I hope you had a great time today celebrating life on two wheels!
It’s incredible to think this is only the second year this commemorative day has been recognised internationally.
For last year’s first official World Bicycle Day, BCC looked at what this day means to the UN. We also checked out some of the awesome WBD events happening glocally (globally/locally) in Adelaide (AU), India and Denmark.
This year, in my hometown of Brisbane, World Bicycle Day coincided with another important event, the biennial Mabo Oration*.
It was a very interesting talk. Luke raised many important issues as well as sharing his thoughts on activism, racism, leaving a legacy, truth-telling, being a father, next steps and self-determinacy – and this discussion has continued in the media.
This public speech comes at a perfect time given the traction that A/P Chelsea Bond’s recent contribution to the La Trobe racism discussion created.
(If you are not sure what I am talking about – prepare to have your mind blown).
The traction I’m referring to started with a speech given by Associate Professor Chelsea Bond, who was one of four speakers for a LaTrobe University panel discussion on the topic of:
Has racism in contemporary Australia entered the political mainstream?
Image: IndigenousX
If you have not seen it, you
need to.
Why?
Because A/P Bond delivered the most powerful, intelligent, inspiring, uncompromising, kick-ass speech on racism in Australia heard in a very long time!
Make up your own mind.
Below is the full video. A/P Chelsea Bond is the last speaker, so go direct to: 1:01:05 and watch until 1:14:11.
Her speech hit so many high
points on so many levels.
I’ve been walking around for days inspired by Nat Cromb and Luke Pearson’s overview of her speech saying things like Bam! Kapow! Boom! Pow!
Most impactful for me was how
she powerfully called out those who fail to have truthful and confronting
conversations.
This is what has stayed
with me the most – and something that requires ongoing consideration – and action.
In her speech, A/P Bond said ‘In my being, I refuse to bear false witness to these lies.’ Such statements reminds us there is much work to do – and it is everyone’s responsibility to take action and call out racism.
Husband, Nina and Assoc. Prof. Chelsea Bond at the 2019 Mabo Oration, Brisbane.
So, imagine our delight when, on World Bicycle Day at the Mabo Oration, husband and I ran into A/P Chelsea Bond!
OMG!
Shameless academic fanning ensued.
The oration had just concluded and we were all leaving the auditorium when we passed her. Husband spotted her and I took the initative to introduce ourselves and have a chat.
A/P Bond was very accommodating. She was happy to have a good chat and take a photo. We told her how significant her speech had been for us and we talked about how different people have responded to it.
We can home – elated, thrilled, humbled and exhausted.
It had been a day full of culture, challenges, activism and insights.
Without a doubt, World Bicycle Day 2019 has been the most rewarding and motivating.
I hope you had an equally thought-provoking and stimulating day!
Luke Pearson taking questions after his 2019 Mabo Oration.Image: IndigenousX
*The Mabo Oration is a biennial event organised by the Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland and QPAC. It is the Commission’s public commitment to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Queensland. It celebrates and pays tribute to Eddie Mabo and the landmark High Court decision which legally recognised that Indigenous people had a special relationship to the land that existed prior to colonisation. The first Mabo Oration was on 3 June 2005 and this year, the guest speaker was Noel Pearson.
Chicks Who Ride Bikes (CWRB) connects
women through bike riding and rewarding the businesses that support them.
Established by Jordana Blackman in Brisbane in 2013 as a Facebook Group to
arrange recreational bike rides, the group became the largest of its kind in
the country, with more than 2,500 members in the SEQ chapter alone. Its
popularity has continued to grow and the organisation now offers a range of community
rides, events, services, skills sessions, ride buddy finder and come-and-try opportunities.
The Leading the Way breakfast had a different feel
to it. On arrival there was some time to mingle and have a chat while participants
grabbed a coffee and found a seat.
Once again, our host Katey did a wonderful job of opening up the forum and asking a few key questions to get started. Both guests were relaxed and open to sharing stories and having a laugh.
Image: CWRB @thebiciproject
It was interesting to hear Anne Savage’s point of view about cycling and being the CEO of Bicycle Queensland. Anne gave some insights about how to get more people cycling, what main issues her organisation deals with, and her personal approach to road riding in the city.
Jordana spoke about her bold initial start in cycling and how her passion developed into establishing CWRB. Jordana has many anecdotes of wobbly starts, misfires, and U-turns, but also meaningful successes that many of us could relate too. She spoke of a series of hard times and we all wanted to know how she has kept resilient all this time.
