I took a mini break from writing about cycling to go watch some this weekend. The 2018 HSBC UK National Track Championships are on at Manchester, and British Cycling invited VCG to the evening session of Friday’s racing. The invitation wasn’t just about being a spectator though. I was at British Cycling HQ alongside several other bikeminded folks* to discuss ideas on how to widen participation in cycling. I’ve always been a strong believer that cycling is for everybody, but there is also no denying that many barriers to entry still exist for people wanting to get on a bike. I know from my own experience, that one of the […]

I’m not going to lie. Last week was a hard one for me. At the end of last year I made a promise to myself to use VCG and all of my other social media hangouts as positive and honest platforms. Using them to make my own and other voices heard is something quite important to me. I’ve been doing a fair bit of that in 2017, but last week certainly felt like the most with the two panel talks I took part in. The first one was last Tuesday at Look Mum No Hands, and the theme was cycling & mental health. I’d known this talk was coming since […]

I’ve taken part in big sportives before, but I knew that RideLondon was going to be totally different. The obvious reasoning for that would be “well, you’ve never done it before, so of course it’ll be different to the others Jools… duh.” I know that, of course I do. But this was really going to be something else. There’s no denying the excitement of getting a place was a factor in how I was feeling about it. Every year since it started, I’d pop in a ballot entry, wait for months in anticipation… and then get that dreaded “Commiserations” magazine in the post. “That’s cool… maybe I’m just not supposed […]

Well, hello there! Yes, I’ve been hiding away under a manuscript-shaped rock of late, but L👀K! I’ve crawled out from underneath it for a little bit of blog-time on this year’s Pashley Picnic Ride. Me and The Boy made a welcome return to Stratford-upon-Avon for the festivities, but we did it a little differently this time round. We headed there without our bikes. Yep. For the first time ever, he’d actually be on a Pashley for the ride, and I would be on a model other than my Princess. It did of course feel strange leaving Frankie at home, but the surprise of finding out which bikes we’d be riding […]

Remember back in June I did a bit of a bike ride around Portsmouth with Premier Inn? Well, here’s the extended write-up on that ride… Long time followers of VCG will know that I used to split a lot of time between London and Portsmouth. What’s a bit mad about that is that I’d never actually done a “proper” ride around there before. There was the occasional cycle into town and along the beachfront with The Boy, but that was pretty much it. No exploring and checking out what was beyond the cycle paths… I finally got the chance to rectify this cycling oversight AND get some extra training in […]

Ian “The Boy” James takes over VCG for this blog entry… spending the day with Barbour and Brompton for their AW/17 collaboration, and taking part in RideLondon’s Freecycle Saturday… With Lady Velo busy hosting talks for Prudential RideLondon, it fell to yours truly to take on a day of riding a limited edition Brompton bike and trying out some stylish new jackets from British outdoor tailoring specialists Barbour. It’s hard life but someone’s got to do it. To add to the hardship, the day was set to start with breakfast at Dean Street Townhouse, so I set off with an empty stomach and high expectations of this renowned Soho eatery. […]

There is a first time for everything in life/cycling, right? Well, a new first coming up for me is Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 46. After years of watching the event set-off from my doorstep in East London and harbouring a desire to do it, me and The Boy will be riding the 46 mile route on 30th July. I’ve no shame in admitting I’m not quite ready for the 100 miler yet, but this should give me a nice taster of it! You might have noticed a small hint I dropped on Instagram a few weeks ago about something going on. I’ll be part of the RideLondon Cycling Show team in the […]

If by any chance you’ve been on the Premier Inn website recently, you might have spotted some familiar faces! Premier Inn invited VCG to take a cycling break with them as part of their #PremierSummer series – so me and The Boy loaded up our gear for a weekend of riding in Portsmouth, and did ‘Round the Harbours’. You can see some of our adventures in this video (whoooo-hoooo to getting handy with the Go-Pro!) and read more about our ride and VCG’s other suggested destinations over on the Premier Inn Cycling Hub… This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Premier Inn – Opinions expressed here are those of […]

UPDATE: Missed the event? The full conversation with Ayesha was filmed! Watch the full video RIGHT HERE thanks to LDN Bike Kitchen! 🎥 Representation is important. If I’d seen another black person in cycling when I was a kid, maybe I would have been inspired to get into it sooner. Ayesha McGowan – a.k.a A Quick Brown Fox. Statements like this hit home hard with me… as do women like Ayesha McGowan. If you’re up on your cycling game you’ll know that Ayesha is on a mission to become the first female African American professional road cyclist. She’s also spent the last five years working her way up the ranks […]

So, a bit of news broke online yesterday… I’m writing a book! This is something that I never imagined I would be saying out loud, or to even be happening… but it is. It’s called ‘Back In The Frame’ and is something a little different. A mix of part guide, part memoir, I’m telling the story of how I got back into cycling, along with some of the bumps and bloody brilliant stuff that has happened on the way. Quite surreal to see this, but The BookSeller have said a few words about it, if you fancy having a read.  I’ll be honest with you –  I’ve kept this news […]

