Meet the Rough-Stuff Fellowship, the World's Oldest Off-Road Cycling Club

These Brits have been going where no one else dares since 1955. [ view in [browser](. add bicycling@email.bicycling.com to your address book ] [Bicycling.com]( FOLLOW US [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [You Tube]( [Meet the Rough-Stuff Fellowship, the World's Oldest Off-Road Cycling Club]( The chain-driven bicycle was patented in 1873 and tarmac was not patented until 1902, so let's begin with the obvious: People have been riding bikes since before pavement existed. The early Tours de France mainly ran on gravel or dirt, and the roads to some of the Giro's and the Tour's iconic passes were not paved over until well into the 1950s. As time went on, the roads improved, and bicycles became more streamlined, thoroughbred. We roadies (we'll get to mountain biking) began dreaming of blacktop zinging ever smoother beneath our 22mm tires. But over the years there have been resisters to the charge of progress. The U.K.'s Rough-Stuff Fellowship (RSF) was established when one man, a certain Bill Paul of Liverpool, put an advert in The Bicycle magazine: "I believe there is still a small select circle who love the rough and high ways amongst the mountains of Wales, the Lakes and Scotland," he wrote, before asking any such people to join him in creating a fellowship. A few months later, around 40 cyclists joined him at a pub in Leominster, a small English town near the Welsh border, for the inaugural meeting. [READ ON]( [bicycling.com]( [Crash Survivor Launches #ItCouldBeMe Campaign to Make Roads Safer]( Triny Willerton is asking fellow cyclists to share their face—and their story. [Read On]( [bicycling.com]( [What’s the Difference Between Good and. Bad Cholesterol Anyway?]( Here’s the expert-backed info you should know to keep your heart happy and healthy. [Read On]( [bicycling.com]( [Do You Really Need to Worry About Expiration Dates on Food?]( The world of food labels is a confusing one. Here’s what you need to know about those dates. [Read On]( [bicycling.com]( [Watch Us Cut This “Angle Grinder-Proof” Bike Lock]( The Altor SAF Lock eventually succumbed to the grinder, but it took more than hour of cutting. [Read On]( [bicycling.com]( [The Best Downhill Bikes You Can Buy Right Now]( Built to shred the steepest, gnarliest trails, these downhill mountain bikes are itching to go fast [Read On]( [bicycling.com]( ©2019 Hearst Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Hearst Email Privacy, 300 W 57th St., Fl. 19 (sta 1-1), New York, NY 10019 [Unsubscribe]( [Privacy Notice](