Catch-up with all the action from the Kendal Mountain Festival… and get 20% off all ticket prices with a special VeloCityGirl discount code!

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Well, it was an interesting one to say the least! A real mix of not so great stuff (#houseflood) to some rather ace stuff on two wheels went down in 2014. I didn’t get to blog as much I wanted to, but I certainly didn’t forget how to ride a bike in those 12 months… here’s a quick look back at some VCG highlights… TV and bikes played a big role this year – I was back with ITV for The Cycle Show, reporting on Eroica Britannia and chatting the very lovely Matt Barbet on the sofa. It was great to be back working with the team, and I look […]

A few weeks ago I was blasting around Derbyshire on a vintage Italian road bike climbing and descending for 30 miles… certainly not your average weekend ride for me, as I took part in L’Eroica Britannia! Courtesy of Lush Handmade Cosmetics, VCG attended the inaugural British leg of the iconic event, which was transported from the rolling hills of Tuscany to the beautiful Peak District. Founded in 1997 with just 92 riders, L’Eroica (which literally translates as ‘The Heroic’) is a vintage themed sportive, born from the love of cycling, history and literature of Italy. Its original intention was to raise awareness of the traditional ’strade bianchi’ (white gravel roads) […]

  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 […]

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 […]

When Sweaty Betty contacted me about #TheFitCrowd, they certainly got my curiosity. Then, a couple of weeks later when I got an invitation to attend an evening of fashion and fitness, they definitely got my attention. Empowering women though fitness is Sweaty Betty’s primary aim, and since launching in 1998 there are no signs of this mission slowing down. Their latest stage in this is ‘The Fit Crowd‘ – a collective of likeminded women working together with SB to inspire new communities of fitness focused women. This was something that really appealed to me for two reasons: My absolute belief in cycling having a wonderful impact on your health and lifestyle Being inspired myself […]

I’m stunned at what’s happened with the blog over the past 12 months and the adventures that have occurred. I’m thankful for all the love and support I’ve had from all of you this year… with a majority of you thinking I’m mad for the late nights infront of my laptop! I do it because I love cycling & I adore blogging about it all; it gives me the greatest amount of joy and if 2012 is anything to go by, my heart might actually burst in 2013… It’s almost the end of the year. Time to stop for a moment, and take stock of some of the highlights of 2012 […]

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 […]

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 […]

We’ve witnessed an epic summer of cycling this year in the UK, so how does a large event involving a lot more bikes sound? The UK’s number one cycling exhibition returns to the NEC Birmingham on 28th – 30th September! Hosting some of the best known cycling brands (including some loved here on VCG), it’s a great chance to check out some of the latest bikes and accessories coming in 2013. There is something for everyone at the show: from the more hands-on features like the Outdoor Mountain Bike test track and the BMX arena, to something for any mini-cyclists (with Kids tickets at just £1) out there with the Children’s Test Track. […]

“The greatest show on Earth” came to an end with the London 2012 Paralympics closing ceremony on Sunday. After applying for Track Cycling events at the Olympics & Paralympic Games (and sadly not winning any tickets in the lottery) The Boy and I were lucky enough to be invited to the Velodrome for the penultimate Sunday morning session. The phrase has been used many times over for the games but it has to be said, it was extremely inspirational to watch the Paralympic Cyclists & be so close to the action too! We attended the Velodrome as guests of adidas for their ‘Front Line to Start Line‘ campaign. They were the official sportswear […]

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 […]

 Last Friday saw the launch of ‘Style The Cyclist’ – a fabulous competition Bikeminded are running in collaboration with Harrods. When I received an invitation to attend the Bloggers launch party a couple of weeks ago (the invitation being box of Ladurée Macarons, which were hand delivered to my house!), I knew it was going to be something rather special… The aim of ‘Style The Cyclist’ immediately struck a chord with Vélo-City-Girl. As Kathryn King of Bikeminded explains: “The competition aims to show that fashion and cycling can go hand-in-hand, with the latest trends from the catwalk looking just as good on two wheels” ‘Style The Cyclist’ is a brilliant chance for any fashionistas out there to […]

 From Blogging about cycle style to uploading my outfits and accessories on Instagram, it’s clear that combining fashion with technology is a love of mine. So, when I received an invitation from Westfield London to attend the digital focused ‘Future Fashion’ / ‘We Are Fashion’ Bloggers event on Monday, I was intrigued & simply had to go! The concept of ‘Future Fashion’ is a digital celebration of the launch of Spring/Summer 2012 across both Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City. Across five zones, shoppers will be able to create their own looks and styles from SS/2012 using interactive touch screens (which I got a preview of) Tweet Mirrors & social media photo booths and […]

 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 […]