I’ve just started a monthly guest blog slot for YourCardiff, the community pages of Wales online.  The first offering can be found here , contains some details of the Cardiff cycling festival, some tips on getting started in cycle racing and my steadfast view that when the sun is shining, a coastal ride cannot be beaten. Whilst out and about I captured some bike themed images for the piece and have included  a few more here.The image above was taken in the Hayes (central Cardiff). The first thing that strikes me each time I pass through this recently revamped area – which is a lot – is how many bikes occupy the cycle stands. They are almost always choc-a-bloc from 9am in the morning until early evening. A sure fire sign that if you provide well thought out cycle infrastructure – in this case, centrally located, attractive, well spaced Sheffiield stands that are not tucked out of the way – then it encourages people to arrive on bikes. Believe or not, the stands remain full even when the heavens open.

Anway, for the time being it’s not raining so go and enjoy that sun. Fine UK weather is waaaay too fickle to waste. All seaside images from the Victorian front at Penarth. If you plan a little trip there; remember some cash for the chippy.

As much as I love my commuter – a Genesis Day one, single speed crosser – I can’t say that I get on with the saddle. It’s one of those economy jobbies, supplied as a consequence of providing a good frame at at great price. Lengthy training rides result in the type of problems that you really shouldn’t blog about. So I won’t. Problem easily solved of course – enter the Brooks B17, a 100 year old classic and the second Brooks saddle to enter my stable.  Opening the box, I was greeted by a stern John Boultbee Brooks, steely eyes gazing  from the front page of ‘The bugle’, making it  clear that ownership is a serious matter. You have to love the heritage and stoicism of this piece of kit; still defiantly popular despite the modern tendency to redesign and overdevelop components that satisfy their function effectively. The saddle entered active service at 8.35am this morning and I look forward to at least 30 years of use. I suspect The B17 will probably outlast the bike.

Here are two videos that articulate this wish. First the how (lead on, James Bowthorpe). Second the why. A quiet room without distractions is best. Cardiff incidentally, is 51.48° N, 3.18° W. Keep going for Tromsø  (69.67° N, 18.93° E).

Street art. Howard Gardens, Cardiff

No doubt inspired by local boy (and former Cardiff JIF member) Geraint Thomas, the monochrome pursuit team motivates Adamsdown kids in this cracking piece of street art. A sign of our changing times? Ten years ago it might have been Beckham. Fifteen years and Michael Jordan, the epitome of sporting cool. As a major sport, cycling’s street cred  is on the up.

Last night I took my daughter for a little spin around the park. She’s revelling in her new found abilities. The stabilizers have long since been removed, she’s sussed how to start off without a shove and she absolutely adores going quicker (she even asked if she could do cyclo-cross next season. She’s 5 ). Then it struck me; a small bike casts a long shadow. Evelyn attends a school that doesn’t benefit from safe routes and segregated lanes. Cycling role models flit briefly through our media in the most faddish of fashions (Whilst World Champion Mark Cavendish presses home his points advantage in the Giro D’Italia, BBC sport aren’t even featuring the race as a major sports item). All that enthusiasm and gusto needs a helping hand from her environment and ours is not greatly forthcoming. The responsibility for our future commuters, tourers, crossers, roadies, MTBers, BMXers, trial riders…….unicyclists even – it all rests with us.  It’s an enlightening, sobering and necessary thought: To realise the cycling future that we want to see, any effort to support kids riding is infinitely worth it.

Now where can I get that tiny cross bike?…….

]]> http://cyclestuff.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/a-small-bike-casts-a-long-shadow/feed/ 1 IMG_0656 simonnurse IMG_0656 http://cyclestuff.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/travel-odyssey/ http://cyclestuff.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/travel-odyssey/#comments Mon, 21 May 2012 11:38:52 +0000 simonnurse http://cyclestuff.wordpress.com/?p=2210 Read More →]]> As predicted, on the weekend I enjoyed – rather than endured – the trip from Hull* to London (THAT trip – cyclists and straphangers). I rode by folder to the station. I folded my ride into a neat little bundle and popped it in the luggage rack. I sat for 2 hours and 40 odd minutes, watching the world go by, reading MBA materials, fiddling with WordPress (causing occasional grunts of frustration) and sipping mugs of coffee. And to completly debunk the cost myth, I travelled first class from Hull to London for around £80 (which was only a little more than standard class, included all the java you could swig, biscuits you could munch and a whopping big table to spread my books out on). If using the Odoni expenses regime to calculate the road cost, this 432 mile round trip  would have a comparative road price tag of £194. With no reading. No fiddling with WordPress. No regular supply of coffee. According to Google maps, it was also a  good one hour quicker. There are caveats here are of course; I travelled on the weekend, booked well in advance and the train route is very direct. Nonetheless; train and bike was a clear winner. So cop that Mr Beamer.

