In the lead-up to this year’s Women’s 100, I’ve started an honest journal for Rapha on my reasons for returning to clock-up another metric century on Sunday 6th September. You can follow Jools’ Journal over on Rapha… and there will be a post-ride write-up on there too. I hope if you’re taking part in the Women’s 100 you have a fantastic day – wherever you are and however you do it!  

I’ve taken on the luscious green hills of the Peak District twice and become a hero on home soil. After wondering what it would be like to do it in Tuscany, I got the chance to ride the climbs, descents and Strade Bianchi of Gaiole. It was a very wet and rain soaked Sunday – not the cycling scenario I’d usually be into. But this wasn’t hell. Surprisingly to myself, I loved every muddy & exhausting minute of it. Back in June at Eroica Britannia, me and The Boy were invited by Brooks England to experience L’Eroica in its birthplace. There I was, mentally preparing myself to ride the Peaks again, while […]

 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 […]

 The 7th annual Tweed Run rolled into London on the 18th of April and after weeks of planning, the day had come for me to bring that poster to life (in more detail than I anticipated), and ride alongside 700 stylish cyclists through the city… Glorious sunshine was the order of the day as that elusive yellow orb made an appearance in a clear blue sky- result! Before riding off on the Pashley and Colourbolt, me and the dashingly dressed Boy checked off the VCG list of essential Tweed Run requirements… Outfits: pressed and presentable  ✔️ Bicycles: roadworthy and clean ✔️ Phones & cameras: charged ✔️ Picnic: wrapped & packed ✔️ Appetite: large and […]

  My favourite cycling event of the year swung around again last Saturday: the sixth annual London Tweed Run! Although VCG was there in spirit last year, I was counting down the days to taking part in the ride this time. With the temperature hitting 23 degrees, organiser Ted Young-Ing couldn’t have chosen a better day for the event… which also led to a last moment change of my planned outfit for the day. I doff my cap to those who preserved in full tweed, but I suspect I would have baked in Central London with the suit I had in mind! To be perfectly honest, my cyclestyle for the day faded […]

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 […]

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 […]

Whoa – a bit of a radio silence from VCG on front… sorry about that! Life has become a bit hectic with lots of exciting bicycle related things going on… all of which I’ve been desperate to blog about & trying to find the time to do it! I’m filming again with The Cycle Show, which returns to ITV4 this July for its second series – huzzah! More updates on that as it happens, and look out for the odd Instagram sneak-peaks from me… In the meantime, here’s an update on another piece of cycling-tv which has come to life. Back in February I met up with the lovely Caz […]

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 […]

 What-what?! Saturday sees the return of London’s most stylish bike ride… The Tweed Run is back! Celebrating its fifth birthday, this years Tweed Run is set to be a marvellous day. With yet another wonderful route planned around the city and the weather promising to be good, I’m sure all those who won a place will have a fantastic time. This year I won’t be on the Tweed Run, as I’m off to the South West today with Vulpine for an amazing weekend at Bespoked Bristol! But wait – Frankie has been given a clean and is ready to roll on Saturday morning… as The Boy will be riding on […]

Since starting VCG, I’ve made some wonderful friends in the cycling/blogging community and it’s always a joy to meet them beyond my laptop. This week, that finally happened with Caz Nicklin –  founder of online cycling accessories shop, Cyclechic! Although we’ve been in contact for almost two years, the first ever product review on VCG was for Cyclechic AND we live in the same city, our cycle paths didn’t cross until Wednesday… how long overdue is that?! We met-up after Caz asked me to work with her on an upcoming and rather exciting project, which involved us filming together at her lovely home and around Chiswick, West London. With perfect sunshine and […]

 Sunday 6th May saw the return of the London Tweed Run. Five-hundred of us gathered together with our steeds for what still remains the most sartorial cycle in the city. There were some excellent surprises throughout the day, including a celebrity rider taking part for the first time…When The Boy & I were confirmed as having places, we both excitedly started wardrobe planning for the event. He put together a splendid outfit this year, which made me happy… Cycling Cap: Vélobici Shirt: Hawes & Curtis Tanktop & Tie: Tweedmans Vintage Breeks: Courtesy of @thefixedfactor Argyle Socks: J. Alex Swift Brogues: Clarks Shoes My planned attire for the day was a beautiful dress from Anthropologie. As […]

