Bike Bag Essentials- Small and Mighty Heros to commute with.

Bike Bag Essentials.

The sun has appeared (sort of) in London Town, and it’s time for me, the fair weathered cyclist to hit the roads again.  My last job I had to wear a suit which the company provided.  Weirdly we had our own washing machine and dryer so I could pretty much keep all my clothes at work and just rock up in my smelly cycle gear.  There was also some super-luxe showers with towels and toiletries from Ren that I completely took advantage of!  I have now moved work to Shoreditch and although we have showers in my building they are pretty bog standard, and you have to bring everything yourself.  The upside is that I don’t have to wear a nylon suit anymore and I can pretty much rock up in whatever I want which is AWESOME.   I know I may sound sad but after having had to wear some sort of uniform the majority of my life it makes a refreshing change.

Having said all of that, it's hard to know what to bring.  After 6months of swanning about with leather handbag on the crook of my arm.  I have had to seriously plan and rethink what I want to wear the next day, rather than hap-hazardly put on what I feel like at 7am.   Also I have had to think about my make-up and what blush/eye/lip combinations I want to put together.  And recently developed a new found love for mini toiletries/make up everything. It makes life so much easier.   Bike commuting is also a perfect way to use for all those mini freebies and testers that I havent gotten round to using yet.

I am not one of those people blessed with doing a 40mins cycle and ending up at their desk box fresh without a shower.  I sweat ALOT, and as much as I would love to forgo the shower, so I didn't have to lug around so much crap with me I simply cannot do it...........................So in my wee little bag I have to cram

-towel
- Shower in a can -AKA deodrant.

-clothing for the day (I can’t go to work naked)

-bike lock cable

-spare tyre inner (for punctured tyres)

-bike repair kit (for punctured tyres)

-bike pump (for punctured tyres for flat tyres although it’s so useless I may as well not bother)

-wallet
-Coin purse

-mobile phone

-tissues

-lunch for the day
-Note book
-Pen

-keys

-sun glasses (which I never wear because I forget about them)

-Cycle gloves (not in picture as I can’t find them)

-Buff headwear/scarf (Essential to any biker or cyclist)

In the picture below I hadn’t quite decided what I wanted to wear today so hence just the essentials.

The Bag

Firstly your bag is important it’s got to be padded on the back and your straps otherwise it’s agony.  FYI Karimor is a pretty good bag for a cycle, I like all the pockets on the outside to shove things into mid-cycle.  There is a handy Velcro thing in the biggest front pocket so you can secure you dirty cable bike lock and it doesn’t have to mix in with you clothes.  There is also a laptop bit in the bag while it’s not padded it does a good job.  All that for the bargain basement price of 19.99.(when you compare that to a Kanken at £55 it’s a steal.)  In Shoreditch a lot of the kids wear sport their Kankens and fixies (stupid fixies!).  I tried to use my Kanken once so I could hang with the cool kids but it really hurts after a 8 mile cycle!  There is just no point for me to try and look cool and cycle I just end up a sweaty smelly mess, so I rather go for function over fashion when it comes to cycling.

The Scarf

Also essential to any cyclist is a buff scarf, these are so useful, prices start at £15 but you want a merino one its totally worth to shell out the £21 especially when it gets cold.  You tube ‘Buff scarf how to wear’ and there are like billion ways you can use it.  I personally like the beanie, and scarf around my neck, but I have been known to use it as a headband to get sweaty dirty hair out of my face.  It actually not in the photo as I am still wearing in on my head as a hair band.  (FYI Ewan Macgregor and Charlie Boorman wore these when they filmed ‘The long way round’.  This was on the packaging in the cycle shop when I was shopping, had no idea about buff scarves then but then like an idiot I bought it because I love Ewan Macgregor.  In my defence this is probably the ONLY celebrity induced purchase I have ever made:)

The three make up/Toiletry bags

Slightly obsessed with these.  I own so many makeup bags all for different occasions and different sizes.   The largest one is from Accesorize about three months ago, the other two are le sport sac from Century 21 NY which I dumped in my basket while I was on a shopping spree.   My fav is the one with the NY metro map on it.  The little guy attached I got from Greenwich Market :)

1. Claudie Elixar Spray
2. Oribe Texturising spray (totally addict)
3. Flying fox Lush
4. No Oil Oil Percy and Reed
5. Bodifying cream Percy and Reed
6. Kiehls freebie coconut shampoo
7.Korres freebie body cream (snagged from a hotel room somewhere)
8.Emmar Hardie AM/PM moisturiser
9. Charles Worthington conditioner

1. Plasters (you just never know)
2. Drugs (for the same reason as plasters)
3. Philosykos oil perfume roller ball by Diptype
4. Fake up Benefit
5.Hand Maid baterial gel
6. Aesop Resurection aromatique hand balm
7.Lipstick Queen Saint Pink

1. Porefessional
2. Hello flawless
3. They're Real
All mini sample heros from Benefit that were free!
3. Touche Veloutee Chantecaille
4. Mac fine liner pen
5. Kabuki brush
6.Nars Laguna bronzer
7. Nars blusher Gina
8. Bobbi Brown eyeshadow in Bone
9.  Last but not least Chanel 'Les Beiges' powder!







Hope that was helpful and gave you an idea of what to bring with you on your bike commute. :)