2021 Australian Walking and Cycling Conference

It’s that time of year again!

Woohoo!

The 2021 Australian Walking and Cycling Conference is on! Thursday the 30th of September and Friday the 1st of October – and this year it is all online!

This year’s theme is: Global Lessons, Local Opportunities.

I have been to this conference a number of times in the past and I’ve always enjoyed it.

There is always a good mix of research, community, international and local perspectives, sustainability, urban planning, and new and interesting ideas.

I am definitely going to miss not seeing delegates in person, or doing the side-conference activities and events – they are a real highlight!

But even without the trimmings, I’m excited about this year’s program.

I’m looking forward to connecting with some old conference mates and meeting some new people and hearing what some of ‘the big issues’ are in cycling research.

I’ve been pouring over the abstracts and speakers, checking out the new projects, selecting what sessions to go to, and preparing notes to add to chat discussions during presentations.

Below are a few extra details -see more on the AWCC official website here.

I’ve listed the program at the end of this post for those interested.

For anyone going – I’ll (virtually) see you there!

Conference vision

The simple acts of walking and cycling have the potential to transform the places we live, our economies and how we engage with our environment. The Australian Walking and Cycling conference explores the potential for walking and cycling to not only provide for transport and recreation but solutions to challenges of liveability, health, community building, economic development and sustainability. As one of Australia’s longest-running, best-regarded and most affordable active travel conferences, we bring together practitioners and researchers from Australia and across the world to share their work and engage with conference participants.

The Australian Walking and Cycling Conference aims to send zero waste to landfill.

AWCC

Keynote speakers

I am very excited about the keynotes speakers – especially Meredith. I have been following her work for a while (total researcher fan-girl crush!) and she is kick-ass! Meredith is also a consummate speaker, so I can’t wait to hear her present on her current work. Double Woohoo!

Meredith Glaser is an American urban planner, lecturer, and sustainable mobility researcher, based in the Netherlands since 2010. At the Urban Cycling Institute (University of Amsterdam), her research focuses on public policy innovation, knowledge transfer, and capacity building for accelerated implementation of sustainable transport goals. She is one of the world’s most experienced educators for professionals seeking to learn Dutch transport planning policies and practices. She also manages academic output for several European Commission projects and sits on the advisory committee of the Cycling Research Board. Meredith holds master’s degrees in public health and urban planning from University of California, Berkeley.

Fiona Campbell has been working for the City of Sydney since 2008 and is the Manager Cycling Strategy. She is deeply committed to making Sydney a bike-friendly city and to helping others achieve similar goals. Fiona is currently managing the roll out of 11 new City of Sydney cycleway projects, three of which are permanent designs to upgrade temporary Covid-19 pop-up cycleways. Fiona mostly rides a Danish (Butchers and Bicycles) cargo trike, and on weekends accompanied by two Jack Russells. Fiona will present on “Global lessons, local opportunities”. This title is also the Conference theme.

2021 AWCC Book of Abstracts Download

22/09/202123/12/2021

Kungullanji EOI. Cycle Shiftings: Reconfiguring First Nation presences in Morton Bay Bikeway

This week, I put in an EOI application for Kungullanji’s Summer Program .

Regular readers of this blog know that I have been working with Griffith’s Indigenous Research Unit (IRU) and Kungullanji as an Academic Skills Advisor for the last 4 years. But this is the first time I have put in to be a project mentor.

Recently, Kungullanji announced their Summer Expressions of Interest (EOIs). These are small research projects that will be offered to Griffith’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students for the Summer 2021- 2022 Program. Students get to pick which project they would like to work on. The projects need to be achieved within eight weeks (over Summer before T1 starts). Usually, projects include field work, laboratory work, data analysis and statistics, literature review, case studies, method development, and/or product design.

So, I thought I’d through my hat into the ring this year.

The project I pitched is based on my bikes-for-education PhD research and is unique in that it uses decolonising velo-onto-epistemological (VEO) research practices – an approach that has emerged out of my PhD.

It is an unusual project with experimental methodologies – so it’s a long shot that it will be attractive for an undergrad – but you never know! There might be a brave researcher out willing to try something a little different! We’ll see!

The process of writing up the abstract alone was a really helpful activity in helping me clarify aspects of the methodology and thinking through how to explain what VEO is in clear and simple terms.

Below is what I submitted.

I’ll find out in 6 weeks if a Kungullanji student-researcher chooses my project.

