Wool, Wombling and General.......: ..........Vintage Cycling!

There's a new exciting club in Worcester called the WVCC (Worcester Vintage Cycling Club). It's been set up in association with Barbourne Bicycles and The Worcester Flea/WAVE to allow people with a love for vintage cycling and vintage attire to meet up and ride around enjoying the beautiful sights of Worcester.

It's free to join as a member so if you are interested please email them at info@theworcesterflea.co.uk. The first meet up is this Sunday 5th May at Gheluvelt Park at 12 noon. The only rules are you need a vintage bike and a vintage outfit and you're good to go! For more details check out their Facebook page at WVCC.

Unfortunately I'm unable to attend the Inaugural Jolly Jaunt but as it's being organised by my good friends I wanted to give it a big shout out. I am a huge lover of vintage cycles, owning a few myself which I ride quite regularly when the weather gets a bit warmer.

My big love is for vintage 20" shopper bicycles and I've been lucky enough, through my vintage business, to have owned quite a few over the past few years. At the moment I have two trusty steeds, one of which is this blue beauty below aka Anna Bella.

Anna Bella is a folding 20" shopper bike dating approximately from the late 1970s. We did buy her to sell on but I used her once to take to Belgium on a camping holiday because she folds so can fit in the boot of the car easily. After using her for a few days I was hooked and, as often happens, I had to keep her. I did have a small incident involving a pedestrian's backpack strap whilst cycling in Bruges one evening but after a few days I regained my confidence and got back on the saddle. I even treated myself to some removeable rear panniers for her so I have somewhere to put my shopping.

Trusty steeds parked by our tent in Bruges.

My most faithful ride has been my lovely Betty. Betty is a white Raleigh Shopper complete with fitted white metal front basket and white wicker rear basket. Betty was my main transport to and from the shop during the summer and everyone loved her, some even tried to buy her! Unfortunately she doesn't fold for ease of transport but it does make the ride a bit more stable. I am particularly fond of Betty's co-ordinating white wall tyres.

My most recent two wheel pride and joy is my beautiful Raleigh City. It doesn't have a name as yet but I'm sure a suitable one will come to me at some point. The City is a 26" ladies bike with a fixed white metal rear basket. I use this bike when doing longer journeys, such as going into town, because having the larger wheels makes it less effort to cycle.

As I have a bit of a habit of collecting things I don't necessarily need this brings me to the final bicycle in my fleet. My 24" Raleigh Honey is my project bike. At the moment she is hiding underneath the wisteria in my garden but I have great plans to do her up and make her ship shape. All she needs is some new tyres, a new seat and some fiddly bits with the brakes and handlebars. One day she will be restored to her former glory.