We Have a Winner!

When I was a kid and I’d go grocery shopping with my mom, she’d drop me off in the cereal aisle. Just leave me there. I’d begin inventorying just which cereals had prizes that week. I’d cull all those with prizes and then begin the process of eliminating the most obviously lousy prizes. Invariably, I’d get the candidates down to three or four and reach near-paralysis. My mother would return to the aisle with a cart stacked our family’s coming week of meals. And she’d force a choice pronto.

Had my mother been involved in this, we’d have announced a winner a week ago.

I plead innocence. There were a dozen stellar names, at minimum. Sure, with some 80 entries we were able to eliminate a couple dozen the moment they  arrived. But even among those we knew weren’t quite right, we were fascinated by the diversity of ideas. Those that spoke to the larger implication of the blog’s name were surprisingly gratifying—for instance the “Call to (Red Kite) Prayer” or “Red Kite Pull and Be Forgiven.” I mean, it didn’t seem like we could call the event that, but I loved the ideas.

The ones we struggled most to eliminate were the names that played on the racing traditions that inspire us. Entries that included words and phrases like “flamme rouge,” “ronde” and “flyer” were all instant finalists. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for “rouleur.” I keep expecting to see a trademark sign next to it when used by the folks at Rapha. They’ve done a remarkable job of making that term part of their brand. Nice job on that.

As it happens, one of the very first ideas I fired off to Robot was the Red Kite Rendezvous. I could easily have gone with that, but my gut told me that a tweak was out there, something better, something richer and that we ought to use the opportunity to give you readers a voice and some ownership in this.

What we arrived at nods to the RKP brand, is universal enough that it isn’t limited to just the geography of New England, conjures European racing and conveys the fun of a get-together, all in just three words.

Thanks to “A Stray Velo” for giving us: The Red Kite Rondezvous. For his efforts he gets a “Suffer” T-shirt, an RKP cycling cap and a discount on the Rondezvous, should he choose to attend. (I’m guessing on the whole “he” thing. I’ve no idea.)

We’ll be using this name for years to come.

As to the event this name will grace? We’ve nailed down most of the details and will be making an announcement shortly. Expect to see something the first week of the new year.