EOI: Project description

Title: Cycle Shiftings: Reconfiguring First Nation presences in Morton Bay Bikeway

Project supervisor: Nina Ginsberg (School of Education & Professional Studies)

Project description:

Bike riding is a ubiquitous part of modern life and offers significant social, economic, environmental and health benefits. However, there is ‘an unbearable whiteness of cycling’ (Hylton, 2017) that is keenly evident. Bicycle trails are not free from the history, culture and politics in which they are built and used.

This project focuses on one section of a popular bikeway located on Narlang lands of the Quandamooka peoples (commonly known as the Morton Bay Bikeway (MBB), Wynnum-Manly, Brisbane). This bike path is the focus of this project which uses emerging mobile ‘riding-with’ research approaches that work to decolonise place. ‘Riding-with’ research approaches are unique as they consider what bicycles can ‘do’ and ‘be’ beyond being just objects of transportation, utility or recreation.

This means paying close attention to what is seen, said, remembered, thought, felt, understood and experienced while bike riding researcher-community members move through particular environments – and in this case specifically, the Moreton Bay Bikeway. This project fits into an exciting and newly established research space that uses embodied and mobile methodologies to destablise current settler-colonial bike path logic and praxis – to look at what might be learned or discovered by cultivating more First Nations experiences as/into bike paths. The underlying aim is to bring forward possibilities for identifying and refiguring what is considered ‘normal’ on bike paths by promoting and celebrating First Nations presences – and that doing so will broaden and bolster similar conversations elsewhere.

The Kungullanji researcher will be encouraged to actively co-contribute to all aspects of the project process. There are opportunities for the researcher to communicate work undertaken (ie via publication, community bike tour, etc) which is highly encouraged, given time and interest. This project would suit a motivated, curious, mature and open-minded researcher who is interested in working with innovative research skills. The supervisor, Nina Ginsberg, will provide guidance at all stages of this project.

Student responsibilities:

Research mobile methodologies and local First Nations presences (around Wynnum-Manly area)
Write short summaries/narratives based on key research themes
Co-develop (with supervisor) an approach to action key research themes
Develop and experiment with riding-with approaches
This project involves being able to go for regular bike rides along Wynnum-Manly foreshore (accessible by train) at a leisurely pace with regular breaks for about 10 kms. Must have a general level of fitness and know how to ride a bike safely. Ideally, the Kungullanji researcher will have their own bike (in good working order) and safety gear (if not, Nina can help arrange this).
Meet with Supervisor at least weekly for bike ride-meetings to discuss findings, progress and next steps.
Opportunity for a co-authored publication (Kungullanji researcher and Supervisor) and/or community bike tour to share findings (if time/interest allows).

The Kungullanji Program

The Kungullanji Research Pathways Program raises aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students by providing an undergraduate research experience, professional development, and connections to the broader Indigenous research community. The idea is to provide an introduction to research and develop valuable skills for students to start their research journey.

The idea is that First Nations undergrads work alongside research staff (who may be an academic staff member, research fellow, postdoctoral fellow or HDR candidate) to gain hands-on research. Supervisors provide regular and ongoing mentorship, guidance, research-specific training, and experience.

This award-winning program is a key part of Griffith University’s strategy to “grow its own” First Peoples higher degree research cohort.

Kungullanji is an Aboriginal word from the Yugambeh language that means ‘to think’ – and this service is specifically for undergraduates.

Kungullanji offers practical research experience and opportunities to develop research skills and confidence not found elsewhere for undergraduates. Students receive a scholarship and are provided with online and in-person research skills training, cultural experience activities, a transdisciplinary art-based workshop, and Peer Mentors provide additional guidance and support.

Postscript: This year there was a remarkably high number of EOIs submitted (the highest ever!) – which speaks to the growing recognition and high caliber of this program! Ultimately, 46 projects were submitted. There were 23 students. My EOI was not selected – another time!

01/09/202109/12/2021

Bespoke City Nostalgia

As we move into holiday mode, my thoughts turn to long, lazy afternoons enjoying the rich, inviting, creativity of a thriving bike community. I was nostalgic for a local event something along the lines of Bespoke City. Bespoke City was a super special, one-night-only art and design event held in Sydney some years back. A wonderful reminder of what can be achieved when creative minds come together. For those who missed it, this post explains the event. Here’s to hoping for more bespoke events like this! Enjoy. NG.

