March 2019 - Bicycles Create Change

31/03/201920/04/2019

Brisbane Bicycle Film Festival 2019

This guest blog post by Jen Sheean is about the Brisbane Bicycle Film Festival. Onthe night, The Style over Speed crew rode from Brisbane city to the cinema at St Lucia, where the incredible cycOZ performed an infectious bicycle-inspired percussion set on arrival (see end photos). Last year, Bella and I entered our film Leki, which took out the People’s Choice Award. This year, I gave my tickets to Jen, a fellow singlespeed MTBer who had not been to the festival before. Not only did Jen have a good time, but she kindly wrote a summary of the films shown. Thanks so much Jen! See you all at the Brisbane Bicycle Film Festival next year! Enjoy! NG.

Brisbane Bicycle Film Festival 2019

Thanks to the generosity of Nina, my husband and I spent a slightly wet Friday night at the Schonell Theatre in UQ enjoying the Brisbane Bicycle Film Festival.

It was a wonderful night and very well-attended. As I understand it, the change this year to a bigger venue meant that the previously sold-out event still had some tickets available. This is a great development because, in my opinion, more people should head to it and see what it has to offer.

I plan to go again!

The first half of the night saw some announcements from Mark Bailey, the Minister for Cycling (as I understand is his preferred title having moved on from being mangocube), about the newly opened Gateway Bicycle Path and some upcoming projects for more bicycle paths in the northern suburbs of Brisbane. Announcements of more paths are always a happy thing in this somewhat cycling challenged city of ours.

Space for Cycling is the organiser of the event and they should be congratulated on how smoothly it ran. Their drive to push for safer ways to travel by bicycle in the CBD appears boundless – and I hope they see some decent success soon.

After the formalities, it was on to the short films competing for prizes, including the People’s Choice Award which was won last year by a film in which the indefatigable Nina was heavily involved.

Brisbane Bike Bites

These short films must be no more than 5 minutes and have some connection to both Brisbane and cycling. There was a range of approaches to these very broad criteria but that just added to the fun.

The first film was called I Love to Ride My Bicycle. It was a spiffy 1:37 long but it had everyone laughing from beginning to end. The concept was simple but brilliantly executed.

The next was The Gate. Another simple concept but the credits were the real star of this film. They were full of tongue-in-cheek references greatly appreciated by the audience – so much so that they (the film makers not the credits) took out the People’s Choice Award.

Pedal-mentry provided a fascinating look at a club that is populated by people who have customised their bicycles. Some of the creations were totally whacky! But the individuality shown by all of the bicycles is a testament to the creativity of their owners.

On the Fly followed a ride around Brisbane. Then it had a cat at the end. I really liked the cat.

Club Song Film was true to its name. It showcased the vocal talents of a penny farthing club. They all dressed in era-specific garb and seemed to be having a jolly old time in their singalong around the piano.

Inspired by a similar era, A Jaunty Jaunt took out first prize. The highlight was the juxtaposition of the olde time costume and penny farthing bicycle of the main character and his meeting with his modern day counterpart. It was a truly fun concept.

Finally, the last bite sized film was The Epic of Spring Hill. This faux-documentary about an intrepid pair attempting to summit Spring Hill was a delight from start to finish. The bike skills on display while riding City Cycles were impressive but I particularly liked when they decided to climb the steps up to the summit using a rope and the lead climber thought briefly about cutting the rope holding his companion. Spoiler alert: They did reach the summit by bike but it appears their claim to be the first to do so has been disputed.

The Main Feature

These very clever short films were followed by the main feature. The Bicycles of Wrath is a film in which 5 mates from Victoria decide to follow, by bike, the route taken by the ill-fated Joad family in the Steinbeck novel, The Grapes of Wrath.

It was beautifully done and showcased the generosity of those with little to give in a way that nicely mirrored Steinbeck’s underlying theme. I truly enjoyed it. I’d recommend it to anyone who is interested in Steinbeck, bicycles, travel or human nature.

We left the event wondering how it is we’d never been before.

That said, we will be there next year and I recommend you consider going as well!

28/03/201920/04/2019

Bow Bells Ring

Bow Bells. Bicycles Create Change.com. 27th March 2019.

The other day I was riding my bike along the foreshore. It was a busy day, with cyclists, pedestrians and families all out enjoying the sunshine. It made me happy and I thought how nice it would be to interact more with the environment and people around me.

It reminded me of the Bow Bells Ring project by artist Colin Priest, which was an installation commissioned as part of the 2011 London Olympics.

I really love this creative and community-minded bicycle project.

It perfectly captures everything this blog holds near and dear. So for those who have not heard of this project before – here is ye olde favorite community bike project gem. Enjoy!

What is Bow Bells Ring?

The idea is simple. UK artist Colin Priest collected 100 bicycle bells of all kind of sizes, shapes and loudness and installed them strategically along well-used public paths.

Each bell was attached to a small wooden stick and had its number and a little blurb detailing the project.

Then, each bell was installed at critical experimental points along a public route linking the Greenway, Capital Ring towpath and Stratford High Street. Visitors could download an app to get a tour map of all the bell locations.

Cyclists, pedestrians and locals could ring the bells and interact with the project however they liked. Priest found that some of the bells were modified by passers-bys (de/increasing loudness).

This project not focuses on bicycles and active transportation, but also uses recycling and low-tech approaches. It is innovative and encourages community engagement and an appreciation for the local environment.

What more could you want in a community bike art installation?!

The aim was to highlight safety and interactivity, promote use of local public spaces, increase awareness for biking and community interaction, and to bring some happy cheer to the area.

The installation followed the main bikeways through some gorgeous parklands, along a river and through the urban green spaces. The bells were also thoughtfully situated in order to reflect the environments, the surrounding locals who live there and to encourage a little more participation as people moved through the social and environmental surrounds.

Below is a video of Colin Priest explaining his project.

This project was commissioned by View Tube Art, as part of Bicycle Wheel for the CREATE11 Festival. Bow Bells was funded by the Arts Council England.

This idea would be a lovely addition to any bicycle pathway.

I’d like to see more interactive bicycle-inspired community art installations like this.

Here’s to hoping!

All images are stills taken from the two View Tube videos included in the blog.

23/03/201913/04/2019

Bicycle math in primary school

We all know that bicycles have a direct positive impact on quality of life.

There are umpteen ways bicycles improve our lives: health, fitness, environmental, friendships, mental health, transport, employment opportunities, leisure, competition, and travel are just a few.

Bicycles can also play a key role in education and intellectual development.

Bicycles are increasingly being used in teaching and learning. For young learners, bicycles are familiar, yet have a complex technical component that makes their design, engineering and physics unique – also also perfect for math-related learning!

Previously, we have looked at how bicycles are used in higher education:

But it is also good to see bicycles being integrated into primary school math classes. Online, a number of proactive and innovative teachers have created and freely share their bicycle-related math lessons.

There are so many ways to improve numeracy and problem-solving skills using bicycles.

It is impressive to see how bicycles can be used to learn key math principles like patterns and algebra, fractions, decimals and percentages, angles, units of measurement, place value, operations, location and transformation, problem-solving, chance, shape, graphs and data, mathematics investigations and numbers skills – especailly at hte primary levels.

Designing a bicycle Helmet – 4^th grade

One of the more novel bicycle math resources I saw was for 4^th graders to learn about bike helmet design. I like this lesson, becuase it was not just about counting bicycle icons, but actually using different aspects of bicycle riding to explore a range of math concepts with early learners.

This resource came fromTeaching Engineering – STEM curriculum K-12. It designed by Making the Connection, Women in Engineering Programs and Advocates Network (WEPAN).