Earlier this month, I had the absolute pleasure of speaking at the Women and Cycling Conference (WACC). Bradford Council won the bid to host this years event, and heading it up was Healthy Life Cycles; a charity originally set up by just four youth and community workers with the aim of improving the health, resilience and well being of people across the Bradford district, and helping those who wouldn’t normally have access to certain physical activities to get involved. When large ‘conferences’ like this happen, two of the big topics that often get discussed are gender inequality in cycling and building (or improving) high(er) quality infrastructure when it comes to […]

Stella is the name that I gave to my mini-stroke. Some of you out there know that already… and some of you who don’t, might think that’s a bit strange. One of the ways that I could process that bonkers thing happening was to make it as ‘normal’ as possible. There is of course nothing normal at all about having a TIA; but the less alien it was in my life, the better I could cope. So ‘it’ became Stella; this uninvited and spontaneous guest who turned up in March last year, in an explosion of light. That same flash she arrived in made me finally see things differently, forcing […]

Can you believe its been two years since I broke-out my finest tweed ensemble (where has that time gone?), so last weekend VCG made a slight return to the event. I say ‘slight’ as me and The Boy didn’t actually ride it, but we were intrigued by the new twist on the Tweed Run… the Cycle Revolution Festival. While nothing about the actual ride has changed under its new umbrella of Bourne and Hollingsworth (these are the people who host events such as The Chap Olympiad and Blitz Party – so not much danger of the traditional vibe being lost), this year they introduced the festival to run as a satellite to […]

There is PLENTY going on in Yorkshire when it comes to cycling over the next few days. Not only has the Tour de Yorkshire kicked off today, the Women and Cycling Conference is coming to Bradford next week. With the aim of “inspiring more women to cycle more often to more places”, the conference will be filled with plenty of conversations and encouragement… and I’m thrilled to announce I’ll be the Keynote Speaker, alongside hosting workshops through the day! It won’t just be me on my cycling soapbox at the event – Olympic medallist and Commonwealth and World road race Champion, Lizzie Deignan (nee Armitstead) will also be taking to […]

March 7th 2017 marks a few special moments for VCG: I started my affair with ‘Frankie’ and cycling 7 years ago. I had my mini stroke one year ago. It’s crazy that the two events fall on the same date… and it’s also slightly bonkers that with a lot of other stuff going on at the moment (I promise, I’ll update more on that when I can…) I’d actually forgot about the significance of today. Life has changed a lot since I decided to get back on the saddle. I had no idea where the journey was going to take me and what an incredible adventure it would continue to be. I […]

Happy new year y’all. Yes, it’s a few days later than other blogs, but VCG has always been a bit different… and its actually been quite nice to have a few days not in front of the screen. Anyway, I’ve said goodbye to the trash fire that was 2016. It’s good to see the back of it, but also worth remembering that not ALL of it was an abysmal mess. Some of the rubbish I experienced brought good stuff. I guess it’s a bit like using horse manure in your garden… a lot of shit gets sprinkled on your surroundings, but when roses grow out of it, it ain’t so […]

In February, I took on what felt like the biggest challenge of my cycling life: learning how to ride clipless. Doing that on my road bike and getting the hang of it was an awesome feeling… and probably as far as I was willing to go with it at that stage. If you’d asked me back then if doing it on a track bike around a Velodrome was on the agenda, you’d have got a flat “No chance!” from me. Fast forward 9 months (and with thanks to Love Velo) that’s exactly what I ended up doing. Love Velo had some big news to shout about – in November they […]

You know, there is nothing wrong with just having a bit of fun on a bicycle. No racing, laps or hard climbs – just a day on a bike taking your time and having a laugh. That’s exactly what VCG did on the Pashley Picnic Ride last month to celebrate a big birthday… and what a giggle it was indeed. As expected, England’s longest established cycle manufacturer marked its 90th anniversary in style. Their annual picnic for Pashley owners became a weekend long celebration of the brand, filled with bikes, vintage flare, booze… and some culture to boot. Adrian Williams (MD of Pashley) and his team laid on entertainment from […]

Its been a while since I’ve attended a big cycling trade show, and there now has to be quite a pull for me to go to one these days. So when VeloVixen spoke to me about an idea they had put together with The Cycle Show at the NEC, they had my attention… and me saying “HELL YES” to being part of their plan. VeloVixen created the Women’s Cycling Hub: a year in the making, they laid on an area solely devoted to women’s cycling. It offered a mix of female-specific clothing brands to try and buy and it boasted its own speaking zone – giving a platform to women […]

Wondering what’s going on with the Pashley Picnic Ride? Well, wonder no more! It’s coming back this September, and looks set to be quite the party! Pashley are holding their annual bike ride little later than usual this year, across the 17th – 18th September. After attending last May, and experiencing a fun-filled and quintessentially British extravaganza in one day, it’s awesome to see what they have planned for the weekend long event! The Saturday (17th September) is all set for Shakespeare: the bike-powered drama troupe ‘HandleBards’ will be performing ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ on the banks of the River Avon. It’s worth noting this is all tied-in with their 90th anniversary… I’m predicting something pretty […]