The Bespoke City event was put on to celebrate a new generation of designers, makers, technologists and innovators who had teamed up with artists to re-imagine Sydney’s streets from the perspective of the cyclist.

Brilliant! There should be more city events like this!

The Bespoke City festival included a series of bike-inspired installations, projections, interactive artworks, unique sculptures, videos, kinetic artworks, demonstrations, and stalls. Curated by Laura Fisher and Sabrina Sokalik, Bespoke City invited audiences to reimagine Sydney’s urban environment.

It was held in a new community space in the heart of Oxford Street. This was the first time the event had ‘spilled out into the streets’ from the UNSW Art & Design Courtyard and Galleries.

Bicycles were central to all the artworks.

Bikes were used to generate light, colour, sound and energy, while other artworks used them as a metaphor for the city itself – reminding us that urban spaces can be deconstructed and remade and that we are all implicated in the politics of public space.

A key aim of the event was to spotlight the bicycle as a humble but brilliant piece of technology, and to share a vision of the city as open to being hacked, remapped and remade.

Bespoke City was part of UNSW Galleries’ First Fridays program, in which the Galleries stayed open late on the first Friday of each month to host lively events engaging in contemporary art and culture.

What a great idea! More, please!

Laura Fisher said Bespoke City appealed to everyone: “This is one for the makers, the pedalers and the whole family.”

Some of the more than 20 Bespoke City artworks, workshops and installations, included:

Pedal powered light mural – Climb on and peel back the layers of the city. See Sydney in flux as your pedalling efforts produce variations in light, colour and space. Artists: Jonathon Bolitho, Jeong Greaves, Jobe Williams, Mackenzie Nix.
Autonomous painting machine – A robot-painter that tracks human movements to create curious images, prompting viewers to think about how machine intelligence is influencing our lives. Artist: Jeffrey Wood
Bicycles that make music – Create a slow groove or some fast electronic beats as you collaborate with other riders to fill the campus with a unique and evolving sound piece. Artists: Milkcrate Events.
Microbiology in the urban wild – Examine the city at the molecular level using a bike-powered laboratory created by the first Citizen Scientist molecular biology lab. Artists: BioFoundry
A virtual ride from Paddington to Rozelle – ‘Veloscape’ is an immersive video work in which your pedalling takes you on a traverse of the city. Artists: Volker Kuchelmeister and Laura Fisher
Giant data visualisation – Watch the ebb and flow of rider movements around Sydney, with a specially commissioned work inspired by the City’s cycling data. Artist: Hanley Weng & Xavier Ho.

There were also lots of other things to do, like get a free bicycle tune-up, join the guerrilla knitters, make some custom reflective gear or get some food from one of the Cargo Bike businesses and pop up stalls.

Yes – a wonderful event that ticks so many boxes: artistic, fun, high community engagement, questioning urban design and mobility, bike-focused, collaborative, free, public event…(*sigh*).

I’d love to see more events like this during the holidays.

Ti wouldn’t be too much of a stretch given that most major cities already have some kind of public, night-time bike events like Ride the Night Brisbane or some kind of innovative bike infrastructure like the Starry Night Bike Path.

So let’s showcase more art and design collaborative artworks on two wheels!

This post uses content originally posted by Laura Fisher for UNSW Newsroom and UNSW Galleries.

18/08/202102/12/2021

Art, Apps, UCLA & the Civic Bicycle Commuting (BiCiC) project

I first came across this story while scouring the internet for community-focused, bike-related, arts-based projects. This project caught my eye as it was initiated by a group of senior UCLA academics and I like the innovative use of technology to get more people engaged with bicycle commuting. Projects like this are inspiring not only in the end product, (more people on bikes), but also in the process (engaging arts-based participation in new and creative ways) and in bringing together a range of people (professors, artists, riders, and community members) who are passionate about bikes, sustainability, transport, healthy communities to create a more positive future for all. Below is an article published earlier this year in Transfer Magazine explaining the project in detail.

I love the idea of senior academics and professors being passionate about biking. Here’s to (hoping for) more projects (and academics) like this! Enjoy! NG.

For many Los Angeles residents, the daily commute is frustrating. A project by three UCLA faculty members aims to change that — especially for those who ride to work on two wheels — by creating bicycle “flows” that produce real-time digital art exhibitions throughout the city.

One of the project’s goals is to make cycling to work feel as accessible and safe as other modes of travel, so the professors envision groups, or flows, of cyclists that would be organized by a smartphone app. The app would encourage reluctant or inexperienced cyclists to participate by pointing them toward those flows, suggest routes that are optimized for enjoyability and safety over efficiency or speed, and enable participants to share their experiences.

