In other news, one hell of a fixie rider in this vid.

Some photos in and around Pedal Power and Spokes Cafe.

If you have ever walked along the Taff Trail on a sunny Saturday morning, you may have noticed all kinds of weird and wonderful bikes.

These bikes look like strange hybrids, with two seats, three wheels and bizarrely oversized baskets. Some even have saddles which look like armchairs. These unusual bicycles all belong to cycling charity Pedal Power’s highly specialised fleet.

The charity was founded by Sybil Williams and has been running for 10 years. Sybil used to be a physiotherapist at Ely Hospital and was determined to find ways to keep her patients moving.

She said: “Many people with long-term disabilities never had a chance to leave the hospital. Lying in a hospital bed isn’t good for you. You need to get out into the fresh air and keep active.

“I used to organise walking groups, but we could only walk around the hospital car park, which was grey and dull. There was very little greenery and I wanted to get people out into the community.”

Sybil decided to buy some bikes for the hospital and then worked with the council to set up a cycling centre on Pontcanna Fields in 2000. The centre proved so popular, she soon decided to extend the service to benefit the whole community.

She said: “Originally, we just targeted people with disabilities, but having the chance to get on a bike put such a huge smile on people’s faces, we decided more individuals should be able to benefit from the centre.”

The centre now houses more than 200 specialised bikes in its large bike shed, while the popular Spokes Café provides a social hub for cyclists to meet up and enjoy a cup of coffee after a long ride.

Nia Morgan, operations manager, said: “We cater for pretty much every type of disability. It’s all about finding the right bike for the right person. Many disabled people have never had the chance to learn to ride a bike.”

But the charity does much more than simply provide the right bike for its cyclists. It also trains disabled volunteers, giving them the opportunity to learn real-world skills and enhance their employability.

Nia said: “We have about 100 volunteers and we take on five disabled volunteers every 12 weeks. The supported volunteers choose a training programme which corresponds to their interests, giving them the opportunity to work in the bike shed, office or kitchen.

“We find this really improves our volunteers’ self-confidence and gives them the skills they need to get a job. Some of them have been isolated in the past, so working here gives them the chance to make new friends and be part of a community.”

Some of the volunteers also get involved in fundraising. Sybil said: “One volunteer was a police officer for 21 years, but she was forced to retire after she broke her leg in a car crash. She had to rest the injury and ended up gaining a lot of weight.

“She bought a bike, but it was the wrong bike for her and sat in her shed for several years. She joined us 15 months ago and undertook a sponsored slim to give her the motivation to lose weight. She has already lost five stone and raised more than £200.”

Pedal Power also offers one-to-one tuition for people over 50, enabling them to improve their skills and learn how to repair and maintain their bikes. Nia said: “One of our students is 84 and had never even been on a bike before. It just goes to show you are never too old to learn.”

The guys from Cardiff bike polo have come for a three-hour stint on the smooth surface of the sports hall at Llanedeyrn high school, Roundwood.  As niche sports go, bike polo is up there with the strangest and the best.

Here are some snaps of the guys.
Click to view slideshow.

The game is essentially the same as its somewhat more upper-class equivalent – just with bikes instead of horses and a whole lot less pomp.  There are three players on each team, the aim is to get the ball in the goal and the main obstacle, aside from the opposition, is making sure one’s feet do not touch the ground.

On arrival, there are just six players getting kitted-out, with a couple more showing up as the morning went on.  Some wore full helmets with face guards, as well as elbow and kneepads, while others chose to go without.

Cardiff bike polo in action on Saturday morning.

Listen to Jim Cochran talk bike polo to crankitupcymru
http://yourlisten.com/Embed.swf?id=116076

Jim Cochran, who has been playing for about two years, said one of the best things about bike polo is the do-it-yourself kit.  This is a welcome change for those used to paying big bucks for their sports kit and particularly cyclists, who generally tend to pay more for bikes than some people pay for cars.

Most of the players have adapted their bikes themselves.  Sawn-off handlebars make maneuvering on the court easier.  Then there are twin-lever brakes, which mean players can operate the front and back brake with one hand – the other firmly wrapped around a mallet, of course.

Wheels are blacked-out with road signs and old television production materials.  This protects tyre valves as well as helping to deflect the ball, which is particularly useful for the goalkeeper.

Long-term member, Paul Beesley, has been playing since the club was started, almost three years ago, by Martin Higgins of the Bike Shed, Pontcanna.  He said: “I love playing.  It’s such a good laugh.  We usually have a beer while we play and we don’t take it too seriously.

“We struggle for numbers in Cardiff so we tend to play with the guys from Bristol quite a lot.   We’ve entered a few tournaments.  Most of the teams there are a lot better than us, but it’s good to go away, play, meet other people and pick-up on some of the new stuff they’re doing.

