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For just a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon the sun came out in London and for a few brief fleeting moments it almost felt as though spring was in the air. The grey, dull clouds parted and the sun shone through, and it seemed that everyone was taking the opportunity to get out on their bikes. Of course, we all know that winter isn't really over and that it will probably come back to bite us on the bum, but after the days of hideous head winds we've been having it was just good to get out there and get the wheels turning again...
Friends were out together, chewing the fat and catching up...
...and it was even warm enough to grab a bite to eat outdoors (trees make great bike rests, you know)
Someone asked me recently what the point of 'cycle chic' photos are. "Are they chosen selectively?" they asked, "Why do you only show attractive people on bikes in their normal clothes?", "Where are the people in lycra, and helmets, and cycling gear?" My answer was simple.. firstly, have you seen a car advert recently? Do you think that it shows the reality of the situation on our streets? And secondly, if we want to make cycling appealing to the masses the last thing we need is to show cycling as something which needs special clothes, or special kit, just in order to get from A to B. As the aim of this blog has always been to rehabilitate the bicycle and show everyday and ordinary cycling, cycle chic is right up our street.
This is a duplicate post from i b i k e l o n d o n's sister blog, London Cycle Chic, where you'll find plenty more well-heeled Londoner's getting about on two wheels.
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Friends were out together, chewing the fat and catching up...
...and it was even warm enough to grab a bite to eat outdoors (trees make great bike rests, you know)
Someone asked me recently what the point of 'cycle chic' photos are. "Are they chosen selectively?" they asked, "Why do you only show attractive people on bikes in their normal clothes?", "Where are the people in lycra, and helmets, and cycling gear?" My answer was simple.. firstly, have you seen a car advert recently? Do you think that it shows the reality of the situation on our streets? And secondly, if we want to make cycling appealing to the masses the last thing we need is to show cycling as something which needs special clothes, or special kit, just in order to get from A to B. As the aim of this blog has always been to rehabilitate the bicycle and show everyday and ordinary cycling, cycle chic is right up our street.
This is a duplicate post from i b i k e l o n d o n's sister blog, London Cycle Chic, where you'll find plenty more well-heeled Londoner's getting about on two wheels.
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12 comments:
The person on the fifth photo is a guy, isn't he?
He is! Guys and gals are just as likely to look great whilst out on their bikes (and I liked his funny hat)
I gotta hat like that.
Woolly hats are the new black.
I thought everyone knew that...
(Great snaps Mark - keep 'em coming).
Is that so? Wooly hats are the new black? This season's must have cycling accessory - you heard it here first folks!
I'd say that your "someone" has a point - you should also show some UGLY people on their bikes in normal clothes!
Otherwise, people might think that cycling is not for ugly, normally-but-not-fashionably dressed people like themselves.
People like me, in other words.
Hehe to Paul M. What constitutes an ugly person? Can anyone really look ugly on a bike?
I think people only look ugly in cars.
I love the picture of the pink upright...matching panniers too!
Saturday was so lovely...can't wait for more better weather...bring on spring!
:)
Paul - I will endeavour to put ugly people in normal clothes on the blog from now on!
In fairness to criticisms, the fashion is really just a product of where I live and shoot my photos - Hackney and the East End are stuffed to the gills with cookily dressed bright young things. The photos are an aspirational thing; you can wear whatever you are wearing to ride a bike, that the people above happen to be trendy is merely a by-product of the circumstances.
And, like the aspirations in car adverts, portraying the extremes can help to move the masses, or at least that's the theory anyway.
Just make sure people on future pictures don't see you above comment. Otherwise they might think you consider them ugly :-)
By the way, why do female cyclists ignore tight-fitting lycra? That's unfair.
Once again, excellent pictures! The one with the "Arch 389" chair in the picture - Columbia Road Market by chance?
Love the ladies walking across the mud - something about that one has made me smile.
At some point, you have to snap me... lol :)
Lady Vélo.
Lady Velo, it is only a matter of time before I catch you! The photo with the chair is in fact the cyclists / pedestrian crossing at the end of Broadway Market between the market and Londond Fields. Close, though!
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