Cycling Snapshot// My 30th Birthday London to Brighton ride

I just had a birthday.  This year I was in Japan so my friends were let off being dragged on one of my birthday rides like the one I did for my 30^th where we rode through the night from London to Brighton. There is nothing like a party hat wearing peloton especially when it ends with a swim in the sea and roof top breakfast.

You can read more about that one here.

Happy Birthday to me. I'm no wiser.

My Tips For Night Rides

Night rides are SO MUCH FUN. I even hijacked one and made it my Birthday party. Here are some tips I swear by.

1. Get some sleep.
Get up early, go out for breakfast then chill out all day before having a disco nap in the afternoon. If you can't nap stay up late the night before and have the mother of all lie ins. Treat it like NYE. Once you get to the start line the adrenaline will keep you up.

2. Lay off the Coffee.
Coffee will dehydrate you and it's a diuretic which is never good on long rides. Drink lots of water and save the coffee for when you pass the finish line.

3. Eat little and often.
Sometimes rides can cover a few meal times and I find it hard to eat large amounts during a ride. I make easy to pack little mix bags of nuts, seeds and dried fruit to keep my energy levels up. Bananas and cereal bars are also good, I make my own.

4. Protect your eyes.
I hate having to stop because something has flown into my eye. Sunglasses are not really recommended for night riding, although you will need them in the morning so don't forget to pack them. I've never bothered investing in those cycling glasses with the changeable lenses because I'd lose them immediately  I wear novelty hipster glasses and hope I don't get in any official pictures. 



5. Light up.
As well as your usual compulsory bike lights battery pack fairy light are a must. Bring masking tape so you can fix them on safely without damaging your paint work. Glow sticks on spokes look amazing as do these Colour-Changing Bike Wheel Lights from John Lewis:

Colour-Changing Bike Wheel Lights.

Fairy lights & glow sticks (stoker's view).

6. Layer Up.
Temperatures drop considerably during the night and when you are stopping and starting you really feel it. I find light layers easier to carry. I swear by a denim shirt but if anyone asks, say I said 'a hi vis jacket'.

7. Enjoy the sunset.
It's not often I get to see the sunset without leaving a night club carrying a pair of heels.



London to Brighton on a Tandem/// BHF L2B 2012

On Sunday we rode the tandem from London to Brighton (again) along with about 27,000 other cyclists to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. We had a bit of an outfit crisis as the weather forecast kept changing its mind so we decided to play it safe and wear 1787959 layers. It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day and our waterproofs ended up just being extra weight to carry, which was just fine. It was lovely to meet so many other tandems and compare how many times people had said to them 'They aren't peddling on the back'. 23 said it to us.

We'd like to say a special thank you to everyone who cheered us up Ditchling Beacon. Especially the tandem guys in the frog and squirrel onesies who cheered extra loud. If two girls on an off road tandem without padded shorts and special shoes can do it, anyone can. See you all next year. 

Insanely early for a Sunday morning. Do you like my turbanised helmet?

He likes to do it for Madonna.

Lairy Fairies. We like to hold hands and ride with other tandems and see who chickens out first. They did.

At the half-way mark where we left the fairies having a pint.

This grey cloud was not invited.

Ok, denim jacket off, hair up, let's nail Ditchling Beacon.

Bouncy bronco morph guys. Made me seasick just watching them.

I like to match my outfits to finish lines.

If these guys are after a 2nd place photo finish.....

Now who wants to give us and our massive tandem a lift back to London?

Birthday Breakfast in Brighton// London to Brighton Night Ride

It was my 30th Birthday so we took the tandem to Clapham Common, met up with a bunch of my friends and had a bit of a picnic. We pimped up our bikes with ALL the fairy lights, put on party hats and lit sparklers. Then we rode our bikes through the night for 60 miles to Brighton.

Team L2B30 aka No Clue Crew. This was the moment we realised we had all accidentally dressed in black. 

We played with fire.

Team Tandem.

Aaaaand GO.



At a rest stop, touching up my lipstick in my chrome helmet (modelled by Natalia)



We saw the sun rise.

We nailed EVERY hill.

Matthew did it on a fixie.

Others stretched, we nipped whisky.

No padded shorts but plenty of false eyelashes

We all crossed the finish line together where we were met with hugs and bubbles.

Then we went for a swim in the sea.

After our swim, we parked up our bikes and went to my friend's roof garden where we had breakfast, Birthday cake and a group nap.

Everyone was so nice encouraging us up the hills and complimenting our party hats. We didn't have the right gear, had done little to no training, yet none of us hurt the next day, not one bit. This is either because we are all magic, super fit, but most likely because we had an ice cold bath courtesy of the English Channel. The hardest part was getting the tandem back to London. At one point I thought I might have to ride it back on my own, picking up hitch hikers.

Thanks guys for the best Birthday ever. I  now feel very lonely riding around town on my own without a party hat clad convoy. For my 40th let's do it again. Then swim to France. Anyone? Hellooooo?

Here is our fundraising page for the British Heart Foundation.