Courtesy of weekend timing and a short journey through Bloomsbury and Holborn, travelling around the big smoke was very enjoyable. At the moment, it has a sense of being the frontline in the ‘war on improving the lot of cyclists’ (doesn’t trip off the tongue like ‘war on terror’ but hey – I didn’t invent these bushisms) and in the centre of the city, you can see where in-roads have been made, with well used Boris bike stations, neat little cycle lanes (around Bloomsbury at least) and lots of visible cyclists. I even saw a family whipping by in a Christiana, something I’d never thought I’d see near Euston Road. Good stuff and a step in the right direction. In the meantime however, we’ll keep lobbying for a bloody huge leap in every direction. And as a Cardiff lad, I’m looking forward to see how Welsh Government proposals for mandatory cycle routes play out. Will it be a gold star for joined up thinking?  Or will local authorities become increasingly inventive in their application of useless cycle infrastructure?  Time will tell. Ever the optimist, I’m sure the smart, heroic people in Welsh government will have the courage, commitment and dashing good looks to ensure success.

I took a snap or two on my rounds. Some are from Hull. Some from London.

*If you’re wondering why I travelled from Cardiff, to Hull to London and back, an Open University tutorial inconveniently fell in the middle of a trip to see family. Suffice to say; I have bags under my eyes today.

Folded into itself,
This flightless bird,
Its journey over?

Bloody hell. That’s harder than it looks. Maybe I’d better stick to cycling.

bri·co·lage

[bree-kuh-lahzh, brik-uh-] Show IPA

noun, plural bri·co·la·ges [bree-kuh-lah-zhiz, ‐lahzh] Show IPA, bri·co·lage.

Vive Le Bricoleur – The spirit of cycling.

Heavy traffic in Firenze Italy. This cyclist can read newspapers on the bus.

Using a sample size of one (again me, hot on the heels of the great hangover experiment), I’ve been conducting a protracted study into the behaviour of motorists around cyclists on different types of bike; and it’s revealed something interesting.

I use a variety of bikes. For commuting I generally use my Genesis Day-one single speed cross bike. If I’m training after work, I may use a Cyclo-cross bike set up for cross racing or my road bike. If the day involves travel, I’ll certainly be on my folder. The split here is fairly clear; performance style geometry versus the ‘sit up and beg’ style of the folder. The difference in how I’m treated by motorists could not be marked. In the outstretched riding position of the performance orientated bike, its all close shaves, cars hurtling to get past me and the occasional fracas. When I ride my folder, I get space, greater respect and a more relaxed experience. Why should this be the case? A bike is bike, surely?

Pictured here with a crate full of beer (practical eh?) , the Van Moof urban bike. Image from Broadsheet Melbourne.

After giving this great thought I’ve identified three possible reasons; riding position, personal approach to cycling and the cycling stereotype offered. Let’s start with riding position. Visibility is a definite bonus on the folder. I sit high and proud, towering over small cars and at cab height for a van. I actually feel stronger in traffic when perched on its ludicrously long seat post. The other bikes are performance orientated, not designed with negotiating traffic in mind and place the rider in a more aerodynamic position.  Drivers get a birds eye view of my backside and I haven’t got the same line of sight. Next up, approach. I do wonder if I ride a little differently on the bendy, bouncy folder. On these things, you need to go with the flow. Kick back, Relax. Am I really that more aggressive whilst commuting on a performance bike? I’d like to think not, but sub-consciously I probably give it a little extra oomph. The geometry and gearing practically insist. But how does my choice of bike influence driver perception? I suspect that the folder says ‘person getting around town in a practical fashion’ (though this is also true of my commuter, albeit in a different riding position) as opposed to an out-and-out ‘cyclist’. This is of course a sweeping generalisation and to get any real idea I’d need to flag down dozens or so cars on Boulevard De Nantes and ask for the driver’s opinion. I’m not sure they’d be happy.

Whatever the reason, cars do behave differently when I ride my Birdy. So what can we learn from this? Firstly – and most obviously – a trial involving a sample size of one is simply rubbish and barely better than any other form of anecdotal evidence. So don’t rely on my dodgy judgement and lax note taking. Secondly, I’m going to consciously ride my normal commuter like I ride my Birdy; or at least try to. Relax more. Hurry less. It may swing it with our four wheeled friends and probably draws some of that jealous ire (the bike is access all areas, cars, are not. Enter the green monster).  Finally, when my current commuter goes to that great recycler in the sky, I’ll be in the market for a more urban bike. Something that balances visibility, utility and practically with aesthetics (let’s face it; bicycles are a thing of beauty). Something that is……..comfy.  Because in the dark ages between the 1950s and the recent velo explosion, we seem to have lost an appreciation that the design of a city bike is actually best for city use.