Eroica Britannia: vintage cycling - what to ride, what to wear?

Eroica is a bicycle ride that can only have originated in Italy, where age, beauty, elegance and history are venerated. Ridden over the dusty, white, gravel roads of Tuscany on bikes made before 1987 by cyclists wearing knitted wool jerseys, it offers romance, companionship and cycling heaven.

Image L'Eroica

Last year Eroica came to Britain and was ridden over the rough limestone trails of Derbyshire, offering a similar experience to the original - even down to the weather. The next edition of Eroica Britannia is in just under two weeks and many riders will be checking their bikes and wondering what they will be wearing for the great event. 

The limestone trails of Derbyshire, L'Eroica Britannia (image Grey Fox)

Last year the majority wore vintage jerseys and equipped their bikes to relive the golden days of cycling (see image below). A few didn't, and they stuck out like sore thumbs, so entering into the spirit of the event is important and, indeed, expected by the organisers.

Image L'Eroica

So, what to wear and where to find it? The images above and below give the feel of cycle racing before the seventies and it is this era that many try to recreate. There's no need to go overboard slavishly searching out contemporary equipment and clothing. Your bike must be pre-1987 and there are other specific requirements, including that 'vintage or era-specific clothing' is worn. 

Inspiration - cycling in the sixties and seventies

Here are some ideas:

Headwear - vintage cyclists didn't have helmets. They aren't compulsory and many wear them. The alternative is the traditional cycling cap or casquette.

Jacket - modern lightweight race capes weren't available in the day, so heavier cotton jackets were worn. I've seen a superb recreation of the classic fifties Bertram Dudley Greenspot. Based on an original which I own, this lovely cycling jacket is made in England from Ventile and can be bought from Lancashire Pike. It makes a stylish jacket off the bike too. I'll be writing more about this in a future post.

Fifties Bertram Dudley cycling jacket, now recreated by Lancashire Pike

Jersey - a knitted wool or acrylic jersey is essential. I love the colours and designs of these and those with embroidered woollen lettering are best. I have collected them for twenty years and bought most of mine online (some illustrated below). Prices have rocketed since L'Eroica came to the UK and good, well-known team designs can cost over £100 but you will find something good for under £30 if you persevere. Modern reproductions are available, but try to buy knitted wool or acrylic.

Part of my cycling jersey collection

Shorts - some wear vintage woollen shorts. These are hard to find in anything other than a disgusting state. Use a modern Lycra short as they are similar in style to older ones.

Shoes - pedals with toeclips and straps are obligatory (although a foot injury means I can't use them). Finding vintage cycling shoes is not easy, The come up online frequently, but are usually available in smaller sizes only. Luckily modern equivalents are available. Some excellent traditional leather cycling shoes are still made in the UK. Try Mamnick, VeloHeaven, REW Reynolds and the Arturo from William Lennon & Co. For shoes made elsewhere try Dromarti or Quoc Pham. Some of the larger cycling shoe makers now sell classic style shoes, try Giro Republic (Sigma Sport), Vittoria or the Exustar Stelvio (I think these are coming back into production, see SJS Cycles). This isn't an exhaustive list, so you will have to dig around yourself. Note that not all modern shoes will be suitable for clips and straps, so ask.

Mamnick Hibell shoes

If you are riding one of the editions of Eroica (it now takes place all over the world), have a wonderful day. I hope to see some of you at Bakewell later this month. If you're not riding, think about trying an old steel-framed bike and some vintage cycling kit; it's fun reliving the glory days of cycle racing. See Eroica Britannia.

At last year's event with my 1956 Claud Butler

Carradice tweed bike bags - made in Lancashire, England

Carradice have been making cycling bags out of cotton duck for over seventy years in Nelson, Lancashire. They now have a special edition range of bags made from Harris tweed.

Anything that combines my loves of cycling and tweed gets my attention, and I love the variety of colours and shapes in these bike bags, ideal for the commuter, vintage cycling nut or tweed fanatic.

See the Carradice website for more information.

Karl Kopinski - a portrait painter captures the soul & drama of cycling

I can remember, as a child, hearing the news of the death of British cyclist, Tommy Simpson, on the sun-baked slopes of Mont Ventoux during the 1967 Tour de  France. While at the recent launch of Paul Smith's 531 cycling collection I saw a superb painting by Karl Kopinski portraying the suffering of Simpson just before he died. Look at Simpson's eyes in the image below.

