New cycling gloves!

My new cycling gloves have finally arrived! I say cycling, but I will actually be using these gloves for everything.
I get very cold hands in Winter, especially my index fingers for some reason. So these will be my walking, driving, cycling, hiking and general lounging around the house gloves.

dhb Extreme Winter Gloves - no messing around

They are dhb's latest Winter-proof glove, the dhb Extreme Winter Glove, which are wind-proof, waterproof and breathable, along with the usual cycling padding, reflective strips & palm grips. dhb are apparently the epitome of British design, although I'd never heard of them before, and they come with a small booklet informing you these gloves were indeed designed and developed in the UK. Not made in the UK of course, that would be absurd!
I bought them directly from Wiggle (my other fave cycling store aside from Evans) who are a lovely bunch who dispatch your parcel with a free bag of sweeties inside. I like this idea very much! Free sweets are always a good thing!
The gloves arrived last night and I haven't taken them off yet (except to write this, I did try to keep them on but I was just mashing the keyboard sid qwas ridculios - see).
I admit, they aren't very feminine looking. I think they might actually be men's gloves as they are a little wide on the palm and long on the ring & pinky fingers. But I don't care. I'm going back home to Scotland for Christmas, and you don't mess around with the cold weather up there!

Bern, Baby, Bern

I'm enjoying a day off today. I've been sadly excited about it as I rarely take a day off to spend on myself. Usually I take holidays to travel up North and spend time with my family or have a long weekend with AJ. Fluttering around online has soon crept into my day so I've been doing a little window shopping and I've spotted some cute cycling helmets. I do have a helmet, it's a very safe and generic looking Giro...possibly an Athlon. I can't remember. It's a silvery grey and matches just about anything I wear but it just doesn't inspire me. It was a quick buy as I intended to ride my bike the evening I brought it home - and I wouldn't dream of cycling without a helmet!

Don't get me wrong, my is Giro definitely a great helmet - light, safe, well-fitted and has a good brand name behind it. But in my search to find something chic but warm for the winter I came across the new Bern range. And wow...

These are actually marketed as winter sports helmets but I can't see why a cyclist can't pull them off! (Even better if you're a cyclist-come-snowboarder).  I'm not sure how much the knit would impact hearing though, I do like to know exactly what is approaching me when I'm travelling on main roads. The good news is that the knits are removable so it can serve as a year-round helmet. What I also love about these helmets is how customisable they can be -  Bern sells both knits and sun visors for their helmets as separates. They come in a variety of colours and are suitable for most of their models. Like it. Even better, the women's helmets come in a proper RANGE colours adorned with modern graphics*. Not just pink. Or with garish flower patterns that should have stayed in the 90s along with inflatable sofas and Steps.

*Although, yes they do have a little butterfly motif. But it's small and quite charming so I'll let it pass...

I'm back on a bike!

I honestly can't remember how long it had been since I had last ridden a bike. Possibly around age 14 or so, when cycling suddenly seemed uncool and I was more interested in staying in my room and listening to 80s rock (Queen was the soundtrack to my teenage years.)

My other half reignited my love of cycling when he decided to buy a bike to get him to and from work. It was purely for practical reasons as he had written off his car following an unfortunate accident (he was ok, his car was the only vehicle involved). Because AJ works 13 miles away he initially bought a little fold up bike and started getting the bus to Buxton and cycling the rest of the way. The fold up bike soon became a complete nuisance however - things soon started wobbling, wearing out and generally becoming a pain in the bum. Pun intended. There weren't really any suitable spares out there for the bike (a cheapo eBay thing) so a new plan had to be formulated.
A few of AJ's colleagues cycle to work so he started looking into bikes that would allow him to do the entire journey in comfort. For a few Summers now I have been wishing we had bikes to go cycling. Wherever we go on holiday we always find a route that would have been great to cycle. I then decided that I would take the plunge too and hope that I would enjoy cycling as much as I used to.

After geeking up and fighting my budget against my whims I picked a beautiful Trek hybrid and AJ went for a Giant hybrid. I absolutely love vintage / vintage-style bikes and one day I would like to own a Pashley Poppy however I wanted to be practical for now, I just know I will want to ride through bumpy forest paths so a modern hybrid was the obvious choice for now :)
I went straight to Royals in Wilmslow to gawk at all the pretty bikes. My trek was in stock but unfortunately a display model hadn't been built yet. A similar Trek was located in-store however and I was let loose on it in the car park. Wooo! I pluttered about then I left, trying to decide what to do. I'm incredibly hesitant when it comes to spending a lot of money on myself. After faffing about at the local Tesco for half an hour I made my mind up. I called the shop and asked them if it was possible for them to build my bike before closing time. I knew it would be cutting it close but they happily agreed. The thing with Trek bikes is that you can't order them to be shipped to you, you must collect it yourself. Another 30 mins later I was back in the shop admiring my new Trek 7200 WSD, running around trying on helmets and oogling all the exciting accessories while the poor guy who had rushed to build my bike was very quickly fitting on the mud guards I had just purchased. He did so well and was very polite even though I was like a kid in a sweet shop. The staff at Royals were so knowledgeable and patient - thanks guys!

AJ ordered his Giant the same evening but I couldn't wait to get out and about so he took me on a test cycle with his little fold up bike (bless him) on a 4 mile route. I was a bit wobbly at first and terrified at travelling down the main road back to our house. Strange, I'm a driver myself but when you're the one doing the cycling it suddenly feels like cars are out to get you.
The bike itself is a joy to ride, incredibly smooth, especially with the front suspension and seat suspension locked on. I've ridden a little through bumpy parks and there's no issue at all. The gears were a bit troublesome to begin with but a little tweak to a loose wire remedied that. The range is superb, meaning I can ride up quite an incline without getting off and walking. The only issue I have had so far is with the brakes. They just don't seem very responsive in wet weather. I'm sure there will be a way to sort that though!
I was so unused to riding a bike that I reverted back to my old ways of riding (either slouching over the handle bars, or standing up to pedal). No more riding on the pavement any more either!! *sigh* My bum did end up quite sore and my arms ached more than my legs after my first few rides. I'm sure I'll get used to that though :)

Result: A very happy me! I've rediscovered a childhood joy in cycling and I'm so pleased with my Trek. Now I just need some useful (and pretty!) accessories! I'm a practical girl and I deliberately plumped for a white bike because to me it is a blank canvas. I am a designer after all... Let the accessorizing begin!