Don’t get me wrong. I’m still head over heels about cycling. And I’ll still be riding to work every day, unless it’s pouring with rain or I haven’t gotten round to fixing my latest puncture yet.

But something finally clicked this weekend: as much as I love bicycles, I realised that I don’t want to be just “the bike guy” any more.

Meeting creative people and finding out what makes them tick — whether it’s starting companies, making art, or pushing themselves to their physical limits — has been one of my favourite things about CycleLove.

From now on I’ll be covering similar topics, but over a wider range of disciplines, on my personal blog at www.greig.cc.

I’ve written about all kinds of things: from my experience of depression to fighting procrastination and making writing a daily habit. In short, if you’re working on a project of your own, I’m here to help you make stuff happen.

With the Tour de Cycle Hire photos on show at Look Mum No Hands! (where I launched CycleLove in the spring of 2012), it felt like a good a time as there could be to stop.

To all the people that have read this blog, submitted articles or come to events — thank you for being a part of my journey.

Ride safe, stay awesome, and keep on spreading the cycle love.

PS. This doesn’t have to be a goodbye! Here are a few ways to stay in touch:

1. Join my Greig.cc mailing list
2. Follow me (@jgreig) on Twitter
3. Email james[at]greig[dot]cc

PPS. Did you think I’d just leave you hanging like that? I’m not quite done yet… here’s a final look back at how CycleLove started, and some of my favourite moments from the past three years…

People riding bikes, not ‘cyclists’

It all started with a man — in his eighties — riding a bicycle around New York and taking photographs.

His name was Bill Cunningham, and he changed my life.

It’s a bold claim I know, but discovering his work was the spark from which this blog grew.

I watched Bill Cunningham New York back in January 2012, and was inspired to go out with a camera and take pictures again. Something I hadn’t really done since I was a teenager.

Not sharing Bill’s interest in fashion, I needed subject matter, and bicycles seemed like a logical choice.

Before long I found myself wandering the streets of Hackney, trying to find the courage to stop people and take their photos. After several hours in the cold, I saw a guy with something odd strapped to his bike, and chased after him to take this shot. (It turned out to be a didgeridoo, if you’re wondering…)

After taking more portraits of people with their bikes around London, and realising I was actually enjoy the process, I decided I needed a home for them.

‘Cycle London’ seemed like it would be a good name for the project, so I began sketching out some logo ideas with a ‘C’ and ‘L’ forming the wheels of a bike:

After a slight tweak to the name so it wasn’t location specific, I  built a simple blog to show my photos, and CycleLove was born.

Naively and with no kind of real plan, my output grew to include interviews, photo essays and even popup shops.

Some highlights from three years of CycleLove

I’ve covered the first and second years of CycleLove in more detail before, but here’s a complete look back at my favourite bits from the past three years.

↑ Putting on a screening of Bill Cunningham New York at Look Mum No Hands! I wasn’t sure if anyone would come. But we ended up having to turn people away at the door. Possibly the best £200 that I’ve ever spent. And testament to the magnetic pull of Mr. Cunningham. (If anyone reading this knows him, please say hello from me).

↑ Two friends cycling along Broadway Market in London. Probably the closest I’ve gotten to expressed the CycleLove ethos of ‘people riding bikes’ in a photo.

↑ Cycling 100 miles to deliver a t-shirt to my first customer in Peterborough. On my own, without cycling-specific clothing or any training, in winter. Perhaps not the smartest way to do it, but I wanted to make a point. And it worked, I think.

↑ The limited-edition Just Ride poster that I designed for the first CycleLove shop, meticulously screen-printed by Daniel Mather. I still haven’t gotten my copy of it framed. Time to fix that…

↑ That time Rapha took my photo. (Well, George Marshall to be precise). Note the carefully co-ordinated sock/tshirt combo.

↑ Watching Matthew at Saffron Frameworks building the beautiful CycleLove bike.

