Fashionable Cycle Clothing

"What if I think that Neon looks terrible"

Okay, so you've had a few days to think about Neon since I posted the Neon Army post below. Still not keen? You obviously have your reasons. There are no doubt some practical reasons to needing to be able to cycle in "normal" clothes:

• You're on your way to a meeting and you want a greener (and cheaper) way to zoot around the city without having to change every time you arrive and leave a building. Neon is not very corporate, let's face it. (I arrived for a conference only to be asked for my "badge". Turns out, they thought I was the bicycle courier!)
  
• You're off to meet a date and you want to look decent when you arrive - not neon, Lycra and sweat with a bad case of Helmet Hair (complete with Klingon forehead markings)
• You like to be fashionable and you think that it's really nerdy to be a neon-and-Lycra clone.

Okay, okay I hear you. Some advice to that point? Topshop has created a range of cycle clothes that you can wear on your bicycle. You can feel very catwalk on your lovely bike as you coast leisurely down the streets of what is essentially a very cool city - London. Click here to see the lovely Aggy Dean working it - she's so fashionable and so Camden. No doubt she's not going to break the sound barrier but she looks very good.

If you're looking for some basics in rather neutral colours that you can mix and match with your more regular wardrobe, the cheesily-named "bspoke" clothing range offers trousers that look like jeans that have Velcro ankle grips and their Woman's Angle Jacket looks more Burberry than Izumi. I'm really not keen on the beige women's tops and this range (or the men's terrible anorak) so they have work to do. bspoke could definitely do with becoming a bit more fashionable but they provide some basic neutrals that straddle the gap between "normal" clothes and "cycle" clothes.

One final drool factor for the fashion-conscious cyclist: The Fendi Bicycle. Weep my fashionistas, weep!

Cycle clothing and the Neon Army

"What should I wear?" Short answer? Anything. My advice? Neon.

I am not a Health & Safety advocate because I think that H&S is utterly paranoid and most of the slips, spills, ragged carpets and overstuffed boxes they point out as hazardous won't hurt a fly unless picked up and thrown by an angry office worker. That said, I have personally experienced what works well on London's roads: if they can see you, they are less likely to hit you.

London is not a cycle-friendly city. Many people cycle but the infrastructure is wholly inadequate, yet the Cycle Campaigns go on. It seems once they get the critical mass, then they will provide the infrastructure. And not one moment before.

Don't get me wrong, I am a strong advocate of cycling to work and cycling in London but we don't have the luxury of cycling in a safe environment with unique cycle paths like our cousins in Amsterdam, Copenhagen or those cycling down the Danube. They can all wear what they like but we have to be visible.

I tested that theory. I wore a light-blue anorak before I bought my neon jacket and I have far fewer near misses than I used to when wearing blue. Imagine what it's like when people wear black on a bike? I did that once in Dublin and some guy - on a bike - ran into me!

So what do cyclists wear in London?

Commuters? It's the Neon Army on bicycles out there. Long-sleeved neon jackets, neon waistcoats in yellow or orange (or both), strips of neon on ankles and wrists, strips of neon on otherwise darkly-coloured helmets, blinking helmet lights, lights flickering on backpacks etc.

I used to think that it was so uncool - that's until I got knocked off my bike by a white van. Now I consider it the Right Thing to Wear for the job. Since I went Neon, I've not had a problem. It's as if motorists look out for us lumo loonies, so why buck the trend?

Other leisure cyclists wear normal clothes - jeans, high heels, stockings, flapping trench coats. Some have helmets, some don't. Some are really eccentric and inventive but people who do the daily grind of commuting, we just do neon and Lycra or tracksuit bottoms with ankle clips and trainers. It seems to be our uniform and there's method in the madness.

The Golden Route

Passion born out of necessity

After commuting on the tube (District and Central lines) from June 2007 to March 2008, I decided that I would cycle to work from Hammersmith to St Pauls, City of London. I had commuted to work and back in Dublin for a few months in the preceding years but decided that since I had "junk in the trunk", I could burn off a few inches, get my fitness up and avoid the unfriendly, hot, crammed, claustrophobic tube by cycling to work.

My work offered me a Ride to Work scheme, allowing me to buy a super bicycle and all the kit at a local dealer and pay it back with a considerable tax savings over a year. What a bargain!

Once I had the bicycle, I needed to find a route that wouldn't scare the Bejaysus out of me. I wanted lots of greenery and parks, safe cycle paths and some lovely views. I tried several routes that included Oxford St (NEVER do this - it's so slow!) and I eventually found everything I wanted in what we call The Golden Route - from West London to the City. (You can get maps for cycling in London here).

Now that I had a route, I needed a cycle partner so we got my husband tooled up for the job and he cycles with me most mornings. It's an amazing way to start the day.

This is our Golden Route:

1) Brook Green then High Street Kensington
- From the quiet of Brook Green, find your way onto Hammersmith Boulevard and up onto High Street Kensington. It's a bit of a jiggle, a squeeze and a maze through the traffic - the worst part of the journey.

2) Kensington Park
- What more can I say? It is beautiful and on mornings below 0 degrees C, the frost is thick and unbroken by footprints on the grass

3) Hyde Park
- A long cycle highway runs through the bottom of this park. Stay to the left to let those in a hurry pass you by as you enjoy the morning air and the view of fairs/events taking place in the park.

4) Wellington Arch
- Always magnificent - day or night.

5) Constitution Hill
- A cycle path runs alongside the road, enabling you to get up quite a speed on the way past Green Park.

6) Buckingham Palace
- At the bottom of Constitution Hill, Buckingham palace looms up to your right. It is so large and so stately...

7) The Mall
- A cycle path runs alongside the road, enabling you to cycle under Plein trees on your way to Trafalgar Square

8) Trafalgar Square
- A bit hairy for the uninitiated but have faith! The traffic light system works really well so get into lane, signal your intentions very early on and go slowly.

9) Northumberland Road
- A quick zip down to the Thames. Watch out for suicidal pedestrians coming out of the train station to your left - use your bell liberally!

10) Victoria Embankment
- This is a very busy but wide road that snakes along the Thames and offers views of the London Eye, Westminster, The Gherkin, The Tate Modern etc. It is a treat to have this as part of my daily commute!

11) Queen Victoria St
- This is a fairly quiet road with an awesome breakfast take-away place on your left. You can smell the peppery sausages cooking on your way past - mmmmmmm.....

12) Godliman St
- Permanently blocked off by builders who are building a new hotel. God knows why I don't get another route in as this entails me getting off my bike and swearing - every morning.

13) Cannon, New Change, Cheapside, Edward and Angel Streets
- This is a quick whizz (it doesn't sound like it, I know!) circumnavigating St Paul's Cathedral and tube station to St Martin's Le Grand St - I work nearby.

I really recommend the route and cycling to work. Give it a try!