It means commuting to Cardiff a lot, both by bike and train.
I was very hesitant to take Caprice on the train in rush hour. She's a bit of a heffalump, and what with the Olympics and trains full of commuters, I thought it might be a bit rude. Why should I take up all the room when I could leave her at the station and just walk from Central station to Cardiff bay?
Here's why not: Jackass light and basket thieves.
The station I cycle to is unmanned and not in the greatest part of the country. I have two locks, one cable one for the wheels, and one U-Lock for the frame, partially because I am paranoid and partially because I sometimes lock Caprice in areas I just don't think are brilliantly safe. But I thought she'd be okay.
I came back one day to find I was missing my lights, and I came back another time to find my basket hanging off.
Clearly, I would either have to get a crap mountain bike with no accessories or start locking Caprice somewhere safer.
It's not even just about the lights, I don't like the thought of someone fiddling with my pride and joy. She's got a lot of sentimental and practical value.
There are bike racks right outside my building at work (no car parking though!) and there are security guards and people around all the time, so it's clearly the safer place to park up. And it's much nicer to cycle from Central station to the Bay and back than walk. There's a cycle track the entire way, and it's nice to sit down and take the weight off my feet when I've been standing up all day.
This meant I had to take Caprice on the train. Every day. In rush hour.
It turned out to be not all that awful. It was usually the way home that there was overcrowding. And under those situations it wasn't going to be great even without Caprice.
I have come across many different arrangements on trains.
One is the First Great Western London Paddington to Swansea high speed one, which is the worst.
You have to go right to either the front or the back of the train. Ask a member of staff which end to stand the first time. You have to be in position as soon as it rattles in, because it's quite the rush.
The bike carriage is by coach A, and I think it's at the back. Usually.
Get the door open, put your bike in the rack, ignore the straps. They are all useless, and waste time. Instead there are these wooden blocks that I didn't even notice for ages. Put one of those behind the back wheel to stop it from sliding out and falling over.
Now jump out the carriage, slam the door, leg it down to the entry of coach A, jump in, and breathe.
Number of times I have held up the train working out this routine - a bazillion.
Arriva are better because the bike is in the same carriage as you, so you can sort out the straps and everything when the train is moving. I've come across four different variations (Four! On the same route!).
One, my favourite - the fairly modern one. There is a space for two bikes on one of the carriages. You jump on, slide your bike into the slot, and attach it with the horizontal straps. You do have to watch out though - if someone has their bike under yours and are getting off first it's a nightmare. Check with other bike owners where they're getting off.
Another is similar to this, but the straps go around the wheel forks, and are not really long enough. The bike bit is on the other side of the door so you can't see it, you just have to spend the journey hoping it stays up.
I've only been on one of those, and I think it was a special train hauled out for the Olympics or something. I'd never seen it before, anyway.
Another is one where there are fold down seats, that lazy people sit in and hog all the bike space. These people are awful. There are also a lot of push chairs, which is kind of fair enough. But still annoying. Sometimes there is a lot of luggage. Also irritating, and not fair enough. Moral of the story is that people are terrible and sit in the bike space, so you have to stand in the isle.
If you are lucky enough to get to put your bike in the bike space, sit on one of the seats, and have the bike lean on you. Unattended bikes in this space always fall over, and it's kind of embarrassing.
The last one is probably great if your bike is normal sized, but Caprice is hefty and doesn't really fit, and so the train conductor always makes fun of me. You have to put your bike under a shelf, luggage going above. It's a nice idea, but she doesn't fit, so that's fun.
The entry to this train is really narrow too, which isn't ideal.
So yes, taking a bike on a train takes a bit of practice to perfect, and most things I pick up from observing other people. If the train isn't too crowded, it's fine.
If the train is crowded, all you can really do is breathe in and hope for the best!
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