↑ My second CycleLove poster, originally called Tour de Kraftwerk but later renamed to Le Kraftwerk after being warned the name might land it in hot water with the world’s most famous bike race. Yes, that one. If you’re reading Fiona, thanks for all your hard work with CycleLux, it couldn’t have happened without you!

↑ Photographing the winner of the “Best Bike” competition, as judged at the inaugural Vulpine Cyclogames. (A beauty of a biketvi, hand built by Japanese framebuilder Yoshiaki Nagasawa for professional Keirin rider Narihiro Inamura).

↑ Riding TFL cycle hire bikes from London to Paris on the Tour de Cycle Hire with Borough. As with my “100 mile bike courier” ride, we did zero training, went lycra-free, and didn’t regret a moment of it.

I didn’t set out with any goals for CycleLove. There was never a business plan, and I’ve never figured out how to make money from this site. (Which is, or course, part of the reason I’m stopping).

So long as a few people have read this blog and been inspired to go out and ride, I can consider my work done.

So, this is it.

The end of the road.

If you’ve thought about writing a blog, I’d urge you to go for it. Writing in public is like thinking in public. You’ll hone your writing skills, make new friends on and offline, and find things to talk about you never knew you had to say. Write from your heart. Put things online that you’re not sure about sharing. And let me know how you get on. (Also see my list of lessons I’ve learnt about blogging for more tips)

Hopefully I’ll see you on my Greig.cc blog, but if not, I bid you adieu from CycleLove.

It’s been fun, and I’m going to miss hanging out with you here.

It looked good on paper, but we had no idea how it would translate in reality.

We’d thought that the first day would be the toughest — sixty odd miles from London to Brighton on our 3 geared bikes — and the rest would be half days of cycling interspersed with copious amounts of wine, cheese and other French delicacies.

It turned out that we spent almost 5 days straight in the saddle before we got to Paris.

With no training and only minimal route planning on Google Maps, it shouldn’t have been a surprise. Our route took us through fields and forest, along muddy trails and puddle-strewn paths.

But our bikes took it in their stride, and thanks to our Vulpine clothing, we like to think we retained a little panache even when bathed in mud and sweat.

Keep scrolling to see how the trip panned out… (and then watch the Tour de Cycle Hire film).

A huge thank you to our supporters: James, Graham and James rode TFL cycle hire bikes, wore Vulpine clothing, had an Airbnb roof over their heads each night, and returned home with tickets from Eurostar. Tour de Cycle Hire was a collaboration between CycleLove and Borough.

Photography by Graham McLoughlin, James Greig and Chris Lawson

With one foot on the pedal, I’ve made a selection of things that are designed beautifully and perfect for everyday use.

To set the project in motion, they’ve installed a pegboard at the Old Street branch of Look Mum and are inviting customers to draw, doodle and write their Christmas wishes. The best submissions will be turned into limited edition Christmas cards and then sold at the cafe.

With all of the proceeds going to charity, and some lovely wishes and doodles already made, it’s proof that sometimes the best ideas are the simple ones.

Read more about the project on the OPX website, and don’t forget you can also make a direct donation to Cyclists fighting Cancer.

At risk of sounding like a broken record, finding good women’s cycling kit has often been a frustrating and fruitless search.

However, there’s been a wave of new brands and designers refreshing those search results in the last few years. We’re not out of the woods in terms of limited kit choice, especially during winter but we can finally see light at the end of our cycle… (sorry!)

Here are a few of my favourites:

Tenspeed Hero

Tenspeed Hero brought their fresh take on photography. styling and design to the table a few years ago and other brands had a facepalm moment. They have consistently produced brilliant piece after brilliant piece for female cyclists, promote women’s cycling endlessly and support their own Cyclocross team. I’ve worn this jersey to death this year and have since become one of the converted… a ‘TSH Fan’.

