Comin’ straight out tha Cotswolds
BPF is a friendly and inclusive cycling club that operates from the heart of the Cotswolds in Tetbury. They may be friendly off the bike, but their strong race team is fond of tearing up a race and getting involved in a breakaway whenever possible. We take a ride with BPF’s Archie Whyte.
What do you like about riding in the South West?
As a team there are some amazing rides around South West especially around our base in Tetbury.
The Cotswolds provide us with a stunning backdrop to ride as a team, with fantastic lanes and routes to challenge all riders. Racing in the South West is one of the most challenging areas as the calibre of riders is getting better each year, due in part to the passion shown by race organisers across the regions who deliver some prestigious events like the Bristol GP.
Choose your favourite ride from Le Sportif
What do you ride?
We are currently riding Orbea Orcas.
Orbea have been a great sponsor, supporting the team with bikes as well as other accessories and equipment for events. They are fantastic bikes, built in the Basque Country with passion and care. Matt, our team manager, and Dave, our team captain, recently visited the factory and were given a tour of the production lines which just reinforced our belief that we are riding the right bikes.
What is your favourite team ride?
As a team we visited the cycling mecca that is Calpe in February to get ourselves ready for the long season ahead.
I would say that the best rides we have done as a team would be riding up the climbs of Tarbena and Col de Rates. While doing the ride we were joined by Movistar’s Mikel Landa.
Not only was it a fantastic day of climbing and riding, but to be joined by someone as good as Mikel for the ride just shows that cycling is a sport where there is great respect for all riders of any ability at any level.
It’s just about riding and enjoying the bike.
Tell us a bit more about your team?
The BPF Cycling Team was born out of an idea to create a local team in order to grow and develop talent across the region and to help put back into the sport. We will be looking to grow into one of the biggest teams in the South West and feel we have a super strong team full of riders that have great potential.
Our team manager Matt Herbert has been amazingly supportive, helping day to day, looking after the boys on race days and training camp, to building strength and conditioning plans through the BPF gym in Tetbury, which is the hub of the team.
Our riders are
Dave Tilling Captain — Our pocket rocket and great road captain 🚀
Archie Whyte — Experienced rider and loves to attack 🔥
Ashley Fletcher — Great tactician super strong 💪
Jack Salvage — Team diesel engine 🚜
Adam Toole — Fantastic all-round rider, again loves to attack 💯
Rob Telford — Strong and loves to get in the break where he can ⚡
Adam Robertson — Great TT rider ⏱
Russell Peace — Russell has an amazing engine to ride all day 🏎
Tom Hogan — The young gun of the team and a great crit rider ⚙
Tom Radburn — 100% from the start, a roleur who likes to get stuck in ✅
Our team sponsors have been integral in building the team and we couldn’t have done it without them: BPF Fitness Hub, Orbea, Biemme, Food Chain Fitness, ProgreenMX , BPF Sports Massage and Pure Brand Nutrition all believed in our vision and have been there from the beginning.
We see you’re riding Biemme kit, what’s that like?
The Biemme kit has been superb. They made arrangements to ship it all for the team kit to training camp in Calpe Spain. We jumped straight in to it and it was superb from the off. It’s top quality kit that has been designed brilliantly and looks stunning.
The Jampa rain jacket is amazing, it super stretchy and can even be raced in as it’s super aero and breathable.
How has cycling and bike culture in Bristol improved?
Bristol cycle culture is in a great place, and it’s in no small part due to the Bristol Grand Prix which every year brings the fantastic racing to the centre the city.
Other event like the Bespoked show bring to the city the passion that is a massive part of cycling, showing some amazing frames and expressing the passion in the sport.
What are you looking forward to at the 2018 Bristol Grand Prix?
Having the BPF team represent the region, and being part of the event. The whole day is an amazing celebration of cycling.
Why is Bristol such a great place for cycling?
I think it has become part of the fabric of the city and Bristol has embraced this making it easy to get around by bike and encouraging everyone to explore the city by bike which is the best way to see it.
Learn more about BPF cycling at www.bpfhub.com and follow their racing adventures (@bpfcycling) on Facebook and Twitter.
