Well obviously I would support this, the national cycle network in
Wales has grown enormously in recent years but it is only with the
involvement of local people that it can be usable (clearly signed and
maintained). In England the volunteer program is more mature and having
recently ridden the Pennine Cycle Way (Peak district to Berwick-on-
Tweed) - could be ridden without a map (almost!) - Plus the huge
commuter usage in the urban areas it shows what can be done. Riding the
Lon Las Cymru 2 years ago -potentially a fantastic route but need a lot
more effort to bring it us to standard for leisurely use and the urban
routes are a lot to be desired.
Gwyn Smith as volunteer coordinator for Wales for 2/3 years has
improved things (like signing and helping establish local groups)
enormously. As a charity Sustrans employ just Gwyn to do all of Wales
so without and effective volunteer program the routes will disappear
just as the demand for such route is increasing (approx 15% year on
year in most areas of the UK, on the Sustrans traffic free routes)
The sun is shining must get out side.
See you
Alastair

Good old ropey email formatting breaking links! If you remember the
previous email about possible misuse of tinyurl, you'll see there is
now a preview option, which tells you where it's going to redirect
you to before it actually does so. Which is nice.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/yb87wp

--- In cyclecardiff@..., "martinonbikes"
<martnofafcb@...> wrote:
>
> While I'm not a fan of scaremongering sensationalism, it does no
harm
> to know when nasty stuff like this happens - forewarned being
forearmed
> and all that!
>
> http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_headline=my-
attack-
> ordeal-on-the-taff-trail-%26method=full%26objectid=18436025%
> 26siteid=50082-name_page.html
>

While I'm not a fan of scaremongering sensationalism, it does no harm
to know when nasty stuff like this happens - forewarned being forearmed
and all that!

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_headline=my-attack-
ordeal-on-the-taff-trail-%26method=full%26objectid=18436025%
26siteid=50082-name_page.html

I've just uploaded a copy of the Cardiff Cycling Strategy as a pdf on
this forum, in case anybody is interested in taking a look through
this. It's a bit of a monster, so it might take a few minutes to open
on a slow connection. Strictly speaking, consultation on this closed
in September, but there is still a 'task and finish' group at the
council looking at this apparently. More on this later.
Nick

Hi all

Just a reminder that there are still places on the coach to London
this Saturday for the 'Stop Climate Chaos' march and demonstration.

Tickets are £16 and the coach departs from outside the Museum at
8.00am. Contact Adam Johannes on cardiffccc@... or 07940 108
146 to reserve a seat.

It was a really nice atmosphere last year and I can really reommend
going. Thought you lot might be interested being into cycling and
everything!

Max..

I had a query the other day about the availability of a postcoding
service from South Wales Police. I contacted them only to be advised
that this service is discontinued. However, the officer responsible
for this area of crime prevention was extremely helpful. As a result
of the conversation, I'm able to report the following:

* they're going to send me a set of marker pens, including some kind
of invisible UV marker, which I'll bring along to the next meeting,
provided they arrive in time.
* there's a service called www.immobilise.com on which you can
register your bike's serial number (normally stamped below bottom
bracket). South Wales Police are now using this to trace the owners of
recovered goods.
* the crime prevention team seem very keen to talk about issues such
as parking, lockers, and cycle training. In fact, the officer that I
spoke to went so far as to suggest he and his colleagues came along as
guest speakers to a future meeting -- I didn't even have to ask.

I think this is all very positive.
Nick

Hi,

I'm a student at Cardiff School of Journalism and am keeping a keen
eye on transport/environment/energy stories in and around Cardiff.

Although my training obliges me to construct balanced reports, I cycle
every day and am very much a champion of the two-wheeled underdog.

If you have any news, however small or insignificant it may seem, I'd
love to hear from you. Email me: emilyunia_cbl@...

This ride was a pleasant and leisurely pootle along the Taff Trail as
far as Castle Coch. An initial challenge was provided by having to
share the first stretch of the trail with some energetic-looking
runners in the Cardiff marathon. Fortunately, collisions were averted.

Whereas the previous week was more of a road ride, today had a
different feel, partly due to the trail but also due to the presence
of some small children. We were also fortunate to have among our
number Alastair who was able to explain the work done on keeping the
trail open and well-signed, for which his family take some of the
credit.

