DKY jumped at the opportunity to design a race kit for Stef and James at The Fit RV team.
Cycling is big in Belgium, where my Dad’s family is from. There is a large Belgian contingency in Central Illinois where I grew up and bicycle racing is a celebrated sport in that community. As a kid, I watched a number of criterium races through the streets of Moline.
When I was given the opportunity to design a race kit for Stef and James at The Fit RV team, sponsored by Winnebago, I jumped at the chance.
Yellow and black are not Winnebago’s brand colors, but The Fit RV pair travel in a yellow Winnebago Travato they’ve named “Lance” and I thought it fitting to use yellow as an homage. The color combination also signals “danger” in nature i.e. hornets, venomous tropical frogs, venomous sea snakes, so it sends a message to would-be competitors. I used enough gray/black to provide contrast with the yellow, but not enough to absorb a lot of the sun’s heat on race day.
Three things converged for me in this project: A little bit of childhood nostalgia, a continued interest in cycle racing, and an opportunity to apply design. It was a lot of fun to put together, and I like to think the kit has had a part in James and Stef’s recent successes (the kit design AND the thousands of miles they put on training at altitude).