Both speakers had quite different views, approaches and experiences of cycling. They discussed how bikes feature in their life, politics, business, family, new beginnings and overcoming challenges. There were also some great questions from the audience at the end.
As I listened to both speakers, I was struck by the widely differing
types (of women) that ride bikes – and how lovely it is that no matter where
you come from, or where you are going to, we share a commonality of how to get
there.
I also found myself agreeing with some things being discussed, but not relating to other situations. It was yet another reminder that people ride bikes for many reasons, and we all have our own stories with bikes to tell and no two stories are the same.
When Jordana and Anne shared their experiences with a room
full of 50 people, of course there are going to be overlaps, acknowledgement
and concenus – but also disparity, exclusions, and surprises.
But that is what the whole event is about – celebrating differences
and commonalities.
This is one of the primary reasons I enjoy going to these
breakfasts. It challenges my conceptualisations of what I think and know about
what it is to ‘ride a bike’ – and that other riders have different conceptualisation
and experiences that are just as valid, interesting and kooky as mine.
These events remind me to stay open and welcome new experiences,
new people and new ways of thinking about things.
At each of these CWRB breakfasts, I have heard something I can directly relate to and something that doesn’t fit in my schema. And a whole range of other affective reactions between.
Stories are so powerful and so important to share. At these events we have the privilege of being granted special access to another person’s private experience of bike riding – something that is completely unique.
What a gift!
And that why I love going to the CWRB breakfast events!
If you haven’t been to one of these breakfast events before, keep checking CWRB Facebook and I’ll see you at the next one!
The Panel
Here’s a little more about the panel speakers as released on the event invite. As we start getting out the arm warmers and long sleeve jerseys, why not take time out of your busy schedule and join us for a hot breakfast, good coffee and even greater conversation!
Hosted by Olympian and commentator Katey Bates, join CWRB for a hot breakfast and coffee to meet some like-minded peers.
Host: Katey Bates
An Olympian and world champion cyclist, Katey loves her cycling like Eskimos love their ice.
Fuelled by a passion for two wheels, she scaled the heights of international cycling. Her stacked results sheet is highlighted by winning a coveted rainbow jersey with world championship victory in the points race, Commonwealth Games GOLD at back to back games, and a green and gold National champions jersey on the road.
Katey is one of only two Australian women to represent Australia at the Olympics in both track and road cycling, and since retirement, works in broadcasting, commentating on major international cycling events such as the Olympic and Commonwealth Games, World Championships and the Tour Down Under.
Guest Speaker: Anne Savage. CEO of Bicycle Queensland.
Without a doubt, Anne leads the way for cycling and advocacy. Anne Savage is the CEO of Bicycle Queensland. With an early career background in journalism, her recent career experience includes ten years at the Cancer Council and direction of a major project for Queensland Health. Her experience, skills, and competencies have been developed over nearly two decades of policy and advocacy practice across sectors and industries. She has directed landmark campaigns on social justice issues such as tobacco control, Indigenous health equality, and geographic and social disadvantage. Her work has introduced her to stakeholders spanning from the highest levels of government to local level community groups working as part of the global community to promote health equity and a sustainable development agenda. She’s a dedicated cyclist who has never owned a car and can’t remember how to drive.
Guest Speaker: Jordana Blackman. CEO of Chicks Who Ride Bikes.
When she was only 25, a cancer diagnosis changed her life dramatically. While in recovery, she saw a poster for a Ride To Conquer Cancer event at her local cafe. This 200km-over-2-day event was raising money for the very hospital she was treated, and she wanted to do something huge to give back. There was only one problem…
After buying her first bike (and falling off it on more occasions that she’d like to remember), she rode her first charity bike event alongside her partner and 2,000 other fundraisers – each of which had been touched in some way or another by cancer. She spent a lot of time training on her own or on an indoor wind trainer because she couldn’t find a group of girls to ride with at her pace, so when she moved interstate in 2013, she decided to create a Facebook group to make friends and meet other women who rode.
So what to do with all the bicycles mounting up in bike-share
graveyards?
The team at LUO Studio have come up with a very innovative solution.
Their answer is a gorgeous winged beetle-shaped mobile
library called Share LadyBeetle that uses retired bike-share
bicycles as the frame.
Brilliant!
Transforming ex-bike-shares into mobile ‘insect’ libraries.
This project has it all: bicycles, creativity, recycling, books, education and community.
According to Luo Yujie* the Shared Lady Beetle was created after talking to a friend who teaches young children and was lamenting the regular need to have on hand interesting literacy and educational materials to help engage young students.
What better way to engage young curious minds that with this beautifully designed mobile art bike library?
LUO Studio’s website describes the art bike as being ‘A mirco movable library for kids’ and details more information about the project including:
A Reflection on “Sharing”
A Mobile Maker Classroom for Children
A Mirco Shared library
Shared Lady Beetle in an
unknown city
The analogy given of the Shared Lady Beetle is that
it is a “beneficial insect walking on the urban leaf.”
How is it made?
The mobile library was made using a standard retired bike-share bicycle which still has it’s two back wheels, to which an additional load-bearing wheel is added to help distribute the weight and extra length of the beetle design.
Reclaimed light-weight metal sheeting and bodywork from cars was used to make the wings and exterior exoskeleton.
The moveable wings are hinged so they can open. Inside, there are three separate levels of shelves that can hold rows of books or educational resources like paper and pens, as well as art and crafts or other materials.
The studio says they are “committed to creating more
durable, friendly and quality space through creative thinking, craftsmanship
spirit of devotion and caring for nature.”
Projects like these are so important in providing inspiration
for creative and innovative recycling ideas for unused bicycles.
Not only is this design aesthetically beautiful and incredibly functional, it is also a prime example of how skilled upcycling (of bicycles) can be integrated into our daily moments in a way that positions bicycles as being a normal, accepted and expected part of our everyday life.
Designs such as the Shared Lady Beetle are important in helping to shift long-held traditional views that bicycles are only used (or good for) for riding and that ‘biking is unsafe’. It is projects like this one that turn such flawed logic on its head.
What a wonderful gift this art bike would be for any school or community.
I hope to see more recycled bicycle/education fusions like this in the future.
Ride and read on Lady Beetle!
* Luo Yujie is the founder of LUO Studio and Director of the Sustainable Village Studioof China New Rural Planning and Design Institute. See more of LUO Studio’s work on their website which has project descriptions in Chinese and English.
I’m still recovering from BikeHack19! It was intensive, fun and interesting for many reasons. I’m constantly being asked ..What happened?! So, here’s a summary snapshot of each day at BikeHack19. Congrats to all involved. Well done all! NG.
There were 90+ people, 79 hackers, 26 pitches, 13 final teams, 3 business development masterclasses, 3 mentor round-robin sessions and 1 customer focus group (30 pax) and a final pitch to an expert panel of 4 judges who decided on the prize winners. PHEW!
There was $25,000 in prize money for the 4 main categories as well as other additional prizes.
The event was facilitated by Aaron Kirby who did a great job of keeping all the teams motivated and on task all weekend. At this stage, Aaron ran participants through a warm-up game Is that your personality in your pocket? – a fun activity to get the hackers interacting and set the scene well for the ideas pitch and team formation yet to come.
A quick aside note..during the weekend, Aaron also set an additional challenge for hackers to: connect with 10 people, teach someone a skill, stay involved and build something awesome – another great way to mingle and share skills with other teams.
After the warm-up game, was the initial ideas pitch.
This is an important element of hackathons because its where hackers get to share their ideas – and its the first time other participants hear and chose what projects they might want to work on for the rest of the weekend.
Overall, there were 28 1-minute ideas pitched to the audience. Below are my quick notes on each idea and the pitches with a star next to them ended up forming teams that night (with others teams being added on Saturday).
Image: TMR Qld
If you’ve not been to hackathon, the 1-min pitches briefly detail who you are, what your idea is, the name of the project (if you have one) and who is needed for the team to make it happen.
We then got to vote for our favourite 3 ideas and started forming teams.
Some of the teams and people changed, joined, splintered and morphed over the next 12 hours until the teams were fully set by 10 am Saturday.
Then it was game on.
Image: @TMRQld
Saturday – Day 2: Development
After an 8 am breakfast, teams got started working on their projects.
It was an intense day.
Many teams were still getting to know each other, as well as running around the city (and online), doing customer validations, continuing research, and developing and consolidating what their actual project/idea was.
From 8.30am until 6 pm, teams had a series of startup workshops (like how to use a Lean Startup model, Facebook Ads, and the event Slack platform) and a constant round-robin of consultation with mentors, industry experts, sponsors and subject matter experts.
Each mentor session added an extra layer of complexity, understanding and reality to the projects. Mentor whiplash!