We were in Tongwynlais in about an hour, then made our way up the hill
to the castle for second breakfast or early lunch in the cafe. As
billed, this was definitely not a tough day out!

Well fed, we headed back to Cardiff to meet the marathon runners
again, by this point looking significanty less energetic.

At present, there's no ride scheduled for Sunday 22. If anyone would
like to lead a ride, let me know and I'll add it to an email.

Otherwise, the next ride will be on 29 October. Meet 10 a.m. for a
10.15 start on the Bute Park side of the footbridge. This ride will
have a Halloween theme.

Hopefully see you there.
Nick

I agree it's very positive that attention is being drawn to this.
Another good thing that Dyfed is doing currently is liaising with the
council on cycle access to the city centre, which is a key area of
concern for many. It appears that, following the CCC's response to the
Cardiff Cycling Strategy, a council group is willing to investigate
problem areas. Dyfed copied me in on a CCC email a few days ago
requesting suggestions about where the council group might focus their
attention. If there are any suggestions, I'd be happy to pass them on.
Nick

--- In cyclecardiff@..., "blastbingbang"
<john.mccrory4@b...> wrote:
>
> Good work from Dyfed ......
> Cycle lane parkers 'put lives in danger'Oct 10 2006
>

Good work from Dyfed ......


Cycle lane parkers 'put lives in danger'Oct 10 2006

Katie Bodinger, South Wales Echo

A cyclist claims lives are being put in danger by drivers who park
their cars in cycle lanes on a busy city street.

Dr Dyfed Huws, chairman of Cardiff Cycling Campaign, says it is
impossible to travel down Cowbridge Road East in Canton, Cardiff,
without there being a car parked in the red lanes designated for
cyclists.

But because lanes on the road have broken white lines down the side,
which means they are only advisory, police cannot take action against
drivers parking on them.

'The cycle lanes just aren't good enough,' he said. 'On Cowbridge
Road East they are only advisory. We keep telling the council to put
proper wide cycle lanes that are legally enforceable.'

He added: 'Traffic wardens aren't enforcing double yellow lines. The
council is spending a large amount of money on making cycle lanes.
It's a waste of public money if they can't be used.'

A spokeswoman for South Wales Police confirmed traffic wardens and
police had no power to fine people for parking on cycle lanes with
broken white lines. But she said cycle lanes with unbroken lines, or
roads with double yellow lines, were subject to a fixed penalty.

A Cardiff Council spokeswoman said: 'As there are a number of
constraining factors, it will take time to make all major roads in
Cardiff cycle-friendly. Developments will happen in an incremental
fashion over a period of time. We are currently working to do as much
as possible, as quickly as possible.'

--- In cyclecardiff@..., "blastbingbang"
<john.mccrory4@b...> wrote:
>
> Thanks for the tip, most links seem to go over the one line mark
> these days so how do I make a tiny url ?

Go to http://tinyurl.com/ and paste your original link in the box
marked 'Enter a long URL to make tiny:' and press Enter or click on
the button. This will generate a new tinyurl address for you, which
you can then paste wherever you want.

A word of warning - because tinyurl completely masks the website you
are being referred to until you get there, it is possible to end up
in websites you might not wish to visit by clicking on a tinyurl
link. This has obvious potential consequences when done from work
networks which use software to prevent staff visiting 'inappropriate'
websites, for example, so it's a sensible precaution to consider
where the tinyurl has come from if it's one you've been sent or
referred to, and likewise it's a considerate gesture to tell people a
bit more information about what you are referring them to instead of
just expecting them to blindly click on something that could
conceivably take them absolutely anywhere.

Thanks for the tip, most links seem to go over the one line mark
these days so how do I make a tiny url ?

--- In cyclecardiff@..., "martinonbikes"
<martnofafcb@y...> wrote:
>
> --- In cyclecardiff@..., "ndcanham" <ndcanham@y...>
wrote:
> > The link you've provided seems to be dead, unfortunately.
>
> It's a formatting thing. Because the line is cut off at the '?',
the
> second half of the link url is not included when you click on it.
>
> http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?
> cId=A331075&ts=30040&id=26800
>
> You can either key in the second part of the url, or use something
> like tinyurl, which is designed to shrink unwieldy big links to
more
> manageable lengths - this tinyurl link below will take you to the
same
> page as the link above does when used in its entirety.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/g43bt
>

--- In cyclecardiff@..., "ndcanham" <ndcanham@y...> wrote:
> The link you've provided seems to be dead, unfortunately.

