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 […]

I love Oh Comely, and have done for some time. I’m also quite fond of their #onegoodthing: they tweet something at 1pm every day as a reminder of… well, simple but good things that happen in life. They gave me one good thing when this happened. And the timing of it couldn’t have been better. The early half of this year was a bumpy ride. Having a mini-stroke, and deciding to leave my role at Vulpine, left me both physically and mentally banjaxed. In a period of two months, two massive decisions had been made about my life: one which I had no control over, and the other was me stepping away […]

I’m always up for a cycling challenge. I like pushing myself to try something new… but when a challenge comes along that unexpectedly makes you question your ability on a bike, that’s a whole new feeling indeed. And one that I’ve discovered I rather like… even if a few tantrums play a part in it. Doing Eroica Limburg last month was the nugget of that revelation, and I’m still laughing at two things I assumed I knew: 1) What to expect while riding the shorter course. 2) Assuming the Netherlands are very flat. Nope smart-arse Velo, they are not. The lovely folks over at Brooks England invited VCG to ride […]

VCG was back in Bakewell for the return of Eroica Britannia a couple of weeks ago. Now in its third year, the festival has become bigger and better than ever before, and it has been amazing to witness its growth since being brought to the UK in 2014. This year was a bit of a different affair for VCG… for the first time I was there as part of the actual Eroica Britannia team! On hosting duties for the Arts Tent, it was an honour to be on the other side of what happens in Bakewell, and work alongside the amazing organisers who put the festival together. In between hosting […]

If you’ve been following my life in squares, you’d have caught some rather big news: Instagram selected VCG to be part of their #MyStoryUK photo exhibition! The #MyStory initiative originally launched last year, and focuses on women who use the platform to tell their stories, push boundaries and challenge stereotypes. This month it came to these shores, and I’m honoured to be one of the 24 amazing women from around the UK to be on Instagram’s radar for this. Ian (my cycling partner in crime) captured this image of me riding Eroica Britannia and the story with it caught their eye, without me even knowing. I posted that picture from 2015 […]

VCG is jumping back on the cycling soap box next month… I’m very excited to say I’ll be speaking at the launch of the Women’s Cycle Forum in Scotland! The WCF is a new membership organisation to celebrate and promote women’s cycling and to encourage women to take a leading role in cycling in all its forms. I’ll be giving a talk at the event, which forms part of the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling, on 11th June. If you’re in Edinburgh for the festival, come along and listen to me talking about celebrating the diversity of women in cycling. The launch is FREE to attend and is being held at the Out […]

VCG is back in the swing of all things cycling for 2016: last weekend saw the return of Bespoked Bristol, and I was there not only as an excited visitor this, but also to judge “The Lady Velo Choice” for Women’s Bicycles… and the “Outstanding Design Award” – which was pretty ace to say the least! The UK Handmade Bicycle Show was back in Brunel’s Old Station for its sixth instalment, and I was honoured to be invited by founders & organisers Phil and Tessa Taylor to be a part of it this year. Taking on feedback from previous shows, the formula for judging and categories underwent a change, and […]

Every now and then the ‘not so hot’ bits of life have a funny knack of getting in the way of the things I love. Like cycling just for the joy of being on a bike. Not doing it because you have to be the best at it and smash all the goals, or because there are deadlines to be met for a project you’ve got to work on is something I lost sight of quite badly. When the memory of hopping on the saddle and just cycling the hell out of a weekend with no agenda feels like a distant one, it’s time to reassess and re-connect. Also, when something […]

A blog post I did over on Vulpine, and a piece written by the wonderful Lauren Laverne in Glamour Magazine this month has given me food for thought on this entry. A round-up of my year on the saddle isn’t an unusual post for me to do, but this time I’m going to be a bit more honest about what some of these things really meant to me and why it’s cool to celebrate those achievements. PUSHING BOUNDARIES On the bike: As much as I’ve dabbled in different kinds of cycling, my “big one” on two wheels was taking on Eroica Britannia and L’Eroica in Tuscany. Although they were not […]