My cycling Christmas

There was a definite theme to my Christmas presents this year.

My family has clearly cottoned onto the fact that I took to two wheels in a big way in 2013, and bought me lots of lovely things to make my rides around the city more pleasant.

Following on from last week’s post about winter cycling problems and how to solve them, I thought I’d give my first impressions of my new bits of kit, so you can decide whether they’re worth spending your Christmas money on.

TSG Evolution Helmet

TSG stands for Technical Safety Gear – a no-nonsense, straight to the point name which this helmet certainly lives up to. It sits very low on your head, compared to traditional mountain bike helmets, and protects all the important parts without blocking your vision. The 14 small vents will do a lot to keep rain off your head, but I wonder how cool they’d keep you in summer. It’s a very light helmet, and the fully adjustable strap means its very comfy to wear. It’s available in a  range of vivid colours from Evans Cycles in Cardiff, amongst other places.

Softshell Smart Touch Gloves – Mountain Warehouse

These gloves are windproof, showerproof and futureproof! The little pads on the index finger and thumb mean you can use a touchscreen phone without taking them off. I know this isn’t anything particularly new, but I’ve never seen this feature on such a warm, practical, well priced glove – they’re under a tenner! The fingers are slim which means you still have a lot of dexterity – doing up zips and typing on an iPhone keyboard are easy. The only criticism I have is that they’re a bit tight around the wrist, and a few of the seams rub against your skin which is a bit uncomfortable. But it’s worth it to be able to answer a call or send a text without taking your gloves off.

Hi-vis armbands

Not the most exciting Christmas present in the world perhaps, but a very important piece of kit which could save your life. These armbands snap onto anything. I’m planning to wear them over my coat so I can be seen on Cardiff’s dark winter evenings. You can buy these on eBay for under £2.

I’m really looking forward to trying these out properly on some of my favourite Cardiff rides in the new year.

What cycling gear did you get for Christmas? Tweet us pictures and your first impressions so we can share your recommendations!

Get around the web: useful Cardiff transport links

A round up of the best Cardiff cycling and transport sites out there.

CYCLING

Cardiff Cycle Chic – this two year project took pictures of the people who cycle around Cardiff everyday. The project has finished now but the site is still there, full of great stories from the subjects of the photos. The pictures might just inspire you when it comes to buy your next bike too…

CycleStuff – Simon Nurse’s blog focuses largely on Cyclo-cross, but also features some beautiful photographs of Cardiff and some wonderfully thought-provoking cycling philosophy. There’s more of the same from Simon on Twitter @CycleStuffblog

All Seasons Cyclist – brilliant reviews and tips on the best cycling clothing and equipment to keep you going when the weather gets rough.

Sustrans Cymru – promotes cycling as an alternative to driving for everyday journeys. (Twitter)

WALKING

Cardiff Ramblers – details of upcoming walks, starting in the city. The group often organises walks in the Brecon Beacons, Black Mountains, Gower and the Wye Valley. It’s free to take part in the occasional walk, but the group expects regular walkers to join.

Cardiff Walking for Health – arranges weekly leisure walks designed to help people in Cardiff exercise more regularly. Routes include Heath Park and Llandaff Fields.

CARDIFF AIRPORT

This forum is a rich seam of information on the airport, including passenger figures, news of new routes and general discussion about the airport’s future.

UK Airport News keeps up to date with developments at the airport.

BUSES

If lovely old buses are your thing, the Cardiff Transport Preservation Group displays classic vehicles at its Barry Depot. The site has details of monthly meetings and other events, including evening road runs where the buses take to the roads once again.

If you have a site you think people should know about, please tweet Get Around Cardiff, and it’ll be added to this list.

Winter cycling problems (and how to solve them, cheaply)

This evening I cycled from Llandaff to Roath along the Taff Trail.

It wasn’t a long ride, but it was cold and wet enough to make me realise how utterly unprepared I am for winter cycling.

I see a lot of people when I’m out and about who have all the gear. Wrapped up in proper cycling gloves and waterproof trousers.

I’ve seen an equal number of people who, like me, are more dressed for a day in a warm office than a ride through the driving rain. A lot of the cyclists I see heading to my university, especially, are as unprepared for winter riding as I am.

But it’s possible to solve these problems, even on a student budget. Just after Christmas is  great time to buy as many places have good deals and sales on, so here are some cheap solutions to winter cycling problems for you to spend your Christmas money on.

