Done the Etape, the Marmotte, the Tour of Flanders sportive? What next? If you’re looking for an original cycling challenge that’s going to test you further, something truly epic where you’re going to discover something about yourself and experience a real adventure, you should think about taking on The Japanese Odyssey.
Read MoreEmily Chappell - What Goes Around
Who hasn’t looked on in envy from their office desk as they watch a cycle courier saunter out of the doors of the sterile office, swing a leg over a fixie and shoot off into the freedom of London’s tangled web of streets to dance with the traffic? Emily Chappell’s What Goes Around: A London Cycle Courier's Story is a bittersweet love letter to London, its gnarly streets, and the joy of cycling through them. It’s also addressed to former lovers, the cycling courier community and the bike itself.
Read MoreSustrans Man - the Cycling Warrior
It’s a brisk and chilly March morning but that doesn’t deter Crispin. The cold has never bothered him and he slings on his rucksack over his Sustrans T-shirt, pauses to wipe a smear from his John Lennon glasses and mounts the faithful Brompton. Crispin loves the fact that his company vehicle is a Brompton and he’s adorned it with various cycling stickers like ‘Cycologist’, ‘Burn Fat, Not Oil’, and his favourite, ‘Life Behind Bars’ with a picture of some drop handlebars.
Read MoreKent's New Cycle Pub - The Freewheel
Was there something in the air last May? Two cycle cafés we visited (London Velo and the Bicicletta Cafe) launched then. And this Easter weekend we visited the The Freewheel on East Kent's coast, which also started rolling last spring. It's the only cycle pub we've ever heard of - although they serve plenty of cake and coffee too. We were attracted by the prospect of three of our favourite things in one place; bicycles, good food and a beer garden on a sunny afternoon! What's not to like? Ride Velo met owner Adrian Oliver.
Read MoreFrog Bikes Review
Frog bikes have only been going for just over 2 years but they are fast becoming the go-to brand for parents wanting to buy a quality bike for their kids. Last week they launched their new Union Jack bikes at Lee Valley Velodrome, fronted by Olympic champion Joanna Rowsell whose signature features on the frames. And they are soon to begin manufacturing their frames from a factory in Wales.
Read MoreThe Proper Way to Fix a Puncture
Ride Velo recently went on a bike maintenance course and learnt the proper way to fix a puncture. However, we haven't had a puncture recently. What did happen, though, was that some nasty person nicked my wheels when my bike was chained up outside... So £200 on Wiggle later, I'd replaced all the stolen bits with nice shiny new ones, and some more for good measure. So, in the spirit of sharing (not stealing), here's how to fix a puncture properly:
Read MoreCartoonist Dave Walker
There are cycling slogans and cartoons everywhere - mugs, T-shirts, tea towels... but most of them are not that funny! That is, with the exception of Dave Walker, who has become the go-to cycling cartoonist of our times. Although he claims his works are more 'diagrams' than cartoons, his acutely observed drawings are perfect pen and ink reflections of our two-wheeled obsession, and now Bloomsbury Publishing have commissioned him to produce a book of his work. Ride Velo went to meet Dave and his two furry friends at his home in South Essex.
Read MoreRapha Man - A Tale of an Epic Ride in Richmond Park
Sunday morning, 5.58 AM and Julian’s awake already. He leans over to the bedside table to turn the alarm off which is due to start blaring at 6. Best not wake up Alissa. Julian sneaks out from under the covers and pads down the landing in his boxers, stifling an expletive as he steps on a piece of lego on the landing floor, then silently curses the detritus of kids’ Games kit and school bags that greets him as he gets down to the hallway of the double fronted Victorian house in Wandsworth. A quick look in the mirror to check his paunch, then he’s in the large open plan kitchen extension. Extra strong pod in the Nespresso machine, Granola and yoghurt, glass of orange juice. He warms his bum on the Aga and pushes the dog’s nose away from his crotch. All the while eyeing up the Pinarello hanging up on the black bull’s horns. He’s had it for 2 weeks now but can’t stop admiring it.
Read MoreBeryl Burton
Watching the play about the life of Beryl Burton, last week, Ride Velo couldn't help but notice some similarities between her and her namesake, Maurice Burton, whose pro cycling life we featured recently. Both riders were from working class families who discouraged them to take up cycling; both showed the same steely grit and determination against the odds but were ultimately not given the recognition they deserved for all their great achievements. And neither could take it when beaten by their own children! Maurice pushed his son Robbie into a hedge when beaten up Star Hill, and Beryl refused to shake hands when beaten by daughter Denise in the National Championships.
Read MoreHopkinson Saddle Bag Review
Hopkinson England must have heard that we’ve been vintage bike shopping for the upcoming Eroica Britannia as they asked us to review their ‘Louis Bag’, a leather cycling bag with a classic look and simplistic design. Good thing too - It looks great on my new 1970s Bianchi road bike.
