Getting re-acquainted

Last August I bought a Kona SE FRR 2011 from Evans to supplement my Brompton M3L. The fit seemed good; the Brompton was an amazing thing to use for taking on the train, for keeping under my desk or being able to take almost everywhere without having to lock it up.

The Kona is a hybrid so ideal for commuting and with mudguards, straight handlebars and a rear rack. As a hybrid it has moderately thick tyres and so was ideal for rougher roads, paths etc.

One thing I hadn’t counted on was the size of it; it seemed huge when it was in the boot of my somewhat gargantuan Skoda Superb Estate which was a problem as I was staying away in hotels through August and September. Worse still was that I struggled so much to get it in that I split the tailgate seal. Ooops.

Worse was to come when I hit a car whilst riding my Brompton. Some stitches and a mild concussion didn’t seem too bad, but what really affected my ability to cycle was the badly swollen, achey knee.

All of this served to see the Kona being relegated to a lock up garage a mile or so away from the house. I needed encouragement to ride it and instead managed to forget about it.

In January I began to want a lightweight road bike and bought a Dawes Clubman. I have used this bike almost exclusively and apart from thinking that the gears are not as slick as they could or should be, and the brakes being ‘squidgy’, it is a fairly wonderful machine.

A lot of Easy Cyclists ride hybrids and Mountain Bikes and a few have told me I am too quick, that my road bike is too easy. From this gentle and well humoured goading I have started using the Kona again.

I have used it three days this week including riding 44 miles yesterday.

Am I a convert? Sorry, not really. The Brompton is hard work but feels really fun to ride and is really manoeuvrable, the road bike is an uncomfortable ride and is a little compromised but the sheer ‘joie de vivre’ from riding it is amazing. It flatters me, makes me enjoy cycling.

I can see that the Kona is well built, is an absolutely gorgeous dark red metallic colour, is very practical and well built and is actually fairly capable but I don’t love it.

Do you have any bikes that you have an irrational love or dislike for?

The end of a project…the start of something else

This blog was started as part of a Cardiff University MA IPR & GCM piece of coursework. Its aim was to use social media to encourage people to cycle.

The most successful part of the project is the social cycling group we established and it will continue. If you live in Cardiff or Penarth or are close to either, please consider joining us. The group can be found here and we also have a Facebook page too.

You could always start your own social cycling group. Our members seem to really love the social part; it makes cycling a lot more accessible and fun.

Should we continue blogging? Let us know what you want us to write about.

Cycling Towards a Sustainable Environment

Ever thought of the benefits of cycling? Well am sure you won’t be surprised of its many benefits to our environment and health. Do you know that cycling has become an important part of developing a more sustainable transport system in Cardiff?

Well we got it touch with Mr. Mark Foweraker, the Principal Road Safety Officer of Cardiff council, and he talked about the different concepts the government have put in place to promote cycling and the availability of more adult training courses in a bid to encourage more cyclists. For example, Cardiff Council launched a scheme in 2009 called ”The Cardiff Smart Bike scheme” which allows people in Cardiff to hire  bikes to move around the city.

Cardiff Council believes that Cycling is integral especially for the city as it help reduce car use, congestion and air pollution, thereby improving accessibility, making Cardiff a safer and more pleasant place to live and visit. And best of all its cheaper, easier to maintain and you don’t have to pay for parking, so don’t you think it’s just wonderful?

Even doctors have established and suggest that a physical activity like cycling helps in improving people’s health and stability, weight loss, building up energy, letting off stress and much more. So why not get a bike today and make your own contribution to the sustainable development of Cardiff and your health.

And if you’re still wondering why cycle? View this link from the Cardiff Council on why cycling is important: http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/content.asp?nav=2%2C2870%2C4048%2C4196 they also provide wonderful tips and advice, information on cycling shops and organisations, cycling routes and cycling to school and work.

