cycling
Social CYCLE
Absolutely hung out at Camberwell’s newest cycle shop and café, Cycle PS
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ccording to the 2011 census, the number of people commuting to work by bike has increased by 101% in the last ten years. So many of us have been getting on our bikes that cycle-safety has become a hot-button topic and political parties have clamoured to come up with the best bikefriendly policies in the hope of attracting the cycle vote. ‘The popularity is down to a few things, I guess,’ explains Harvey Brown (pictured), manager at Cycle PS in Camberwell. ‘Bradley Wiggins winning the Tour de France, the Olympics, people caring more about the environment and obviously, cycling’s cheap and no one has any money!’
As with most popular pastimes, more and more communities are springing up with cycling at their heart. And thanks to a crop of new cycle cafés and clubs, sharing a love of the saddle is getting easier. In Camberwell, Cycle PS opened in December last year, just six months after launching their first outpost in Kennington. A bike shop and bar where you can get a cup of proper coffee (or, if the mood takes you, some Brixton-brewed beer), play a game of pool or get a pizza while you wait for your repairs, their success is thanks in large part to the fact that they’ve created a place where socialising is just as important as cycling. Owned by husband and wife team Liane and Martin Evans and managed by Harvey,
the place is bright and, despite the fact that it’s the middle of a weekday when we visit, buzzing with people. ‘Cycling is more social now,’ explains Liane. ‘Cyclists want to meet up and show their bikes and talk about them with friends. And with the Tour de France becoming more popular, we wanted to be able to screen it in a bike environment, where people can really get into it.’ With monthly ‘Pscycle Analysis’ talks, where repair demos and safe cycling discussions are capped off with a guest speaker (photographers, touring cyclists, authors), as well as film nights and screenings of big cycling events, Cycle PS attracts seasoned enthusiasts and novices alike. ‘I’d like to think we appeal to most people,’ Liane tells me, ‘from roadies to hipsters on their fixies.’ For the uninitiated (i.e. us) roadies are people who ride road bikes, with gears, and who mostly wear sports clothing to ride in. Fixies are the single speed, fixed gear bikes favoured by trendy types and, as Liane said, hipsters. ‘It’s an interesting community, fixies and roadies, one can become quite opinionated about the other,’ laughs Liane. ‘I think I’d definitely fall into the roadie category, I’m not cool enough to be a hipster.’ Not that it seems to matter to the scores of cyclists who have already made Cycle PS their local. As London becomes more cycle friendly – Norman Foster’s plans for a ‘SkyCyle’ highway that would be built above existing railway lines are currently being mooted – places like Cycle PS, with it’s relaxed atmosphere, good coffee and better beers will undoubtedly become the haunts that we all head to for a quick one after work. Whether we’ll be roadies or fixies is something we’ve yet to decide. 41 Camberwell Church Street, SE5; cycle-ps.co.uk
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24/04/2014 20:12