Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme: A Chic 1st time user!

It's Day 2 of the Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme, and I had the pleasure of interviewing one of the newly registered members of it!

Meet Tyla: she lives & works in London and is an enthusiastic and rather chic cyclist, which is exactly what we like to see :) Today was Tyla's first time using the Scheme. She tells Vélo-City about her initial experience using the Cycle Hire Scheme in London...

 *What was the nature of your journey today?
The nature of my journey was leisure & to commute back home. I hate changing at Green Park as it's very crowded and stuffy and I nearly passed out the night before at that station! I chose to cycle to Holborn instead - a lot more comfortable way to move around :)


*Was this your 1st time on one of the bikes?
Yes, the very first time. I was Boris bike virgin till this evening.

*Where did you start and end your Cycle Hire Journey?
Southwark to Holborn.
 
*How long did your journey take?
About 10 minutes plus about 15 minutes messing around with a certain Jools before I got on the bike (!) and 5 minutes of double checking and panicking afterwards if I docked it correctly.

* Did you find it easy to use (from taking the bike to docking it at the end)?
It was fairly easy. The bit with docking it and trying to pick a different bike was slightly confusing but I am guessing there is a couple of minutes block between returning and picking a new bike. When I dropped off the bike, I used a docking station that was labeled as 'coming soon' but all the lights were working so I am hoping that I won't get overcharged. The downside is that the web service is not working at the moment hence I cannot even check if it all worked alright.

* The bike itself - what did you make of it?
I liked it. It was bit heavy compared to mine but I guess it added stability. Adapting the seat and changing gears was easy and I like the bag holder at the front!

*Did you get any interesting reactions from people while you were on it?
People starring, pointing and gesturing in a kinda 'Oh look it's the new bikes' way! Drivers were polite and stayed out of my way unlike when I am on my bike. I won't mention certain Jools who had to document every step of the way and including nicking the bike to have a ride of her own...

*Did you see many people on Barclays Bikes on your Journey?
Nope. I saw one person earlier in the evening but no one on my journey.

*What was your reason for joining the Scheme?
Because I love cycling and I prefer to bike between places in Central London than get on the Underground. Plus it's dead cheap.

*Would you recommend the scheme to other cyclists... and if so, why?
Yessss! Because it is a fun way to commute and well, it's so much cheaper and greener than any other mode of transport in Zone One.

*Your Cycle-Chic today is fantastic... What are you wearing today for your ride?
Today I am wearing...
"Baxter" black skinny jeans: Topshop
Shoes:  Hush Puppies 
Jacket: Diesel
Black top: H&M
Jewellery: Kizmet Jewellery
Coral-Red handbag: Topshop



Many thanks to Tyla for this interview! You can catch more of Tyla over on her Flickr Stream.

Saddle Up London!

Today sees the official launch of the Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme in London. I'm not one of the people who registered for it, but I'm very keen to have a go when the casual scheme launches! Be great to see these bikes in action in London: it's always fabulous to see more people cycling around the city. There has been talk of perhaps extending the scheme to allow Oyster PAYG customers to use their cards to pay for the hire - be interesting if that were an option, as I would certainly use it.

As highlighted by Mark over on his wonderful i b i k e l o n d o n blog , the scheme will hopefully inspire a new wave of Cycle-Chic across the City, with the casual user being able to hop-on a bike and go for a ride to get across town quickly. (thank you Mark for selecting me in your Chic round-up).

If all goes to plan, I should be heading out on Sunday for a cycle though East London, starting at an insane hour of the morning... hopefully I might spot some of the Barclays Bikes and people using them.

Have you signed-up for the scheme? Have you given one of the bikes a go yet? Drop me a comment and let me know! :)

Dunst does it well...

Due to my recurring (read as "annoying") neck issue I've been off the Pashley for a little while - but should be back on it this week thanks to my Physio last weekend. Whilst dreaming of being back on the saddle, I came across this picture of Kirstin Dunst cycling on what looks like a classic Raleigh through New York. She looks fantastic - relaxed, happy and chic on two wheels... always a great thing to see.

I love this outfit: Ray Bans, a simple dress (which I suspect may cost a small fortune), little brown bag and Sandals. Weather permitting, I'm going to recreate this using some Wardrobe Remixing & my Ray Bans and Cambridge Satchel, but here's a version of it that I've put together which doesn't cost the Earth...

Ruch Front Dress by Annie Greenabelle - £59.99 at Topshop

Top-Frame Sunglasses - £16 at Topshop

Leather Cross-Body Bag - £35 at ASOS

Strappy Sandals - £25 at Miss Selfirdge

Thanks Ms Dunst for the inspiration - and please keep on cycling in style! 

Leggy Fashion...

The British Summer appears to be doing that "rainy" thing again... there I am itching to be cycling in Summer garms, yet the weather is not complying with my desire... g'ah.

A small ray of sunshine came my way when this arrived...

It's another Lanvin for H&M t-shirt (apparently you can wear it as a dress). I missed out on getting this in the madness of the launch, but picked up this brand new one on eBay... AND I didn't pay over the odds for it either! I love the idea of cycling in this, so perhaps when the weather sorts itself out I can.

I do wonder of the Tutu frilling at the top will blow back in my face and annoy me. Only one way to find out I guess... :)

Product Review: Kitsch Kitchen Pannier from Cycle Chic...

As I've finally sorted out a Rear Rack for my Pashley, what would the next logical step be? Adorn it with a new Pannier of course...

