We’ve been chatting to Pol van Steelant about his brand new business venture, Cardiff Cycle Tours.  Like us, Pol set up his company because he passionately believes that the bike is by far the best way to explore a city…and he’s as keen as we are to spread the word.

We’re also dead impressed that, like us, Pol is genuinely committed to supporting the British bicycle manufacturing industry. Whilst we use the London-made Bromptons, Cardiff Cycle Tours have acquired  a fleet of the beautiful Pashley bikes which are still proudly made in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Cardiff Cycle Tours currently have two great new tours, the Bute Tour (£15.00/3.5 hours) and the Bay Tour (£10.00/2 hours).  We think this represents excellent value for money.

We don’t often get the chance to go away during the summer as it’s our busiest time of year, but I’m definitely planning in popping across to Cardiff soon to see how they do urban bike tours, Welsh-style!  I’ll let everybody know how I got on.

I really hope that people in other cities in the UK start launching bicycle tours to show visitors just how great bike sight-seeing really is.

Good luck Pol!  I’ll be heading your way soon.

For more information check out www.cardiffcycletours.com or call 07500 564389

Thanks to everyone for helping us scoop our first award.  We are extremely proud that our continual striving to provide a great bike tours and excellent customer service has been recognised by such a prestigious, well-regarded website.

We’re off to celebrate!

Cheers!

1) If you don’t like your tour, we’ll give you your money back.

There’s nothing more to say really!  We think this shows our commitment to ensuring you can have confidence that you are buying a truly quality experience.   We don’t know of any other tour in London that has copied us on this yet!  We believe that this is something which truly sets us apart from the crowd, and so we have always proudly made this offer very clear on all our marketing materials.

2) We’re the smallest bike tour company in town

Other’s might boast about being the biggest, but we’re extremely proud of the personal  touch we are able to offer our customers by keeping our tours really small.  Our maximum tour size is just ten riders.  That means you can really get to know your guide, get to ask as many questions as you want and, ultimately, you’ll get a more personal service.

3) Complimentary visit to our favourite pub at end of every tour

Cycling can be thirsty work…and we love really getting to know all our guests.  That’s why we finish up every tour with a complementary drink at our local pub.  It’s a great time to pick our brains for more tips about what else to see, what to do and where to eat in London.

4) We use the coolest bikes…built right here in London!

Most bicycles today are manufactured in the Far East and carry a considerable carbon footprint as they are transported around the planet.  We’re proud to use the funky, iconic and completely English Brompton bicycles which are built here in London, only 11 miles from our base.  So we’re pleased to be supporting a great British business and helping our environment too.

5) Free wifi and internet access

Check your emails, Skype your friends or surf the web after your tour.  Our base has free wifi for your smartphone or laptop.  No computer? No problem! You can use one of our iPads.  For those who really like to stay connected, we also bring along our own portable mobile wifi hotspot on all tours so that you can access the internet when we stop for breaks.

6) Free photography service

No camera? No problem! We will bring ours and take as many photos of you as you like.  You can then download these from a secure, private part of our website when you get back home.

This season, we’re going to be working more closely with a few other select bicycle tour companies in Europe…but we’re always very picky about who gets the official Spoke ‘n Motion “Seal of Approval”.  After all, we’re putting our own good name on the line every time we recommend another company to our lovely customers.

However, without a second’s hesitation we’re happy to point any Paris-bound visitors in the direction of Bikeabout Tours (www.bikeabouttours.com). We met Paul and Christian, the owners of Bikeabout Tours, when they were in London recently and we got chatting about ‘bike tour stuff’. They were really nice guys and I was impressed that they are obviously as passionate about showing people around Paris on two wheels as we are about the same thing here in London.  They also share our ethos of providing great bike tours in smaller groups, with a focus on .  They even use folding bicycles like we do!

The French capital lends itself extremely well to exploration by bike and Paris is certainly one of Europe’s jewels.  It’s culture, architecture and history can certainly equal that of London. Whilst we will always indulge in friendly bickering as to which is the best city in Europe, we are very pleased to be working more closely with Bikeabout Tours.

Any of our customers are welcome to ask us for more information about Bikeabout Tours and can pick up one of their new flyers from our base.

