This is how they roll in Montreal

world naked bike ride

montreal

The Bedroom Philosopher - Northcote (So Hungover)

This is a new music video directed by my friend Craig Melville a couple of weeks ago. I gave him a hand organising the cameo rock star appearances. And yes it does include bicycles. What hipster music video would be complete without a fixie?

Melbourne - how to run a city

I just got back from doing some filming in Melbourne. I'd never been to Melbourne so in my spare time I went exploring. I was very impressed. Melbourne is such a beautiful, liveable city. Everything seemed to be just a little bit cleverer. Street Art, trams, stylish people hanging out in lane-way cafes, beautiful, well planned architecture, heritage, parks but my personal favourite was the bicycle infrastructure. I took lots of photos which you can see here.

It was nice to come back to Sydney, it's so much warmer here! But I really do think we could learn a lot about city planning from our friends in Victoria.


Even the post is delivered by bicycle in Melbourne.

One of the crew told me the best coffee in town was at a place called Cafe Racer down on the promenade at St Kilda. It was a long walk and I was seriously missing my bike by the time I arrived but the coffee was worth it. Imagine my delight when I realised the whole cafe was dedicated to the service of cyclists!

The next day the crew dropped me off in Federation Square where I came across this.

Apparently it was only installed last week! I put my two bucks in and off I went. The bike was a bit heavy and cumbersome but there are no hills so it was pretty cool. I was able to explore the whole cbd in a couple of hours. Everywhere I went friendly people stopped me to ask how the bike was going and remind me that I should be wearing a helmet. (n.b. I soon learned not to admit to being from Sydney, the friendliness evaporates pretty quickly when you say that...)

Another problem was that I didn't have a lock or lights but I'm sure they will sort all that out soon enough. It was pretty awesome. The next day the crew told me that when they filmed the opening of the scheme for ABC news a young woman got fined $110 for not having a helmet after riding just 20 meters! The poor publicity officer probably had a nervous breakdown...

All the kids ride too. Instead of being delivered to school in a huge, child crushing 4wd, you see them wobbling along following Mum or Dad on their bike. They get upset when a car cuts them off but the parents just laugh and say "come on kid, you're alright"

Another funny thing was that I didn't see a single recumbent, even grumpy men with beards ride two wheelers in Melbourne!

And dogs do their own shopping!

Bike parking at the bakery

Bourke Street Bakery has recently opened a new shop at 2 Mitchell St, Marrickville. While cycling and coffee have always gone together, presently there is nowhere to tie ones bike up when visiting the bakery – not even a street pole. The bakery is located in the area with the highest percentage of cycling trips in NSW and it should do more to encourage sensible transport options for local customers.

We the undersigned request that the Bourke Street Bakery Marrickville demonstrate their support for cycling, sustainability, and the Marrickville community by encouraging its customers to ride to the shop and provide them appropriate bicycle parking facilities.

Click on this link to sign the petition. It takes two minutes.

Monsterbike

Choir / bike flashmob Central Station Brussels

More people joining Sydney’s bike riding revolution

More Sydneysiders than ever are embracing cycling, with one in three bike owners now leaving their cars at home and riding to work, school, university or TAFE.

The findings come from an independent study commissioned by the City of Sydney comparing responses from 2006 and 2009.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the findings show that using a bicycle can be an efficient, cheap and healthy transport option for those not wanting to be stuck in traffic.

"This research not only shows more people are using bicycles, but indicates rates would be even higher if there were separated from traffic and had end-of-trip facilities like bike parking, lockers and showers.

"Our cycle strategy, which will see $76 million invested over four years, recognises the importance of building cycleways separated from traffic and pedestrians where possible to make bicycle riding a viable transport alternative," Ms Moore said.

The Taverner research also found:

• One in three City of Sydney riders ride more than 20 times per month;
• 80% say they'd be more inclined to cycle on safe separated cycleways and /or dedicated bike lanes;
• 2 in 3 potential bicycle riders would be more likely to ride regularly on separated bike paths or dedicated bike lanes;
• 64% of regular riders only started riding a bike in the last five years;
• Just over half of regular riders polled ride to work, school, university or TAFE;
• 61% think they'll feel more comfortable on a bike as the number of bicycles on the road increase;

The research also found that more riders would take up cycling if the City and businesses provided the infrastructure to make cycling a preferred method of transport with:

• 68% of non-regular bike riders said they would be more inclined to ride more often if they had access to bike parking or lockers;
• 45% of non-regular riders would be more likely to ride to work if they could take part in bike hire schemes;
• 69% of occasional or non-riders would consider riding to work if there were shower facilities.

This research follows the latest Christie report which predicts a 23 per cent growth rate in traffic over the next 15 years, costing a staggering $7.8 billion per year, while the number of people walking and cycling is expected to skyrocket by 233 per cent.

"The City is doing all it can to create the infrastructure to make it easy for people to switch to cycling as a more sustainable transport option and help relieve pressure on our congested roads.

"Cycleways will actually make it easier for other road users travelling longer distances to get where they need to go faster.

"Cycling addresses three key issues afflicting our community - traffic congestion, global warming and obesity," Ms Moore said.

A bike count on the City's newest separated cycleway in Bourke Road showed 250 bike riders used the route in a six hour period, over one bike per minute in the peak - a 30 per cent increase in the past month.

Spoke & Spool

Invitation from Spoke & Spool

We invite you to come down to Frasers' Studio on Saturday, May 15, for an afternoon of sewing amazingness.

Please bring some of your old clothes and leave with some transformed and amended clothes perfect for your bicycle.

We will provide sewing machines, gentle guidance, and fun attachments like map pockets, reflective cuffs and other DIY wonders.