For this piece of work, students gain experience of the engineering principles needed to design safety gear. Students are introduced to the biomechanical characteristics of helmets, and are challenged to incorporate them into designs for helmets used for various applications. By doing this, they come to understand the role of engineering associated with safety products. To do this effectively, helmets must have some sort of crushable material to absorb the collision forces and a strap system to make sure the protection stays in place. The exact design of a helmet depends on the needs and specifications of the user.

This comprehensive resource also includes info on Engineering principles, learning objectives, educational standards justification, materials and a whole heap of worksheets exploring different aspects of helmet design.

Bicycle math in primary schools

There are also heaps of worksheets and online quizzes that can be used in class or for homework to reinforce and practice key math skills like multiplication, addition, fractions and calculating speeds, distances and other measurements.

Here are just a few examples:

Below are some examples of how bicycles are being used for primary school math. What a great way to promote bicycles and learn math!

I certainly would have been more engaged in my early math classes if we applied what we were learning to ‘real world’ scenarios with something as familiar, fun and useful as bicycles.

I’d love to see more bicycles being used in school curriculum!

18/03/201913/04/2019

2019 International Women’s Day

2019 International Women’s Day.

As well as wearing my The Cycle of Objectification outfit all day, I also attended a few afternoon IWD women artist events at Griffith Uni, Southbank.

I wanted to attend these events to support the showcase of feminist voices and feminist work.

I was especially keen to hear what some Brisbane feminist artists had to say and see how they were translating their explorations of feminist issues through their art practice.

A big thanks for FARC (Feminist Art Rebel Collective) and in particular Deborah Eddy and Claire Tracey.

Like me, quite a few participants had made sashes, costumes, or were dressed in IWD colours.

The first event I went to was at the Grey Street Gallery to hear Brisbane artist Genevieve Memory speak about her exhibition Semiotics of the Dress. This exhibition looked at the history and social significance of dresses.

Next were three other local artists Jodie, Ashley and Renee, who are currently exhibiting at the Machinery Gallery Windows, also spoke about their work and ideations.

From there the crowd moved to the Glass Box space. The Glass Box had a very interesting curated exhibition showcasing a number of under grad female art students. It was a very interesting exhibition drawing on a rage of voices, experiences and issues. As well as music and artists explaining their work, the curators also explained their process and intentions for the exhibition.

There was also a live gig by Brisbane musician Taana Rose (below), which was a real treat!

There was also a proto-installation by a duo (I am sorry, I didn’t get their names!) who have an upcoming exhibition. They created a sample of their work yet to be installed in the concourse to explain their conceptualisations and what they wanted to achieve. I really liked the outdoor/interactive aspect of this presentation. It great to use the art college public space to share art with passers-by.

I really enjoyed all the artist talks and have a new appreciation for the amount of work and thought that these talented artists apply to their practice.

I was stoked to see that Louise Mayhew (Griffith Uni) had organised (for the third year) a Wikipedia-edit-a-thon. Wikipedia is one of the largest websites on the internet, with more than 40 million articles in more than 250 different languages, but women make up less than 10% of editors. This means women’s stories aren’t being told. This event is where you can edit Wikipedia to include women of note who do not currently have a presence on Wikipedia, or who are underrated, forgotten or invisible.

What a great idea!

I immediately started researching a range of female cyclists and bike riders who are yet to be fully recognised, or who have been forgotten in history who need to be included.

It was an action packed day full of creativity, community, and activism.

What a way to celebrate International Women’s Day!

13/03/201928/03/2019

IWD: The cycle of objectification

International Women’s Day (March 8^th) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. It also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. The theme this year was #BalanceforBetter.

To celebrate this event last year, I looked at how the suffragettes had to fight to ride bicycles. What an incredible story!

For 2019 International Women’s Day, I wanted to take some direct action. So, I made an Objectification of women outfit to wear all day.

The cycle of objectification

The issue I am addressing is the objectification and commodification of women.