It's a formatting thing. Because the line is cut off at the '?', the
second half of the link url is not included when you click on it.

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?
cId=A331075&ts=30040&id=26800

You can either key in the second part of the url, or use something
like tinyurl, which is designed to shrink unwieldy big links to more
manageable lengths - this tinyurl link below will take you to the same
page as the link above does when used in its entirety.

http://tinyurl.com/g43bt

Sounds nasty. It's never happened to me fortunately, although I've had quite a
few near misses. I'm sure road positioning is the key way to avoid it, which
shows how silly having cycle routes outside of parked cars, like on Penhill Road
or Cathays Terrace, really is.

If you're looking for back up for a dynamo, you could probably get away with a
really cheap LED. I use a Smart Polaris which retails at about a tenner.  It's
really bright. I now use it as my main front light.

The link you've provided seems to be dead, unfortunately.
Nick

Good to hear that the ride went well.

A colleague of mind got car-doored recently on Wellfield Road.
Although he ended up lying in the middle of the road, he was not
seriously injured. The only answer to this is as far as I can tell is
to not cycle within a car-doors width of parked cars. This is
standard practice for motorists and I think it should be standard
practice for cyclists. Even though I practice this, there are times
when I am too close. When this happens I try and look into the cars
to see if any pose a threat. I also go slower, my intention being
that if the door opens ahead I can avoid it, brake in time or at
least brake into it. However, if a door opened while I was alongside
then I'm not sure there is much I could do. I just try an minimise
the risk by staying well away when I can.

As it gets darker in the mornings and evenings I am now wearing a
high-visibility waistcoat. I turn my dynamo on too, though in wet
weather it slips alot and doesn't work. I'm usually on well-lit roads
so its not a big issue for me - the jacket is probably sufficient.
I'll be looking into getting a battery light though as a back-up.

I believe the council provide high-vis cycling bibs for about £6.00
and various other places provide them too at not too high a price.
Mine is actually a workman's one from Screwfix. Possibly the one in
the link below. Only £4.29.

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?
cId=A331075&ts=30040&id=26800

Five of us had a great ride this morning (speaking purely for myself!)
and it was nice to see a few bits of road I'm not remotely familiar
with. All that and sunshine too.

One of the things that came out of it (especially when I had to stop
and play with my toolkit on the way to meet the others) was the thought
that it might have been a good idea to have emailed someone beforehand
to say I was definitely coming, so the group would have known to wait
for me.

This may be something to bear in mind for next sunday's ride,
especially if anyone is unclear exactly where the group is meeting, or
has to travel any distance to get there. Just to clarify, this is
simply a suggestion of a way to ensure against mishap on the way there
preventing anyone from making it and so missing out on the ride, and
I'm sure that everyone is welcome, whether pre-arranged or as a last
minute decision to come.

We had fun - if you couldn't make it today, there's always next week.
See you there!

The email entitled 'OUTCOME: Cycle Cardiff Public Meeting 2 October'
didn't get through to these recipients.
If either of you visit this forum, request the email to be resent from
cycle.cardiff@... . I will update your details on the list.
If anyone who visits this forum knows Grace or Monica, please inform
them and forward the email.
Nick

The council have reported their results and have provided a decent
article on their website at http://www.cardiff.gov.uk

Here is the article :-

*Bike is the best in Commuter Challenge

This year's international 'In Town Without My Car Day' was marked in
Cardiff with a Commuter Challenge that demonstrated a journey using
various forms of transport from Radyr to the Wales Millennium Centre.
The event was held in a bid to encourage us all to leave our cars at
home and consider alternative sustainable modes of transport for
commuting, even if only once or twice a week.

This year the bike, train, bus and car were compared in terms of
journey time, cost and environmental impact. The car used in the
challenge was a hybrid fuel vehicle and was chosen specially to
represent a more sustainable alternative to a normal petrol engine.