At different stage throughout the day, people were running in and out of the building – hackers were busy interviewing would-be customers, making phone calls, pivoting on their ideas, tweaking concepts, mocking up product trials, sending out online surveys, designing pilots, making AV documentation, calling in favours – oh yeah…and voting in the election!
At 6 pm, all the teams had 10 mins each to
explain their ideas to a focus group of 30 people who gave immediate feedback
and asked questions – everyone was exhausted by this stage.
BikeBuddy Sunday morning ride into BikeHack19. Nina, Eric and Victor.
Sunday – Day 3: Final Day
After another early start, the morning sessions included a workshop on the final pitch and another series of last-minute mentor meetings to finalise ideas.
By lunch, all teams were working on final pitch rehearsal and preparation.
At 3 pm, all worked stopped. All team PPTs were submitted.
Guests started arriving for the final 4pm panel presentation.
For final pitches, each team had a 5-min to present with a PPT (and other realia or prototypes) to a panel of 4 judges.
It was a real honour to receive the Spirit of the Hack Award. It was a little embarrassing when the Aaron asked the whole room to stand up and point to the person they think embodied the spirit of the event – and everyone pointed to me! I was awarded it for helping other teams, being enthusiastic and having a passion for getting more people on bikes – of course!
Beyond BikeHack19
This BikeHack event must have been a massive effort to get organised.
As a participant, I was impressed by how available and supportive the organisers and sponsors were over the whole weekend.
Congrats and thanks to all!
A massive big thank you to
the amazing sponsors, organisers, mentors and volunteers who made this weekend
possible.
This includes event organisers Fishburners Sarah and Issac who were particularly outstanding. Sarah I will not forget your stairwell help! Fishburners supplies a brilliant range of inspiration, collection and connection to support tech startups including a collaborative office space in Brisbane.
Aurecon supplied their amazing office
for the event. It was an absolute delight being able to work in their office
space – thank you!
The TMR Queensland staff were always on hand to answer questions and help out where and whenever they were needed.
I think all the teams did really well and as a participant I can appreciate all the extra hard work behind the scenes that no-one else sees. I also commend all the teams on their final pitches – it is such a difficult thing to do.
Overall it was an epic event. The weekend was full of the necessary ups and downs that come with hackathons, startups and working with new people.
A big congrats to all the hackers who participated and gave their time, skills, ideas and energy to help explore ideas get more people on bikes more often in Queensland.
This shop is already a stand out example of a grassroots bike shop that offers a wide range of services, programs and events, including music, performances, theatre, food/organics, trivia, and film nights – in addition to its other bike-related workshops, community events, fundraising, education and outreach programs. Phew!
Free Cycles has a long history of supporting local and visiting artists by providing a performance space for their ongoing creative and artistic program.
To add to this, Free Cycles initiated an Artist Residency Program.
Such a great idea!
Biking is a creative act for many people.
Aside from being a great use of space, resources and networks, having a local artist in a bike shop is a great way to cross-pollinate, motivate and actively support community integration, extension and diversity. Very cool!
This project facilitate the creation of art at Free Cycles Community Bike Shop in Missoula for public exhibition/interaction, with used bicycle parts from Free Cycles and recycled materials donated by Home ReSource.
The Artist in Residence Program create a more dedicated interaction between artist and place; practice and environment; art and bicycle; sculpture and community.
What is the artists program?
The Artist in Residence Program at Free Cycles is a new
initiative to connect Artists with the Missoula community through the love of
cycling.
Artists are invited through a public art call, and when
selected may spend up to one month in the warehouse studio.
Here Artists are granted the time, space, materials, and
equipment to create.
Artist participants are able to source materials from the
thousands of donated bikes in stock on the Free Cycles property, as well as
donated and reclaimed construction materials from local materials giving
partner Home ReSource.
Upon completion of their residency Artists in Residence are
asked to provide one workshop day to staff and volunteers, one workshop day to
be offered free of charge to the public, and one work of art suitable for
installation on the Free Cycles 2 acre property.
In its initial year the program is set to offer residencies to four local artists.
The program’s goal is to be able to offer artists fair
compensation for their educational work and provide a stipend for their time in
residence with hopes that future funding can grow these amounts to seek artists
in all stages of their careers.
Why initiate an artists program?
The planning process for this project has been happening
informally for many years.
By offering a community space, that encourages citizen
interaction, Artists are attracted organically out of their love for creative
process.