Those experiences, in the form of text, photos, videos and other creative submissions, would feed directly into digital murals throughout Los Angeles. The murals would be located in community spaces and transportation hubs around the city — including, for example, a large interactive display at the Los Angeles State Historic Park, adjacent to Chinatown — elevating biking to work to a collective creative experience.

“We envision the cooperative bike flows as a type of performative media artwork that is shared live with all of Los Angeles in public spaces and on the internet,” said Fabian Wagmister, the project’s principal investigator and the founding director of the UCLA Center for Research in Engineering, Media and Performance, known as UCLA REMAP.

“By inviting communities to think about bicycle riding as a way to express themselves in the urban landscape, we can strengthen commuters’ ownership of the system and offer a deeper level of engagement in the future of the city.”

The project, called Civic Bicycle Commuting, or CiBiC, is co-led by Jeff Burke, co-director of REMAP and a UCLA professor-in-residence of theater, and Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, a distinguished professor of urban planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.

The project already is gaining some traction: In February, the initiative received $50,000 in funding from the Civic Innovation Challenge, which is funded by the National Science Foundation in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. CiBiC is now in contention for an additional grant of up to $1 million, which the researchers would use to create a prototype of the project.

CiBiC’s art-led approach makes it somewhat of an anomaly among most of the competitors in its category, “communities and mobility” — most of the other proposals have origins in the STEM fields and social sciences.

To ensure the project incorporates the diverse experiences and needs of Los Angeles commuters, the researchers are soliciting input from Los Angeles neighborhood groups. Loukaitou-Sideris said the team will especially seek participation from low-income residents of Chinatown, Solano Canyon, Dogtown and Lincoln Heights.

“We want to hear from community groups and residents and understand how we can create something that is tailored to their needs,” she said.

The researchers also are collaborating with Eli Akira Kaufman, executive director of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, who said the project could demonstrate how transformative bicycle culture could be in Los Angeles if bicyclists could help create infrastructure that reflected their needs.

“Instead of allowing the built environment to dictate the culture of bicycling in Los Angeles, we need to uplift the culture of bicycling to make sure the built environment is defined by the social infrastructure and the people who use it,” he said.

Aggregated data from the app could also eventually be used to influence Los Angeles’ long-term infrastructure planning.

And Wagmister said the project stands to both reflect and amplify the city’s creative spirit: “We want to create an alternative transportation system in Los Angeles, one that values our collective creative capacity to transform the city for all.”

Image courtesy of Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition. This article was sourced from Transfer Magazine and was originally posted on the UCLA Newsroom.

09/08/202105/11/2021

Indigenous Peoples and a new social contract: UN International Day of World Indigenous Peoples

August 9th is the UN International Day of World Indigenous People.

Recognition for Indigenous people needs far more work.

This year, the UN is highlighting the marginalization of Indigenous Peoples by demanding a ‘social contact’ that better recognizes the social and economic inclusion, participation, and approval for all involved.

This post outlines 2021 the UN International Day of Indigenous Peoples and this year’s central theme.

I’ve also included a curated list of resources and links for those who want more at the end.

Indigenous Peoples and a new social contract: UN International Day of World Indigenous Peoples. Bicycles Create Change.com 9th August 2021. — Image: UN

This year’s theme is:

Leaving no one behind:
Indigenous Peoples and the call for a new social contract

Here’s what the UN has to say:

Indigenous peoples & a new social contract

There are over 476 million indigenous peoples living in 90 countries across the world, accounting for 6.2 per cent of the global population. Indigenous peoples are the holders of a vast diversity of unique cultures, traditions, languages and knowledge systems. They have a special relationship with their lands and hold diverse concepts of development based on their own worldviews and priorities.

Although numerous indigenous peoples worldwide are self-governing and some have been successful in establishing autonomy in varying forms, many indigenous peoples still come under the ultimate authority of central governments who exercise control over their lands, territories and resources. Despite that reality, indigenous peoples have demonstrated extraordinary examples of good governance, ranging from the Haudenosaunee to the existing Sámi parliaments in Finland, Sweden, and Norway.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated many existing inequalities, disproportionately affecting populations all over the world that were already suffering from poverty, illness, discrimination, institutional instability or financial insecurity. From the perspective of indigenous peoples, the contrast is even starker. In many of our societies, the social contract, at the very least, needs some revision.

