Excel-ing Themselves at The London Bike Show

A show about bicycles is always appealing to me. What's new, who's who, the test of do-I-really-need that are just some of the reasons why I pedalled out to London's Excel. Not convinced about the bicycle storage facilities, I took my single speed Cosmo and left my Brommie at home.(How wrong could I be?!)

The ride out had its moments - the signage is crucially missing just when you need it, the cycle path just ends for no good reason and I wasn't quite ready for the Lea Valley Flyover, never mind with one gear! 

 

However, outside the venue the police were on hand to give directions whilst providing their bike registration system and soon I was at the top of a flight of steps locking my bike inside a special area operated by  Cycle-Works. 

Before even entering the building I had discovered another new revelation in cycling initiatives. Cycle-works focuses on bike storage. From updated and more effective bike racks - not just taking the Sheffield stands to new levels, but they have a huge range of storage options from pods, to storage units, manned pop up areas, as this was, including storage units for children's scooters.

Their range and designs of storage solutions are already being implemented by various organisations across the country including local authorities, schools and businesses.  Clearly pushing the envelope and thinking out of the box this is an organisation well worth keeping an eye on.  I couldn't help thinking how great it would be to have pods available in supermarket carparks that you could use the same way as lockers at swimming pools, so that you can leave your bicycle and concentrate on shopping without having to deal with the distraction of is-my-bike-still-where-I-left-it.

As I was locking up my bicycle, a policeman was carrying out a survey on how well people were locking up their bikes. Armed with my D-lock and cable I thought I had done mine rather well. Apparently not! Although the cable was running through both wheels, my D-Lock and the Rounded A Rack (to give it its proper name), I should have put the D-lock through the top section of the stand rather than the bottom. Also, the closer the lock is to the ground, the easier it is for thieves to apply leverage to break the lock. I was also told that there was more air than bike through my D-lock which allowed ample space for bolt cutters. A learning curve indeed!

Once in the show I found Velorution who are my top shop for all things bicycle and accessories as they always find things that I never see anywhere else. They have included a new range of footwear, currently only for men at the moment - Quoc Pharm cycling shoes and I had the privilege of meeting the man behind the brand.

Definitely on my list for when they bring out a ladies range. Velorution stocks a large range of bicycles that I spent much time looking at. Rumour has it that on Sunday there may well be some very interesting price reductions...!

At the Velovixen stand I met up with two of the Directors, the third was apparently at home as had other matters to deal with (well, as she is two years old this is not surprising!) Being an online retailer for women's cycling Velovixen has recently set up a forum to organise rides across the country. 

I met two of their fellow customers, along with a friend of mine and we headed to The Go Ape coffee bar. Not everything is as it seems. 

Go Ape isn't a coffee stop, it's an outward bound/adventure organisation who had set up an abseiling track (zip wire) so that you could be harnessed to a rope and fly along the ceiling of the Excel Centre! One of us was so excited about this she signed up, queued up and was flung across the ceiling at 12mph. Apparently it was incredible, like flying. Yes, well I thought ....... I'll stick with cycling thank you!

I also caught a glimmer of my fellow team mate from last year's IG Nocturne which made my head spin as I remembered how hilarious that was that was! 

                                                  Team Velovixen 2013

                                        Maps - the perfect cycling accessory

As we made our way to the Awards Ceremony, we found  Splashmaps - who produce scarves (in the handkerchief shape) that have a map of various parts of the UK. Bye Bye Garmin (nearly!)  Maps of Brecon Beacons, The Surrey Hills, South Downs and they are working on The Tour. You can also have a bespoke map by selecting the area you want via their website. Very clever!

                                                      Ginger and French

Just next door (or so) was a stationery company Ginger and French. Great cards, posters, wallpaper, mugs and wrapping paper! Perfect birthday and Christmas and any other reason for presents.

                                                    Laura Trott's Mum!

The Total Women's Cycling Awards were a real joy to see. So many people doing great things to promote and encourage women to cycle. There were 14 awards all voted for by women across the country. The votes created a short list in each of the categories and a panel of judges made the final decision. The winners were announced by Anna Glowinski who is not only a cyclist, TV presenter and fabulous cycling clothes designer but was also a competitor in last years Nocturne!

                                          Breeze Champion Extraordinaire!

British Cycling's Breeze Network, Ana Nichoola, Manchester Velodrome, Rutland Cycles, Wiggle, Velovixen and Laura Trott were all winners. As indeed was London which gave the opportunity for Andrew Gilligan to collect the award on behalf of the city.  

Both the Awards nominee process and the ceremony was, to me, a really impressive event, particularly as it is UK wide and I very much hope it becomes an annual affair. Huge congrats to all the nominees, finalists and winners. A huge thanks to both Total Women's Cycling and Velovixen for creating and continuing to create such a positive and welcoming virtual arena for women to be powered by pedals.

The Awards were so absorbing that I didn't quite manage to see all the other exhibitors.  I did however find Shutt who really know how to make a good cycling jersey - and I succumbed to my first purchase. As a family run business, Shutt is right up my street in terms of design and product. 

Just around the corner were Hoy Bikes (via Evans) and although in my head the battle of the Chris's has been won by Mr Boardman - the range of Hoy bicycles is well worth consideration.  The range doesn't include fully carbon bikes as yet but who knows?! I have to add that given what both these human beings have done and are doing for cycling, yet all the while maintaining a total zero ego, they are now both heroes to me.

As I walked past the Cycling World Magazine stand, a Get Ready to Cycle Key Stage 1 booklet caught my eye. It is a book for children that explains (very!) basic bike maintenance, how to ride a bike and introduces the concept that there are rules on the road. I bought a copy along with Cycling World which has an article entitled Cycle the Alps. Ha! I thought, I wonder if that's the same as cycling one Alp (very slowly?!)

The end of the show arrived too soon and as I headed back to my bicycle I found a loop around the  handlebars so I may have to go back on Sunday.  This will also give me the perfect opportunity to see what offers are being offered by Velorution....... 

An interesting trip home - the atrocious anomalies of the cycle path (how it earned the word Super I have no idea) through Limehouse (on a raised pavement contraption, cyclists coming towards you, going across roads with badly shaped t-junctions giving really poor visibility) and that's from cycling it in daylight meant that DLRs new bike friendly policy allowed me to take a train to Tower Hill from where I could cycle home.   If it hadn't been for my fellow Velovixen cyclist I might still be at the station so I am extremely grateful for the help she gave.

The Breeze/Totalwomenscycling/Velovixen Rides are a really positive combination as they allow for women of all ages to achieve cycling levels they may have thought impossible.   Excel as a venue may be a bit of a trip but I really enjoyed The Bike Show 2014.  I particularly love all the new cycling accessories and businesses making cycling more and more accessible.  

As a Breeze Champion, I hope to be hosting a Breeze London Ride in the near future and if you know any females (aged 18 upwards) who are thinking about taking up cycling but are a bit deterred by the thought of not being fast enough or as fit as they would like then please do recommend Breeze as it is a perfect starting point - and obviously a lot of fun.  

 

Happy Cycling!

 

Thameside with the London Brompton Club Ride

Setting an alarm on a weekend used to mean long days of deadlines and deliverables in a hectic, sometimes hysterical (using both meanings of the word) environment. How things change. Nowadays as soon as the alarm rings out I am halfway towards the window to see whether the weather predictions are correct. 

Today was no exception. Luckily, such is the development in cycling attire it is possible to cycle in all weathers apart from gale force winds and icy conditions. Everything apart from that is down to what you wear and a little bit of luck. Despite the forecast I still wasn't sure of the rain or the temperature so extra layers were packed and I upgraded to a larger Carradice saddle bag.

As I headed out of the door the temperature pushed me to increase my pace a little. A few moments later I was overtaken by a roadie quartet heading for Richmond Park. It seemed like only a week ago that I was heading this way - another Brompton adventure ahead of me.

I met the first of the group then we were three, five, seven and off!  David was at the helm and I was assured that the ride would not feature hills or mud. Although like last week we were Thameside the route and the ride was so different. There was some familiarity as I realised we were on the other side of the river. The skies were big, water levels high although the water meadows from last time had run away.

 

There was also quite a wind. At some point I looked across and saw what I thought was a cormorant. Slightly excited to a) spot it and b) recognize it  I asked "Is that a cormorant?" and was completely ignored by Andy. This confused me a bit as it was so out of character. I asked again and the response was rather unamused "yes it is a cormorant - very irritating they are as they eat all the fish and I am an angler." Ahha! (I thought to myself) Clearly cormorants are not what you call a fisherman's friend! 

Conversations flew about all sorts of things. Commuting, architecture, gears, planned rides - all sorts.

A little further along there were trees growing out of the water not unlike mangroves. I've only seen mangroves in Far North Queensland - on Hinchinbrook Island to be precise where the temperature was the same as today's except in centigrade not farenheight!  Sitting in these Thames trees were very round balls of feathers - ducks out of the water who had puffed themselves up to the size of footballs to try and keep warm.

It never ceases to amaze me how much you see and learn from sitting on a bike. I never knew that Isleworth was north and east of Teddington - nor west of Brentford. Driving somehow removes this insight, especially if you don't do it very often and your map reading is concentrating on slightly bigger places further on - like Southampton, or Wales!

We popped by the original Brompton workshops "where it all began" as we made our way to Brentford. From there we cycled along Strand-on-the-Green and after a couple of attempts we were back on the Thames Path.

Over bridges, under bridges, along a drive and despite the zillions of times I've driven past it, we were all outside Syon House, home to the Duke of Northumberland.  It has a very good garden centre with gardens better than Kew (so I learnt) and is on the site of a medieval abbey. Cycling along the path, surrounded by grass for as far as the eye could see I couldn't quite believe I was anywhere near London. 

In Brentford we popped into The London Bike Hub which is a not-for-profit organisation offering all sorts of cycle-related services.  It is so exciting to see how many people and organisations there are trying to make cycling accessible to everyone. Whilst googling the Bike Hub I came across Brentford Bikes who lend cargo bikes to encourage a change in travel habits.  All good stuff!  

It also gave me an opportunity to look at Floyd's jacket.  They may not be able to spell nor do they seem to have a female line but swrve certainly know how to design and cool jacket - and Floyd knows how to pull it off. 

Back on our Brommies, cycling from Chiswick Bridge to just before Hammersmith Bridge and Owww! Chris cycled over a particularly slippery section and fell to the ground. Little red berries were caught in her pedal and her rucksack.

We stopped for a bit - it's always a shock falling over - and took in the view. Andy let me try his Brommie - all the gearing is lower than mine which has attracted my curiousity especially in The Hill Department.  I took it for a little spin, it definitely makes a difference as the lowest gear was clearly lower than mine.  I shall think on, as they say in Manchester.

Then we were back on our bikes (and yes, in cyclechat tradition - Chris's bike is fine!!  I should add for those that don't know Cycle Chat that this question is always asked in kindness never, ever malice).

Chris also and more importantly made a fabulous recovery and we were soon cycling under Hammersmith Bridge on to Fulham Football Ground. I was startled to know that the statue of Michael Jackson had gone, the previous club  owner had taken it with him. I also learnt that Fulham Football Ground is the oldest in the country.

On to Bishops Park which I have known since I was 19. Both my rollerblading and tennis careers started and ended here (bruises from the former took some time to vanish) the aviary has gone, landscape gardeners have been busy, yet the little Victorian cafe still stands.  Bishops Palace is apparently being refurbished. It has a lovely walled garden, a not-so-secret-now vegetable garden with manicured box hedges around beds of herbs like lavender and Thyme. 

The dilapidated greenhouse always used to look as though it would tumble at the sound of a sneeze and when a cat would prowl across it  you would wonder whether the greenhouse would collapse under the weight of the stealthing creature.

As we regrouped, a dad with his four year old son gave our Bromptons a good look - it seems he (the dad) has a Brompton and was keen to learn about the club! Excellent!

Through to Putney Bridge down to the river and on to Wandsworth Bridge. Just opposite Chelsea Harbour we stopped for a photo opportunity before reaching Battersea Park where we stopped for lunch. 

Whilst we were inside the weather looked as though it might take a turn for the worse. Surely not? This is the Brompton London Club! However the heavens opened indeed. I made my goodbyes as I had to leave early and headed out into the downpour. Headwind, heavy rain, lights on - by the time I reached home I was remarkably dry! I made a detour into a bakery for a treat! 25 miles in brilliant company, fantastic route, fantastic day.

My photos are here  here - unfortunately my fit-and-forget attitude to my Brommie dynamo lights has inadvertently directed itself to my camera which does not have a dynamo so these pics were taken with my mobile not my (yes it's recharging as I type) camera.

Thank you David and Anne for a great day. And clearly the London Brompton Club style standards are being set from the top!  Great cap!

 

Thank you peeps!

T5MC

The London Brompton Ride from Richmond to Hampton Court Palace

As the sunshine gleamed through the curtain I realised that the Brompton magic was working its wonder with the weather. Bright blue skies, clear as a bell. To think that 24 hours earlier part of today's proposed route looked like this. 

                                                             (c) Andy Longfellow 2014

I headed out to discover that bright doesn't necessarily mean warm. Pedal power warmed me up along the South Circular, being overtaken by speedsters about to lap and slap their Strava/Strada (one of those is a pizza restaurant but I mean the other one!) records of Richmond Park. A win win win - they'd be pushing their physical strength to new levels, maintaining and improving fitness whilst not spending big money to sit and sweat in a gym - to top the lot they'd be riding a bicycle! Way to go!