For more than two decades Artists have been creating with
materials from Free Cycles, often in their own shops but sometimes on site.
With the recent purchase of the two-acre property and
28,000-square feet of building space this year has provided opportunity to
formalize our artist oriented programming and increase our community workshop
offerings.
This program will ensure the future of the Free Cycles
warehouse as a permanent part of the Free Cycles Community Bike Shop’s
engagement at a pivotal time in the property’s future.
Who is ‘MIST’?
MIST is the Missoula Institute for Sustainable Transportation. MIST is a citizen-based non-profit organization in Missoula, Montana. They have a strong focus on making walking, bicycling, and public transit more complete, accessible and enjoyable.
They work to create a system of movement that is safe, equitable and environmentally sound. Four programs work towards these goals, of which Free Cycles Community Bicycle Shop is one.
Free Cycles Community Bicycle Shop seeks to create a
healthy community through a wide range of strategies.
The goal of Free Cycles is to help Missoula, Montana
transition to a more sustainable transportation system while simultaneously
setting a strong example for other places.
Through these programs will help individuals collaborate and work to be active stewards of the community with an emphasis on social and environmental justice. The idea is to work towards this mission through education, empowerment, and engagement.
The education programs strive to give people the knowledge to maintain their bicycle independently, use it safely, and eventually share their skills with others.
By increasing the accessibility of human powered transportation, the organisers seek to directly empower individuals from all walks of life with the ability to move themselves.
Free Cycle Projects
These projects focus on community engagement to facilitate a sense of collective responsibility, a strong sense of place, and human connectivity.
Free cycles has had approximately 200,000 total
participants to date. There have been 38,000 bikes donated since 1996 of which
about half gone out as free bikes while about one quarter have been recycled
and one quarter have been repurposed. About 6,000 have taken the BikeWell safety, maintenance,
and orientation class.
All Images: Free Cycle website or @freecyclemissoula (IG). This post was adapted from an article first published on Indiegogo.
The joy of being a cycling mum. Image: Trek Cycles
Today is Mother’s Day.
The idea of Mother’s Day is to honour mothers for all they have done.
Traditionally, family members give flowers, cards and gifts, or make mums breakfast in bed or take them out for lunch. Or something that is similarly supportive and nice.
I went online to see what was being peddled specifically for ‘cycling mums’.
I expected to see the normal product-pushing commercial crap (which was all there of course), but then I saw an article I found very disturbing.
It was on BikeRoar, a website touted as being an independent product resource website devoted to helping cyclists #BuyLocal – fair enough.
Published last year under the section heading TECH TIPS, it was written by Australian cyclist Jayne Rutter and titled 11 Mother’s Day gifts for cycling mums.
The list of 11 gift ideas looked innocent enough.
The first item was a water bottle.
The second was a free massage.
The third was a book.
The fourth ‘a 2-hour leave pass from the kids’ to ride to a local café
The fifth was a Run Angel Personal Safety Device
…………..and it was the last one that stopped me.
Image: BikeRoar’s #5 top gift for Mothers Day
I didn’t read on.
There is so much wrong with this list.
First, the article is listed under ‘Tech Tips’. It has 11 items, but only one (#5 above) is actually a tech product. There is a Garmin mount (#6), but not the actual Garmin. Odd. I sincerely hope this is not because of some preconditioned, subtle, habitual, gender stereotype like women aren’t good at tech…. 1 out of 11?
But more than that, it was the actual product #5 itself I found unsettling.
I appreciate that this product comes from a place of concern.
But its very existence is a recognition that abuse of women is so widespread that no woman is safe – at any time.
Violence against women has become so commonplace that giving a personal safety alarm to our mothers is one of the top five gifts we can get her. Really? Top five. I find that so disturbing.
Have we become so accepting and desensitised that violence against women occurs so regularly that we are equipping our mothers with panic alarms – for when they ride their bikes in broad day light!
What the hell!!
Do you know any male cyclists who wear
panic alarms?
I find it disconcerting that most people would not see, or question how disempowering for women this seemingly harmless Mother’s Day list and the giving of a personal alarm is. And therein lies the issue.
Female bike riders are at risk
It can be hard to recognise and understand the
scale of abuse women experience.
Women face physical and sexual abuse all the time.
Women constantly get unwanted comments, looks, sniggers, honks and disparaging, offensive, sexualised remarks like ‘I’d hold a knife to that’ (said by two men walking past Laura Bates*). We live in a society where ‘I feel rapey’ t-shirts are now sold on Ebay.*
It can be challenging for the amazing men
in our lives to understand the extent and danger to physical safety that just being
a female is.
