I love listening. It is one of the only spaces where you can be still and moved at the same time. — Nayyirah Waheed — Monday May 4th — —

The idea is to die young as late as possible. — Ashley Montagu — Monday May 4th — —

“What art does — maybe what it does most completely — is tell us, make us feel that what we think we know, we don’t. There are whole worlds around us that we’ve never glimpsed.” Greil Marcus — Monday May 4th — —

Rapha Prestige Launceston

As the sun set over Northern Tasmania’s Tamar Valley in March of this year, the latest chapter of the Rapha Prestige rides, with the one of the yearly locations; Launceston, Australia, began. The group of riders gathered on the deck of the Barrel Room Restaurant at Velo Wines, where just a week prior the summit had unseasonably received its first snow of the year. The brutality of the Tasmanian landscape and climate would be a defining feature of the riding weekend, making it one of the more demanding rides of the series. This particular yearly Prestige ride was hosted by the earlier mentioned Velo Wines, a winery owned and managed by Michael and Mary Wilson. For those unfamiliar, Michael rode alongside former champions such as Lemond, Hinault and Fignon, and more than held his own, winning stages of the Giro and Vuelta. Not content with merely hosting and crafting the route for the Prestige, Michael had also reignited his training and formed a team to participate. The result of it all is another incredible ride caught beautifully in photographs and video, forming a tremendous new Prestige chapter 

A Rapha Prestige is not a race; it’s an unsupported, unsanctioned, and unmarshalled adventure across stunning terrain, and designed to bring out the camaraderie and suffering of road riding. The rules are simple, and the course is tough. Team members must ride and finish together.

The tremendous ride ended like it started:

Rapha Prestige Launceston finished as it had begun, with riders gathered on the deck of Velo Wines. Amidst sunshine, coffee and laughter, the finishers were presented with their Prestige caps and musettes, leaving Tasmania with weary legs, fond memories and a raft of new cycling destinations to visit (namely, the home cities of fellow riders). Most of all though, they left with an appreciation of the “brutally delightful” – a term aptly coined by one rider – Tasmanian country and adventures enjoyed.

The incredible video for the ride was shot by regular Rapha collaborators Kintaro Studios. Established in Melbourne, Australia by Daniel Wieckmann in 2006, Kintaro Studios is a boutique production studio that offers a variety of communication solutions for various industry professionals. Specializing in advertising, corporate videos and short films. Some of the other clients of Kintaro Studios are L’Oreal, Tear Australia, Coles & Woolworths, amongst others. They were also responsible for the 2013 music video ‘Hey My Love’ by the New Zealand duo Evermore. The company has been producing videos for Rapha for several years now, after they first collaborated for the 2012 Gentlemen’s Race in Melbourne.

After seeing this we can’t wait to ride once more!

Photography by Beard McBeardy.

For the whole story see here.