After 12 months of anticipation (I kid you not – I’ve been looking forward to it since last year’s adventure), the big weekend finally came round for Eroica Britannia 2015! Returning again as a guest of Lush Cosmetics, this year I had The Boy join me for a 3 day jolly in the beautiful Peak District… and to take on 30 miles of the rolling countryside with me! Arriving on the Friday afternoon with our luggage and his 1982 E.G Bates in tow, we settled into our home for the next few days at Darwin Forest Country Park – a gorgeous pine lodge with all the creature comforts of home, and a […]

The beauty of frame building is something I have come to really respect and admire. Over my 5 years in the world of cycling, I’ve been lucky enough to become the proud owner of a British hand-built bicycle, and become friends with some of the incredibly talented UK artisans in this field. One of these frame builders I recently had the pleasure of meeting was Darron Sven Coppin, of Sven Cycles. Hosted in the stunning B1866 Brooks England store, Darron & Keith Noronha of Reynolds Tubing gave a Q&A session on “The Custom Bicycle”. Elements of a custom build from fit and geometry to tube selection was covered at the event, with everyone having […]

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 […]

 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 […]

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 […]

 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 […]