PROBLEM 1: BRIGHT RED FROZEN HANDS

Cycling gloves should be both waterproof and windproof.  Evans Cycling, which has a store in Cardiff has a good range at various prices- here. The cheapest, priced £7.49, are perfect for riding in chilly conditions.

I saw something fantastic when I went to China a few years ago – gloves modified to fit onto the handlebars of mopeds and bicycles in Shanghai. You just slide your hands into the openings so you get a true grip for the bars, but your hands are kept toasty warm.

Most of these appeared to be homemade – some were just oven gloves which had been taped onto the handlebars.

But there’s an American company, BarMitts, which make proper versions to fit any bike. whether it has drop handles or flat bars.

They’re on sale in the UK here, priced at £39.95, or a cheaper version is available on Amazon.

PROBLEM: SOAKED SHOES

These were light brown when I set off

Chain Reaction Cycles have a vast selection of overshoes, and break their website down into shoes suitable for road, mountain and city cyclists. This is a pricy piece of kit, but you can get a pair for around £26.

WET TROUSERS

Not a good look at a job interview…

An old housemate of mine had his own solution to this problem. He’d cut holes in two bin bags, and make his own waterproof trousers, fastened by elastic bands.

This is undoubtedly a very cheap way of doing things. And, to be fair, they were only slightly less stylish than proper waterproof trousers.

They do perform an important job though. Mountain Warehouse, which has an outlet in the St David’s Centre, sells these. They’re not specifically for cyclists but they’d do the trick just as well. The cheapest pair I’ve been able to find are £12.99.

PROBLEM: SOGGY BOTTOM

… nor is this

Waterproof trousers would be the answer here too; so would a rear mudguard to stop the wheel splashing water, mud, leaves and mulch all over the back of your trousers.

Halfords, which has two stores in Cardiff, has a good range. Clip on guards start from just £4.17, but you would have to remove them when parking your bike, especially in areas of the city where bike theft is common.

A rear mudguard would also solve the problem of…

WET, MUDDY BAG

A two pronged attack is necessary here, as your rucksack is vulnerable from both water flicking up from the rear wheel, and rain.

While a mudguard would solve the first problem, you’d need a waterproof bag cover to help with the latter issue. You can get fluorescent ones too, which also solves a problem of cycling on dark evenings – visibility.

FINAL PROBLEM: BECOMING A DROWNED RAT

Helmets have to have vents to keep your head cool. In summer, that’s great. In winter, it’s downright annoying.  My solution to this is to put the hood of my coat up and then put my helmet on, like so.

I know; I look like an idiot, but the alternative is to arrive at every destination with sopping wet hair. At least I can’t see myself as I go along. In fact this selfie is the first time I’ve seen how stupid doing this makes me look – kind of like Lawrence of Arabia would have done if he cycled.

Nor can I really hear anything as the helmet seals the hood around my ears, cutting out more or less all sound. As a solution to the wet hair issue, it’s fraught with problems.

Happily, you can buy waterproof helmet covers which seal off the vents in your helmet to keep the rain out. Again, there are hi-vis options available.

All quoted prices correct at the time of publication. This article is intended to simply show what products are available to make cycling in cold and wet weather more enjoyable. Cycling blogger All Seasons Cyclist does excellent real world product reviews of all-weather cycling clothing and equipment.

Gales cause Cardiff travel disruption

High winds and heavy rain caused problems for Cardiff’s transport network on Wednesday evening.

Floods caused delays on the roads, while in the skies, flights from Europe had to be diverted to the Welsh capital.

Check out Get Around Cardiff’s Storify of the evening’s events here

Avoid railway pickpockets this Christmas

Train passengers are being urged to keep their belongings safe from pickpockets as we head home or visit family for the Christmas holidays.

British Transport Police’s BeAware campaign suggests carrying shoulder bags in front of you, and making sure they are zipped up to stop thieves reaching in and taking your things.

‘Theft from the person’ figures low

We’re also being advised to install tracker applications on our phones, tablets and laptops to help trace them if they are stolen.

But official British Transport Police figures show that pickpocketing is a relatively small problem at Cardiff’s train stations.

Only six cases of ‘theft from the person’ were recorded at Cardiff Central between December 2012 and November 2013, a period during which more than 6.2 million passengers pass through the barriers.  There were also six cases between December 2011 to November 2012.

There were no cases at Cathays, Queen Street, Cardiff Bay, Grangetown or Ninian Park stations in the 2012/2013 periods.

 

While the numbers may be relatively small compared to other railway station crimes like anti-social behaviour, a single case of pickpocketing against you would be enough to ruin your Christmas.