 A truly interesting and educative read, hope you enjoy 🙂

Cycle Training Wales could be your answer…

It rained pretty heavily that morning as we rushed to Costa. Thank goodness, we got to there on time. We have no clue as to how this gentleman that we were meeting looked like and vice versa. We felt a bit anxious but the fact that he agreed to meet us, somehow signalled that he’s accommodative and nice too 🙂

We got our coffee and purposely looked for a cosy corner, facing the main entrance. Nick Canham walked in shortly, wearing a reflective jacket branded, “Cycle Training Wales”. We knew immediately that he was the gentleman we were waiting for. Yeah!

Nick is one of the people who started start Cycle Training Wales (CTW), a social enterprise (a.k.a non-profit organisation) that provides training on cycle related services. We’d say it’s a simple business proposition but definitely serves the needs of the society. As Nick says, “CTW sees cycling as not necessarily about health. Cycling is also about teaching children on a life skill, to take responsibility to improve their independence and creation of positive environment.” Different, huh? And very inspiring, ain’t it?

According to Nick, training is central to improving cycling ability, either from the point of view of using the road suitably or enabling people to get the most from cycling. CTW realises that there is a skill gap, either in cycling safely and defensively or maintaining bikes. CTW’s attempt to fill up the gap has actually worked, quite rightly.

CTW offers mainly two types of trainings: 1) Bike ability courses, where one learns assertive or defensive cycling that highlights awareness of safe cycling, especially taking positions on the road; and 2) Bicycle maintenance courses, where CTW teaches participants on how to take care of bicycles and what one can do in the event of a breakdown.

CTW has other interesting courses that they offer, such as, the mountain biking and instructor training. Do look out for CTW’s courses at their home page: http://www.cycletrainingwales.org.uk/. (Faz/Perpie)

My first ride in Cardiff

It was cloudy and not a perfect day to cycle around specially when you are riding after a long time. We (Ochuko and I) waited for the weather to get better and then finally when the weather started getting clearer at around 2.00pm we went out for my first ride in Cardiff. They say once you learn how to ride a bike you never forget about it. And it was my chance to test the truth of this statement. Well here I was on my bike dressed all for the activity, yah back in home, it was just me, my shorts and t-shirt and ready to cycle. But here is Cardiff it’s different it’s pretty cold out here and it’s important to wear a layer of cloths before you start cycling.

As I started riding the bike, memories of my bike rides in home (India) gushed back.  Sunday’s used to be the fun days riding bike with my dad around the neighborhoods visiting the small shopping center before coming back for the yummy snack prepared by my mother. I was getting nostalgic but Ochuko was there to bring me back to the reality she was excited about my ride. By the way she does not ride a bike, she assumes she will get hurt.

I went on riding the bike from  Bute park to City Hall, the cold and the wind was making it little difficult to ride but I think here I should give myself a credit for riding well in the windy weather and enjoying it as well. Finally after an hour ride around, we had a cup of coffee at Costa where I shared by experience with Ochuko encouraging her to pursue her first ride.

Wales National Velodrome, a fantastic sports complex? Oh no…it’s way beyond!

Saturday was a day to remember as we (Faz and Perpie) went to see our classmate, Claire participate in a training session at the Wales National Velodrome near Newport.

As first-timers to such a sports complex (Olympic-size? It must be!), we were wow-ed J. It is so MASSIVE! When we actually went into the velodrome itself, we were overwhelmed just by the sheer steepness of the cycling track. And so we wondered if Claire could survive it…hmmm…

Did you know that the training bikes (yup, that’s what they’re called!) used in a velodrome do not have brakes nor gears! One has to learn how to balance the speed of the bicycle in order to ride on it.

There was a trainer on duty who gave a quick briefing on the ground rules and safety tips to those participating and off they went onto the track. We saw quite a few participants who were either father and son or husband and wife. This activity is also quality time for some. It’s great, isn’t it?

Since it was also Claire’s first time cycling on such a track, we were scared for her too (she must have been!!). But as she got comfortable with the bike and the track, she was able to ride smoothly. The trainer got them started from the flat ground, moving on to the steep track. We enjoyed watching them, synchronising their speeds, moving up and down the sloppy track. What a sight!

