Meet the cycle tribes. Part one: the Pampered Princess

There are many different cycle tribes you’ll spot when you’re out and about taking in the sights of London on a Santander Cycle. For the first in our series introducing your fellow cyclists we meet the Pampered Princess.

There’s something particularly timeless about a wicker basket-sporting bicycle. The look conjures up images of post-War women wearing floral print dresses, pedalling in pairs through country lanes flanked by gently swaying wheat. Swap these pastoral scenes for London’s streets and it’s a look which has been brought bang up to date with the Pampered Princess.

Mainly found in either the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea or the leafy suburbs of Hampstead, the Princess is a fine breed. Always immaculately turned out and usually hidden behind huge sunglasses, she may well sport a floral print similar to her 1950s sisters but is much more likely to be seen in a pair of pastel-shaded pedal pushers. And pumps. Always a pair of box-fresh pumps.

The Princess effortlessly glides through life. Speed is definitely not the issue here. From her elevated leather sprung seat she surveys the High Street boutiques, carefully planning each and every purchase. Our heroine shuns the big corporate brands and instead plumps for independent butchers, bakers and candlestick makers. Each brown paper bagged purchase is proudly placed in her wicker basket before she sets off in search of the next low-carbon impact, fair trade organic delight.

Her bike is every bit as much a personal statement as the carbon fibre machine is to the racing enthusiast. There’s no garish frame colour here to clash with the Princess’s own muted tone wardrobe and who needs more than three gears to cycle to and from the shops? Certainly NOT the Princess.

Do say: “Daaaaarling what a beautiful scarf”

Don’t say: “Why do you have to ride SO slowly?”

Remember - you don’t have to be part of any tribe. Just get on a bike and enjoy London. Santander Cycle hire costs from £2 for 24-hour bike access, including unlimited 30 minute journeys.