At the end of last year I moved over the mountain to Caerphilly and I’ve been feeling a little torn about what to do with my blog since then. After leaving Cyclopaedia at the start of 2017, I went back into education to pursue my dream of becoming a Dietitian. This meant that I have had to rely on a vehicle a lot more, and as a result, my cycling habits have changed pretty dramatically. I’m unashamed to say that since living so close to the amazing natural trails in Caerphilly with a mountain biker, I’ve totally become one, knee pads and all. In blasting about in my van with muddy bikes in tow, I felt a little like I had betrayed the ethos of Cardiff Cyclist…
So, I’m writing today because I have recently been offered one of 30 places on the Dietetics degree at Cardiff Met (woo!) and I’ll be returning to Cyclopaedia for the summer before uni starts. My van currently costs me about £200 per month to run (mostly in insurance), it does nothing for my health and it’s bad for the environment – so I think I have decided to go car-free again. I’m going to sell my van and ride my bike everywhere. 16 miles every day for uni, 10 miles per day for work at the bike shop and I’d like to maintain 3-4 mountain bike rides per week too… oh.. and cyclocross! I’d like to manage to get out of the Novice Women category and race cyclocross.
(Racing novice women last year in Pembrey)
I feel really good about my decision because I finally have a reason to come back to blogging (which I love), but I’ll admit that I’m a bit nervous of taking the plunge. I’d be really grateful for any tips/advice about commuting between Caerphilly and Cardiff, or for just being car-free in general. What are the best lights? Best waterproofs?
Naturally, the focus of my blog is going to change. I used to write about the accessibility of cycling in Cardiff and I’d try to stay on top of all the cycle stuff going on in the area. I think Cardiff Cycle City and Cardiff by Bike have that covered so brilliantly already that I’m going to write a little more about a car-free lifestyle, I’m going to talk about dietetics, nutrition and health and probably a bit about mountain biking, cyclocross and how I train. 🙂 Maybe I’ll become The Cycling Dietitian (if I pass my exams…)
I hope you can still enjoy Cardiff Cyclist.. I’m really happy to be back.
Panniers/Rack- do it now, they are less cool and can be quite expensive, but they are so so so worth it.
Mudguards- suck up the pain to install them and do it asap. I run them year round and never bother to remove during the summer
Puncture proof tyres- either Schwalbe marathon plus’s or conti-gp4000, run something wider than you would normally- think 28mm+, 32mm is a good choice (or wider if your frame can take it)
Lights- get dymno if you can afford it- otherwise, carry spare batteries! USB charging lights are great (if you have power in work).
I didn’t get on with overtrousers, and preferred to just get changed in work instead.
Fantastic tips, thankyou so much.. I have a dynamo on another bike so I think I’ll use that. Definitely going to change at work/uni because I’m not a fan of the ‘boil in the bag’ effect of waterproof overclothes!
Hi All im noob here. Good article! Thx! Thx!
Just came across this on Twitter. I ditched my car about 2 years ago to commute to work everyday in Cardiff and Penarth. It is possible just takes a bit of planning and some good kit. Especially when carrying your scales.Unfortunately you will not be the first to claim the title of cycling dietitian as that is what I have already claimed. Good luck with your studies and maybe you will get placed in one of our teams in Cardiff.
Hi Kevin,
Thankyou for the comment, glad to meet (kind of) the cycling dietitian! How far is your commute, are you enjoying it? I’ve been commuting 16-20 mile round trip to uni and back each day and I’m actually really impressed with how enjoyable it became within a matter of weeks. There are great facilities for cyclists at Cardiff Met too. Fantastic secure storage, changing rooms with lockers showers etc; it really does help. I’m in the process of planning a project to encourage more health science students to embrace cycling to uni/integrating cycling for health & wellbeing. It would be good to showcase some cycling champions working in the profession. If that sounds like something you’d like to get involved with, please do drop me an e-mail at cardiffcyclistblog@gmail.com, perhaps we could have a chat.