Machines for Freedom

Machines For Freedom first came to my attention when the talented Rebecca J Kaye posted up one of their caps (credit where credit’s due). I immediately went on the hunt and found out that Jen from Machines had two beautiful jersey designs in the works, as well as bibs that would change your life. Extremely well made with Swiss fabric, Coldback technology and SPF50+ – this is definitely a summer jersey but oh what a dreamy one!

Cadence

The cycling lifestyle brand Cadence has been producing consistently well designed cycling apparel for men since 2003 so it was a pretty big deal when the Flow kit was introduced for women earlier this year. Then followed the Pro Motion kit (above) with typical Dustin Klein line-work, in a race cut with matching bibshorts. Hopefully, more brands follow suit!

Tokyo Fixed

I may be biased as I saw these designs straight from the drawing board (my partner’s handiwork) but the Wings collection from Tokyo Fixed is one of my favourites of the past year. A subtle Japanese design in turquoise with pink detailing, snug laser cut arm grippers and deep pockets mean it looks good, stays put and is useful for layering through winter. Matching shorts are also available.

Trasé

A Norwegian brand that popped up on the radar a little while ago with the simple but elegant Nordlys jersey. The colours, type, logo are all understated but meld so well together. Trasé have dropped off the radar a little bit but hopefully we see more from them next season.

Velocio

In the Northern hemisphere the weather has turned, bringing cold and damp evening rides with it. The Wool Long Sleeve Jersey from Velocio is an ideal mix of merino and synthetics, keeping you snug whilst retaining it’s fitted shape. Founded by Kristy Scrymgeour, the owner of women’s professional cycling team Specialized-Lululemon and industry veteran, you can bet this jersey has been put through it’s paces on many a dedicated cyclist before being available to the public.

Cafe du Cycliste

The Yolande jersey from Cafe du Cycliste has lots of useful features such as integrated sleeve loops, an iPod pocket and reflective detailing. It also comes in a range of different colours in Autumnal tones with contrasting elbow patches and a button up collar. Cafe du Cycliste’s take on ‘tailored-tech’ with a nod to the French is a winning combination.

Vulpine

Another Merino beauty (’tis the season afterall) comes in the form of this Alpine Long Sleeve Jersey from Vulpine. Constructed from pure Merino rather than a blend ensuring that you are snug as a bug and can layer with ease. The structured pockets with reflective detailing avoid the dreaded ‘merino sag’ and give you a handy little light loop. Vulpine produce every piece for women as they do for men and sponsor a women’s domestic cycling team too. Go them!

Rapha

The Souplesse collection from Rapha has filled somewhat of a gap in many a female cyclist’s wardrobe I imagine. Well designed women’s kit is sometimes lacking in certain departments, sacrificing technical detail for aesthetics or vice versa. One of the softest and most elegant performance jerseys I’ve tested to date, it fits like a glove and wicks away moisture well on faster training rides.

Giro

Last not least, I could not conclude this post without mentioning the Giro New Road collection. Providing functional and smart cycling apparel with hidden performance features, the collection is well at home on the daily commute, trails or road. Technically not a jersey but the Wind Guard Hoodie has been a great transitional piece lately, especially layered over a merino tee and a loose shirt – it’s Nylon front panels protect your chest and core from the worst windchill whilst still being on the right side of casual for work meetings.

But after a blissful few days exploring by bicycle, Antwerp has stolen a little piece of my heart.

We spent most of the week riding the city’s Velo hire bikes, a dinky red Chopper-esque number which I found myself growing surprisingly attached to. The system works like most urban cycle hire schemes, with the first half hour included in the price. There was just one catch: a lack of pay-as-you-go options, which means registering for an access card before you start riding.

Our introduction to Antwerp came courtesy of a Cyclant bike tour, the highlight of which for me was a trip via lifts and escalators to a dead-straight tunnel under the river to the Left Bank opposite. Not something you get to do with a bicycle every day!

The cycling infrastructure was wonderfully coherent and thoughtful, and playing cat and mouse with traffic in London has been something of a shock since my return. Aside from the abundance of dedicated cycle lanes, people on bikes were also given consideration where road works were happening, and you’d see parents shepherding children to and from school by bicycle.

