The Battle for Randwick City Council's Transport Soul

It is being billed locally as the "The Battle for Randwick City Council's Transport Soul".
Next Tuesday night (22nd June) highly respected Greens Councillor Murray Matson will go head to head with the absurd No Parking Meters Party Councillor Charles Matthews over whether unregistered bike riders are a subsidised danger to the community.

Matthews is running for the NSW state upper house on a hard-line policy that bike riders represent both a safety threat and an economic burden on the state. As if yet another crack pot, right wing extremist in our Upper House wouldn't be an economic burden! His position flies in the face of the mountains of published evidence that cycling provides huge economic and environmental benefits. Matthews previous achievments include chairing a Randwick Council Committee that awarded a Community prize to himself! The Council has since had to institute new rules that Councillors cannot award themselves such honours.

Matson is a former Mayor of Randwick who helped pioneer the annual Sydney Body Art Ride, a "semi-naked bike ride" from The University of NSW to Maroubra beach on the grounds that it
would help save the planet and raise money for charity. The event subsequently raised over $60,000 for the Children's Cancer Institute while generating positive publicity world wide, attracting tourists and highlighting the progressive work of Randwick City Council.

Councillor Matthews describes Matson as his "worst enemy."

On Tuesday night Matthews will be attempting to force through a motion that other NSW Councils be lobbied to impose a $50 annual registration fee on bike riders. The votes of the various councillors will be watched with great interest by the local community.

Matson will oppose the motion on the grounds that it will act as a disincentive to New South Wales residents trying to adopt a low carbon foot print and who are already sacrificing a lot for the common good.

Matthews has attempted to justify his bizarre motion in a number of suburban newspapers with provocative comments designed to garner publicity for his bid to become a publicly subsidised crusader in our Upper House along side other ratbag extremists like Australians Against Further Immigration, the Citizens Electoral Council, the Shooters Party and Fred Nile's Call to Australia. The Country Party, a small rural party with no ties to the National Party, has the chauvinist slogan "Australia for Australians" on its campaign leaflet. The Riders' and Motorists' candidate, Piet Baird, is a former ASIO counter-terrorist agent. It is quite clear that the right is making a concerted effort to maximise its vote in the upper house by flooding the ballot paper with various front groups in order to support the Liberal-National Coalition or Nile's Call to Australia.

The Cumberland Courier reports that Matthews has even tried to establish a link between bicyclists and violent crime! Cr Matson will attempt to find a link between Cr Matthews and reality, although no-one expects him to succeed. (Thanks Moz) The same paper outlines Matthews crackpot economic "rationalist" analysis of the community cost of bike riders. He claims that although a lot of money was spent getting cyclists onto the roads, they paid nothing in return. Even the RTA has rejected Matthews ill informed proposal.

Thankfully Matson has countered by speaking up for the bike fraternity. He said today, "The NSW bike lobby has been thrown into emotional free fall by news of the No Parking Meters Party motion at Randwick. Up until now they were used to being regarded as lycra glad urban heroes who went out and tried to reduce road congestion by dodging death every day on un separated bike paths. Now suddenly its' they themselves who are being condemned as the potential killers! Matthews has also added insult to injury by insisting that they should be paying for the practically non-existent bike paths that are actually threatening their lives."

Cr Matthew's motion to Tuesday night's meeting reads as follows.

"That this Council submits a motion to the next Local Government Association Conference requesting all NSW Councils to adopt a state wide approach to introducing registration fees for bicycles in all Local Government areas, such motion to read as follows:

That all NSW Councils, as part of their respective transport plans, look at ways of introducing a registration fee for pushbikes in their Council area. This fee would be payable to the Council and would ensure that cyclists pay their fair share towards the upkeep of roadways and cycle ways in the Council area."

Cr Matson has slammed the wording of the motion as unthought through because bike riders already pay Councils their fair share to up keep roads and bike paths either directly through their own rates or indirectly via the rates that their land lords pay. The No Parking Meters Party has just declared that it stands for the economic persecution of bike riders.

Cr Matson has also called Cr Matthews political usage of the Eastlakes death as shameless. He said, "This will be an unfair rate slug on a section of the community that the No Parking Meters Party thinks it can intimidate into silence by shamelessly exploiting the death of that poor woman in Eastlakes."

Amazing stunt riding...on a carbon road bike

Pedal power in Sydney

by Kim Shaw in Central

Business is booming for Sydney’s bike shops, with the roll out of Sydney Council’s cycling network and State Government support for a regional network linking 164 Sydney suburbs.

Clarence St Cyclery opened the country’s first women’s bike shop in May and customers are rolling in, store manager Jenny Fay said.

The increase in custom was significant and many women were looking for bikes with baby carriers, she said.

“We have every type of female cyclist coming in from regular commuters to high performance athletes, to recreational and weekend cyclists to mothers who want to carry their child on the back of the bike. We have a lot of women coming in wanting to get a bike with a baby seat,’’ she said.

“Our commuter and recreational bikes have shot through the roof, as has the high visibility apparel for people riding at night. We know there are more people riding to work because they are buying the clothing for the darker evening journeys back home.’’

Ms Fay said the new bike paths were making cyclists feel safer. “They are alleviating that fear that you have no chance on the street with cars,’’ she said.

Sydney motorists have become more aware as well.

‘’Drivers are beginning to realise that bikes are part of life and that they are getting more popular, especially for shorter trips. It’s a nice feeling when you are passing cars stuck in traffic,’’ Ms Fay said.

More women also were realising that commuting by bike not only saved time and money but also made gym fees redundant. Ms Fay quoted research commissioned by Sydney Council that predicted a 66 per cent increase in bike trips by 2016.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has pointed to sections of the research which found that an inner city regional bike network would deliver at least $506 million - or $3.88 for every dollar spent - in net economic benefits in 30 years.

Cr Moore said women made up 70 per cent of people taking part in the council’s free cycling courses, covering bike maintenance and responsible riding.

“More than eight out of 10 people say they would take up cycling or ride their bikes more often if there were a safer cycle network,’’ Cr Moore said.

Who to back in the Tour de France

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