The journey was designed to reflect a realistic commuter journey to
work with all participants beginning the journey at 8.30am. The
commuters using public transport walked to the bus stop or train
station while the cyclists and motorists started with their vehicles.
Bus and train travellers were supplied with Personalised Travel Plans
from PTi Cymru, a Welsh Assembly Government funded initiative that
provides free Travel Planning Advice to the public. Those travelling
by car had to find a suitable parking space for their vehicle before
reporting to the finishing point.

The participants included five cyclists; Richard Lansdown and Pippa
Lansdown (Cardiff Cycle Couriers), Owen Jones Williams and Nigel Gaen
(Welsh Assembly Government) and Tim James (Cardiff Council). Philip
Jones (Cardiff Council) travelled by train, Lesley Watkins (Cardiff
Council) travelled by Bus and Richard Jones (Cardiff Council), Simon
Alterman and Mike Darby (Leaseplan Ltd) travelled in a hybrid fuel
car.

Cyclists were the first to arrive, the best taking 20 minutes to
complete an on-road journey from start to finish. Cyclists
undertaking the journey via the Taff Trail completed the journey in
23-27 minutes. The Train passenger was the next to arrive taking 35
minutes. The car completed its journey in 43 minutes. The final
arrival was made by the bus passenger taking 62 minutes to complete
her journey.

The best choice for the environment, fitness and cost was by far the
bicycle, with both bus and train also making a significant saving
when the costs of running and parking a car were compared. The
challenge clearly illustrated that the car is not always the best
choice when all the issues of time, cost, health and environmental
impact are set aside each other.

Two local school children designed posters as part of a competition
to highlight the day. Their entries are being displayed on Cardiff
Bus vehicles throughout city. The children were presented with
vouchers at the Wales Millennium Centre finishing line which they can
use to buy brand new bikes.

John Higgins, of Cardiff Cycle Couriers, said: "This exercise proved
that cycling is by far the fastest and most environmentally
acceptable way of getting around a busy city like Cardiff - something
our customers are realising more and more. I am delighted that the
Council has highlighted these issues."

Elgan Morgan, Executive Member for Transportation said: "I hope that
events such as the 'Commuter Challenge' will persuade people to leave
their cars at home whenever they can. With many other travel options
available it is becoming easier than ever to adopt a more sustainable
approach to travel.'

Cardiff Council would like to thank Cardiff Cycle Couriers, Leaseplan
and Welsh Assembly Government employees for their support.

Reasons to leave the car at home include:

1. You save money. The typical cost of running a 1100cc car in
Britain in 2001 was £2650 a year rising to £6800 for a 2000cc car.
30% of all motorists are unaware of how much their car costs to run.
Source: RAC report 2003. By sharing your journey you can reduce your
transport costs by up to £1000 a year. www.carplus.org.uk

2. Save the environment. 40% of people in the UK believe climate
change is already a threat and a further 49% believe it will be a
threat to future generations. However, 71% of people have done little
or nothing to change the way they live to help deal with the problem.
Source: ICM 2005. Why not change this figure by making a change?

3. Improve your health. In heavy traffic jams the air quality can be
poorer inside the car than out. Car users suffer up to three times as
much pollution as pedestrians. Source: Environmental Transport
Association. Children living on heavily trafficked streets are more
likely to develop chronic respiratory problems. Source: Occupational
and Environmental Medicine. If we all use our cars less we can
improve the air quality around us.

4. Improve your fitness. Regular cyclists typically enjoy a fitness
level equivalent to being ten years younger than the rest of the
population. Source: Car Free London Exhibition. Obesity in the UK has
grown by almost 400% in the past 25 years. Three-quarters of adults
are now overweight or obese. Source: House of Commons Health
Committee 2004. Why not jump on your bike and intoduce exercise into
your daily routine?

5. Improve your safety. Buses, coaches and trains in Britain are
seven times safer than cars in terms of fatalities per passenger
kilometre. Source: Confederation of Passenger Transport 2003.