We took pictures (we have uploaded them in our Easy Cycling FB account! please look out) and hope you will have some ideas of how a velodrome looks like. If you are a cycling-enthusiast and dare to take the challenge, we hope we can persuade you to try the training session. Who knows…you may like it and discover a new talent in you! J (Faz/Perpie)

Keeping Track

Claire went and had a taster session at Newport Velodrome on saturday. It’s probably the worst kept secret in a long time. Our Claire is no action woman; relatively sedate Easy Cycling is more her thing and so she was a bit wary to tell the truth.

So Claire is in her early forties so the prospect of whizzing around a track on a fixed wheel bike with a saddle like a razor all sounds rather undignified. This isn’t an age thing though, or should we say, just an age thing.

Somewhere in the depth of Claire’s garage, in a dusty box, is a photo of her abseiling down a castle wall in France. If you look carefully at the photo, you will see that her T shirt is caught in the pulley. There’s also another photo showing her climbing that same castle wall really rather impressively. In another shot that is taken from a further distance away you can spot Claire ‘climbing’ and two girls actually winching her up.

You can maybe get a taste of this being something big for Claire? Well yes and no. Back on her fourth birthday when the pop charts were full of The Osmonds and The Bay City Rollers, her dad took the stabilisers off her bike and away she went. Proof enough for anyone that personal poise is less important than some law of physics. Or something.

So anyway, tangents. Newport Velodrome runs a one hour taster session most saturday mornings from 8am to 9am. For a reasonable £6.30 you get an hour of tuition, the hire of a bike and if you ask nicely the loan of a helmet.

You cannot take your own road bike on the track, but if you are a regular there you can take your own track bike on.

So, what is the difference between a road bike and a track bike. From a distance, very little. However, the track bike has no brakes, no gears and no freewheel. We have already blogged about the experience of riding a fixie and for those cyclists who have never tried, it really is different.

The session started off very simply with a little induction chat and then an exercise in getting on the bikes. Really. It isn’t as simple as you might think; the lack of freewheel and toe straps means that if you lose balance or your foot slips you will be on the floor.

The instructor spelt out track etiquette. Pass on the right (higher up the banking), be nice. If anyone did manage to fall off during the taster session we were all to get off our bikes and stand around and laugh at the poor so and so on the floor. Strange motivational techniques but they seemed to work.

We were made to accelerate and slow down to ensure that we could control the bikes. It worked. Almost.

Next was some more speed and on and off the lowest part of the banked track. This section was the most worrying as the wood squeaked and creaked and cracked.

The target was 20mph to get on to the baking and 40mph to stay at the top of the surprisingly steep banking. The only problem with this approach was that there was no way of telling what the speed was.

Lots of laps with increasing speed and finally Claire was zipping around the track. She even passed some other riders and went very high on the banking. Maybe too high.

Sadly, years of guzzling cake had taken its toll on Claire and the had an asthma attack necessitating her to pull off the track for a few minutes. As the end of the session was approaching, the next part of the session was the warm down and so we lapped the track at decreasing speeds and doing an increasingly difficult slalom including needing to cyle up the banking and back down at something approaching a 45 degree angle. Remember though…no brakes, no gears, no freewheel. Difficult.

Claire says that she is unsure whether the track would hold any real long term appeal but is booked to go back next week.

Despite his slightly unorthodox approach the coach was great and the facilities really are amazing.

Ride to City Hall

Today we picked up a bike and cycled around the Bute Park. Okay actually Ruchi did the riding and while I (Ochuko) walked besides her, as it’s obvious I still haven’t learnt how to ride. Not a perfect weather to ride anyway how ever we did have our share of fun. We rode around the Bute Park and then headed down to the city center. Along the way when we got to the city hall, we noticed the beautiful Olympic signage and we couldn’t resist stopping by and taking some nice pictures.

When taking the pictures under the huge Olympic symbol we noticed the five striking colors of the ring (blue, yellow, black, green, and red) which signifies the five continents of the world. We could feel the energy of the games and we cannot wait for the upcoming football match between Great Britain and New Zealand’s women team. Probably for two reasons, one being this is going to be our first Olympic match ever and secondly because we are women [certainly not feminist 🙂 ]

Anyway those of you who are not interested in the match in Cardiff can go up to London for the live events, nevertheless if you want to see how our city (Cardiff) is gearing up for the Olympic why not take a ride down to the city hall and get the feel of this amazing event which the world is waiting for.