Tommy Simpson - © Karl Kopinski

I met Karl Kopinski and, fascinated by his work, had the chance to ask him a few questions about himself and his art. Here is what he told me:

'I was very interested in drawing from an early age but didn't manage to land any paid work until my mid twenties. I attended art college in Sunderland but became very disillusioned with their lack of interest in figurative painting, only just scraping through to get a third in fine art.

After a while I managed to get a little bit of work drawing comic books I then went on to work in the sci-fi and fantasy illustration field at a local company's studio called Games Workshop. After 7 years I left to go freelance in order to look for a more diverse range of clients. In that period I've worked for many different companies and managed to sell paintings to people like Peter Jackson and Sir Paul Smith.

Fausto Coppi © Karl Kopinski

I've worked for people like Ubisoft on their Assassins creed black flag game, I've had private portrait commissions from several people incuding Keith Levett the livery tailor of Henry Poole, Savile Row, who paid me by making me a suit! I painted a small portrait of Sir Paul Smith which was used in the book released to coincide with his exhibition at the London Design Museum recently. 

I have also completed a pair of large scale paintings, commemorating the battle of Waterloo, to help raise money for the renovation of part of the battle field. These were bought by the film director Peter Jackson and are now part of his private collection. My favourite medium is oils, I also work digitally for some clients and also use watercolours from time to time.

Jacques Anquetil © Karl Kopinski

The past heroes of cycling in the "On the Rivet" series were triggered by my now obsessive love of cycling, I do a fairly large number of miles per week on my road bike, and my love of portraiture, I wanted to do a series which focused on the romance, pain and heroism of the tales of riders from the golden era of cycling.  

People can contact me via my On the Rivet Facebook page also via my Behance portfolio and directly by my email karlkopinski@msn.com. I'm available for private commissions and will be updating my sites as I complete more paintings.'

Many thanks to Karl Kopinski for sharing these wonderful paintings - I'd love a few of these on my walls! Read about Paul Smith's 531 cycle range here.

Roger Rivière © Karl Kopinski

The Bike Show - celebrating The Tour de France in Yorkshire

Yorkshire proudly hosts the start of the 2014 Tour de France in July and The Civic, Barnsley has celebrated with BIKE SHOW; an exhibition examining the spectacle of the Tour De France, the best in bicycle innovation and the influence of cycling culture on contemporary design.

Some of Grey Fox's vintage cycling jerseys at Bike Show

I was privileged to be asked to lend some of my vintage cycling jerseys to the show. I love their colour, style and the links to the perhaps more innocent days of pro cycling when bikes were heavy and jerseys were made of wool and/or thick knitted acrylic.

Part of Yorkshire Festival 2014, BIKE SHOW is 100 days of art and culture welcoming the Grand Départ of the Tour de France. 16th May to 12th July at The Civic, Barnsley, Yorkshire. 

Images courtesy Nigel Barker and Our Favourite Places.

L'Eroica Britannia - a vintage cycle ride comes to the UK

L'Eroica - a ride for heroic bikes and riders

For some years a wonderful cycle ride has taken place annually in Tuscany. L'Eroica allows cyclists to ditch the Lycra and carbon fibre and relive those glorious days when steel bikes and woollen cycling jerseys ruled. It's a ride I've long planned to do and I was delighted when it was announced that it would be coming to the UK. L'Eroica Britannia takes place on 22nd June as part of a weekend of events in England's beautiful Peak District. It takes place just a few weeks before the Tour de France starts in nearby Yorkshire - a great summer of cycling in England.

The image below was taken on the Tuscan ride and shows the real spirit of the event.

Image L'Eroica

L'Eroica literally translates from Italian as 'the Heroes' and harks back to the glory days of Coppi, Merckx and Simpson, reviving the essence and romance of cycling. The ride uses trails and tracks of the Peak District similar to the historic dusty white (or sticky gluey when wet) roads of Tuscany, the 'Strade Bianchi’. Riders can choose either a 30 mile, 55 mile or the 'wo/man of steel' 100 mile route. Bikes must be pre-1987 (with a few exceptions on the short ride) and vintage cycling clothing should be worn. I've registered, but I understand that the ride is nearly full, so act fast if you want to participate.

For more information and to register, visit the L'Eroica Britannia website.

The Peak District - scene of the first L'Eroica Britannia

Vintage cycling jerseys - a Tour de France special

I promised many months ago to show you some of my vintage cycling jersey collection. The Tour de France provides the excuse. 

I love their colour and vibrancy; many have beautifully-embroidered lettering. Made of wool, or knitted acrylic, they're uncomfortable to wear in hot weather and are reminders of the rough, tough days of professional cycling.