It is going to be a truly spectacular afternoon where you can sew stuff, meet people, swap clothes, and have a celebratory beverage after all your hard work at the Clare Hotel from 6pm.

Drop on by, bring your bike, a friend, and a pair of your old favourites.

The event is free, however there will be Spoke + Spool attachments for sale.

x x spoke + spool

Bike riding a great way to keep the heart ticking

Riding a bicycle could save Sydney commuters from a raft of chronic diseases, from obesity to heart disease, Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP said during Heart Week (2-8 May).

"Cycling has substantial health benefits and is often a faster mode of transport in the inner city compared with cars or public transport," Ms Moore said.

"Report after report has found people who ride bicycles regularly are generally healthier, happier and fitter than those that don't. As we mark Heart Week, I'm encouraging Sydneysiders to think with their heart and get on a bike!"

Australian and international studies show regular bicycle riding reduces the chance of dying early from chronic diseases such as heart disease, obesity and Type 2 Diabetes.

Tony Thirlwell, Heart Foundation CEO - NSW said: "If we want to get Sydneysiders moving, governments have to support and facilitate activities like cycling and walking."

"The cycling network being developed in Sydney is a great example of councils working together to increase activity levels and improve heart health," he added.

A recent ABS report found that cardiovascular disease remains Australia's leading killer, responsible for 48,546 deaths in 2008, up from 46,821 in 2007 and 45,670 in 2006. This represents 33.7% of all deaths in 2008.

"It is clear that the more people use bicycles as a mode of transport the healthier and happier thousands of people are going to be. The health benefit is just one more reason to support Sydney's cycling enthusiasm and invest in cycleways," Ms Moore said.

The City of Sydney is building a 200km, $76M cycling network and has teamed up with 14 other inner city councils to build an inner city wide network to support the increasing demand for cycling.

A 2009 City of Sydney survey found that 83% of bicycle riders cited health and fitness as the main benefit of cycling on a regular basis.

Tokyobike comes to Sydney

Hello friends and bicycle lovers
Please join us for sake and celebrations
The bikes have arrived


Saturday
8 May
11.00am - 5.00pm


Tokyo Bike
1 Marys Place
Surry Hills
(on the right of the
Beresford Hotel)

www.tokyobike.com
www.tokyobike.com.au

Build your own dragster

Art Gallery of NSW

World's first ever cycle

A Chinese historian has recreated what he claims was the first pedal-powered cycle ever invented - which he says was in use over 2,000 years before the first western bicycle.

Academic Xu Quan Long has taken his bizarre contraption to the streets of Beijing to show people his discovery - which has raised more than a few eyebrows with other road users.

'It is quite slow and looks like very hard work to steer and control,' said one of the large, wooden device, which requires complicated gearing to allow it to even move.

Xu said he stumbled across the discovery while studying the works of legendary ancient Chinese inventor Lu Ban, who was born more than 2,500 years ago.

Lu is credited with inventing devastating military weapons like a counterweighted 'cloud ladder' for storming castle defences, and a 'wooden bird' that could supposedly glide for three days without landing.

The earliest verified examples of cycle-type devices weren't developed until to 19th century - first in the form of the 'draisine' or 'velocipede', a walking-powered two-wheeled device invented by German engineer Baron Karl von Drais in 1817, and briefly popular with dandies.

A variety of pedal-powered devices with varying numbers of wheels appeared over the next few decades, but it wasn't until the invention of the metal-framed 'boneshakers' in France in the 1860s that cycling really began to achieve any popularity.

But Xu now wants to challenge the accepted history, and is asking Chinese government officials to recognise Lu Ban as the cycle's true inventor.

A bicycle built for two

There it hung— a bicycle built for two, an exclamation point to her lonesome heart...
Unhappy Hipsters

Joop Moesman (1941)

'The Rumour'
Last year the Rijksmuseum conducted an election to find the most beautiful Dutch nude painting: This painting came third.
Sent in by Michael who found it at Inner Beauty

Hitler's fixed gear Bike Ride in danger

Bike fall on Google street view

Crazy Japanese sea creatures bicycling beach

NYX trailer from Portland

'NYX' Trailer from ••ANTIPHON•FiLMS•• on Vimeo.

Reclaim the lanes

On Saturday the 13th of Feburary, we're going to have a roving street party in Newtown! PLEASE invite your friends!
Suprise! bands, sound systems and installations along the way, ending up in a beautiful lost alleyway of the inner west.
To celebrate local music and art, to assert our rights to live in the roads usually given over to cars and to get to know our local laneways that make up our neighbourhoods.
This is not a protest against anything, more a celebration of our potential and the potential of our neighbourhoods.
It's about public space and how we could possibly see our streets as meeting places and open areas of community engagement instead of transit routes for cars which dominate our city.
The goal is to have a totally free community event celebrating vibrant local creativity in the face of gentrification and boredom.
We are meeting at The Hub in Newtown Square, opposite the train station for a roving party with mobile bands and soundsystems at 2PM. Bring friends, drums, mobile sound systems, couches on wheels, bikes, skateboards, chalk, picnic rugs and drinks.
This event will change as the weeks progress so watch out for details on this page or in your inbox.

Local artists, bands, DJs and various communities all come together for a street party that embraces community spirit and puts it all together for everyone.

A Free Party!

Date:	Saturday, February 13, 2010
Time:	2:00pm - 10:00pm
Location:	Inner West/Newtown Area

Go Team!

Groenendaal, the guy coming second said later:

We are the mice and Nys is the cat. Everybody saw it once again, Nys is the strongest around. Nys likes this game and I’m playing along. Of course he’s allowed to come back on us as we’re all fighting each other. There should be another competition for him, but I’m afraid that he’ll race with the 125cc motor bikes then.

How it all started

First car imported into New South Wales, c.1903

From the collections of the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales