I'm beginning to look a lot like Christmas

 Christmas helmet 2013 looks delicious.

Gloss paint says it takes 16 hours to dry. I can confirm that is true. After literally watching paint dry for all of 12 seconds I got too excited so wore it out. Gloss paint is really hard to get out your hair.

 In case you were wondering, you can't take a Christmas tree home on a BMX. A tandem on the other hand, that you can do.

 It's like pannier bags were made for this. You get a discount if you say you are taking your tree home on a tandem. And an audience.

All I want for Christmas is.... to ride around all day in my pudding helmet.

Hellish Helmet & Pannier Pumpkin

Happy Halloween

Following last year's spokey shenanigans, I have again Halloweened up my helmet and bike.

Take one pumpkin, a bungee and ALL the back lights and voilà, you have a pannier pumpkin. This year's chap is particularly cheery.

My hellish Halloween helmet

It might not be massively scary but was epically embarrassing when it glowed in this dark serious lecture theatre the other day. Awkward.

If you want to carve a bike into a pumpkin, these guys show how it's done:

Check out these Halloween bike rides.

Merry Christmas// Jingle Bikes

I'm a big fan of pimping my bikes/ helmets/ birthdays up with fairy lights. At Christmas I can completely indulge in this without looking crazy. Tomorrow I'll be tandeming from West London to South London to spend the day with family. 

Cycling on Christmas day is the best. The roads are quiet. Anyone you do see is SO happy and wishes you 'Merry Christmas' like it's the 1930s. Best of all you can stuff your face guilt free knowing you'll be burning some of those Christmas calories off.

My turbanised tinsel Christmas helmet....

.....with hidden fairy lights.

Jingle basket. It's going to be strange going over pot holes silently.

Oxford Street's Christmas Lights as seen from the back of the tandem.

Getting stuck behind a bus of drunk Santas.

A festive way to charmingly hide bike greased nails.

Riding around papping Christmassy Streets.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Tetris & Space Invaders

I am slightly obsessed with the mirror mosaic stickers that you can get from craft stores. I have been creating Tetris and Space Invader designs on EVERYTHING and EVERYONE. Mostly helmets. When light hits them, the mirrors create really cool disco ball reflections on cars, signs, dogs, babies....

Street Art by Invader. You can find his mosaic designs in cities all around the world.

A normal day in the office.

Notting Hill Carnival

Secret Garden Party

Me at Bestival with Luke Pom Pom. I might have gone a bit OTT

You should see the floor of my tent at the end of a festival. It has a glitter, mirror,  gem carpet.

A Spokey Halloween

Bike lights are great for lighting up pumpkins. You don't have to worry about burning your fingers trying to drop a lit tea light or setting fire to curtains. That Halloween was particulary scary. This year to save time switching my back light from my pumpkin to my bike and back and forth, I decided to just put the pumpkin on my bike.  

I also pimped up my turquoise Bern helmet (modelled kindly by a pumpkin).

I've also been wearing a mask on the back of my head to scare the bejesus out of people behind me.

Here are a few more spooky bike buys:

1. Frankenstein Bell  By Skulluxe 

2. Boneshaker Magazine Issue 10 £4.50

3. Hardnutz Skullduggery Helmet £29.99

4. LED Skeleton Front Light £3.99 Available at Chain Reaction Cycles.

5. Electra Sugar Skulls 3i Cruiser Bike £584

Mexicanized Helmet, Specialized Bike.

In an attempt to blend in here in Mexico City I thought I´d better pimp up my cycling helmet accordingly. You know how all union flag stuff is heavily reduced post Olympics back in the UK? Well I just missed ´Grito de la Indepencia´ their Independence Day so there is an abundance of Mexican flag stuff here. 

I´ve borrowed a Specialized bike off a friend and am having fun getting my head around disc brakes and front suspension. The suspension has been useful as some roads here have very large cobblestones and potholes.

I´m starting with my helmet but knowing me i´ll soon get carried away and Mexicanize EVERYTHING so I´m the Mexican flag version of this:

Then i´ll definitely fit in. Right?

Designed to Win

When you cycle, you can't use the generic 'my tube was delayed' type excuses for being late. In a desperate attempt to get a few extra minutes in bed I've been trying to come up with ways I can shave some time off my commute. So far I have;

* Wear shoes that aren't flip flops.

* Don't stop en route for a 2nd breakfast.

With these two speed improving factors set in motion I was feeling pretty smug. That was until I went to Designed to Win and met this bike.

Allow me to introduce you to the Speed Concept 9:9 by Trek. This time trial bicycle was ridden by Fabian Cancellara as he won another yellow jersey in the 2012 Tour de France Prologue. All elements that could create drag have been concealed to enhance aerodynamic performance. Maybe I should remove some of the Hello Kitty stickers off my bike as even branding stickers can add weight.

Also, I've been going through an 'attach a vintage silk scarf to my helmet' phase. This won't make me as fast as Graham O'Bree was in this hot red fibreglass number which he wore in his 1993 Hour Record attempt.

This exhibition shows the depth of influence sport has had on areas including; fashion, design, technology, politics, advertising and art. Sport is a creative industry that has amazing opportunities for collaborations in many diverse areas. This is something that we have become more aware of this summer with the Olympic and Paralympic games. If the absence of these events has left you feeling a bit Monday morning this exhibition is the perfect hair of the dog. Also if you just want to check out some super cool bike porn there are bikes once owned by Eddy Merckx, Chris Boardman and Francesco Moser to name a few.

Designed to Win is on at the Design Museum until November 18th 2012. There is bike parking outside the Museum or you can lock up along the Thames.

Cyclechic

Hello, I'm currently hanging out at Cyclechic HQ doing a bit of blogging and helping the girls get ready for their Hot in a Helmet campaign (watch this space).

It's no secret that I have a bit of a thing for helmets. I have friends who have never seen me not in a helmet. I do have hair, I promise.

Here at Cyclechic HQ there are helmets EVERYWHERE and when I'm alone I secretly try them on. ALL of them. At once. Buckaroo style. Shhh.

Me at Cyclechic HQ wearing the Bobbin Gold Helmet.

I've had this song from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory stuck in my head all week. Imagine swapping the sweets and chocolate for helmets and bike stuff, that's Cyclechic HQ. Although, we do have sweets and chocolate here too.

Check out my first blog post for them over here.

http://www.cyclechic.co.uk/
www.londoncyclechic.blogspot.co.uk