The Vintage Cycling Revolution

June brings with it the hope of some warm sunny days. What better way to get outside than a vintage style jaunt on a bicycle. There is a real fever for Vintage Biking events at the moment. The season kicked off last month with the London Tweed Run on May 17^th, and you may have noticed, this month there is a good number of other vintage cycling events happening.

We wanted to find out more about the people in the saddle so to speak. Colin Ball of Meccania Cycles (http://www.meccanicacycles.com) believes that people’s interest is harking back to calmer and more classic pursuits, which vintage allows access to at all levels as many people are turned off by hi-tech carbon, lycra and the typical high street sports shop look.

Colin says, “There’s also a growing interest in finding bike’s that we aspired to as kids but couldn’t afford, or digging Dad’s cool bike out of the garage for college. I’m not a fan of people who are ‘wearing the look’ because it is fashion, but who can argue that the classics are timeless and often ooze quality, which is why Meccania have everything made in Britain and also sell handmade British bikes.”

He attributes British Cycling champions such as Hoy, Wiggins and Pendleton with increasing the interest in cycling at a grass roots level and helping pave the way for a new generation. There has also never been a better selection of bikes for all interests and levels.

This year Colin plans to ride the L’Eroica Britannia, known as the most handsome bike race in the world. It could only be Italian couldn’t it really…?

The L’Eroica Britannia is the British version of the Italian vintage cycling event held every year in Tuscany. It will be a three day festival, the highlight being a three route bike tour of The Peak District National Park on the 22 June 2014. The festival continues the original L’Eroica ethos, which celebrates and values sustainability, territory, environment, heritage, wellbeing, and the joys of local food and drink.

A very English event, The Pashley Picnic is on the first of this month (see events listing for more details) and Pashley as a bicycle brand have really built up a cult following.

Pashley had their first “Picnic” on 3^rd June 2012. Initially it was just a little get together to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee, but also a way of meeting face to face with some of their loyal and lovely customers.

Without a huge amount of publicity or media, fifty riders suitably dressed in tweeds and period costume turned up to join the Picnic in front of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford. To say the weather was inclement would be something of an understatement but what they lacked in luck with the climate, they made up for in bravura and sunny dispositions.

Undaunted by the deluge of typical British precipitation, the gathering set off to take in a few of the famous landmarks of the town, like Shakespeare’s Birthplace and the Trinity Church, where the Bard was laid to rest.

We are keeping our fingers crossed that this year’s Pashley Picnic is a bit drier!

Vintage fashion aficionado Liz Tregenza from Advantage in Vintage (http://advantageinvintage.co.uk/) has had her bike for two years. Serendipity played a part as she ended up having her mum’s that was purchased on eBay. Liz’s first love is vintage clothing. She’s a fashion historian and vintage dealer, with more of a passing interest in vintage bikes initially.

The bike she ended up claiming turned out to be a 1956 Raleigh. Everything on it is original other than the basket, which needed replacing.

Liz’s passion for old things now extends to her bike, “I love my bike and the way it looks. It is great for getting around on flat terrains and with its huge basket, it is superbly practical too. I’ve had many people tell me my bike is ‘so Liz’ because, put simply, it’s exactly the sort of bike you would imagine someone who mostly wears vintage clothes to ride! I often get comments on it when I’m riding it, as I guess it’s quite unusual to see an old bike on the roads near where I live.”

Liz uses her Raleigh to commute to work, but as she wears vintage clothing everyday often worries about precious pieces of vintage clothing getting caught in the wheels. So her “go to” outfits for cycling are, in summer is a pair of 1950s shorts, a peasant blouse and Vans. Mid season when the weather is unpredictable it’s her trusty Vans, a pair of Freddie’s of Pinewood jeans, with some kind of shirt and her Barbour jacket.

Liz says, “I find that a lot of vintage cycling enthusiasts aren’t keen on wearing helmets, but riding around London I wouldn’t feel safe without it. My helmet is (somewhat amusingly owing to my very small head) a children’s BMX helmet.”

The general consensus about the attraction to vintage cycling is the feeling of freedom you get, knowing you are doing something healthy for yourself and being part of a movement that seems to have so many lovely people involved. David from The Gray Fox (http://www.greyfoxblog.com/) says, “I love the freedom of cycling – it’s probably the nearest you can get to flying without leaving the ground. I’m lucky to be a natural and fairly fit cyclist so I can steam along enjoying the speed and the wind past my cheeks.”

Adam from Governors Assembly (www.theguvnorsassembly.com) has always been a cyclist, starting off mountain biking with his mates. After his wife fell in love with a Pashley Princess they ended up doing some rides together and she bought him a Pashley Guvnor. And that was that, well and truly bitten by the vintage cycling bug.

Now they try to attend at least one ride a month, usually starting the season with London’s Tweed Run. Both Adam and his wife enjoy the fact that cycling doesn’t have to be all machismo and lycra, but more about joy of riding a bike along with taking in a nice pub lunch or visiting a café.

Adam loves the variety of cycling and says, “Riding alone cycling is a chance to think and take in the ride. Riding with friends is an opportunity to explore and enjoy the company of like-minded people. A lot of humour is involved; riding old bikes in Tweed you can’t take it too seriously.”

Another event that has built up a fair number of devotees is the Devon Vintage Velo (http://www.velovintage.co.uk/) which is organised by a father and son team, Alistair and Sebastian.

Donning their sports jackets back in 2012 and riding out for some Devon Cream Teas with a few congenial friends, the event has grown and they are now into their fifth year of putting on such an event.

Alistair says, “We get a wonderful cross section of riders from 8 to 80 years of age; there really isn’t a typical person or a typical bike. We’re very happy for cyclists to be on their modern bike as long as they embrace the spirit of the day and dress accordingly to our theme of 1920s to 1950s.”

So as you can see there is a real zeal about this area of vintage lifestyle and many different ways of approaching it.

To find out more about the UK vintage cycling movement we highly recommend a visit to theguvnorsassembly.com