“I could go mad for constantly tweaking my bike so it’s ideal for polo, but it probably wouldn’t make me a better player.”

Richard Miller, who had travelled from Bristol to play, discovered bike polo three years ago while touring in France.  “I noticed a couple of guys sitting outside a pub with their bikes and mallets, so I went over and asked them about it,” he said.

“I’m so glad I found bike polo.  I don’t have too many commitments so I spend a lot of time playing.  I have work commitments like everyone else, but polo comes first.”

Because bike polo is such a niche sport, players learn from each other and pick up skills and tactics by watching games at tournaments.  Mr Miller said: “Polo is a tactical game and some of the guys in London are highly skilled, so we learn a lot from them, like shielding players and things you just wouldn’t think of doing.

“Bike polo’s got such a friendly scene, because it’s such a small scene and everyone’s so enthusiastic about polo and keen to share that with others.”

Bike polo can look fairly slow-paced, but even as a competent cyclist, handling a bike in a confined space, while chasing a ball and with a mallet in one hand, was an absolute challenge.  After getting the mallet stuck in the spokes, I decided it was probably best to return to my spot on the sidelines.

Colchester Cycling Campaign website details guidance given by the Home Office, when on-the-spot fines were first introduced in 1999.

The CTC Campaigns Briefing: Cyclists’ behaviour and the law, updated in October, is also worth a look.

What are your thoughts?  Join the debate.

The scheme, which was put in place following complaints from residents, is being run by South Wales Police and Cardiff Council to combat the increasing number of collisions involving pedestrians and cyclists on pavements. Police were made aware of the problem after residents’ complaints were heard at PACT meetings.  Figures on the number of incidents were unavailable at the time of publication.

Police were handing out flyers to people cycling on Queen Street yesterday, where cyclists are banned. The operation has also been carried out in Cathays. A total of 110 leaflets were issued to cyclists committing offences last weekend.

Shoppers on Queen Street, where cycling is banned

Bicycles parked up on Queen Street

South Wales Police confirmed some cyclists have been issued with £30 fixed penalty fines for breaching the ban over the past week, as a result of the operation.

Sergeant Louise Lucas, of South Wales Police, said: “Our concern is the safety of all city centre users and we wish to remind cyclists that this is a pedestrianised area where cycling can result in a £30 fixed penalty notice. Police officers and PCSOs will continue to tackle this issue as part of their daily patrols in Queen Street.”

The leaflets are designed to make cyclists aware of the highway code. The rules on the leaflet are as follows:

• Rule 60: At night your cycle MUST have white front and red rear lights lit.  It MUST also be fitted with a red rear reflector (and amber pedal reflectors), if manufactured after 01/10/85).

• Rule 64: You MUST NOT cycle on the pavement. Maximum fine £500.

• Rule 68: You MUST NOT carry a passenger unless your cycle has been built or adapted to carry one.  You MUST NOT hold onto a moving vehicle or trailer or ride in a dangerous, careless or inconsiderate manner.  Maximum fine £1000.  You MUST NOT ride when under the influence of drink or drugs, including medicine.

• Rule 69:  You MUST obey signs and traffic light signals.  Maximum fine £2500.

• Rule 71: You MUST NOT cross the stop line when the traffic lights are red.  Some junctions have an advanced stop line to enable you to wait and position yourself ahead of other traffic.  Maximum fine £2500.

Cardiff Council said: “After the issue was raised at a PACT meeting, we decided to work together on the initiative. We are giving leaflets to cyclists using the pavement, carrying passengers or jumping red lights. We want to educate cyclists who commit these offences.”

Members of the Cardiff Cycling Campaign condemned cycling on pavements, but at a meeting last night, some members felt the leaflets were being used as an intimidation tactic. Some members said public money was being spent on projects, which do not offer solutions to the problems faced by cyclists in the city.

Iona Gordon, Riverside Councillor and Cardiff Cycling Campaign member, said: “Generally we do not advise cycling on pavements at all, but very poor cycling facilities have been put in place in areas like Cathays Terrace, which suggests that it’s okay to cycle on pavements.

“I find it appalling in a capital city where we are trying to encourage more people to cycle and use public transport, because that is the way to get about a city. People in London don’t expect to drive their cars into the city centre and we should be working to get to that position too.

“Queen Street is a really important route across the city and until they promote safer cycling on these routes which go north of Queen Street, such as Boulevard De Nantes, and then to the south on Mill Lane, down past the hotel and towards the prison. Until those roads are what I would call cycle-able for ordinary cyclists, Queen Street does become a route of choice.