I was very lucky (and utterly over the moon!) to receive* this Kitsch Kitchen Pannier from CycleChic for a review. Founded by Caz Nicklin, this independent London-based online store offers an array of stylish cycling accessories for women, including Clothing, Helmets and of course Panniers.

 

The Kitsch Kitchen bags come in various patterns - this one is the Florapola, which is pretty lively! I went for the Yellow colourway (it also comes in White and Orange) as the contrast between it and the Pashley was nice and bright...and I reckon it'll go very well with my summer cycling wardrobe too ;)

Other than it being rather beautiful to look at, the Pannier also very practical. The clip-on system it uses is really simple, so attaching it to my Pletscher was smooth...  

Cleverly concealed under a zip-up flap are two metal hooks that attach to the Rack. I found that they clipped onto it firmly and without any problems.

I wanted to test out how secure it was when cycling, so I used it as the main form of storage on my cycle date with The Boy... notice the lack of front Basket on Frankie - she looks so different without it! Although I adore the Basket, it can be quite front-heavy when riding with everything in there. I had plenty of stuff in that bag, (including some bike accessory shopping that The Boy did), but there was no danger of it rattling off the rack while riding - nor did it bang against the wheel or my foot - Huzzah! Weight doesn't appear to be an issue with the Kitsch Kitchen Pannier - it's a very sturdy bag and anyone one with a heavy bike like mine will know that weight distribution is pretty important...

Now, I'm sure you realise with me almost everything forms a part of my Cycle-wardrobe, so I'm pleased to say that the Pannier fits in nicely with this. It certainly became part of my wardrobe for the day:

Sunglasses: Ray-Ban

Earrings: Primark

Top: Warehouse

Brooch: Tatty Devine

Ring: Mawi for ASOS

Jeans: Diesel

Sandals: TopShop

All I needed to do was un-clip it from the Rack, zip up the flap which conceals the hooks and you have a lovely large handbag for the day - just like that :) It makes for a very spacious handbag or shopping bag & with the inner-zip pocket and two roomy outer pockets, you have plenty of storage solutions for your keys, phone and any other small items.

Retailing at £36.99 from CycleChic you certainly get your money's worth with this Kitchen Kitsch Pannier. This bag definitely gets full marks from me and Frankie: it's beautiful, practical & is certainly a very welcome and fashionable addition to my cycle wardrobe... certainly one to check out for sure.

More photos of the Bag in action can be viewed in this set on Flickr. 

Many thanks to The Boy for the photography.

*This bag was kindly gifted to VCG by Cyclechic for a review.

Cheeky-Chic!

I love finding new things to wear to add to my Cycle-Chic wardrobe - and this T-shirt will be mine when it comes back into stock:

(Yes - it does say "Hold my bicycle while I kiss your Boyfriend")

This "Cycle-Cheek" comes from the very style focused Copenhagen Cycle Chic online shop. More designs can be found here and are certainly worth checking out. I'm sure this tee and the rest like it will turn some heads on the roads! :)

Rack and Rescue...

A year and a bit later, Frankie is getting some upgrades to her frame. Last week I started hunting for a Pletscher Rack for my Pashley. It was time to get the rear sorted so I could get Pannier bags to carry more stuff easily.

As she's a Princess Classic, she didn't come with a Rack as standard. Yes, it was probably a bit slack of me not to have sorted out more storage earlier, but the big Basket was doing a fabulous job of carrying everything... well, up to a point.

Throughout the week, it started to turn into a mission to find the black Pletscher Athlete I was after. I'd found a couple of websites selling them, but delivery would be an issue as I needed to have it by Friday at the latest. Checked in with a few bike shops, but they didn't stock them... and then Velorution stepped in to the rescue :)  I got a message on Thursday from them via Twitter, telling me they had one in stock which was excellent news as I could pick it up Friday evening!

I knew that when I arrived, I wouldn't just walk in, get my Rack and leave: one of the windows has a sign which reads "Not just the sexiest bikes in London..." and this is very true. Not only do they have some of the most beautiful bikes in stock (including a Pedersen that I was so tempted to get on) there are also some fabulous cycling accessories to choose from, and a very helpful & friendly team on hand.

It was lovely to finally meet Andrea, who I had a lovely chat with about my Pashley, blogging & other bike related matters :) In between chatting and admiring the bikes on show, my eye was caught by this fantastic looking front basket:

... details are not yet showing on their Website, but I must get further information about this - would be brilliant to give it a test on my bike in London - a garden on wheels :)

The Rack was perfect & is now pride of place on the back of Frankie:

Massive thanks to Andrea and the team at Velorution for your help in getting the Pletscher sorted out for me. There is a fabulous new Pannier bag which now graces the back of the bike... more on that coming up soon.

Canning Town Blues

If you didn't already know, the Barclays Cycle Superhighways are currently being rolled-out across London. I've had a ride along (bits of) the Highway from Cable Street onwards - and now its arrived in my part of East London:

Work started on repainting the old Green Cycle Lane along this stretch of the A13 yesterday morning...

 ...and by the afternoon, they'd moved along quite a bit. Slight battle between Cyclists and Pedestrians yesterday, as the only lane available was the walking path. Really, the fella on his bike should have dismounted as the sign asked - naughty! The original cycle-lane wasn't in too poor a condition, but I don't think this has been resurfaced, just painted. You can't really confuse the Cycle Lane and the walkway now, can you? :)