What is a social contract?

This August 9, International Day of Indigenous Peoples, we must demand indigenous peoples’ inclusion, participation and approval in the constitution of a system with social and economic benefits for all.

That is why the 2021 theme is ““Leaving no one behind: Indigenous peoples and the call for a new social contract.” But, what does it mean?

A social contract is an unwritten agreement that societies make to cooperate for social and economic benefits. In many countries, where indigenous peoples were driven from their lands, their cultures and languages denigrated and their people marginalized from political and economic activities, they were never included in the social contract to begin with. The social contract was made among the dominant populations.

Over recent years and decades, various societies have sought to address this, including through apologies, truth and reconciliation efforts, legislative reforms, as well as constitutional reforms, while at the international level, these efforts have included the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and advisory bodies such as the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Despite the existence of international instruments to respond these inequalities, not all are embarked on the collective journey to ensure that no one is left behind, including indigenous peoples. Therefore, the building and redesigning of a new social contract as an expression of cooperation for social interest and common good for humanity and nature, is needed.

The new social contract must be based on genuine participation and partnership that fosters equal opportunities and respects the rights, dignity and freedoms of all. Indigenous peoples’ right to participate in decision-making is a key component in achieving reconciliation between indigenous peoples and States.

To find out more

Here’s some Australian-focused links from Griffith Uni Library:

Read the Uluru Statement from The Heart and learn about Indigenous sovereignty and establishing a First Nations voice in the Constitution.
Browse Reconciliation Australia’s 20 Actions For Reconciliation In 2021 and develop your personal action plan.
Find which Indigenous nation you live in with the AIATSIS Map of Indigenous Australia, and learn more about the local culture.
Save important dates to your calendar, such as Reconciliation Week, NAIDOC Week and the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples—and get involved in any local activities or events.

Also check out:

Cultural Survival is an organization committed to advancing indigenous peoples’ rights and cultures worldwide. They have a well-curated list of 12 things to do ranging from articles, podcasts, interactive maps, and other links to learn more about indigenous people around the world. It is well worth a look – check it out here.

The Australian Human Rights Commission calls on the Australian government to take more decisive action for indigenous peoples.

Read Melb Uni’s vision for indigenous self-governance and a ‘brave new world’ here.

Delve into the Black Lives Matter LibGuide developed by Western Sydney University for critical resources and research.

Watch the Indigenous Knowledge Institute’s Indigenous People Symposium (see below).

30/07/202118/10/2021

Urban planning for those under 95cms: Dutch cargo bikes, kids and the Urban95 project

Recently, I had the opportunity to hear Matt Root, an avid bike rider and dad of two toddlers present a session called ‘Going Dutch, cargo bikes for kids’ – and it was really great!

His presenation focused on what life on a biek and in the city is like from the point of view of his two young sons. Perspectives like child-centred research and having chilldren activitely participating and informing research and policy is a key step in better redesigning more liveable cities for all.

Matt’s project resonated particpatually strongly with me given the background my West African bicycles-for-education PhD has incorporating children’s geographies and including youths as coresearchers, and the work of Dr Gina Porter and the Child Mobility project.

So I was most intrested to hear what emerrged from the two young experts (Matt’s two sons, aged 2 and 4) while Dad (Matt)* rigged on-board GoPro cameras to capture all the fun and sense of adventure.

In this session, we heard what the pre-schoolers liked and disliked about our streets from their unique vantage point (see below).

From this vantage, Matt draws out aspects of what new ideas we can learn from these young experts.

Below are a few of those insights. All images by Matt Root.

After Matt’s presentation, I went looking for more information about this and was happy to see Victoria Local Goverance Association has a Child Friendly Cities and Community focus.

Matt was also interviewed by Radio Adelaide about this project and why he and his wife chose a cargo bike to transport their young family.

*Matt Root is a co-owner of Flyt transport planning consultancy based in Perth and he is focused on the planning of safe and convenient bicycle infrastructure across the city. Between 2018-2020 Matt led the State Government’s planning for Perth’s Long Term Cycle Network to accommodate the city’s population in 2050.

See more of Matt on Twitter: @FlytPlan.

Urban95 Project

Here’s some more info about Urban95 project in their own words:

From the front box of a cargo bike, how do our streets and

built environment look and feel to a 2 & 4-year-old?

The Urban95 initiative asks this simple question to leaders, planners, and designers.