Circuiting Richmond Park on a Brommie eludes me. I'm convinced I'd never reach the top of those hills so I stayed on the main road and discovered the power of one of today's unexpected guests - the headwind. A real work out! 

At Costa in Richmond I met Chris, then Tony, then caught up with Anne and David which was great and soon we were a group of 10. At last I could meet Mick B and Karen - not just a hallucination on the web! - with our illustrious Ride Leader, Andy. Chatting and coffee, holding on to our Brommies so they weren't blown over. It was all good. The 11th guest was the temperature. That robin must have his head under his wing, poor thing. The north wind blew. I put on my Tourcanourbano emergency waterproof wind proof jacket and it stayed on all day. 

As usual, bands of Brommies always cause a stir, a bit of standing and staring by members of the public. Once we were all together, Andy led us down a little lane, along Richmond Green and straight to a Chocolatier - except we could only look at it, no time to go in. I will be back!

Out over a bridge and along the towpath. We actually cycled along the stretch that had been underwater the day before. The water level was the highest I have ever seen, indeed the overflow of Friday had created a new lake on what is normally a playing field.

Then I had another Alice in Wonderland moment. This is the second time it's happened - both times on Brommie rides - as I must have drunk another Drink Me drink.  One moment I was cycling along the river and the next I was cycling in one of my photos, in a place I have never, ever been to before. It was so surreal.  I was so overcome by it all that I stopped cycling. And stared.

In my early twenties I spent so many summer Sundays picnicking in what used to be a meadow running down Richmond Hill. It used to have long grass and was full of daisies and buttercups. Picnics with my then boyfriend were often joined by his family. The long afternoons of games with nephews and nieces, hide and seek, I-spy, Scrabble, making the longest daisy chains encompassed by warm sunshine and fun. 

We even had a surprise birthday party there one evening. About 40 of us all hid in the long grass and as the Birthday Boy arrived (thinking he was going for a stroll with his wife) we all popped out of the grass singing Happy Birthday To Youuuuu!  I don't think I will ever forget the sound of his laughter rolling down the hillside as more and more of us appeared in front of him. We had all brought champagne and picnics which we shared and compared as we laughed and chatted the evening away until about 10.30 or so and left as darkness fell. A memory of memories.

The thing about this spot isn't just the meadow. It's the view. The Thames makes a sweeping turn to the left and there's an island in the middle. You can see for miles and every time you go there it is different. Here it is - with a friend (and his bicycle of course) in the foreground but behind him is the meadow and then the view. 

 

So without notice or warning I had literally ridden into my past as there I was riding my Brommie along the towpath to the right of the Island. As I turned round to see the meadow and hillside behind me all the memories above just flew into my head. 

Things like this only happen on a bicycle. You just see so many things that would normally be missed. As I looked ahead I realised I was way behind the others who were waiting around the next corner oblivious to the mind time that had brought me to a halt. I caught up with them and we weaved our way along the path, chatting about all sorts of stuff as we went over bridges, Victorian Thames Barriers and past ducks who were wondering how they could win their battle of the flow which was working against them. Andy was full of all sorts of information about the area making the whole ride very special. 

 There was just enough space for us to cycle along this stretch without putting our wheels in the water but all I could think about was Olaf who would have made me cycle through it - so on the return I did and Orange Brompton kindly took the pics as proof!

 We reached Kingston and once over the bridge we split into two groups as I was unkeen to give my Brommie a mud bath!  Ken, Tony and I stayed on the road and the others followed the river path. We met up at the back gates of Hampton Court which created a perfect photo opportunity. As soon as I saw the front I realised that the last time I saw it was when Bradley Wiggins was winning a race and where he leapt into the crowd. 

Once in the restaurant the heavens opened until we left when the sun came out again. Did I mention the power of the Brommie? The food at Hampton Court may be expensive but it is delicious and it is run by a charity I assume paying for the upkeep of the palace.

Cycling through Bushey Park we stumbled across the deer and I tried to match Brommie Antlers with theirs (this only works - if at all - on the M-type!). There was a visitation which meant we could enjoy the park a little longer as Mick B replaced the tube in lightening speed and we headed east accompanied by a Tail Wind!! 20.6 mph without much pedalling - what's not to like?

Sooner than I was expecting we were outside Costa again and the heavens opened - but not for long. We all said our goodbyes, four of us headed east sometimes into the headwind and at Putney Bridge we rejoined the river path. Thanks to David I found a great route home which means avoiding the Wandsworth one way system. Result! 

31.20 miles in 3hrs 22 in fabulous company on a really great ride. Thank you Andy, I very much look forward to the next one.  The rest of the pics are here