VCG’s ‘Summer of Cycling’ is now in gear, and was kicked off in style when I attended the Pashley Picnic Ride! After 5 years of owning Frankie, it has certainly been a long time coming, and thanks to the amazing people at Pashley Cycles, me and The Boy went to the birthplace of my bike for a splendid stay and cycling adventure in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Pashley started the Picnic Rides back in 2012, as a way to celebrate the heritage of the company and thank customers of the brand for their loyal support. Held in association with the Traditional Cycle Shop, the annual ride draws a large crowd, with over 100 […]

Falling for bikes I see at the Bespoked Handmade Bicycle Show has become an occupational hazard for me, so you can guess what happened when I saw THIS by Milk Bikes on display in April! Founder Mark Meadows debuted his new Series 01 range with the ‘Barra’ model… All photography by Ian James. At first glance this was a beauty: the design, build and wooden features looked stunning and taking a closer look would reveal some subtle and lovely detailing. Already curious about this collection and how the bikes would actually ride, I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to take this one out on its maiden voyage on […]

Coffee and bikes – a well known combination loved by many cyclists, including myself… but what if I said the same could apply to tea? Always partial to a good Rosie Lee (well, I am from East London!), I’ve been enjoying some quality blends recently – so I was thrilled and intrigued when Tokyobike invited me round for a cuppa or two at the Good & Proper Tea Brew Bar which was in residence at their shop for four weeks… They say that tea in hot weather cools you down, so the surprise spring heat a few weekends ago was the perfect chance to hop on my Pashley, head to Shoreditch and put the theory into action surrounded […]

(UPDATE: The feature is up on the BBC News Magazine site, which can be viewed anywhere in the world! Click here for article and video)   I was back out on my Pashley Princess yesterday for a ride to Broadway Market (fast becoming a favourite place to ride to) for one of my Cycle Saturdays with The Boy. This one was a bit different though, as I spent the morning filming a piece for Newsnight with BBC Hague correspondent Anna Holligan… Keen cyclist Anna, along with producer Hannah & camera man / editor Suraj set off from The Netherlands on 31st July for a grand bike tour to London. I was thrilled […]

What better way to mark Bike Week in the UK by being out on the saddle? It was a tale of two bicycles for me: a day on a Boris Bike rather far away from home, and another going for a spin around Shoreditch on my Pashley resulting in a street-fashion shoot… It was an early start on Tuesday morning, catching the train up to Berkshire to film with The Cycle Show. I spent the day with the crew at the Transport Research Laboratory in Wokingham. We filmed a bicycle safety feature at TRL. It was fantastic and an education to be there, and check out the safer cycling innovations […]

Can a girl have too many bikes?! When I started cycling I thought one would be enough… fast-forward 3 years and I’m now the proud owner of my FORTH set of wheels, a Colourbolt Ratty Black. When you’re a bit of a bike fiend, nothing beats the pure excitement of getting a new set of wheels. Two weeks ago I pretty much combusted with utter joy after picking up a new addition to my family… a Colourbolt ‘Ratty Black’. I’d first laid eyes on the bike in April at Bespoked Bristol. British bike builder and founder of Colourbolt Jay Pond-Jones and his colleague Kendal had Ratty on display alongside his other bicycles. […]

Last month saw the 5th anniversary of The London Tweed Run. As I was unable to attend, The Boy (Ian James) went along to represent for VCG! Here is his report on the day along with some beautiful photography he did at the event…  I was determined to be more prepared for the Tweed Run than ever this year. But it was always going to be a bit different as sadly Lady Velo was going to be out of town ogling lots of lovely hand-made British bicycles at Bespoked Bristol. So, that left me, The Boy on a bit of a solo mission. But you’re never alone on the Tweed Run: it’s […]

We all know that Bicycles make me happy, as does Art. So putting the two together is a sure-fire way to put a smile on my face, and Brighton-based bicycle-belle Lois May-Miller has done exactly that. Lois created the blog Claud & I to mark her taking on the 30 Days of Biking challenge in September. What started off as a way to chart her adventures for a month, turned into a cycling blog that she didn’t want to stop, after falling in love with cycling. When she isn’t riding her bike Claud, Lois works as a Graphic Designer, with illustration featuring a lot in her day to day work. […]

After an fantastic Summer of Cycling in the UK this year and a certain ITV4 show dedicated to the subject, it was only fitting a wrap-party should be thrown to celebrate The Cycle Show! Just as the invitation stated, you needed to be jingling to get in… and there were plenty of bells at the event! Held at the Red Bull Studios in London, it was a great chance to see The Cycle Show team and everyone involved in the production again after all the hard work put in over the series. There were drinks, laughter, lots of bell ringing and of course… bikes! We were all treated to an […]

Last month I sent out a public tweet, searching for an illustrator to do a little something for Vélo-City-Girl. I’d been on the hunt for one for quite some time, and had an idea of the style I wanted, but hadn’t found any illustrators who quite “got” what I was after. Coming pretty close to giving up on the idea of the piece, I got a tweet from Ste Johnson offering to have a go at a sketch for me. He’s the gentleman behind the Cycling & Fashion blog, The Discerning Cyclist. A fellow bike-lover AND an illustrator? This sat very well with me indeed… We exchanged a few emails about […]