Urban95 design principals focus on family-friendly urban planning and those designs can help us active transport professions in our work.

The Urban95 project has at its heart a focus on children-friendly cities and urban development.

Urban95 interventions help cities increase positive interactions between caregivers, babies and toddlers; increase access to — and use of — the services and amenities families need; and reduce stresses on caregivers. They are organised into two categories of policies and services:

Family-friendly urban planning and design, including the planning, design and regulation of a city’s space, land use, infrastructure and services
Healthy Environments for children, including improving air quality and access to nature

The Urban95 background states that more than a billion children live in cities, and rapid urbanisation means that number is growing.

Babies, toddlers and caregivers experience the city in unique ways.

They need safe, healthy environments, where crucial services are easily accessible, frequent, warm, responsive interactions with loving adults are possible, and safe, a stimulating physical environment to play in and explore abound.

The City at Eye Level for Kids

From Urban95 comes The City at Eye Level which, as their website explains, develops and shares knowledge about how to make urban development work at human scale.

A collaboration with the Bernard van Leer Foundation’s Urban95 initiative, this – The City at Eye Level for Kids – book contains over 100 contributions from across the world on work to improve cities for children and the people who care for them.

It shares practices, lessons, perspectives and insights from 30 different countries around the world, that will be useful to urban planners, architects, politicians, developers, entrepreneurs and advocates for children and families.

Download: The City at Eye Level for Kids (PDF)

26/07/202122/10/2021

Drum & Ba(da)ss on the bike: Public DJ (and mobile crowd) on two-wheels

One of the things I love about doing this blog is I get to share what makes me happy.

Many things make me happy, for example:

Riding bikes.
Exploring the places we live and work.
Making new friends and building community.
Sharing smiles and positive vibes.
Rocking tunes.

Combining all these elements into one event and it’s a dang good time!

That is why I loooovvveee bike raves!

If you don’t know what a bike rave is, check out the Melburn Pink Flamingo Bike Rave (2018) – which I attended in full costume while riding our BioBike Art Bike (a massive hit!) – and the Melbourne GOLD! Bike Rave (2019).

While COVID keeps many of us restricted, I’ve been getting my bike rave-ish fix from Dom Whiting’s Youtube channel Drum & Bass on the bike.

Dom is a (former) mechanic and (go)karter who lives in the UK.

Five months ago, Dom posted his first Drum & Bass on the bike video.

Dom has a DJ deck set up over the handlebars of his bike, then he turns on his speakers, streams his live set (including him talking on a mic), and cruises around his local surroundings.

He has ridden Cambridge, Uxbridge, Manchester, Marlos, Windsor, Cardiff, Brighton, and several other English cities.

And each time, he is being joined by more and more people for the party ride-along.

Events like this make me happy.

In a world that is increasingly divisive and exclusionary, having free, public events that people of all ages and stages can enjoy is critical.

While I acknowledge initiatives like this are not perfect and come with issues, I also appreciate the effort and work that goes into making these rides happen.

I love the grassroots, quasi-critical mass, flash mob, bicycle-focused, positive vibe of Dom’s rides.

Kids, families, dogs, and all kinds of people going for a ride together.

Yup – big smiles.

One of my favs is his start of the London Hyde Park Special.

This is one of his earlier ones. Just Dom…. going for a cruise.

I like the gentle lead-in (see video above) where he starts out by himself. He takes his time setting up his gear, he has a chat to a passer-by and then pushes off for an ‘off-the cuff’ roll around London.

A little further on, he chats to people in nearby cars while they are all waiting for the lights – such a contrast to other urban riders we are used to seeing, like teams of well-coordinated, weekend MAMILS or the dangerous antics of Terry Barensten’s hotliners.

I love the whole premise and appreciate the effort Dom has put into his bike.

And while history has shown that popular community bike events that start out organically invariably morph and change as demands, numbers, and challenges change – regardless of what or how this project changes in(to) in the future… I am just happy that at least just now… Dom and his DJ bike are somewhere out there spreading the happy community vibes on two wheels.

Ride on!

04/07/202124/08/2021

Riding the Indian Pacific Wheel Race for CycleAbility

Riding the Indian Pacific Wheel Ride for CycleAbility. Bicycles Create Change.com. 4th July 2021. — Image: The Seattle Times

Celebrating diversity in bike ridership is a key theme for this blog. This blog actively promotes a fuller range of rider experiences, alternative bike set ups, and projects and events that are inclusive of more-than-the-mainstream-norm kinds of bike riding. Sadly, many of these initiatives do not receive adequate attention and often remain invisible and un(der)recognised. Some examples are:

So I was delighted this year to see rider diversity being represented in one of my favorite annual bike events, the Indian Pacific Wheel Race.