Just because you might not see it or experience
it yourself, does not mean it is not happening.
Women routinely feel unsafe. We live in a culture where women are culturally trained to fear men, being outside, being mobile, being in public and being alone.
Verbal attacks, sexual assault, rape and street harassment are commonplace. Just ask a female friend or family member about getting public transport after dark.
Aside from all these issues, the personal alarm is also problematic because it puts the responsibility of criminal behaviour on the (would-be) victims. Women. As Laura Kipnis points out “I can think of no better way to subjugate women than to convince us that assault is around every corner”.
We place the responsibility of persistent and immediate danger on women, who then restrict their movements, reduce activities and live in a perpetual state of anxiety. That’s control.
Yup, the epitome of a modern, free, independent
woman.
Another issue is that the personal alarm suggests that women are unsafe only when out of the house – like when riding a bike – and that attacks are only perpetrated on the street by strangers. Yes, this happens a lot, but it is not the full picture.
The idea that women are only unsafe in public is a fallacy.
A Personal Safety Survey conducted in 2012 by the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicated that most instances of violence against women were perpetrated by someone known to them: around 74% of women who had experienced violence in the last 12 months, and 87% of women who had experienced violence since the age of 15, reported that the perpetrator was someone they know.[8]
Image: Lyndsay Williams. The Toronto Star.
Abuse of female cyclists occurs every day
Women know this abuse happens, but sadly, most men are unaware of the extent and impact gender and sexual harassment have on females and female cyclists.
A few recent news pieces have tried to
highlight the issue:
I am angry that the happiness and warmth that should be the focus for Mother’s Day is undermined by seemingly ‘nice and thoughtful’ gifts which are actually unchecked, unspoken and unseen consequences of the misogynistic control and abuse of women.
Perhaps a more apt sentiment for today is Happy Fearful Mother’s Day Cycling Mums!
I have hope though.
There are many amazing women and men who call out any behaviour that would make a mother, any woman, or any person, feel uncomfortable.
I salute these people.
I hope our cycling community shows it’s strength, voice and action to make sure ALL riders, including women, are made to feel welcomed, safe and respected every time they ride.
Perhaps then, we’ll have no need of panic alarms for female cyclists.
Here’s to hoping.
Have a safe Mother’s Day all.
Resources:
*Bates, L. (2018). Misogynation: The True Scale of Sexism. London, UK: Simon and Schuster.
My last post was an invitation to Brisbane’s upcoming BikeHack19 event. I have had a lot of interesting responses and conversations with friends and colleagues about this event and suggestions for pitches.
I asked Alison Turner, a dear friend, if she would like to come to BikeHack19 with me.
Alison and I have worked on a number of creative projects before. She not only has a head for business and project managing, but she is a skilled artist in her own right and I have called on her (many times!) when working on this-or-that thing either to cast her discerning eye over an idea, to practically help solve a design issue or just to join in making whatever it is I’m working on.
She is great company, a skilled artist, a flexible thinker and killer at scrabble – everything you want in a project buddy!
Unfortunately though, Alison can’t come to
BikeHack19.
But the offer got her thinking.
Alison worked for Australia Sailing for many years and was in charge of training and increasing participation in sailing in Queensland. So unbeknownst to me, she set her business prowess and program insights to good work. After doing some research of her own, she used her experience promoting sailing participation to the BikeHack19 cycling challenge and brainstormed some ideas.
The next time I saw Alison, she presented
me with her brainstorm (see below) and explained it in detail – it was spot on.
Alison and her BikeHack19 brainstorm.
We chatted about the similarities in crossover
of participation issues between sailing and cycling – and how much transferability
there was between the two sports.
I love having people like Alison in our community.
She is an example of those who not only freely give their time and ideas to friends,
but who are equally excited to apply the same effort and passion to building a
more cohesive and active community – what a gift!
I am very appreciative to Alison.
Thanks so much for your ideas and time!
I will definitely be taking these ideas to
BikeHack19.
Brisbane is hosting Australia’s first-ever hackathon about bike
riding BikeHack19 later this month.
In a similar vein to a 3 Day Start Up or tech Hackathons, this event is focused on solving a problem. In this case, the cycling challenge is…..
How can bike riding be more accessible and appealing in
Queensland so people ride bikes more often?