Recent guests on our recent ‘Hidden London’ bike tour have learned how Thames Water plan to destroy one of the last remaining riverside parks in London to create a 30 mile long ‘Super Sewer’.  We cycle through the lovely Kings Stairs Gardens on this weekend tour and loads of previous guests have commented on the fantastic views of Tower Bridge from the park.  There’s loads of mature trees, a kid’s playground and a great, green open space linking the river with Southwark Park.

Thames Water propose knocking down all the trees, clearing all the vegetation, building an ugly industrial jetty and closing the park for 7 years.  Oh, and after they are finished, the rest of the park would be used to store and process vast amounts of human waste!  There will be a nice big ventilation shaft for the sewer which is likely to poison our air with noxious smells.

As if all of this wasn’t enough, the work will involve blocking both National Cycle Route 4 and the the Thames Path long distance walking route.

Spoke ‘n Motion Bike Tours completely support local community activists who are dedicated to stopping our park being destroyed.  We’re hoping it never gets to the point where we’ll have to start chaining ourselves to trees, but we ask all our guests who have enjoyed cycling through this lovely park and those simply browsing this site out of interest to check out the Save Kings Stairs Gardens website and consider registering their protests at these nasty plans by signing their petition.  You can also join their Facebook page.

Well, this has to be a first for a Spoke ‘n Motion bicycle tour!

Two lads who came on our recent Reinvention and the Wheel tour (part of the Story of London Festival) successfully chased and cornered a thief who had made off with a lady’s handbag in West India Quay.

There I was busily explaining to the group why the Isle of Dogs was declared an independent republic in 1970 when I became aware of a great deal of commotion in the distance.  A frantic lady was screaming that the man legging it past us had snatched her bag and phone from one of the boats docked nearby.

He was a fast runner…I’ll give him that.  But he didn’t bet on two of my guests deciding to come to the lady’s aid and making chase on our nippy Brompton bikes.  He didn’t get too far before they easily had him cornered.  He reluctantly admitted defeat and threw them the handbag before jumping over a wall and making his escape.

Meanwhile, I was with the rest of our group wondering what the hell was going on!  I even wondered whether this was an elaborate scam set up to relieve me of two of my Bromptons…but I needn’t have worried.  The boys came back victorious and reunited the lady with her property.

Kevin Mallette, one of the riders who chased down the thief, was keen to play the incident down to the rest of us when the pair returned to continue their tour.  However, we were all dead impressed.  Well done lads! Its good to know that community spirit survives in our self-centered, self-absorbed metropolis.

I’ve always known that nice people ride bikes, and here is yet more proof.

One of the things that nearly all of our guests comment on are the super-funky bikes we use on our bicycle tours.

From day one, I knew that there was only one bike to use for an urban bicycle tour of London….the quintessentially English ‘Brompton‘.

Why?  Because Brompton bikes are built right here in the London.  Because we are proud to be seen to be supporting an innovative British manufacturing company.  Because most bicycles are manufactured in the Far East and have a much larger carbon footprint as they are then shipped all over the world.  And because our guests love how the Brompton folds down into a compact package in about 11 seconds when we load them onto the boats we use on our tours.  They are a true British classic, with a worldwide cult following.

So you can imagine I was quite excited to be invited to a charity talk held by Sustrans where Andrew Ritchie, who designed the Brompton, came to tell us the story of how he made a small business based in his garage grow into a major, international export success story.  I really liked Andrew. He is an entrepreneur par excellence, a great speaker, funny, inspiring and really pretty modest about all he’s achieved.  We heard him tell how he overcame obstacle after obstacle to get the financing together for his Brompton project and win over a skeptical industry by convincing them that the great British public would fall in love with a folding bike with 16 inch wheels.

I asked him for a photo at the end, and he obliged like a true gent.  He also wished me luck when I told him I owned the only bike tour company in the world to exclusively use his bikes.

My only regret was not bringing a Brompton with me to the talk.  Everyone else in the room brought theirs and when someone produced a silver maker, Mr Ritchie obliged in autographing them all.  I probably own more Bromptons than anyone else in the world…but managed to leave empty-handed.  Doh!

Spoke ’n Motion Bike Tours are excited to be taking part in the Mayor’s Story of London Festival 2010. This festival celebrates the capital’s rich history as a centre for world-beating ideas, invention and pioneers. From 1-10 October, there are around 100 events planned for audiences from every corner of the capital to get involved in, encouraging them to share in the story of this extraordinary city.

