The Charity Case - Treve Ripley — Velo Club Traverse

In 2013, I was initiated in the world of Ripcor. The crew of MAMILs came out for a weekend in Saint Jean de Sixt and have been coming out ever since. It is always a pleasure to host them either on their own weekends or as members of VCT. They are a laugh. Treve - Ripcor founder and VCT member is a fine example of how they do not take themselves too seriously. He has a heart of gold and as it is clear whenever we chat, helping others is deep rooted.

You are one of the founders of Ripcor, what is the story of how it came to be?

Well, back in 2006, my friend Sean Cornell and I (Ripley)decided we were fat and unfit (little has changed!!!), and we decided that it would be great to give ourselves a fitness challenge. Sean’s always been into bikes through his dad, who has been involved in the race scene. So we decided to cycle to Paris. We wanted to raise money for cerebral palsy. We are both designers by trade and branding is our thing. So we created the ‘Ripcor’ brand and got all the gear made up and cycled to Paris. It was a blast.

The charity aspect and local friend Dek, then got us inolved with PACE which is a local charity to us, in Windsor, and helps children with motor neurone diseases. Their head of fundraising was a cyclist too. We rode all their fundraising cycle trips. Friends joined us and it grew from there. (It spread as quickly as the Coronavirus and as such mainly infected middle aged men). We called it Ripcor from our surnames; it was all about having fun.

What do you see Ripcor is as now?

Ripcor has grown up a little, we have tried to make it more inclusive and as such are building a larger female contingent and have some budding youngsters. We also have a serious element, this group likes to go fast and takes training seriously. The other 80% are in it for the casual weekend ride and a socialise. They love the charity aspect of it too. As it has become bigger, it meant that we got more legit, joining British Cycling and setting up a committee with various positions. I feel as it‘s grown it’s lost its way a little, and now the challenge is to return more to our roots, which is to have fun on a bike, share a laugh and raise money for charity, catering at all times for a wide range of characters and needs.

The Ripcor kit has a strong brand and some cool kit - where do you get your ideas from?

Sean and I but mainly Sean, love to design the kits. We normally do a selection of designs and then put it to the vote. We have just sorted a couple of Covid Lockdown t-shirts to raise more money for PACE.

Looking at your recent Instagram posts, you bookend every sentence with the word “that”, what is that about?

Haha, that is ‘my thing’, a bit of a trademark I guess, some folk always post in black and white or about a particular subject for example. There is no particular deep meaning for it really, I guess it is like an exclamation mark – it focuses my mind. If the post does not work with the “that technique” then it is not worth posting.

… riiiight.

Who is your favourite Ripcor member?

Haha, that’s a hard one that I should not answer. But I will go Sean - safe.

It is fair to say that you are not the fastest cyclist but it is really impressive how you never give in and always finish the challenges, what do you say to yourself to keep going?

I often get a sense of humour failure at some point on a ride and then I try and get over myself and remember that I am very blessed to be able to be on a bike. I think of the children that we are raising money for and that pushes me on. That and the thought of a beer and the end. Oh and I also like to have a lot of stops!

An open invitation for VCT members to join the effort in a few weeks time

Having helped you with many Ripcor weekends away, I realise that it is certainly not all about the bike. What is more important then, cake or beer?

Beer, all day long. Literally. Haha, nah the point of the beer and cake to me is that Ripcor is all about stopping and enjoying the day out. That is what I am finding difficult about cycling in this lockdown period, not having a coffee stop takes the purpose, fun and social aspect away, which is what I enjoy about cycling.

Tell me about your love affair with the Oystermen…

That is cycle related too. Matt, turned up on a ride across Iceland. At the time, he had a pub/restaurant in Hammersmith so he invited everyone along when we got back to the UK. He then joined Ripcor. He has since set up The Oystermen, a restaurant in Covent Garden, with good friend Rob. I can take or leave raw oysters to be honest but the cooked ones and fish is amazing there. They are also clients of mine too, we do a lot of their marketing so check them out when you are in Covent Garden…

Haha, you are good at your job!

What is your favourite local ride?

I really like the Henley Loop. We start from Loch Fyne in Ascot and take the flat loop through Marlow and have coffee in VeloLife, yes the VeloLife that had all the issues with the complaining neighbours. There is then a Strava segment back to Loch Fyne called “The Race for Beer and Chips”. I then like to have a chat and a beer.

What is the most memorable thing that you have done on the bike?

So many. But I have to say that I loved the experience of making our film. It was great to take the piss out of ourselves and bring it all together in that creative way. Then to premiere it in Leicester Square was the icing on the cake.

I enjoyed helping Treve and Ripcor with this movie. They repaid me in the only way that they knew how - taking the piss!