This event is not focused on changing policy, but it is an exploration
of any other possibilities that could include bike tech, gamification, design,
data, support services or new business ideas.
Anyone over the age of 18 can participate as long as they
are not a government employee.
When I went earlier this week to
BikeHack19’s info night, I was sitting next to a tech start-up entrepreneur
on one side and an engineer on the other. Other people I spoke to came from widely
diverse backgrounds including sociologists, researchers, students, town
planners, public health academics and programmers. I was surprised at how few
cyclists there were.
Here’s the event schedule.
BikeHack19 is promoted as being an opportunity to meet new
people and expand networks. As well as working with fellow hackers in teams over
the weekend to process their ideas, there are also industry experts, advisors
and funders on hand to suggest and mentor teams throughout the process.
Previously, I participated in a 3 Day Start-Up (3DS) intensive which ran 40 Griffith PhD
candidates through an entrepreneurial practical intensive on how to develop aspects
of their PhD research into a start-up business. It was fun, but very intense. Five
key reflections emerged for me from my 3DS experience – insights that I will need
to revisit as I consider if I will participate in BikeHack19.
To help focus and refine ideas, the organisers commissioned Enhance Research
to look into the issue using a 3-phase research design. They collated findings
into 3 ‘profiles’ on the common type of bike riders in Queensland and their
motivation.
These profiles (see them below) inform the three challenge categories and can be used as a stimulus ‘target market’ for the teams.
Cash Prizes
Overall,
there is $25,000 in prize money – much more than other similar events.
The $25,000 is divided into four cash prizes.
Overall team with best idea: – $10,000
One (1) overall winner prize of $10,000 for ‘best overall idea’ and three category winner prizes ($5,000 each) will go to the teams that come up the best ideas that address each of the three categories:
Active
Transport – $5,000 prize
Happy,
Healthy Families – $5,000 prize
Tourism
and Recreation – $5,000 prize
Winners will be determined by a judging panel on the Sunday
night. Prize money will be distributed to each member of the winning team,
equally with no
strings attached.
What is expected by the end of the weekend?
There are no hard and fast rules on what is expected as a finished ‘product’
to be pitched in the final presentation on Sunday evening. The focus is more
on teams working through stages of ideation, process and development of solutions
to the challenge.
So if you have an idea about how to get more Queenslanders on bicycles – check out BikeHack19 and pitch your idea.
Who knows maybe your idea will win!
To be part of BikeHack19 will cost you $30. Register here
This week, Australia and New Zealand commemorated ANZAC day. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
ANZAC Day is a national annual public holiday honoring the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.
This year, I saw an Instagram photo of the Queensland Imperial Cycle Corps. It was uploaded by Space4Cycling Brisbane. Here is what was uploaded:
Our illustration of the Queensland Imperial Cycle Corps prior to their departure for South Africa in the steamer Templemore has a special interest for all Australians. The cycle corps here depicted consists of 51 men, commanded by Lieutenant Wynyard Joss, who has an able second in Lieutenant Koch ; these two gentlemen are to be seen in the foreground. The photograph was taken on the wharf, the troopship Templemore making a befitting background.
Apart from the interest attached to the fact that this is the first military cycle corps established in Australia, it is interesting to note that, the whole corps is mounted upon Massey-Harris bicycles.
Previous to the selection of a wheel for the contingent the bicycles were subjected to very severe tests, through which the Massey-Harris came with flying colours. The purchase of Masseys for the Queensland soldiers is justified by the fact that the Victorian Government have used this machine with much success in the hard service of postal work.
Content from: The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, Sat 23 March 1901, covering the Departure of Australian Imperial Troops for South Africa (the Boer War)].
Image: Digger History. Australia did not have a separate Corps or hat badge for Cyclists. This one is British.
So what happened to the Queensland Cyclist Corps?
After I saw that post, I wanted to know what became of the cyclist section once they left Australia on the Templemore. So, I went searching online and I found the following details on the Anglo Boer website. It was interesting to read the recount of Lieutenant Joss of the 5th Queensland (Cyclist Corps) engagement with the enemy at the end of this article. Below is the article in full:
This contingent, 500 strong, with a cyclist section, was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel J F Flewell-Smith. They sailed on the Templemore on 6th March 1901, and arrived in South Africa in the beginning of April. They at once took the field.
The appendix to the despatch of 8th July 1901 shows that the 5th QIB (strength in May about 340, with 361 horses) took the place of the 4th in the column of General Plumer—a body which did very fine service in practically all parts of the seat of war.