As part of the festival, Spoke ’n Motion Bike Tours have organised a tour called Reinvention and the Wheel, which will explore the innovative regeneration of the London Docklands as well as exploring the social history of the area and pondering on the lessons to be learned from the social pioneers and other colourful characters from the area’s past.

This thin riverside strip stretching eastwards from Tower Bridge has changed more dramatically than any other part of the capital, and in a surprisingly short period of time.  The tour chronicles this renaissance and how and why it came about as you explore Bermondsey, Wapping, Shadwell, Limehouse, the Isle of Dogs, the old Surrey Docks and Rotherhithe Village.  The route follows riverside paths, parks, quiet backstreets and the Mayor’s new Cycle Superhighway Route 3.

Tours take place on 2nd, 3rd, 9th and 10th Oct and last for approximately 5 hours, which includes a lunch break. The bike ride is extremely easy-going and is suitable for participants over the age of 14 years. Bicycle, helmet and guide are all included. The tour starts at Bermondsey Underground station at 10.30am but as spaces are limited it is essential that you book your place on the tour early to avoid disappointment. To reserve your space click here and select the tour called Reinvention and the Wheel. If you have any further questions regarding this event, please contact us directly on 0207 183 3069

For more information on the Mayors Story of London festival and the wide variety of events and activities planned, visit www.london.gov.uk/storyoflondon.

For media information, contact Ben McKnight in the Mayor of London’s Press Office: 020 7983 4071 / communitydesk@london.gov.uk.

Guests on our Hidden London Bike Tour will be aware that one of the favourite stories we like telling at the Tower of London is one which you definitely DON’T hear on the official tours given inside the historic complex by the famous Yeoman Warders. Recently, two of these male Beefeaters were sacked for harassment and gross misconduct following the reported bullying of the Tower’s only female Yeoman Warder, Moira Cameron.

These guys not only lost their jobs, but also lost their homes as well, since the Beefeaters have apartments inside the Tower of London.  So, developments today made interesting reading.  It turns out that one of those sacked, Mark Sanders-Crook, has taken his employers, the Historic Royal Palaces, to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal.  And it turns out that Mr Saunder’s former employers have now decided to make a substantial out of court settlement (rumoured to be £100,000).

So, it turns out that the HRP now feels they got it wrong and now feel that Mr Sander-Crook’s dismissal was NOT justified.  Whether that means that Ms Cameron exaggerated her story or that managers were simply a bit heavy-handed with Mr Sanders-Crook remains to be seen, but it’s a cracking addition to the story.  One thing we reckon for certain is that things are likely to be pretty tense within the ancient walls of the Tower these days.

Learn more about the Tower of London on our Hidden London Bicycle Tour, which leaves at 10:30 every Saturday and Sunday of the year!

One of the favourite places I like to show people on our Hidden London bike tour is Hermitage Memorial Gardens in Wapping.  It’s got a great riverside vista and a fantastic memorial to the London civilians killed by enemy bombing during WWII.  It’s a great sculpture representing a dove (for peace) which isn’t really there (for absence). 20,000 ordinary Londoners lost their lives during the Blitz, with a further 10,000 being killed by the infamous V1 and V2 rockets later in the war.  A pretty sobering statistic!

Sadly, in recent months the memorial has fallen victim to vandalisation by local youths.  Many of our riders have commented on how sad they found this.  I totally agree, and so was very pleased to see that scaffolding has recently been erected around the memorial and restoration work is now well under way.  It’s not quite finished yet, but is already looking fantastic.

Yesterday, our tour group were lucky enough to meet the artist, Wendy Taylor, who was on site supervising the restoration of her wonderful sculpture.  She downed tools for a few minutes to speak to us.  Wendy explained that the work was able to be done because of a charitable donation her team had received, although she was concerned that the dove could yet again fall victim to mindless vandalism unless memorial rails are erected around the sculpture. This sounded like a great idea to everyone on the bike tour….but the issue seems to be who might fund the installation of these protective rails.

Great work, Wendy!  It was really a pleasure to meet you after having introduced hundreds of bicycle tourists to your sculpture during our tours through the East End.