Everyone is a cyclist!

Easy Cycling met Sybil Williams, the founder and Director of Pedal Power at their centre in Pontcanna. We learnt a lot from her and how Pedal Power gives hope to people with physical disabilities to go out and experience cycling. We think that’s a really great goal, don’t you?

It is clear from talking to Sybil that she has a real passion for what she’s doing. Whilst working as a hospital physiotherapist, she realised what a good form of physiotherapy cycling could be. For those with mobility issues, cycling provides an opportunity to exercise and get some sun and fresh air; it is good for physical and mental health.

Inspired by her success at the hospital, Sybil went on to form Pedal Power in 2000. Whilst this may be a simple concept, the realisation is a little more complex. Pedal Power customers may have very specific needs and so a range of adaptations and special bikes are available from standard bikes and tandems, and specially designed tri-cycles for all abilities and ages.

For a small fee, you can hire a bike and Pedal Power’s volunteer is there to guide and train you.  We should also stress that Pedal Power is more than happy to welcome able bodied customers to their café or to hire their bikes; it truly is an inclusive charity.

A quick tour of the Pedal Power facilities shows how remarkable Pedal Power’s offer is; the bicycle workshops, the dedicated volunteers as well as the Spokes Café…where you can unwind (and socialise…yeah!!) after a ride in the nearby Bute Park and Taff Trail.

One very impressive part of what Pedal Power does is to offer tandem sessions for visually impaired people to cycle with a specially trained guide.

Please do have a look at what Pedal Power has to offer by looking at their website www.cardiffpedalpower.org. Their centre can be a little tricky to find but it can be accessed from Dogo Street in Pontcanna, and is situated in the Sophia Gardens’ caravan park.

Please do consider making a donation to Pedal Power or offering some of your time as a volunteer. This is a charity that really makes a difference to the lives of people with a disability or mobility problem, and to children with conditions such as autism.

Pedal Power’s key message is that no matter who you are, if you are willing to try, you can cycle, even if you have a disability, and we think that is pretty great. (Faz/Perpie)

Ready for the London 2012 Olympic’s?

The Olympics is almost upon us, and I can’t wait for the games to begin. What a wonderful time it would be, with 35 sporting events there’s something to grab everyone’s attention, totally brilliant indeed, anyone as excited as I am?

I went up to London last week and I tell you the city is buzzing away with activities; it was almost impossible to find a hotel to stay in, there are tourist everywhere you turn, it is quite exciting I must say. And it’s no wonder, with the Olympic Village site completed and housing over 16,000 athletes and officials who are now on ground, am sure we can all almost taste the air emitting the games.

Now I suggest you print out pictures of your favourite athletes and have them ready to be autographed as you can bump into them at any at any point in time, now I bet your thinking this summer will definitely be different right? Well my thoughts exactly.

Am sure you cycling fans can’t wait to see our very own Welsh gold medallist ‘‘Geraint Thomas’’ in action as he undertakes the London 2012 Velodrome in a pursuit to gain another gold medal, so let’s all wish him luck. And guys if you love cycling and want to compete professionally I think you should give it a try, Geraint Thomas himself encourages cyclists to take part in the South Wales Echo cycling competition ‘‘on Your Bike for Barnardo’s’’, my dearest friend Ruchi has posted the article on our Facebook page.

Cycling is very important in the Olympic and covers 4 different areas, which are: Cycling BMX, Cycling Road, Cycling Track and Cycling Bike. Am sure you guys are getting pretty excited now, because no matter what your favourite is there’s something just for you in the games.

And don’t forget the Olympics stand’s for three major values: excellence, respect and friendship which have been a stand pole for countries for decades, to build a better world through sports.  So this is a time to meet people, make friends and have a jolly good time so don’t stay at home, come out get your tickets if you haven’t already, take the train, take a bus, drive down or better still cycle all the way down and experience the London 2012 because it’s here and its going to be the best ever.