An appointment in the City allowed me to bring my road bike. Cycling on the Boardman is such
a different experience to the Brommie! Thank you Sir Chris - I love my road
bike! Into a headwind at 20mph no
problem! (Maybe it was a tailwind!) I whooshed along the Embankment, tweaking
the handlebars with no effort, cutting my route as though it was a knife making
effortless steering. I saw 24mph at one
point - I must learn how to use the Cateye so it gives me all the stats.
I took a diversion to
Spitalfields which I had confused with Smithfields (D'oh) to see how
Pelotonco.cc is coming along. I met them
at Spin London and they are about to open a cafe at 4 Market Street. Hopefully their doors will be open within the
week - am much looking forward to it!
Spitalfields is a bit modern! Just eastside from Liverpool Street Station.
I rather liked it and will definitely be back.
There are lots of one way streets so I got a bit lost. I did find Petticoat Lane though!
I also found the sort of notice
that certain night time cyclists I know might approve of...!
A trip up a cul-de-sac led me
to Swift Cycles. The bicycles were
shiny, bright and sparkling.
I was
particularly attracted to these two! Oh how I would love to have wheels like
that!
Not likely to happen but I can
dream - and avoid a cross wind which would put me on the pavement!
Swift Cycles are about to
increase their stock (which was practically albeit temporarily at nil!) of
womenswear - focussing on Castelli. They
are going to have a bit of Assos and this really made me realise the gap in the
market that fortunately Velovixen is filling.
In terms of clothes or rather "what to wear on a bicycle" manufacturing the
technical fabrics exist - close fitting, breathable polyesters and merino. But the cycling shops on the high street just don't seem to understand the issue and
the designs of the finished garments are so disappointing. Leggings are not
flattering! The so called Ladies
Tops from the major brands - Endura, Altura and Pearl Isumo all seem to have ridiculous squiggles and go faster
stripes (as if!) on them that shriek "I'm a Cyclist" rather than
being a performance top that happens to be worn by someone riding a
bicycle. Grrrr!
Now that Levis and
H&M are at least giving it a go even if it's just menswear hopefully things
will improve. I notice that Evans now
has a Casual Clothing section online which is a step in the right direction
although I don't exactly see myself wearing a hoodie anytime soon!
I
do keep my eye on non cycling shops for above-the-knee length skirts
and sleeveless dresses in Lycra and cotton t-shirt fabric which at least
allow me to mix and match.
It may be a bit extreme but
just imagine if one of the high street brands like M&S met Altura
or Pearl Izumi. Or Max Mara met Assos. Or Castelli met Velovixen alongside one of their designers.
If only I could draw...
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