Over the past couple of months a lot of hard work has gone on behind the scenes of RPC and after hundreds of phone calls and thousands of emails we can final announce that RPC will enter in to the 2012 season with an official and fully affiliated cycling team, Rapid Performance Coaching - RT.
A cycling team is something that has always been in the plans for the company and half way through the 2011 season we decided that instead of waiting for some premonition or sigh telling us when the right moment would be, we decided to take things in to our own hands and just do its now instead!
The first thing we would have to do is put together a blue print for the team and the biggest questions that we needed to answer were how big should the team be and what would be it primary goals. In the end we decided to compose a squad of 6 highly discliplined and highly motivated cyclists that were all based in and around the Cotswold's where the RPC headquarters are located. The goals for the team would be simple; to race as a well oiled and highly tuned team competing as one for the glory of the all, we will be competing in regional, national, and even international events throughout 2012 with the aim of exposing the RPC name and building a reputation for ourselves which will help see us in to the 2013 season with much bigger plans.
So who's on the Team?
We firstly the team will be made up of the support from 2 companies, the first being the title sponsor, RPC, which is no big surprise. However, the team will also be supported by a new company, one which is conceived around the same time as RPC and has similar business ambitions. SUB ZERO BIKE CO is a new online performance cycle retailer which specialises in importing niche, high quality and classy Italian bike components, many of which have never been seen in the uk until now. The range of products vary from ceramic jockywheels and titanium chain ring bolts to full carbon framesets and deep section wheels. Check out the website and keep checking back as new products are always coming in, http://www.subzerobikesco.co.uk/
So the first 2 riders who will make up the team are non other than the owner and head coach of Rapid Performance Coaching, Jamie McCabe and yours truly, Dan Bill. Jamie will take on the role of Director Sportif for the team during bigger races and will also represent the team in Regional and National TT's.
I will make up one of the riders of the road team and will look to compete in Regional and National road races, Time Trials, Cylocross and maybe the occasional Hill Climb depending on how dead my legs are come October.
The 2nd and 3rd riders who will make up the road team share more than just the same ambitions, they also share the same last name!! Tony and Mike Kiss are brother in arms when it comes to road racing and both have been competing from many years. Tony has came to fruition over the last 2 years by making a name for himself on the UK road racing circuit by going from 4th to 2nd cat in the space of a year and building an impressive palmares through his attacking racing style.
Mike started arcing before his younger brother and in his teen years discovered he had a talent for this cycling lark, in fact he had so much talent he was drafted in to a Continental team before he finished a a Junior and lived as a pro racing for a domestic pro squad in southern France. After a few year he decided that he wanted a break and headed back to the UK and never did any major racing until a year ago. It hasn't taken long for him t get back in to the swing of things and has already won some high calibre races, these brother are defiantly a pair to watch in 2012.
The last 2 riders to make up the 5 man road team are a pair of riders who i have been team mates with before a few years ago when we all rode for Echelon Cycles based in Pershore. Joe page completed his first season as a senior in 2011 and has been improving from the day i first met him. He is a supremely talented young rider who is string in every area whether it be a time trial, a hill climb or a Sprint, you can bet that Joe will be there and mixing it up with the best. I'm really glad that Joe is on the squad for this year as hopefully with the experience of the riders he will have around him, he will win some big races this and continue to grow in to a fine rider.
Finally, Adrian Bird completes the line up. As the veteran of them, Ady has races some of the UKs biggest races included various premier calendars and held an elite licence for many years. He has races stage races abroad, competed against world renowned riders and even set up his own team in the past. Oh it doesn't stop these, you know SubZeroBikesCo who are sponsoring the team this year? Well Adrian is the man behind the company and set the business up from scratch with no prior experience all on his own. Basically he has done it all and is a huge asset to this well streamlined team.
As well move through January, all the hard work is begging to pay of as all the bit and pieces begin to merge together to form the team. One of the biggest things that we had to get sorted was the team kit but thanks to the amazing work of Ken, Chris and Bill at Bio-Racer we have signed of a kit design which looks ace. If you ever decided to set up a team or just want some custom clothing then these are the guys to go with, they are superb. There is still lots to sort out and we are even in deep discussions with a certain company who sound very interested in our team, but i want give too much away just yet.
So, keep checking back to see what happening and I'm sure that you will see us at a race near you when the racing season starts.
Ride Safe, Ride Smart
Dan
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