BTP have produced a series of videos showing the various tactics pickpockets use on trains and at stations, including ‘The Stall’.

 

 

‘Urgent’ measures needed to make road near school safe

A Cardiff councillor says ‘urgent’ measures are needed to stop people driving the wrong way down a one-way road in Roath, close to a primary school.

The entrance to the one way section of Oxford Lane, in Plasnewydd, Cardiff

Labour backbencher Mary McGarry, who represents the Plasnewydd ward on Cardiff City Council, says drivers are putting the safety of local residents, and the children at the nearby St Peter’s Roman Catholic Primary School, at risk.

Residents ‘frightened’

She says many drivers ignore the no entry signs on Oxford Lane, and use this illegal shortcut to avoid the busy junction of City Road and Newport Road.

In an interview with Get Around Cardiff, which you can listen to below, she said drivers who do this cannot justify their behaviour.

‘People [in the area] are worried about it’, Cllr. McGarry said.

‘They’ve been saying that they’re quite frightened to walk down the road past the end of Oxford Lane in case a car comes out at speed and knocks them over.

‘Particularly if you’re a cyclist and you’re going past, you’re not going to be thinking that a car’s going to come out there.

‘Why should residents have to worry about walking down the road and crossing over there? They shouldn’t. It’s not right’, the councillor, who is a cyclist herself, said.

Oxford Lane is close to St Peter’s Roman Catholic Primary School, and many pupils walk down the road to and from school every day.

The entrance to St Peter’s RC Primary School on Southey Street, near Oxford Lane

‘Urgently something should be done, or else an accident could happen’, Cllr McGarry added.

‘We want to make all the area around the school as safe as possible, or a child could get hurt’.

You can see a map of the area, the illegal shortcut and how close it is to St Peter’s RC Primary School here.

Permanent camera

South Wales Police has told this site it has recorded ten cases of drivers misusing Oxford Lane since the start of 2013, and that patrols of the area are continuing.

At the Cardiff City Council meeting on November 21st 2013, Cabinet member for Strategic Planning and Transport, Councillor Graham Hinchey, told members he was planning to put a mobile camera enforcement unit on Oxford Lane to deter motorists from using the road as a shortcut.

He said he hoped this would be in place by July 2014, to allow for a five month Welsh Government legal process.

Councillor McGarry told Get Around Cardiff that a permanent camera on the road would be a more effective way to deter drivers from doing this, and said she would push the council to install one.

‘If you know you’re going to get caught, of course it’s going to be effective’, she said.

Speedbumps

As well as calling for a permanent camera to be installed, Cllr McGarry said she believes the council’s proposals to narrow the entrance to the road, and to install speed bumps on Oxford Lane would effectively deter drivers from using it as a shortcut, as it would increase the time it takes to drive down the road.

But she urged that swift action was needed to keep the area safe.

‘I would hope that something would be done by the end of the month’, she said.

Get Around Cardiff has contacted Cllr. Graham Hinchey and Cardiff Council about these plans to stop motorists misusing Oxford Lane, and is awaiting a response.

 

Changes to Cardiff Central entrances

 

The rear of Cardiff Central train station will be closed from today until late 2014, while building work takes place on a new rear entrance.

Arriva Trains Wales, which manages the station, tweeted a map of the building this morning showing the areas which will no longer be open to passengers, and the route from a temporary rear entrance to platforms. (See below)

Passengers using the  temporary rear entrance on Penarth Road will have to use the eastern subway to access all platforms.

The train operator says this will increase the time it takes to walk to some platforms, and has advised passengers to leave an extra five minutes to get to their trains on time.

Passengers are still able to get to platforms as normal using the front entrance near the bus station on Wood Street.

Users with wheelchairs , pushchairs or bikes who use lifts to get to platforms will be unaffected, according to Arriva Trains Wales.

‘These new arrangements have been scheduled to last until late 2014’, the company says.

‘Network Rail [which owns Cardiff Central] and Arriva Trains Wales apologise for any inconvenience caused.

‘This work is part of Network Rail’s “Cardiff Area Signalling Renewal Scheme” which is a major investment project to modernise the railway infrastructure in Cardiff and the Valleys’, it added.

Scroll down to see the map of the station tweeted by Arriva Trains Wales this morning.

 

 

Cardiff Central was opened in 1850 and rebuilt in 1932. It is a Grade II listed building.

11.5 million passengers used the station in 2011/12, according to Office of Rail Regulation statistics.