Cycling Storage, Safety, and Starters – The Essential Guide

Cycling is a great way to get outdoors and embrace nature, fresh air, and the elements, whatever the season. Hornit was founded by former lawyer and Ironman triathlete, Tom de Pelet. Tom spent 7 years commuting to work in London and saw a gap in the market for innovative cycling products. When the brand launched in 2012, the objective was to create pioneering accessories that make cycling safer without compromising style. The first product to launch was the dB140 – the world’s loudest bike horn. The horn enables cyclists to alert distracted drivers and pedestrians to their presence and the sleek design blends seamlessly with any bike.

Since the success of this product, the team at Hornit has dedicated itself to sourcing and designing innovative, stylish, and fun cycling products for people of all ages. From lights and horns to cycle storage and helmets, each Hornit product has been created to improve cyclist’s lives in some way.

Now an established brand, Hornit has won several awards and its products are sold in over 40 countries worldwide. Innovation still remains at the heart of Hornit and Tom’s passion is shared by the whole team who make it their goal to create cycling products that transform your ride.

They offer a range of exciting and useful products to help store bikes, keep you and you safe and also help start a child’s biking journey through their super-lightweight balance bikes.

Here are some of their most popular products:

Hornit Clug Pro £25.99 – £27.99 from Hornit.com Save space and store bikes on a wall with the innovative bike holder. Weighing just 26g the Clug Pro holds up to 30kg, with different versions to suit bike tyres it will help keep bikes safe and secure.

Hornit dB140 Bike Horn £29.99 from Hornit.com The dB140 is the loudest cycle horn on the market, putting you in control of your safety by letting people know you’re there. It’s small, sleek, and enables you to alert distracted drivers and pedestrians to your presence. Featuring upgraded internal components and a brand-new Garmin style mount developed in collaboration with K-Edge, your dB140 is better than ever: rock solid on the bars, easy to remove, and interchangeable with other Garmin compatible devices.

Hornit Mini £17.99 available in 4 colours from Hornit.com The ultimate lights and sound effects and horn for children’s bikes and scooters. Loaded with 25 fun sounds including fire engine, police siren, motorbike, bike bell, and wolf, your child’s imagination will run wild. It also has 6 light settings including white, green, and flashing lights.

Hornit Children’s Helmet £34.99 from Hornit.com Painstakingly designed to look stylish & fun (or quietly understated in the case of Stealth!), they are fully adjustable, comfortable, lightweight, and actually, something children will want to wear. They will also love the integrated LED which is an added safety feature. With a range of colourful helmets, Hornit help stop children from arguing about putting their helmets on. With 15 designs to choose from everyone will be happy.

Hornit Airo Balance Bike £139 available in 6 colours from Hornit.com Made from a super lightweight, ultra-hard-wearing magnesium alloy, at 2.95kg this balance bike is levitating light, helping reduce injuries, falls, and accidents. The super-strong balance bike helps children concentrate on balancing and therefore helps them learn to ride much quicker than starting on stabilisers.  With a lifetime guarantee, Hornit is confident the bike is here to last.

For more information visit Hornit.com

3 Things To Know Before Going To College*

Going to college is considered a right of passage for many people. It signals the beginning of adulthood and earning independence. It’s also the first step in obtaining a career.

Naturally, it’s not a decision that should be taken lightly. You’ll need to consider multiple things when making your choice, including:

  • Which areas you’re interested in, such as tech.
  • How much it’ll cost.
  • Whether you have the grades to be accepted.

Each of these can be obvious factors. They’re far from the only ones, however. You’ll need to consider several other aspects before going to college.

Three in particular stand out.

What To Know Before Going To College: 3 Important Factors

Pick The Right Accommodation

If you’re going to college more than a certain distance away, you’ll need to find somewhere to stay while you’re attending. Though many institutions offer on-campus accommodation, that isn’t always an appropriate option.

It may be too expensive for some college students. That doesn’t mean that finding short term student accommodation needs to be hard, however.

You’ll have plenty of resources available to you. The college itself may even offer help and advice with this.

Make sure that you compare several options before making a decision. It’s also recommended that you try to secure the lease as early as possible.

Accommodation can be booked out in the weeks ahead of the academic year.

Bring The Right Things

After picking the right accommodation for you, you’ll need to ensure that you bring all of the right belongings with you. That’ll vary from person to person.

Part of this involves the materials and supplies that you may need for your course. It’s also worth bringing any home necessities or creature comforts if you find that your accommodation lacks them.

You should also consider bringing:

  • Comfortable daily wear for classes.
  • Laptop and phone.
  • Bathroom supplies.
  • A formal outfit for special occasions.

You could have a few other things you might want to bring. Consider what you’ll need during your typical daily life.

Find Out What To Do On & Off Campus

When you’re going to college, studying and going to class aren’t the only things you’ll do. You’ll want to have a social life and do extracurricular activities throughout your academic years.

Figuring out what you can do both on and off-campus at a particular institution is vital. If you’re going out of state, then that’s particularly true.

The college’s website will have plenty of information about what you can do on campus. To find out what you can do off-campus, a quick online search will be helpful.

It may be worth focusing on things that you’re already interested in. It could be a great way of making some new friends at college, especially when you’re going out of town.

What To Know Before Going To College: Wrapping Up

Before going to college, you’ll need to ensure that you make the right decision. You’ll have to keep multiple factors in mind when making the choice.