Anquetil and Merckx

Cycling jacket nostalgia

What did cyclists wear in the days before lightweight and breathable rain capes (or waterproof jackets as non-cyclists call them)? A common sight was the venerable Bertram Dudley Greenspot jacket, made in Yorkshire from Gaberdine or Poplin.

Happily, as modern cyclists discover the joys of tweed and cotton fabrics (when they're not blasting around the roads on lightweight racers wearing Lycra) there has been a revival of the vintage cycling jacket. Hilltrek has been selling a Ventile version for a while (called the Greenspot to honour the original) and Brooks sold an upmarket, Timothy Everest Ventile design, called the Criterion cycling jacket. Here they are.

Hilltrek Greenspot Ventile cycling jacket

Brooks Criterion jacket

An original Greenspot (photo eBay)

La Madonna del Ghisallo - patron saint of cycling

The Italian love of cycling, religion and style come together at the chapel of La Madonna del Ghisallo on Lake Como, Italy. Grateful competitive cyclists have for years been offering bikes and other artefacts to the church. The little chapel became overrun and a large modern museum of cycling was built nearby.

Both are worth a visit by anyone who loves cycling or Italian style. The bikes and colourful team jerseys are rather haphazardly shown, but the amateur nature of the displays adds to the charm. Names such as Coppi, Fondriest, Bianchi, Colnago, Pantani, Gimondi etc will resonate with any lover of the sport.

All photos Grey Fox

Hollywood Rides a Bike

Published earlier this year, Hollywood Rides a Bike - Cycling with the Stars fuses glamour and style with one of my favourite pastimes - cycling. Its photographs of stars on their bikes show how the sport need not necessarily involve sweat, Lycra and carbon fibre.

The book is a spin-off from Steven Rea's blog, Rides a Bike and it contains 125 colour and black and white images of the stars riding every sort of bike - well worth a read to get you riding in style.

And here are a couple of my favourites from the book and blog - all pictures are courtesy Rides a Bike.

Cycle Style by Horst A Friederichs - celebrating bicycle style and culture

I've talked before about the influence of cycling in my search for style as an older man. I've thought for a while that there's a gap in the market for a book celebrating the increasing diversity of cycle styles that there are in London. Cycle Style by Horst A Friederichs (recently published by Prestel) goes some way towards this filling this gap, celebrating the richness of London's 2012 cycle culture and reflecting the huge increase in bicycle use over the last five years or so.

I love this book as a record of the diversity of cycling style. As a source of ideas for the lycra-tired cyclist it's invaluable; tweed, wool, pretty floral frocks and smart suits can all look good worn on a suitable bicycle. The variety of machines used on our streets, modern and vintage, mass-produced and custom-built, is well covered. Although the book focuses on London, similar cyclists will be found in all the World's major cities.

My one reservation about this book is that the pictures are so carefully posed. I still feel the need for a more spontaneous street-photography-style record of a great city's cyclists. A photographer could stand for two hours anywhere in central London and fill a book with a fascinating record of a burgeoning culture; extemporaneous shots of cyclists in mid-journey, their hair, clothes and bikes not quite so tidy and shiny, would be an alternative and possibly truer reflection of our cycle style. However, I have no regrets about buying the book, which I will dip into whenever I need a cycling fix.

Scarves - still useful despite the warmer weather

As Spring arrives I find that my warm woolly scarves emerge less frequently. However, a lighter weight scarf comes in handy for those chillier Spring days.

I found this lightweight wool vintage scarf from an eBay seller here who has many similar in a wide variety of paisley and other designs and colours (he also sells a good range of vintage cycling jerseys). Reasonably priced and cheerful, they're worth a look.

Vintage track cycling jersey - 1968 Skol Six Day Race

This track cycling jersey is from the 1968 Skol Track Cycle Race in Wembley, London. Six day racing was tough; it started with individual riders racing for six days, the winner being the cyclist who covered most laps in that time. By 1968 it was a team event, with team members taking it in turns to rest.

This jersey was worn by team 9, to be Tony Gowland and John Clarey. However, Clarey was injured and this jersey was worn by his replacement, Jim Moore, who is pictured in the photograph below.

I love the excitement of track cycling, particularly at a time when Great Britain has such strength in depth and a beautiful new track, in the run-up to the London Olympics (see my post here) . This vintage jersey exudes the noise, speed and atmosphere of closely-fought track racing.

See here and here and here for more information.