Good idea Martin to get people expressing what they are about!
I am new to Forum's and hope they could be a good way to get ideas
thrown about, so when people meet up thing get done...I like a bit of
action!
Cycling is THE way of getting around for our family. All 4 of us cycle
to School, work, shop, holiday etc on bikes; the journey is often
more fun that where we are going to!!
  We choose our house to be close to the Taff trail, and is has worked
out great. Take today, I cycled the 2 children to school, in the sun,
all singing "I am a music man...." all out of tune- I know everyone
think we are nuts (we are)but its a good start to the day.
  I have meet lots of lovely people while cycling around Cardiff, while
feeling a lot of people rushing  around in their motors look rather
miserable and could do with a dose of biking!
I think the best way of promoting cycling is to be out enjoying
cycling as a daily way of life- preferable on a trail without a whiff
of an exhaust fume.


Alastair Rayment

PS
Vote for Traffic Free routes!
PPS
Where's the Spell Checker.

On In Town Without My Car Day, the council ran a challenge between
different modes of transport for a trip going from Radyr to Millenium
Center in Cardiff Bay.

Here are the results :-

Cyclists were the first to arrive, the best taking 20 minutes to
complete an on-road journey from start to finish. Cyclists undertaking
the journey via the Taff Trail completed the journey in 23-27 minutes.
The Train passenger was the next to arrive taking 35 minutes. The car
completed its journey in 43 minutes. The final arrival was made by the
bus passenger taking 62 minutes to complete her journey.

The best for our environment, for fitness and cost was by far the
bicycle, with both bus and train also making a significant saving when
the costs of running and parking a car were compared.

Hi,

I would just like to say thanks for trying to organise a cycle club
that is community inclusive.

Cycling is definitely the way forward for the future in terms of
protection of the environment, though I admit its a long term thing.

Cycling is fun, cheap, environmentally friendly and good for your
health. The tide has changed with respect to car culture and cycle
culture is on the move. Its the perfect time to get involved.

Lets see an all inclusive club with events for every age and standard.
Lets push cycling to the fore-front despite the poor effort from the
council/assembly.


John.

Hi Alastair
Yes, I thought it was very positive. I'm just putting together the
list to circulate.
For information, the money was almost exact as it turned out. They
charged only £23.50 in the end, which is charity rate, which is the
best I think they'll do. They don't really do free rooms for anyone,
I'm told.
Best wishes.
Nick

Meeting was good and showed there was a lot of enthusiasm and positive
ideas to make cycling more enjoyable in Cardiff.
I hope you are not out of pocket for the hire of the room - I forgot
to give you my contribution at the end. Will bring £2 to the next
meeting (£1 for each meeting)
Will try and make one of the Sunday rides.


Regards
Alastair Rayment

The ROUTE>SHARE notes, which Jennie presented at the meeting, are now
available to download on the 'Files' page of this forum.
Nick

Hi

I was thinking about what was said at the meeting last night, and a
couple of things occurred to me. It might be a useful start for
people to say a bit about their cycling, and any aspects of it that
particularly interest them.

Having an idea of where our interests as individuals lie should tell
us something about who we are as a group, and even if it's a very
varied group that's a useful thing to know!

So to get the ball rolling, I'm primarily a year-round 9-5 commuting
cyclist, and that's really where my major interest lies, in the area
of city cycling facilities in their role as transport infrastructure.

I'll also talk rubbish about bikes and cycling online for as many
hours as there are in the day, in between tinkering with bikes,
though outside of commuting I tend not to ride all that much,
especially in the darker months.

How's that for starters? What about you?

Happy riding!
Martin

... to all who attended the meeting on 2 October. There were at least
45 attendees, which shows how much interest there is in organizing
something with a broad base. Your enthusiasm was also tremendous, and
you came up with a great list of ideas. I couldn't have hoped for the
meeting to work better.

I will find time in the next few days to do three things: collate the
email list from the meeting with the one I already have; send out an
email with minutes, principally the list that went up on the wall; and
post the list on this forum with suggestions on how to select.

The other thing that I hadn't announced was that both Jennie and
myself were offering to run three rides between now and the next
meeting. These could be a good opportunity to meet up in a less formal
situation and bring new people along. The times are on the back sheet
of the blue handout. More info on these soon. The first two can be
considered confirmed.

I look forward to seeing you all again soon.
Best wishes.
Nick Canham