For the last week, I have been taking time to look back, reflect and appreciate this last year.
The final day for 2015 was sunny, beautiful and well deserved. I had a fantastic afternoon session riding some new and (now) favourite trails here in New Zealand, culminating in an exhilarating final trail home riding with the man I love – a wonderful finale. This year ends with a series of relaxed, energetic and thoroughly enjoyable rides racing around the Whakarnewarewa Forest trails at Redwoods Rotorua – a perfect end to a very stimulating and rewarding year – and I know 2016 will be just as formidable.
Looking forward to more adventures where Bicycles Create Change in 2016!
Best wishes for a Happy New Gear and happy and safe riding!!!
The pre-loved high-end bike in the picture below was on sale at a property auction. No one wanted it – it was too old and daggy and from the reaction of the crowd appeared in no way cool enough to buy, let alone ride. I looked at this forlorn bike and thought of the previous owner who had purchased, loved (I hoped), and ridden this bike – then it has been cast out after however long and was now forgotten and miserable. It was a sorry sight to see; as it seemed that there was still so much more spunky and happy times to be had with it– yet here it was discarded and sad long before its expiry date.
Considering how rapidly bike technology, marketing and styles change, my heart broke: that no-one wanted this bike anymore, that this bike had been so quickly and uncaringly superseded – and although it was in perfect working order at auction, was regarded as objectionable and obsolete.
So I took pity on it and was the only person who bid on it – and got it for 50c.
On my way home from the auction, I found a bag of clothes someone had tossed on the side of the road. All the clothes were brand new – tags still attached, never worn. Amongst the clothes were a set of blue athletic work out tracksuits, not dissimilar to those I’ve seen people wear on an exercise bike. It felt very serendipitous and ironic acquiring these two items.
I was inspired to create this art bike as I acquired both passion (bicycle) and fashion (clothes) items on precisely the same day. As well, both were items I have bought on a number of occasions elsewhere. However, on this day, I was even more strongly, blatantly reminded of the immensely wasteful and consumeristic society we live in; personified by these two items presenting themselves so closely and prominently within the same hour. It was both saddening and humbling.
So I refashioned these two items together to generate a new, valued and wanted artefact, that urges us to be more mindful of products we buy and to be more prudent with our passion and fashion purchases.
As the title of this art bike CONS_U_ME BLUES identifies, this bike highlights how often our CONSUMErist society CONS YOU and ME into buying more and more products – the result of which, when honestly critiqued, makes many of us quite depressed and BLUE.
Please be more mindful and responsible with your purchases.
I have been posting for about 6 weeks now and I am still experimenting and getting more familiar with WordPress and the ins and outs of blogging. It has certainly been a steep learning curve, but one in which I have enjoyed and gained much satisfaction. I will continue!
As I look ahead, I am glad that I have a clear outline of what it is I want to achieve from this blog. I know that much of this will change when my schedule changes next year to accommodate for work or study. Part of my learning about blogging includes many of the same ideas and concerns that other (academic) bloggers have.
I’ve been wrestling with my own ideas and choices about my blogging. How many complex aspects there are! I can see how it can easily become overwhelming and all time-consuming! I have been very happy with how I have gone about learning the WordPress skills needed and being resourceful about finding helpful advice. One interesting aspect of this has been talking to some trusted friends and colleagues about blogging – and although many of their suggestions echo information I have already encountered, or thought of myself, below are some of the more interesting ideas they have raised:
You are all excited now because the blog is new and you have many ideas – but you will soon run out of things to say.
Comments are a great way to bounce off ideas, get suggestions, look at things from a different angle and consider aspects that did not occur to you at the immediate time of writing.
You will spend more time posting than working on your dissertation.
The focus of your blog is totally different from the same old diary product and news bicycle blogs – your emphasis on biking projects and community development is so positive and engaging –it sets you apart and makes your content interesting to a much wider readership.
Warning- how regularly you blog sets a precedence and an expectation. Can you maintain it and/or are you okay when your posting timetable changes?
You can make a massive online income from your blog – you can advertise and get a passive income – that way you won’t need a scholarship to study!
Doing a blog is like hard drugs – once you start with blogging, it is a downward spiral into twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and Integra – next stop social media addiction – goodbye Doctorate.
Are you writing for yourself or an audience? What if you end up with a large readership that will influence your content, approach and process?
The blogosphere is a perfect platform for your work – you can share ideas, connect with your community activities and network with an array of people who are interested in biketivism – which is precisely what your research is focused on.
It is a great way to document and record your thinking and research – very helpful for you – and you will be surprised about how interesting it will be to others.
Be clear about the time you have and will afford for the blog – otherwise, it will get out of control and before you know it you will have spent four hours on one blog post and still not be happy with it.
Your spelling is so terrible –aren’t you self-conscious about everyone seeing your mistakes?
Careful – there are academics who will read your blog and steal your ideas and publish them for themselves – be selective with what you share.
Great idea to find your voice, clarify some ideas and get into a regular writing habit.
Be careful of people’s comments – the public can say whatever they want – and they will. This has the potential to have an impact on your ideas and skew your thinking and confidence, both positively or negatively. This is a major concern in writing your thesis.
It is an excellent way to process and test ideas – you will find that you often go back to ideas to include or edit later.
People all over the world love bikes and they LURVE talking about them – your blog will be perfect!
