The wine (and more crucially, beer) is chilled, the books are artfully arranged, and the doorman is in position. It must be time for another super-glamorous Bloomsbury launch party.

Having persuaded Rouleur to allow us to publish their supremely gorgeous cycling books, this Wednesday we opened our doors to the great and the good of the cycling fraternity to celebrate our new Rouleur Books imprint and the first offspring, Coppi and Le Metier.

Rouleur’s Bruce Sandell and Guy Andrews with Bloomsbury Head of Sport Charlotte Croft – A class act

Slightly overwhelmed by the rabid RSVPing which followed the invites being sent out, we’d been forced to emergency-order more booze, so the signs were good, and we weren’t disappointed. A jolly crowd, many sporting an assortment of slightly troubling Movembers, mingled, caught up with old friends and suffered through the obligatory speeches.

Bloomsbury author Richard Moore and his agent enjoying the party

British cyclist and Team Manager of the newly-formed Madison Genesis team, Roger Hammond enjoys a bevvy with some cycling chums

Journo Rob Penn and Jasper Sutcliffe, Senior Buyer at Foyles, brought together through the love of all-things bike

As a Bloomsbury someone who shall remain nameless whispered to me half way through – ‘one of the best launch parties we’ve had’ – a resounding success full of strange but enjoyable conversations (sample facts unearthed: 1. Never fall asleep in a field in the Cotswolds on a cycling trip – you will wake to find red kites circling above, assuming you are dead 2. The roof of Number 50 was the perfect place to do a tab of acid in the 60s), which was only broken up by the rather flashback end-of-school-disco switching on and off of lights to encourage the last few stragglers to stick on their helmets, rev up their Bromptons, and weave their merry way home…

Musings by Charlotte Croft, Head of Team Sport at Bloomsbury