The base is a green skirt and purple top as per the International Women’s Day colours (white, purple and green). With it, I wore a necklace, headdress and a sash I had made.

The outfit is all made of recycled materials.

It uses bicycle inner tubes, wheel spokes and bike parts, broken jewellery, second-hand objects and curb-side barbie dolls.

The sash is reminiscent of a beauty pageant, yet echoes the idea that even though women may feel free to move, they are in many ways still ‘keep in line’.

The blondes are at the top, while the brunette (representing any/every ‘other’) is at the bottom of ‘the beauty hierarchy’.

The chocker necklace is made with doll’s high heel shoes to represent the awkward uncomfortablity of women’s fashion.

The headpiece mixes themes of gender expectations, worship, money, sex, religion, plastic surgery and armour together into a quasi-tiara-cum-pagan headdress.

What was the reaction?

I wore this outfit throughout the day. I was working across two Griffith Uni campuses on the day. This meant that I not only wore it at work and in my classes (much to the amusement of my students), but also around the academic office sand in any meetings I went to as well as on public transport going to and between campuses on the day.

The morning train ride was the most interesting. It was a packed peak-hour train and most people who were crammed in were still waking up. Some people looked at me as if I was crazy. It did take some guts to wear this on the early morning packed commuter train. We were sandwiched in and there was a big group of school kids who were standing behind me looking on incredulously when I asked a fellow traveller to take a quick photo.

I took a few photos throughout the day at different locations – like the one below with Captain Marvel which I just couldn’t resist– hilarious!

I was surprised by how many staff and academics asked for photos.

The students totally got it.

All day I had random calls of ‘good on ya!’, ‘Happy Women’s Day’ and ‘looks great!” which was lovely. I had a strapping young guy call out over the street ‘I love your headpiece!’ and wave, which was awesome.

I know I looked over the top.

I designed the headdress in particular to be a little provocative and to be a little uncomfortable to look at. I wanted my nose to ‘poke out’ between her naked legs.

There were a few design features I had built into the outfit that had a lot more meaning to it than you could get just by looking at it. The brave few who had the guts to come up and talk me were the ones who got to hear about all the intricate nuances, motifs and details.

As an ensemble, it is bright, unusual and low-tech. I wanted to mash lots of ideas together. A surprising number of people came up to chat to me about the outfit and to see it up close.

The outfit was a good way to start discussions about important women’s issues. I felt like this year I was raising eyebrows and raising awareness!

09/03/201918/03/2019

Holi Festival of Colours on two wheels

What is Holi Festival?

Last weekend was Holi Festival. Holi Festival is one of the most anticipated and celebrated Hindu festivals. It is also called the Festival of Colour of the Festival of Love.

This uber-participatory event traditionally celebrates unity and forgiveness. The spreading of colours represents new beginnings, and overcoming hatred and jealousy.

The festival lasts for a day and a night. It starts on the evening of Purnima. The first evening is called Holika Dahan/Choti Holi and the following day is Holi.

Holi is globally celebrated and is famous for the explosion of colours (dyed corn starch) and being a day of rejoicing and dancing.

Traditionally, handfuls of colour are thrown over people as they dance. More recently, this has been adapted to fit with a DJ set. The DJ will whip happy dancers into a frenzy and coloured powder will be thrown about and shot out of purpose-made cannons during cresendos. Damn good fun!

A main drawback of the day for me was the massive amount of small plastic bags used to package the colours – that, and too many people ‘forgot’ to put their empties in the bin …grrrrr. So, I just incorporated into my dancing a series of lunges and oh-so-coordinated-and-elegant ground sweep moves to I pick up as many as I could – back on track!

Brisbane Holi Bike Ride

The Brisbane Holi Festival of Colours on two wheels ride.

Each year in Brisbane, my favorite Holi Celebration is the one community event at Seventeen Mile Rocks. Last year I had a great time. It is so much fun….AND includes a bike ride! Woohoo!

