It’s getting to that time of year. The growing light lingers like a promise in the air, as each night becomes just a few minutes shorter. Here, in the Pacific Northwest, we get these spotted days, of sunlight mixed with rain, then gradually completely dry commutes or training rides. Everyone starts their longing sooner or later. Longing for the days when the shorts are short and unencumbered by leg warmers and long tights. When the skin is tanned, toned and ready to race.
It is during times like these that we begin to grow restless, to look toward days not filled with turbo trainers, or the heavy clothes of winter. For many, the looking forward can itself be cathartic. Winter has been a time of reflection. To eat heavy food and drink heavy drinks and let your body fully recover before the spring. But when the cabin fever gets the best of us, we start to look to the sun.
Inspired by that true ritual of road riding, of chasing sunlight in the early season, Rapha has created a To The Sun capsule collection. Consisting of a special edition Pro Team Jersey, Arm Screens and cap (sold together as one product), To The Sun products celebrate the optimism of early-season racing and the transition into summer.
To mark the launch of the collection, we reached out to a selection of people we know, men and women as inspiring as they are inspired, to find out what they do to keep themselves motivated through the long winter months. Among them you’ll find a doctor, an animator, a photo editor at the upcoming Winter Olympics, a creative director, a tech trendsetter and a fashion-industry darling. Hopefully you’ll find something to inspire you.
In the coming weeks, ahead of the release of our To The Sun collection on 26th February, the interviews will be appearing on the Rapha Blog, along with specially commissioned portraits from Portland-based illustrator Matt Hall.
We’d also like to see your own images of sunlight. Simply post a photo on Instagram that inspires you to look ahead to the coming summer, along with a caption/location of where the image was shot, adding the tags @rapha #tothesun.