{"id":179293,"date":"2020-09-04T07:37:58","date_gmt":"2020-09-04T07:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=179293"},"modified":"2021-06-09T11:55:10","modified_gmt":"2021-06-09T11:55:10","slug":"the-invisible-peloton-powering-the-2020-rapha-womens-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/09\/04\/the-invisible-peloton-powering-the-2020-rapha-womens-100\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Invisible Peloton\u201d Powering the 2020 Rapha Women\u2019s 100"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Women\u2019s 100 returns with a rallying cry to female cyclists around the world: we might be riding solo, but never alone.\u201d<\/strong>
\n
\nThis Sunday, September 6th, the eighth edition of the Rapha Women\u2019s 100 will be taking place in a format adapted for the unprecedented times we\u2019re living in. The event started in 2013 as an effort to encourage women to come together, claim road space, and push their endurance limits. This year, the clothing brand that organizes the ride has had to follow the lead of numerous other cycling events and find a way to overcome the challenges of physical distancing rules and restrictions.<\/p>\n

Determined to celebrate the women\u2019s cycling community come hell or high water (or a deadly virus), they\u2019ve adopted a thematic underpinning suited to this year\u2019s unique situation. Though group rides are still encouraged where\u00a0coronavirus\u00a0restrictions permit, Rapha will also be motivating cyclists to do their own Women\u2019s 100 KM solo ride with a\u00a0Strava challenge \u2014
\nand they\u2019ve assembled a wicked group of inspiring women to spearhead the event.<\/p>\n<\/lite-youtube>\n

The invisible peloton<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Leading the charge are five women ambassadors, including Transcontinental<\/a> winner Emily Chappell. Undoubtedly one of the most interesting and influential people in the cycling community, Chappell is a bike messenger turned ultra-endurance racer and she is committed to using her acquired expertise to help other women succeed.<\/p>\n

Detailed in her latest book,\u00a0Where There\u2019s a Will: Hope, Grief and Endurance in a Cycle Race Across a Continent, she recollects the challenges she was required to overcome and the lessons she learned while racing the Transcontinental. In addition to the memoire aspect of recounting her experience, she also offers up a trove of useful advice on everything from her bike setup and nutrition to how she pushed herself psychologically and emotionally to keep going when she felt like giving up.<\/p>\n

Mobilizing her philosophy as a framework for this year\u2019s Rapha Women\u2019s 100, Chappell is determined to help participants succeed even when confronting the challenge of doing a long ride alone. Employing a tactic she refers to as the \u201cinvisible peloton,\u201d in her toughest moments on the bike Chappell focuses her attention on the women who inspire her. Including both women she knows personally, and others she has never met, she summons to mind a cast of cyclists, activists, scientists and politicians who have captured her attention over the years. She imagines that this dream team is riding along beside her, urging, challenging and encouraging her to keep going.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CD6dpsnFlq6\/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link<\/p>\n

As she puts it, \u201cthe Invisible Peloton was born of that desperation you feel when you reach the bottom of the tank, realise you still have much further to go, and start frantically grasping at anything that might possibly keep you going, just a bit longer. You don\u2019t have any strength left of your own, so you start borrowing other people\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

If ever these words rang true, it is in a year when we\u2019ve all had to confront the reality of doing things alone that we\u2019re used to doing with the support and help of loved ones. With pandemic restrictions meaning more people have been riding solo than ever before, the ability to harness the unseen encouragement of inspiring figures seems like just what the world needs. It\u2019s an approach that will surely be what helps many riders at this weekend\u2019s event reach their goal.<\/p>\n

Highlighting the diversity of women\u2019s cycling<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Equipped with plenty of inspiration for any participants looking for women to round out their invisible peloton, the Rapha Women\u2019s 100 is also fronted by four other formidable riders. Described by the organizers as \u201cwildly inspiring women who stand tall in aid of diversity and inclusion within cycling communities and beyond,\u201d they\u2019ve certainly found a crew worthy of that large order.<\/p>\n

Alongside Chappell, you\u2019ll find Shuhena Islam, a lawyer and cycling enthusiast advocating for more Muslim women to discover the joy of cycling; author, presenter, and activist Jools Walker, who has made it her life\u2019s work to make cycling more inclusive; Kadeena Cox, a Paralympic medallist and track world champion; and Lyndsey Fraine, a producer who has used cycling as a means of coping with, and raising awareness of, endometriosis.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CErpbSqINoq\/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link<\/p>\n

Showing their commitment to more than just optics, Rapha also spoke out earlier this summer expressing their commitment to diversity, inclusion and greater equality, pledging to spend 50 per cent of its 2021 athlete sponsorship on riders from underrepresented groups, including Black, Asian, minority ethnic, and LGBTQ+ cyclists and women\u2019s teams.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, all focus is on making this weekend\u2019s ride a success and getting as many women involved as possible. As the event\u2019s mission statement proclaims, \u201cin the year of lockdown and social distancing, riding together \u2013 online, on the road or otherwise \u2013 has never been more important.\u201d<\/p>\n

How to get involved in the Rapha Women\u2019s 100:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re feeling up for the challenge, it is not too late to join the 700+ women already on board and sign up<\/a> to the Rapha Women\u2019s 100 Strava Challenge. You can also learn more about this year\u2019s unique event on the\u00a0Rapha\u2019s Women\u2019s 100 page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Women\u2019s 100 returns with a rallying cry to female cyclists around the world: we might be riding solo, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":179297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[329],"tags":[4388,809,4387,1585,1222,4391],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-179293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-road-cycling","tag-emily-chappell","tag-rapha","tag-rapha-womens-100","tag-strava","tag-transcontinental-race","tag-where-theres-a-will","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cThe Invisible Peloton\u201d Powering the 2020 Rapha Women\u2019s 100<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cThe Women\u2019s 100 returns with a rallying cry to female cyclists around the world: we might be riding solo, but never alone.\u201d This Sunday, September 6th,\" \/>\n<meta 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