Read MoreVintage Bike Shopping for Eroica
Ride Velo has never been to Romford before and, an hour into the journey, we were seriously considering why we were enduring the traffic jams to get across London to a place that we’ve successfully managed to avoid for several decades without worrying about it. If we’d known what an Aladdin’s cave we were about to enter we would never have questioned the sanity of spending a beautiful spring Sunday afternoon stuck in the car negotiating the dubious driving skills of the inhabitants of Essex, rather than enjoying the country lanes of the Kent Alps on a road bike.
Read MoreBrixton Cycles - the Whole Story
Once upon a time, there was a friendly neighbourhood bicycle shop in South London. Then the big bad property developers came and evicted the cycle shop. But the cycle shop fought back and reopened in bigger, better premises. Life was good for the workers for 14 years or so, until new property developers came in the name of 'gentrification' and forced the company out once more. What would the poor oppressed workers cooperative do now? They got their heads together and came up with a plan: "Crowdfunding!" they exclaimed. And sure enough, one year later, Brixton Cycles looks set to live happily ever after with their brand new shop and café.
Read MoreThe Inspirational Beryl Burton by Maxine Peake
What better day to open a play based on the life of World Champion cyclist Beryl Burton than International Women's Day? Her incredible story, which has been brought to life by actress, and now playwright, Maxine Peake, started its run at the Rose Theatre in Kingston on Tuesday, and is currently on tour. Ride Velo went to the press launch to see this inspirational and funny play - which is really a must for all cycling history lovers.
Read MoreEliza Southwood
Chatting to artist Eliza Southwood is like peeling an onion; her life story unfolds in layers, each perfectly independent of the other. Famous for her stunning cycling prints and commissions for the V&A, Sustrans, Rapha and more, I would never have guessed that her former careers included being a professional flamenco dancer and a horse stable hand in a Pythonesque anarcho-syndicalist commune in Tuscany! There is certainly more to this London-based producer of iconic cycling images than meets the eye...
Read MoreBrixton Cycles and Look Mum No Hands! Join Forces
It's a marriage made in cycling heaven: East and South London coming together to create a cycling nirvana at Brixton Cycles. At the end of last year, Brixton Cycles - London's oldest workers' cooperative - faced extinction, but last weekend they emerged like a phoenix from the ashes when they launched their new improved shop, complete with a 'pop-up' café courtesy of Look Mum No Hands! Ride Velo went to check out the new premises and talk to BC's Lincoln Romain and LNMH!'s Sam Humpheson and Lewin Chalkley about their exciting union.
Read MoreSpring: Looking Good for Less
Ride Velo never ever appreciates cycling in the rain and snow. With Easter approaching, it’s time to throw off those waterproofs and wintery layers and embrace spring and some new cycling gear. But you don’t have to spend a fortune as there are some great bargains to be had. Here’s Ride Velo’s selection of the best spring kit:
Read MoreGet Set for the Spring Classics!
The European racing season is up and running! This weekend the curtain was raised when 199 riders set off from Ghent, the heartland of Belgian cycling, for the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Crowds and a hint of warm spring sunshine along with the whiff of yeasty beer greeted the peloton packed with stars, including Peter Sagan. The reigning World Champion was part of a breakaway that the peloton was unable to reel in but he was beaten to the finish by Belgium’s own Greg Van Avermaet of BMC Racing.
Read MoreDear Susan - Vehicles of Optimism
“I’ve always built stupid shit and it’s always been really fun. I think you’re not allowed to start a bike business until you’ve built a tesla coil and electrocuted yourself!” So says Petor Georgallou, founder of bespoke bike frame designers, Dear Susan, and artist, sculptor and film-maker. We went to his trendy, but freezing, East London workshop to meet the man, find out about building custom made bike frames and, hopefully, receive some pithy, weird and off-the-wall sound bites. We weren’t disappointed.
Read MoreMaurice Burton - Life After Racing
Many successful sportsmen have struggled with their personal lives at the end of their sporting careers. Who can forget the images of a washed out Paul Gascoigne, overweight and dependent on alcohol, struggling with his demons as he tried to make some sense of his life after a glittering, but not entirely fulfilled, career as a footballer? Of course the cycling world is no different: Marco Pantani suffered a terrible decline into drug addiction that tragically destroyed him. Even the apparently unshakeable Eddy Merckx floundered after retirement for a while, as he sought out a life in business as a prefabricated building salesman before being persuaded to go into the bike building business!
Read MoreThe London Bike Show 2016
Ride Velo visited the London Bike Show at the Excel Centre this weekend - not the most cycle-friendly location - but a great show once you'd braved the traffic and the high winds to get to the East London venue. Some of our favourite manufacturers and retailers were there, displaying their latest wares on Valentine's Day, and here Ride Velo shares the Velo Love:
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