The work of Plumer’s column during the time the 5th Queensland were with him has already been briefly sketched under the 6th New Zealand Contingent. The 5th Queensland took their full share of that work, and quite their full share of the captures. On 15th June Lieutenant Halse was severely wounded in the difficult country about Piet Retief.
On 15th August 2 men were killed and several wounded at Kopjesfontein, in the Orange River Colony. In September the column was doing good work in the southeast of that country, and was constantly in touch with the enemy.
At a drift on the Caledon River on 27th September there was a sharp fight, in which this contingent had Lieutenants A E Pooley and L E Caskey and 2 men killed, and several wounded. Lieutenant Pooley had served as a sergeant with the 4th contingent.
The corps was present at the hard-fought engagement known as Onverwachte, in the south-east of the Transvaal, on 4th January 1902, when they suffered very severely,—about 12 being killed and 20 wounded, the latter including Captain H R Carter and Lieutenant Higginson, both severely wounded.
According to the Press Association correspondent with General Plumer, Lieutenant Joss of the 5th Queensland (Cyclist Corps) did a smart piece of work in the Warmbaths district soon after the corps took the field. When riding with despatches, and accompanied by only 10 men, he captured 9 Boers with 3 waggons.
Some details of the regiment were with a convoy which was fiercely attacked on the Bethel Road on 25th May 1901. The detachment lost 1 killed and 5 wounded.
Cyclists in camp repairing their machines. Photo: H.W. Wilson: With the Flag to Pretoria, Vol II)
I’ve never been to Six Day cycling event before. I was there at the invitation of World Bicycle Relief (Australia). It was my pleasure to help them out for the event. Not only was I supporting a good cause, but I got to watch some incredible racing, meet my favourite inter/national cyclists, chat with some big-wigs and mingle with cycling-mad punters all night! Horray!
The Anna Meares Velodrome is the perfect stadium for this kind of event. I was stoked to see some of the world’s best track cyclists in live action – especially how they whiz so confidently around the 48-degree velodrome banks – eck!
There are excellent views and seating all around the outside of the track as well as a walk tunnel that went under the velodrome and let you into the centre. Inside the velodrome, there was a bar, a few trade exhibitions, the DJ stage, the podium/race ramp, and activities on one side, and the athletes compound on the other.
As support of the riders and in the spirit of the event, I wore my recycled bicycle parts and inner-tube outfit. This outfit includes a cog steampunk-style hat, a bodice of inner tubes interwoven across the front, a bike chain chandelier belted skirt and a necklace of made of inner tubes and BMX parts. A genuine (be)spoke outfit! (*aw dad!*). It was the perfect thing to wear. Lots of people stopped to ask about it and see the details. It was lovely to see how much people appreciated the effort, materials and appropriacy of the outfit for the event.
Image: Six Day Series
The music and light show was an unexpected bonus. The DJ played a continuous stream of banging beats supported by impressive party-style lighting. The whole overall effect was like being in the ultimate sports-and-dance club = a very exciting party atmosphere. People were even dancing. Beers, Beats and Bikes!
The place was packed each day. There were families, couples, groups of friends and kids galore. I talked to people who had come diligently every day and others who had no idea what the event was but had been given a ticket so came along to check it out. Everyone agreed it was a wonderful format to experience cycling. The atmosphere as electric, the races were so close you couldn’t help but be affected by the environment, excitement and energy of the action.
I also had the chance to chat with a few of my favorite Aussie cyclists like Amy Cure and Olympian Shane Perkins. Considering they had just finished racing and had much to do (and lots of people to talk to), I was impressed that they still made time to come into the crowd and mingle, have a chat and hang out with some of their fans after racing. What true champs!
The race formats included various scratch and points races including Madison, Elimination, Derny Racing, Women’s Omnium, 200m Time Trials and Kirin. Some of the formats like the Madison were new to me, but after I understood what it entailed (see video below), the racing took on a whole new intensity.
Cyclists like Mark Cavendish, Bradley Wiggins and Australian superstars Callum Scotson and nine-time World Champion Cameron Meyer (who won the Six Day London event in 2017) have competed at the European Six Day Series.
I had a brilliant time and will definitely go again.
A huge thank you to Dagmar, Ali, Scott and World Bicycle Relief for the opportunity to go to this event and for making my time there so enjoyable.
Amy Cure and I with one of World Bicycle Relief’s Buffalo BikesImage: Six Day SeriesImage: Six Day Series