That doesn’t mean that it needs to be a complicated one, however. By concentrating on a few key areas, you shouldn’t have a problem picking the right college for you.

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The Perfect Gift for Mum’s to Be from Natural Birthing Company*

It’s been very quiet around here of late, right? Perhaps more so than ever before…
You see, I had all these grand plans to use the start of my maternity leave to plan and schedule content, and then keep it up whilst baby naps. What actually happened was I managed three days of maternity leave before my daughter decided to show up, with a short, sharp three hour labour. We’re now 6 weeks in and it turns out she is one of those babies who refuses daytime sleep (but I forgive her because she is great at night!).

So this post was actually supposed to be a product review, however due to aforementioned speedy (and shock) labour I never actually got a chance to even get my hospital bag out of the car, let alone use what was in it until long after the event! So in the spirit of Christmas I’m here to tell you THE most perfect gift you can give to anyone expecting a baby, the Mamas Moments Birthing Essentials Gift Pack from Natural Birthing Company.

Gifted Product

I was genuinely really excited to have this packed in my hospital bag, and having given them a little try since I can say with confidence that these would make a wonderful gift for any expectant mother (or a present to yourself if you are the expectant mother).

For £20 you get a lovely little pouch containing four products:

Cool It Mama (Cooling Body Spritz) to help calm and revitalise you (and your birth partner) during labour. I actually found this quite useful post-birth on the ward as we had to stay in overnight. It was BOILING on the ward and I was exhausted yet to afraid to sleep lest my brand new human needed me. This spray really did make me feel a little bit more human and a little less like I was about to melt.

Relax and Breathe (Calming Massage Oil) this is supposed to help ease any feelings of discomfort and is a good way to get your birth partner involved during labour. It certainly smells good! Had my labour been slower I think a massage with this would have done me the world of good, if for no other reason than to keep me grounded and stop me tensing up so much in my back and shoulders!

Bottoms Up (Soothing Bottom Spray) I am not exaggerating when I say this spray saved me in the two weeks post-birth. I tore, and grazed, and had stitches and nobody warns you about just how painful recovery from birth can be, even from a “normal” vaginal delivery. Going for a wee felt like torture but one thing (the only thing) that really eased that pain was spritzing this on a maternity pad as well as direct on the skin. I got through so much of this and cannot recommend it enough- that and a jug so you can pour warm water “down there” when you pee; it took me a few days to believe this could help, trust me, it does and you should do it!

Sleep Mama (Relaxing Pillow Mist) this is another lovely post-birth product and one I use on the rare nights when I struggle to drift off- rare as these days my eyes are shut before my head hits the pillow but I still enjoy the soothing scent of lavender and other essential oils for a calming sleep experience.

You can find this gift set, and the other products from Natural Birthing Company in Boots and Holland and Barrett as well as from various online retailers such as Amazon and Feel Unique.

This might be the only Christmas gift-guide/gift idea I post this year, but damn it’s a good ‘un!

I Got Married

There’s been a distinct lack of actual blog posts over the last couple of weeks, with our wedding looming everything else had to take a bit of back seat.
Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, our big day arrived and it was everything we could have hoped for and more! Held at the wonderful Bristol Harbour Hotel (who were full on amazing) the day passed by in a blur. It’s going to be several weeks before we have the official photos but here are a few snapshots from the day…

Now to await the next big event in our lives…the arrival of Baby Connell, due in approx 5 weeks, eek!

The Humble Co

These days I think everyone is trying to take steps to be more sustainable, and whilst there are some obvious changes that can be made, there are others that had yet to occur to me, personally. Enter The Humble Co who kindly gifted a selection of their products and opened by eyes to a few more simple steps to a greener lifestyle.

The Humble Co are a health and wellness company founded by dentist Noel Abdayem in 2013. The products the company offer are all designed by dentists and designed in Sweden, meaning top quality in both innovation and design.

I’m not sure why but the idea of a bamboo toothbrush was a strange one to me- surely the bamboo would absorb water and lessen the longevity of the product? So far, I am happily proven wrong.

The Humble Brush is made from 100% biodegradable, sustainably grown bamboo and packaged in eco-friendly packaging. It works as well as, if not better than my usual plastic toothbrush, and I love the aesthetic of this as well (I was sent the PROUD edition), of which I appear to have taken a rubbish photo that doesn’t do the vibrancy justice!

There is also a plant-based version for those who don’t quite get the bamboo appeal. These are made from corn starch based materials and channel a cool monochrome vibe.

The toothpaste tabs took me a little while to get my head around but they are such a good idea when it comes to saving water, and perfect for travelling. Vegan friendly, travel approved, no water waste and approved by dentists, you simply pop one of these in your mouth and brush as usual.

Cotton swabs are an essential in our house, and I suspect even more so with baby on her way. The swabs made by The Humble Co are again made with 100% biodegradable, sustainable Bamboo and cotton with natural colouring on the ends.

I can’t find the face mask on the website to give you exact details but I can tell you this is the comfiest mask I have worn, and it is clearly going to boast good eco-credentials!

You’ll find all of these products available in the UK from stores such as Boots, Holland and Barrett and other shops with a focus on sustainability and health. Also on Amazon. The toothbrushes retail at £3.99, the cotton swabs at £2.99, the toothpaste tablets at around £6.00 and the mask is £3.99. There are plenty of other products from the brand to explore so I will report back on any I try out, and I’d love to hear what steps you are taking to be a little more sustainable.