“When there are too many people on the pavement, most cyclists will get off because it becomes difficult to weave in and out. You just get the odd few who give cyclists a bad name.”

Coun Gordon said during a previous trial cyclists could use Queen Street before 10am and after 4pm, so people could avoid roads during rush hour.

The leaflets direct cyclists who do not have the confidence to ride on the road to Cycling Training Wales – a Cardiff-based organisation which runs cycling courses aimed at beginners and commuters. Training manager, Nick Canham, of Cycling Training Wales, said the organisation had not had anybody approach them on the back of the campaign yet.

He said: “The people who come to us generally use the road and not the pavement, but they are uncertain about the right way to go about it. On the training courses I explain the principles of positioning – taking the lane to prevent people passing unsafely, not riding in the gutter and making sure you can be seen.

“A lot of people I train said they know this is the sensible thing to do, but they were not sure what they were allowed to do on the road.

“The people we get on the courses generally do not cycle on the pavement. People just lack confidence. There are quite a lot of people around who are pavement cyclists, particularly in Cathays, because they think that’s the safer option, but it isn’t.”

Mr Canham said the courses cover some theory before taking cyclists out on the road to put what they have learnt into practice, both in residential areas and in the city centre.  “I would say feeling unsafe on the road is a bit of an issue for cyclists,” Mr Canham added.

Katie Barrett-Goode, 36, of Llandaff North, was cycling with her two children and husband in the city yesterday. They had cycled into the city on the Taff Trail, but she was not aware cyclists are not allowed to ride on the pavements.

She said: “I understand why you can’t cycle on Queen Street because it’s pedestrianised, but I can’t take the kids on the roads in the city centre because it’s just too busy and dangerous.”

Cycling safety has been brought to the forefront recently, with cycling groups campaigning nationwide for improvements in road safety.

Show your support for safer roads for Britain’s cyclists by signing up to The Times’s cities fit for cycling campaign. I just did.

In the afternoon I braved freezing conditions to go for a spin.  Having not seen daylight for 48 hours, thanks to the rigorous regime at Cardiff School of Journalism, some serious sunshine was needed.

Unfortunately, the route was plagued with potholes, ice and lashings of mud, which clogged the bike up so badly the wheels could barely move.  Not ideal conditions, but it was just good to get out. 

Being a very mature 26 year old, I cannot help but be amused when cycling through the village of Treguff.  It makes me chuckle every time.  

Mmm, swiftly moving on …

I went to see A Gringo’s Journey at Cardiff’s Chapter arts centre on Saturday night.  The combination of two of my favourite things – cycling and south America – made it an absolute winner.   

Based on a true story, A Gringo’s Journey was about Cris Osborn’s cycling jaunt from Denver, Colorado, to Terra del Fuego at the southernmost tip of South America.  Alex Harries’s passionate execution of the part of the former bus driver come adventurer, Cris, was outstanding.

Musician, Matt Salisbury, used drums and percussion to generate the sounds of the bike and open road, while Harries delivered the tale in a thick Welsh accent.  The audience followed Cris’s journey across north American states into Mexico, along ramshackle roads to Lake Titicaca in Peru, across the world’s largest salt flats in Uyuni, Bolivia, and down through Chile, before finally reaching Tierra Del Fuego.

En route, he escaped several near death experiences – something which punctuates almost every worthwhile travelling experience and always the source of a good yarn.  He came close to falling off the cliff edge of a mountain road, contracted hepatitis, and, most terrifyingly, lost his way and his sight in the vast salt flats.

The magic of A Gringo’s Journey was in the way it dismantled what it is like to be alone on the road.  Cris said: “I was alone, but not lonely” – the sense one can never be alone because we are all made of the same stuff and part of the same thing. 

“My body was fine, my mind was fine, so I just left them both to it,” he said.  The meditative experience of long days on the bike is unbeatable. 

In the final minutes, Cris talked about reaching his destination and talking to his bike as if it had a soul.  (Which bikes do, of course.)

The lights faded and Cris ended with “A bike has two wheels and it goes.” 

I was left with itchy feet and aching wanderlust.  Back to the rat race, I go.  Well, at least until I find that one person who wants to pay me to cycle around the world and write a book.  A girl can dream, right?

There’s nothing like some good rhythms to get you to the top of a big hill and my favourite climbing tune at the moment is Jasper Forks River Flows In You (Alesso Remix), which sums-up the drama of the moment perfectly.  Plus, everyone knows you can’t listen to slow-paced, lyrical music when doing sport.

What gets you going?

Check out the European Cyclists’ Federation Facebook page and website for more of the same.  Happy Friday!

Albert Einstein on the Theory of Relativity