... and I mean everyone ... started passing me by. I'm not a strong climber to start with, but compounding the problem was I had no energy ... no liveliness in my legs. When I finally got up to the top, and Pete, Marco and Ruth wanted to bail, and go on Skyline to Woodside, there was no hesitation in my mind ... if I'd gone all the way to the coast, I probably would need the rest of the daylight during the day to complete the ride ...

taxi777

As I think about it...It was really weird how the 4 of us ended up in the same place and in the same mind set. Then to go off and enjoy each others company and have our own great time... Makes you think? We work well together.
I feel great today, well rested, mellow day and ready to do some fun riding next weekend.
Even if yesterday was rough... we helped each other out of it and it still ended up another epic Bike weekend.
Pete

BlastRadius

Doh! That's like giving away her weight!

uspspro

+1

Seriously. We were just clipping in about to bomb down Alpine towards Haskins Hill when you shouted our names as you arrived at the top. 2 more minutes, and we would have been gone... Then we waited for Ron to have a full BF roster.