Riding jackets

Tweed is back in fashion. For me it never went out, whether its capes, trilbys or jackets, tweed garments have always been a stalwart in my wardrobe. I recently bought a Harris tweed hunting jacket at Hammersmith vintage fair and it is fabulous for Autumn/winter cycling. I fully recommend scouring the charity shops for a bargain tweed but here are some nice ones available online too. Above, tweedy traditional from Laura Ashley

Slouchy style from urban outfitters

Fabulously fitted from Joules

And I'm not alone as a tweed loving cyclist. The tweed runs have now become a global phenomenon. The London Ride back in January that saw 150 cyclist turn out in breeches and flat caps. Although there did seems rather disproportionate amount of men to women, we'll have to rally up some ladies for the next one.

The Americans it seems have also got the tweed bug, with rides happening in San Fracisco, New York and Washington DC. Spiffing video of the DC run on riding pretty.

If you are looking for a Tweedy Christmas pressie for your dapper chap this Christmas we have Dashing tweeds fabulous flat caps on sale for £55. The caps are beautifully traditional but have a reflective weave sown in.. clever eh!

Bern Knits and other winter warmers

Its well and truly winter wardrobe time. So while your digging your winter coat and boots out of the bottom of the wardrobe here a few suggestions for winter cycling accessories.
Our love affair with the Bern helmets continues and the new Winter helmets with plaid knits are to die for. The knits simply press stud into the helmet so you can be warm and snuggly in the winter but can be removed for summer cycling. What is also quite fabulous about Bern's winter helmets is that they can also be used for skiing/boarding . And from my experience, quite a lot of us cyclists enjoy swapping our bike for a board and launching ourselves down snowy mountains once a year.
My personal favourite is the Brighton with Hunter knit £74.99.
A few other winter warmers. Wonderful handlebar covers £65 from designer knitwear label Lowies - get these down on your Christmas list!

Wacky but wonderful reflective earwarmers from Two and Fro £19.99
Sheepskin effect Paws, cosy and cool £29.99.
Both have reflective arrows on to alert drivers to your presence as you turn left or right.
















And finally look after your boatrace and protect your skin from the cold. Drink lots of water and wear heaps of moisturizer. For some more detailed tips take a look at this article on Woman knows . Any other winter tips, please let us know??

Schmoozing in San Francisco

I had the pleasure meeting up with the lovely Shelly Shroeder of Riding pretty yesterday. She showed me around her favourite city haunts and took me for lunch in cycle-friendly area of Valencia. We chatted about the similarities and differences of our cycling cultures the rise of the Cycle Chic movement. I am a huge fan of Shelly's blog and regularly consult in for my fix of stateside Cycle Chic.
We also met, Meryl, along the way who had decided after a lunchtime glass of wine that her pink cycling helmet was the ultimate accessory both on and off the bike. We whole-heartedly agreed!

Cyclechic goes Stateside: Citizen Chain

Cyclechic is reporting from the rather splendid city of San Francisco this week. The cycling culture is very much alive and pedaling over here. Similarly to London, cycling in this city is on the increase despite the hills. More cycle lanes and cycle parking are being put in place to make cycling more accessible and there are some great bike shops. We stumbled across the charmingly named Citizen Chain with a fabulous range of retro bikes, they even had some Pashley's on display in the window.
Hoping to cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge before the end of our trip...