Our guests from the Mobile Cycle Club had a lot of fun on their first trip to Düsseldorf in May last year: the evening before the trip was wet and happy, the coffee in the morning was delicious, the peloton was in a good mood, the weather was halfway decent and the bananas were good a stamp from the Chic Cap. The fact that our route planning was able to refute the cliché of the flat area surrounding Düsseldorf led to the highest rating after returning to the cap: Düsseldorf ten points. out of ten. Thanks for the compliment. Definitely reason enough for a second Up + Down with Rapha.

On May 8, 2016, the MCC is coming back to Dusseldorf in the chic cap. We will start the morning relaxed with a coffee from 10:00 a.m. and then get on our bikes at 11:00 a.m. The planned route will be a variation of last year's round, thus again including the crisp climbs in the surrounding area between Grafenberg, Gerresheim, Hubbelrath and Ratingen. After the bumps, there is a flat, tranquil section via Essen, Mülheim and Duisburg to roll out. Total distance of the round: a good 90 kilometers. Since we had good experiences last year riding together in a large group of almost seventy riders, we will start in exactly the same way. And we have also learned that everything will be sorted along the way so that it fits.

Rapha calls these events "social rides". "Social Ride". You can't really go wrong with that. Because the interpersonal component is clearly in the foreground. Sounds like hippie shit? Sure, but still good. You don't get sawed off, but drive together and chat side by side as long as you can. Experience has shown that this requires a usable basic level of fitness on the Hubbelrather climbs, so you should not expect to be able to attend a completely decelerated cuddling tour. But it's about working together, not about competition. And if someone is often short of breath, we also love English cycling culture for the rules of the "Gentleman's Ride": whoever gets thrown out three times simply rolls home alone without frills. Or better in the cap. After all, after we have a little local surprise ready for the group shortly before the finish, everyone awaits us there, salads, coffee, cake, lively chats and the Giro D'Italia on TV.

We keep our fingers crossed that the weather is even better for us this year. And we look forward to seeing you all in a good mood at the start again. Just like you, we think it's great when we halfway know what to expect. Simply to be able to calculate food and cake and not be completely surprised by the number of passengers. So be so kind and sign up. But only once, not everywhere. Either send an email to info (at) schickemuetze (dot) de by May 5, or click Join us here on facebook (not interested!) or contact Rapha at https://ti.to/rapha-europe/schicke-muetze .

OK. Sunday, May 8, 2016. Meet 10:00 am, start 11:00 am. 90 kilometers of good mood. With Rapha and the hat.

See you.

your hats

For Sebastian. Again and again.