Transport For London & The Bicycle Film Festival held their special conference on cycling in London at the Barbican Centre last Friday… and I was honoured to be one of the speakers invited to take part in the event. The entire panel for the day was made-up of a variety of cyclists, which made for an interesting session. Those taking part were; Ben Plowden (Director of Planning, Surface Transport for TFL), David Dansky (Cycle Training UK), David Kitchen (Founder of LFGSS), Bill Chidley (Editor of Moving Target), German Dector Vega (Director of Sustrains), Jill Putman (National Operations Manager for recreational cycling – British Cycling) and Jacqui Shannon (Tweed Run). A mixture of lively debate […]

October is shaping up to be a busy month for VCG, and the 1st week was packed with cycling-related events to keep me on my toes… or should that be on my saddle? Starting off with an evening at the W Hotel for the Bicycle Film Festival (don’t forget, there is still the special event on the 12th which I’ll be at!) it was a chance to preview some of the ace films that were shown over the weekend, and to see Chinatown in its beautiful night-time glory. I adore how the huge lanterns suspended above the street looked like golden moons… The following day started off with an early […]

 Three weeks on with the Clubman Urban and it’s become my main commuting bike… something which has taken me by surprise. This doesn’t mean Frankie has been banished to the back of the cupboard forever (never!), but it’s become an unexpected addictive joy riding the Fixed Gear to the office. I finally had a chance this weekend with The Boy to take it out further than my working commute with a Saturday cycle to one of my favourite spots in London, Maltby Street. My route to Maltby and back is a 11 mile round trip – one that I regularly ride along the CS3 through Limehouse to Tower Gateway, turning onto Tower […]

So, you may have seen me tweeting about an exciting bike-related update coming to VCG, and last week it arrived in the form of the Clubman Urban! I’m over the moon to finally have this wonder for a review*, courtesy of Pashley. The Clubman arrived direct from the factory in Stratford-upon-Avon, boxed-up and needing assembling. Now, I’m not going to lie – I’ve never put a bike together in my life (something I will rectify) and I wasn’t going to risk “building” the Clubman and getting it very wrong… so I owe a massive thanks to the Look Mum No Hands workshop for bringing the bike to life. Aesthetically the Clubman […]

 A small company in the Netherlands who make their products from recycled materials, Basil specialise in “fashionable, functional and fun” bicycle bags and accessories. Their latest product is the ‘Elements’ Bag, which at first glance doesn’t look much like a traditional Pannier at all. As you know, here on VCG, I quite drawn to panniers that break away from the norm, so when Basil sent me the Elements Bag for review*, it fitted right in… The design is certainly a nod to the “fashionable” philosophy of their products: it’s essentially a shoulder bag which attaches to your bike. Their Hook-On system (which includes a surprisingly strong Velcro strap) will work with most rear luggage […]

The London Nocturne came back to the streets of Smithfield Market last month. With another eclectic mix of bikes and varied agility races, there was something there to please everyone… Gent on a Guv’nor – not sure he was racing though! Team preparations… Fast riding in the Leigh Day & Co Kermesse, which I especially enjoyed watching… Of course while I was there, I was on a mission to hunt for more cycling-fashion! It was brilliant to see some new faces amongst the established cycling brands with pop-up stalls at the event – one of which was the Michaux Club. Founded by Rachel Bonney (pictured above), the Michaux bag range began […]

It’s not often that I let the Pashley out of my sight, but a couple of weeks ago I was happy to make an exception to the rule. My beloved Frankie went off on a photo-shoot for a few days with Brooks England! Knowing that she was going to be in safe hands, I didn’t mind having a bit of time off the saddle and let them take her away. Like a concerned mother, I was wondering what was going on with Frankie while she was away from me. Realising what I’m like and being a thoughtful Gent, Ted Young-Ing (who is also the Art Director for Brooks) sent me a photo […]

At the recent Tweed Run, The Boy and I were having a light-hearted lament about the Princess Classic (my model of Pashley) not coming with a Propstand as standard. This came about as we were trying to prop-up Frankie with an impromptu stand (a heavy twig!) before heading off for the group photo – but with little success. Overhearing our discussion & watching us battle with the bike, a very kind Gentleman came over and offered to park my Pashley alongside his against a tree.  “We really must sort out a Kickstand for you”, he said looking at Frankie… I didn’t think anything of this at 1st… and then after a little chat about […]

 A couple of weeks ago, me and The Boy had the pleasure of visiting the Brooks Saddle Factory! Thanks to the brilliant organisation by twitter friends @CraftieDutchie & @_Blixa_, the plan was to get together with some fellow twitter-cycling friends and have a tour around the plant, along with a cycle-stop or two for lunch and drinks. It was a big day out for sure: a 06:30am meet with the lovely @thefixedfactor was arranged outside of the RFH, to load up our bikes into the van we’d hired with him. Although it was an insanely early start (setting off from East London at 05:20am), it was so worth it… just to see […]

This is one of the last things I would have even dreamt of happening when I started this blog two years ago… a mention in Marie Claire Magazine! VCG has popped-up in the ‘Reporter’ section of MC, which highlights the “trends, people and places” on their radar for the month. It’s always fantastic to see cycling & fashion being recognised as something that is possible, so having Vélo-City-Girl sited as one of the “go-to Brit blogs for cycle style tips” is rather amazing for me. From comments on the blog, to messages on twitter from girls who are getting back on bicycles, it’s touching to know that my little corner of the internet is inspiring women out […]