This evening I had the great pleasure of attending an evening with author of Roads Were Not Built For Cars and Founder/Executive Editor of BikeBiz – Carlton Reid.
His talk was informative and illuminating to say the very least.
(and who knew; Jeremy Clarkson rides a bike?!)
Co-hosted wonderfully by Future Inns and Odoni-Elwell with guests and speakers from Pedal Power and CTC – Cardiff Cycle City. I was as inspired and as enthused by the words spoken this evening as I was to sit (rather anonymously) surrounded by passionate people. People passionate about cycling. Everyday people who live, work and breathe a lifestyle so integrated in my own experiences – a lifestyle I feel should be accessible to all.
After a trip to Copenhagen to experience some of the best in cycling infrastructure in February, I returned skint and pretty deflated with the prospect of an almost infrastructure-less Cardiff. Why isn’t the boom here more… boomy? Why am I a less respected road user? Why am I a target for angry motorists? I had become a cyclo-pessimist.
In my recent quest for slow (read about it here) – I have taken more time to consider not only the state of cycling across Cardiff as a whole, but my place in the cycling community too, . As mentioned tonight – positive attitude and positive action are massively important.
My slow project has been a rapidly evolving thought experiment and it has given me reason to write about exactly why I love to ride a bike.
Returning to the blogosphere has also returned me to an invigorating network of enthusiastic cyclists. It led me right into a conference room in Cardiff Bay with a great bunch of people who, by example have re-affirmed so many positives about cycling in this wonderful Welsh capital.
Special thanks to Simon Nurse of CycleStuffBlog for the invite via my colleagues at Cyclopaedia and Gwenda Owen for her (not at all too ranty) talk this evening – a great example for female cyclists.
Here’s to Cardiff – A brewing cycle city.
Lovely piece Jenny. Glad you enjoyed it. Was also a pleasure to see my favourite shop/mountain dog Frankie, in such at such an auspicious event 🙂
Thankyou! He wanted to network with fellow cardiff cyclists so it was hardly fair to leave him outside!
I’m keen to get involved in the cycling community – if you have anything for me to do give me a shout at the shop! 🙂