In short, Antwerp is a city overflowing with CycleLove…

“I’m going to ride a Boris Bike from London to Paris. Do you want to come with me?”

Without thinking I said yes.

It sounded like a fun trip. And I’d been wanting to do a London to Paris ride for a while (having read about the kind of nutters who do it in 24 hours on single speed bikes without stopping).

Graham had been working on a bicycle briefcase designed to fit on the front of the London, New York and San Francisco hire bikes , so we wouldn’t need backpacks or panniers. In the end we decided on a single, tiny modification to our machines… strapping a water bottle holder on to each seat post.

It was only when we began to tell other people about our plans that doubts were raised.

Our sanity was questioned. As was our lack of training. And our choice of bikes, which would have only three gears, and weight in at double the weight of a normal bike.

But when we plotted our Airbnb accommodation into Google Maps and crunched the numbers, it seemed perfectly doable — if — we stretched the journey over a few more days than you might usually take.

The ride would be a celebration of the Tour de France coming to London, so we decided to begin our ride as the peloton arrived in the capital on July 7th.

Thanks to filmmaker Chris Lawson, I don’t have to tell you what happened next, as he captured the entire journey (London-Brighton-Newhaven-Dieppe-Rouen-Bennecourt-Paris) on camera.

Thee friends. Three gears. Three hundred kilometres of road.

I want to take a moment to praise our steeds for the trip.

As you’ll see in the film, we covered all kinds of terrain from forest trails to muddy fields, and the TFL cycle hire bikes took it all in their stride. Zero punctures. And only one mechanical problem (a snapped brake cable). With close to 1000km combined riding. The stuff that bicycle dreams are made of.

Tour de Cycle Hire was a collaboration between CycleLove and Borough, made possible with the generous support of TFL, Vulpine, Eurostar and Airbnb.

So when I visited in the spring of this year I was sure to live it up, eating and drinking at the best coffee shops and restaurants in the northeast of Paris.

My accommodation at the top of the Canal Saint-Martin district (booked as ever using Airbnb) was perfect for exploring the city — walkable from the Eurostar, and close enough to reach the centre by Vélib. In fact the streets proved so cycle-friendly that I didn’t use public transport at all for the duration of my stay.

View my list of the best cycling pitstops in Paris (caffeine, cake or alcohol based) on Foursquare, which include the Fragments and Ten Belles coffee shops and the Sébastien Gaudard pâtisserie.

(Head anywhere on or to the east of Rue Lucien Sampaix in the 10th arrondissement to find most of the places in these photos… or further east to Belleville to get off the beaten tourist track)

Their limited-edition range of five bags is made from digitally printed waxed cotton — which as far as I know — is something that hasn’t been done before.

Mixing old and new techniques to beautiful effect, the resulting products combine the usual hard-wearing construction of Trakke, with the distinctive prints and vivid colour that Timorous Beasties are renowned for.

Available exclusively from the Trakke website, the collection starts at £75. It’s also worth noting that each bag is handmade in Scotland using British made materials, not something that many brands can say these days.

But instead of expensive bikes with electronically-shifted gears, carefully calculated training regimes and meal plans, we did things a little more simply.

We rode London’s cycle hire bikes (which only have 3 gears) with only a cursory preplanning session on Google Maps and a couple of group pints by way of preparation.

Come and see the first showing of the Tour de Cycle Hire documentary at Look Mum No Hands (49 Old Street) this Thursday 13th November from 7pm, where we’ll also be exhibited our photographs from the trip for the rest of the month.

RSVP on Facebook to stay updated and watch the trailer for the film (directed by Chris Lawson).

A huge thank you to our supporters: James, Graham and James rode Transport for London’s cycle hire bikes, wore Vulpine clothing, had an Airbnb roof over their heads each night, and returned home with tickets from Eurostar.