I’ve fallen in love with cycling early on crisp winter mornings… they are the perfect weather setting for the darker months: cool & fresh air in your lungs, bright skies and a sense of peace and quiet all around you. You get to take in a bit more of this crazy-busy city when it’s quiet – like being able to stop and take shots like this of the ever changing London Skyline & not be disturbed! The slight chill in the air is also a great opportunity to layer-up… and who says you have to wear drab colours in the winter? Me and my chosen Cycle Wardrobe for the day certainly didn’t agree […]

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 […]

Last weekend saw the 1st CoffeeCycleSaturday Ride: saddle up on a Saturday, have a brew at some of the best Coffee Houses in town and enjoy the ride & anything that happens along the way. The Boy planned the route, marking off the Coffee Stops for the day. We set off early and cycled towards Bermondsey. There was a slight delay getting there, thanks to Tower Bridge doing this… I’d never seen this in action before, even though I’ve lived in London all my life! I have to be a geek and admit that this was pretty cool to watch. Bridge down, we made it south of the river and met Simon for […]

Thanks to “The Wedding” and May Day, London was blessed with another long Bank Holiday Weekend – so what better way to spend the Sunday than a on a cycling Tweet-up? We met-up with the lovely @thefixedfactor for a cycle exploration of London. The route (which was suggested by Simon and planned by The Boy) covered some of the Docklands and the South East, including my old University stomping ground, Greenwich. The weather is still being kind for the BH Weekends, so riding in a T-Shirt and Jeans combo was not out of the question… here was my Bike Wardrobe for the day: Sunglasses: Gucci Earrings: Grandmothers Necklace: Tatty Devine T-Shirt: […]

If you didn’t already know, the Barclays Cycle Superhighways are currently being rolled-out across London. I’ve had a ride along (bits of) the Highway from Cable Street onwards – and now its arrived in my part of East London: Work started on repainting the old Green Cycle Lane along this stretch of the A13 yesterday morning… …and by the afternoon, they’d moved along quite a bit. Slight battle between Cyclists and Pedestrians yesterday, as the only lane available was the walking path. Really, the fella on his bike should have dismounted as the sign asked – naughty! The original cycle-lane wasn’t in too poor a condition, but I don’t think […]

The withdrawal symptoms I was suffering last weekend have gone: I’ve been cycling into work all week & loving it! It’s funny how much I missed it – especially when I was in Portsmouth last weekend where it felt like every chic being was on a bike… Anyway – back to this week: Weather has been fabulous for cycling in London (not too hot and not too cold), so it’s been early morning starts for a leisurely ride to the office. The boots have been replaced with Ballet Pumps… the stuffy & sweaty carraiges of the DLR in the evenings after work have been replaced with fresh air and views […]

“Thank you!” Spring for finally showing your sunny face today… “Thank you!” Easter Holidays for giving me clear & quiet roads this morning… After not getting to ride over Easter, a cycle on Frankie was just what I needed to start up the (short) week. Left home at 08:00 in the sunshine & took a leisurely pace… clear roads meant that I wasn’t freaked by cars – I even managed not to get spooked by any Buses behind or in front of me. Cycling back at 18:00 was really lovely: sun was still out and everything looked rather nice in my corner of East London from the Vélo view… I’ve […]

Back on the Saddle after a slight absence – I’ve finally started cycling into work 🙂 Last Friday I received my set of keys to the secure Cycle Shed for staff on Campus, meaning that I have a safe location to lock Frankie in. Saturday was the day: I was going into the office and with there being no DLR running, riding in was the perfect answer. Although I’ve done a practice-ride to the office, this was a bit of a big deal for me, as I was doing it without the guidance of The Boy: cycling alone on the road = huge. Left home at a reasonably early hour, […]

I got the news I was hoping for this morning: I have a bay in the secure Bike Shed at my workplace! Put in an application for one last week etc and its all been sorted… I’ll be given the key tomorrow morning, so I can finally start riding Frankie into work. Coming into the office on Saturday (which isn’t an ideal weekend, but work needs doing & I certainly won’t say no to the overtime…) and the DLR is down – how else to get in but in style on a Pashley, right? The path to work should be pretty quiet too as I’m planning on leaving home early. […]

The feelings of attachment to my Pashley are official: this weekend will be my first without Frankie and I’m going to miss her terribly! I’m heading to Portsmouth to see The Boy for the weekend, but will not be taking her with me. As I’m still not cycling to work yet (currently sorting out a personal Bay in the secure Bike Parking sheds for staff on the Campus), I can’t peddle her in on Friday & have her parked-up someplace secure. I’m also no where near the point of being brave enough to ride to Waterloo from East London… When the time does come for me to take Frankie to […]