I’ve taken part in big sportives before, but I knew that RideLondon was going to be totally different. The obvious reasoning for that would be “well, you’ve never done it before, so of course it’ll be different to the others Jools… duh.” I know that, of course I do. But this was really going to be something else. There’s no denying the excitement of getting a place was a factor in how I was feeling about it. Every year since it started, I’d pop in a ballot entry, wait for months in anticipation… and then get that dreaded “Commiserations” magazine in the post. “That’s cool… maybe I’m just not supposed […]

There is a first time for everything in life/cycling, right? Well, a new first coming up for me is Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 46. After years of watching the event set-off from my doorstep in East London and harbouring a desire to do it, me and The Boy will be riding the 46 mile route on 30th July. I’ve no shame in admitting I’m not quite ready for the 100 miler yet, but this should give me a nice taster of it! You might have noticed a small hint I dropped on Instagram a few weeks ago about something going on. I’ll be part of the RideLondon Cycling Show team in the […]

Stella is the name that I gave to my mini-stroke. Some of you out there know that already… and some of you who don’t, might think that’s a bit strange. One of the ways that I could process that bonkers thing happening was to make it as ‘normal’ as possible. There is of course nothing normal at all about having a TIA; but the less alien it was in my life, the better I could cope. So ‘it’ became Stella; this uninvited and spontaneous guest who turned up in March last year, in an explosion of light. That same flash she arrived in made me finally see things differently, forcing […]

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 […]

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) […]