TEAM J NAMING
Hello team! Here we go!
We present you with 3 options for our team name for Bike Rally 2026! Rather than voting on just a name without visual collateral to go with it, we decided to also show you what we’re thinking for the design of the team jerseys. Along with a blurb explaining the name idea, there are thumbnails of quick initial concept sketches for the graphics.
Below the presentations is a form where you can mark your first and second choice. We urge you to do this as soon as possible! We are under a lot of pressure to decide the name quickly.
THE SURVEY WILL CLOSE AT
8pm on Tuesday, Feb 24!
Once we’ve been named, we have 2-3 months to iron out the graphics. Therefore, don’t take the sketches too literally, or as anything approaching a finished product! We will work out the design collaboratively and have lots of time to do that. They are meant to convey the thought process and direction, and subject to change. We have lots of time for that! Digging into the graphics as far as we have this early was also a great exercise to test out the name ideas too, so that we don’t end up with a cool name that doesn’t translate graphically. We had this problem last year! We overcame it somehow and well in the end, but it was a bit arduous getting there.
While we don’t have a ton of time, given that we haven’t surveyed the whole team thus far, we will also provide an opportunity to suggest other ideas not presented here, which we will hold in reserve and float only if everything else falls apart or if they are truly brilliant and compelling.
So, after much ado….
OPTION 1:
CLEATED CAVALRY
The name is a pun on the popular drama series Heated Rivalry. At the same time, for those unfamiliar with the show, the name can stand alone without relying on familiarity with the show. The word “Cavalry” is a metaphor for riding. If a Cavalry is a team riding horses, a Cleated Cavalry is a team riding bikes.
The show Heated Rivalry is about gay hockey players. Using the word “Cavalry” instead puts distance between the team name and the premise of the show, and therefore using hockey imagery is not appropriate. So we are riding unicorns instead!
For the jersey graphics, we are inspired by the work of Spanish artist and muralist Okuda San Miguel. One of his largest murals and one he’s very proud of, titled “Equilibrium”, graces the corner of Jarvis and Carlton here in Toronto. The artist also had a solo show in Toronto in 2018 titled “Horses and Muses”. So the theme of horses and unicorns is not new in his work. We are in loose direct contact with him, and would say there is a non-zero chance that we could get him to design our jerseys!
OPTION 2:
WOLF BIRDS
This name is directly taken from an iconic scene that has made its way into popculture, from the last episode of Season 1 of Heated Rivalry. IFYKYK. If you don’t know, here is a link to a clip of the show on Youtube. We are looking at one of 2 ways of approaching this - as a chance to get into Canadiana imagery, or as a direct reference to hockey.
OPTION 3:
AERODYNAMIK
Revolutionary German electronic group Kraftwerk has been closesly associated with cycling throughout their career. They released 2 albums dedicated to the Tour de France. On their last studio album Minimum Maximum, there is a track called “Aérodynamik” and their live interpretation of it is full of super cool computercore imagery of cycling. We thought of 2 different visual schemes - one dark, techno (a couple of versions on black base) and mostly minimalist, and a sportier one in blue, inspired by the cover art of Kraftwerk’s album “Autobahn”.