 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 […]

 What-ho Dames & Chaps! The Boy and I attended the Rugby London Tweed Run last Saturday – all of my last minute dashing around on Friday fell into place, so we were both more than ready for the day… phew! I’ll give a quick run-down of my attire for the day – elements of which you’ll see in more pictures: Dress: Runaround Sue by Vivien of Holloway Red Elastic Belt: Vivien of Holloway Tweed Jacket: H&M Pheasant Feather Brooch: Katherine Butler Red-Seamed Stockings: Jonathan Astor Heels: Aldo Necklace: Dorothy Perkins Hair Corsage: Made by me! Rose Ring: H&M Brown Leather Kelly Bag – Vintage Pearl Earrings: TopShop Nails: Thanks to O.P.I at Selfridges(You may […]

It’s less than 24 hours to go until the Tweed Run & unlike my usual organised self, I found myself doing a last minute dash to get the final pieces for the day together! With a busy week off work, today was the only one I had to sort out some rather important elements of the Tweed Run – including picking up our Registration Packs from Rugby Ralph Lauren! I had a few pleasant surprises when I got there: the 1st was bumping into the lovely Loughton brothers John & Jim, who had just collected their packs from the store! I met them at the April Tweed Run, so it was lovely […]

It’s time to dust-off your Plus-Fours and polish your Pashleys… after the successful collaboration last month for the NYC Ride, Tweed Run have teamed-up again with Rugby Ralph Lauren for the return of the Tweed Run to London! Saturday 26th November is the date to note in your diaries, and I’m pleased to say that The Boy and I will be taking part, along with fellow Tweed-Run friends from earlier this year! This time starting-off from Covent Garden, the ride will end with what’s been described as an “exclusive soiree”. Of course the familiar elements of the Tweed Run will be present, including the Tea Stop and the coveted ‘Most Dapper Chap’ […]

Before these dark evenings started drawing in and the temperature started to drop, me and The Boy met up with our friend Simon a few weeks ago for a CycleSunday afternoon ride around Surbiton. We’d been wanting to do this for ages as Surbiton is Simon’s cycling-ground, and he sure knows the place! He planned out a wonderful tour of the area, including two of my favourite things – Coffee & Cakes… and an unexpected encounter with a famous resident of Bushy Park… En route to Kingston we made two stops that were definitely reflective of our interests! 1st one was for The Boy. He needed to make a Rib-Stop on Brick Lane (he will explain this […]

 What do you get when you cross the opportunity to ride around one of the nicest boroughs in London with the chance to eat some rather lovely cakes? A lot of keen cyclists attending the first public BikemindedRBKC Cake & Coffee Cruise! After the success of the inaugural ride for invited Bloggers, me and The Boy* attended the public ride last Saturday. Tickets sold out for the event which was brilliant news! It was fantastic to see such a huge turn out for the ride (and Super-Kathryn above, checking them all in) especially knowing what an absolute treat everyone was going to get for their £5… The meeting-point for the day was of course Pedlars for […]

 After all the ideas and planning, the inaugural BikemindedRBKC Cake & Coffee Cruise took place on the 24th September. Having taken part in the practice-cycle with Kathryn a few weeks ago, I was very excited about how the event would go with the group of invited cyclists & bloggers on the day. The Boy* and I arrived at Pedlars which was the meeting place for the Cruise, and were welcomed by a scene of bicycles & a lot of chic looking cyclists! Beautiful sunshine and smiles appeared to be the order of the day as we had a meet-and-greet session outside over some Flat Whites with our fellow riders. This was a […]

Last month I met with Kathryn of BikemindedRBKC to discuss working together on ideas for future cycling projects. Plenty of progress has happened since that excellent meeting, and the first project to come from it will be the Kensington & Chelsea Cake & Coffee Cruise! The C&CC will be a cycle cruise to some of the Royal Borough’s Cafés, with the chance to sample some of the best Coffee & Cakes on offer with a degustation menu being specially arranged for the ride… including a very special luxury foodie stop along the way. With the various Coffee-Stops confirmed by Kathryn & the Bikeminded team, the next step was to get together for a […]