This year, the Seventeen Mile Rocks Holi event was part of Brisbane City Council’s BrisAsia Festival 2019.

As well as immersing yourself in Indian culture, there is a community bike ride that starts at the festival HQ and returns in time to see the music, entertainment and frivolity begin.

This 5 km ride is a great way to bring community together and is family-friendly. The route is an easy-paced, flat, bike path ride alongside the river and is a suitable for all ages and stages.

They have a mechanic onsite who offers free bike safety checks. Traditionally, most riders wear white everyday clothing in anticipation of afternoon antics. A good general rule is not to bring any valuables, clothing or items you don’t mind getting stained, wet or damaged.

Many riders decorate their bikes and it is a fun way to get more little kids interested in riding. When I take Leki my flower bike, I am always swamped with people coming up for a chat!

It is lovely seeing your fellow riders dotted around throughout the day – and they often magically appear in front of you through a cloud of vibrant colour – smiling and dancing and waving to you. Awesome!

Here is a quick look at what it’s like – if you’ve been before, you know to be wear glasses and keep you mouth closed!

See you all there for the ride and festivities next year!

Video: Devin Super Tramp

04/03/201909/03/2019

CWRB Breakfast Event

This week, I attended the Chicks Who Ride Bikes (CWRB) first event for the year – the Climb Every Mountain Breakfast.

Last month, I posted about this event and how much I was looking forward to it. The breakfast was hosted by Olympian and cycling commentator Katey Bates who was joined by panelists Aussie cycling legend Loren Rowney and Media guru Jane Aubrey. Unfortunately, Chief CWRB Jordana Blackman couldn’t make it. It was a great way to start the day, the morning was glorious and I really liked the early breakfast format. I got there just ahead of time, signed in and headed out onto the Ship Inn deck to grab a coffee and mingle.

The format allowed for social time on arrival for the first half an hour, then we sat down for breakfast, where we got to meet a whole new group of people at the table. Then the panel took to the stage for a discussion and Q & A, and prizes were given out at the end.

I didn’t have to rush off for work so was also able to hang around and chat some more at the end as well which was an extra bonus!

The view overlooking Southbank from the deck was a wonderful backdrop. The coffee kicked in early and people were mingling and networking. I had a couple of lovely chats to new people and made sure I sat with people I hadn’t yet meet when we sat down for breakfast.

The panel discussion was very interesting.

I like the discussion-style, open, unscripted approach. The stories, challenges and success that Loren Rowney and Loretta Bayliss each shared were poignant, heartfelt and honest. They both have had such different interests, approaches, trajectories, choices and struggles.

Loren spoke of what happened when she was selected to be on the Australian Olympic Cycling Team, how she has dealt with her infamous crash and what she has been working on since.

Loretta drew on her love of mountain climbing, the importance of her ‘tribe’ when building an IT company and the role her children have had in shaping her understandings of life and herself.

Katey was a consumate host: there were laughs and contrasts, a good variety in questions, and she expertly linked panelist insights back to the collective audience.

There is a real power in hearing personal experiences first-hand!

There were many highlights, but a few standouts were the personal nature of the event, the vulnerability of the speakers, the friendliness of the attendees, and having a social event that doesn’t involve alcohol.

My favorite aspect of this event was simply having the designated time to meet and talk to a new group of women who I would otherwise not have met – and that we all had a common passion out of which other connections, ideas and topics emerged.

A big thank you to all those who attended – and to the organisers for putting on such an enjoyable and interesting event.

What a wonderful inaugural #CWRB event to kick-start the year!

Brisbane Bicycle Film Festival 2019

Brisbane Bike Bites

The Main Feature

What is Bow Bells Ring?

Designing a bicycle Helmet – 4th grade

Bicycle math in primary schools

2019 International Women’s Day.

The cycle of objectification

What was the reaction?

What is Holi Festival?

Brisbane Holi Bike Ride

Designing a bicycle Helmet – 4^th grade