The IndyPac (or IPWR) is an epic, unassisted 5, 550kms adventure ride going from Fremantle to the Sydney Opera House that few attempt. It is the most prestigious bike touring race in Australia. I got especially interested in IndyPac 2017 when my dear friend Jackie Bernardi rode it (only one of seven females). That was also the year the event was cut short after the tragic death of rider Mike Hall.

Each year since, I’ve kept my eye on the IndyPac.

This year, the story of Ed Birt (Chief Operating Officer for The Disability Trust) caught my eye as he was riding to raise funds and awareness for their CycleAbility program. Below is an article about Ed’s IPWR participation, which I found via The Disability Trust news.

There were many aspects of Ed’s approach to the IPWR that stood out for me (balls in just attempting the event itself, but also supporting a good cause, positive awareness raising for greater diversity in ridership, and more) was the terminology shift from Indian Pacific Wheel Race to Indian Pacific Wheel Ride employed in communicating his involvement. I appreciated the subtle vocab shift to focus more on participation as opposed to competition.

With tenacity, tailwinds and a passion for cycling Ed Birt, Chief Operating Officer of The Disability Trust, has successfully completed the Indian Pacific Wheel Ride, a solo unsupported, 5,500km ride ocean-to-ocean across Australia.

Ed, a keen cyclist who recently celebrated his 50th birthday decided to undertake the personal challenge whilst on annual leave and use the experience to raise money to purchase bicycles, tricycles, recumbent bikes and frames to support The Disability Trust’s new CycleAbility program and other existing programs such as Vacation Care and Getaway Saturday.

The course does not follow the most direct route from coast to coast making it a truly memorable adventure through deserts, wine districts, rolling hills, winding coastal roads and tough alpine regions riding through the heart of Australia’s major cities. Starting at Freemantle Lighthouse at 6.22am on Saturday 20 March 2021, nine riders dipped their wheel in the Indian Ocean with the goal of being able to do the same in the Pacific Ocean once reaching Sydney.

After 23 days on the road Ed arrived at the steps of the Sydney Opera House on the 11th of April, cheered on by family, friends and supporters. He was the second rider to complete the challenge with only four completing the race with other participants retiring due to injury or bike issues.

“It’s just empowering to get from A to B under your own steam,” Mr Birt said. “It’s a big country and lots can happen, but I was pretty well-prepared. The bike performed really well,” Mr Birt said.

The highlight for Ed, as well as enjoying the beautiful countryside he travelled through, was the support and generosity of the people he met along the way. Avid “dot watchers”, people tracking the riders online, will often join the cyclists on their own bikes as they head through their towns, providing riders with refreshments or a place to rest.

“There were people who put me up in their homes, or truck drivers who stopped and made me a peanut butter and banana sandwich in the middle of the desert,” Mr Birt said.

Fundraising has surpassed his goal of $10,000 and is over $11,000 with The Figtree Lions Club and Resin Brewing also set to bolster the fundraising with charity events.

The CycleAbility program will be supporting independence, fitness and social inclusion through the use of bicycles as active transport. The program will provide skills, knowledge and safety in using bicycles and Wollongong’s cycling infrastructure.

The empowering CycleAbility program will be facilitated through The Disability Trust’s Sport and Recreation team and will run on the last Saturday of every month commencing 29 May 2021. The program will be run from The Disability Trust’s head office car park in Wollongong (5 Edney Lane Spring Hill) with a focus on

Fun
Skills development
Safety while riding
Bicycle maintenance and repair and
Getting to know the Wollongong Cycle network

100% of funds raised will go towards purchase of equipment for CycleAbility and other The Disability Trust programs.

14/06/202109/08/2021

Leo Rodgers: An inspiration for cycling

Leo Rodgers is a man who loves to ride his bike.

Leo lives with his family in Tampa Bay (USA) and has become a well-known figure in the community bike scene as a hero for diversity and inclusion after having his left leg amputated following a motorbike accident 14 years ago.

After learning to walk again, he started riding a bike to get around. This soon became an integral part of his identity, mobility and independence.

Leo started getting involved in community bike rides (like critical mass and weekly social night events), then single speeds and fixies and this lead to racing track cycling – and then all kinds of riding.

What I love about Leo and his story is his how positive and relatable he is – he just loves riding his bike.

There is much to learn from Leo’s story about overcoming adversity, being open to trying new things, being bold and brave, perseverance, being true to yourself, leading through example, surrounding yourself with good people, and the profound ways bicycles can change people, break down barriers and transform lives.

I’ve been following Leo for a few years now. I dig his genuine passion for riding all types of bikes, being connected with community and how he stoked he gets sharing his passion with others.

It is just an added bonus that he has mad bike handling skills – endurance, skills, balance, speed, epic track standing prowess and the rest!

You can find heaps of online content about Leo – he’s been in news reports, blogs, articles, cycling documentaries and lots of YouTube videos (just type his name into the internet to see!) if you want to find out more about his story and adventures.

For background: His local paper the Tampa Bay Times published an article by Chris O’Donnell that chronicles his childhood and entry into the cycling world with a level of detail I had not see elsewhere.

On the bike: Peter Flax did a great article for Bicycling on Leo in May 2020 in which they go for a ride and talk about Leo’s cycling history, approach to riding (and life), successes and personal style to come through. (It is well worth the read.) Here’s a little of what Peter wrote about Leo’s bike affiliations

Leo isn’t in a bike tribe—he’s in all of them. He likes to go out at night in khaki shorts and smash it with a fixie crew and he likes to do hard paceline training rides with the local spandex roadies and he likes to go out for gravel epics with dudes who consume a lot of CBD chewies. He does alley cats and pub crawls and off-road centuries. He noodles around the waterfront on a tall bike he helped fabricate.

Leo’s Instagram @slimone1000 show the range of events he is involved in and the types of bikes he rides: track cycling, fixi, tandem, urban commute, street/park, mountain-biking, bike packing, cruising with critical mass, his beloved blue and pink repainted singlespeed bombora, bike riding adventures, events, social meet ups, and good times with friends.

His Instagram motto is: ‘overcoming adversity through cycling’.

As Peter writes: ‘Without explicitly trying, Leo makes a powerful statement every time he pedals through his community.’

What an inspiration for his kids, for the biking community, and for us all.

Image: Bob Crosling for Bicycling

All images are stills from Leo Rodgers is Unstoppable by Bicycling unless otherwise attributed.

09/06/202130/09/2021

Utrecht train station: World’s largest bicycle park

A big thanks to long time reader Betty for recommending this story. Much appreciated Betty! Ride On! NG.

Previously, I posted on projects that support mass urban bike riding infrastructure, such as the automated ECOCycle bike storage facilities located at train stations in Japan (which has a retrieval time of 13 seconds!).

Everyone knows the Netherlands are trailblazers when it comes to bike riding.

Utrecht Central Train Station is a model example of how city planning and design can prioritise and integrate urban biking riding, walking and transportation.

This three-story bicycle park can store 12,656 bikes.

If you have not seen this building before – you need to check it out – it is AMAZING!

(*Apologies for the white space below. It is a tech gremlin I can’t debug!*)

Completed in 2019, this train station is now the world’s largest underground bicycle parking garage, overtaking Tokyo’s 9,000 former largest bike storage capacity.

Utrecht is a medieval city and this building is part of a forward-thinking approach to reducing congestion and pollution, promoting bike riding and making the city more sustainable.

A key feature is the ‘flow of bike riders’ – so you can ride your bike into and around the inside of the building. This means you can ride into the building, park your bike and be on a train in 5 mins or less.

Utrecht train station: World's largest bicycle park. Bicycles Create Change.com. 9th June 2021.

Users ride-into and around the actual building from the street for direct access to bike storage.

The building also has a repair service and bicycle hire outlet.

A digital system guides cyclists to parking spots, to the quickest access to the train platforms, the main terminal building and public square. Paths are clearly signed and thoroughfare is managed to maximise ride-ability (‘flow’), ease, and safety for all users.

As well as ‘normal bike’ storage (which make up the bulk), there are special bays for modified bikes like Christianas, bikes with trailers or modifications and large cargo bikes.

The building is a landmark attraction in itself and is beautifully designed by Ector Hoogstad Archeitecten, who won an award for the design. There are lots of glass walls, skylights and staircases which maximise natural light inside the building.

I’m can’t wait to see more bike-centred buildings like these in the future!

All images and parts of this content sourced from De Zeen.com.