The Bicycle Film Festival is an annual, curated film festival focused on sharing a range of new bike films. Each festival offering is unique, and the films included are selected from submission and the final collection are then toured internationally to sell out crowds.
Brendt Barbur is the Founding Festival Director. He was inspired to create this event in 2001 after a traffic accident while cycling in New York City.
The Bicycle Film Festival is a platform to celebrate the bicycle through various forms of artistic expression, including music, art, and, notably, film and has significantly propelled the urban bike movement as well as promoting lesser-known types of bike riding.
Image: Bicycle Film Festival
This festival now spans 90 cities across the globe and the BFF has garnered a vast audience of over 1 million individuals. It has become one of the foremost art and cultural event advocating sustainability. The Bicycle Film Festival also has offshoot links with associated workshops, screenings, panel events, concert, food events and art exhibitions worldwide.
I really appreciate this event because it showcases new and original films that you cannot see anywhere else. the festival covers such a wide range of experiences, places and styles and it really gives you an insight into how important bicycles are to so many people. It is really a celebration of people, place and riding – it is affirming and heartwarming.
The Bicycle Film Festival’s YouTube channel is a testament to the range of interests, skills and quality of bike films being produced by enthusiasts. Here are a few of the offerings over the years:
From its futuristic skyline, exciting tourist attractions and tranquil parklands, this vibrant metropolis is raising the bar when it comes to being a bike-friendly destination.
My brother lives in Singapore and I often keep an eye on what is happening there. I have been watching with interest as Singapore’s works to implement its intelligent transportation vision – of which cycling is a major focus.
Like most capital cities, Singapore boasts an extensive network of dedicated cycling paths, lanes, and connectors that cover both urban areas and scenic routes. This infrastructure ensures cyclists can travel safely and conveniently throughout the city.
The city’s urban planning emphasizes sustainable transportation options, including cycling. Well-designed bike lanes are integrated into the city’s infrastructure, making it easy to navigate and explore different neighborhoods by bike. Some local favourite routes include the Park Connector network, a 300km tangle of cycle paths, and the Rail Corridor, a 24km bicycle path in the footprint of an old railway, and the Eastern Coastal Loop.
Singapore’s Eastern Coast Loop. Image: Get Go
Also, Singapore’s well-maintained roads and bike paths are designed with safety in mind. They have separated bike lanes and clear signage to reduce the risk of accidents between cyclists and other road users and as anyone who has been there will know, Singapore is active in enforcing speed limits, and positive social behaviour.
Singapore has introduced various bike-sharing programs, providing locals and tourists with easy access to rental bikes for short trips around the city. Despite having some issues in the past, these programs are promoting cycling as a viable mode of transportation and usage is projected to boom.
Singapore’s relatively compact size allows cyclists to cover significant distances within a short period. This compactness makes it convenient to use a bike for daily commutes and recreational rides. The other drawcard is that cyclists can enjoy a mix of scenic routes including urban landscapes, waterfront paths, and lush green spaces. This makes cycling both enjoyable and is a great way to see more of the city beyond just the main tourist attractions – which are all easily accessible by bike!
Image: Singapore Land Transport Authority
The Singaporean government has actively promoted cycling as a sustainable transportation option. Initiatives such as car free Sundays, car free zones, the Car-Lite movement and investments in cycling infrastructure demonstrate a commitment to enhancing the cycling experience.
The city hosts various big-ticket sports events like the Formula 1 Grand Prix and it is not often you get a chance to ride along a legitimate F1 circuit pit lane! They also have a full cycling calendar offering events from leisurely rides to competitive races. These events foster a strong cycling community and encourage people to embrace biking as a lifestyle.
But still some issues to iron out…
Last year Singapore conducted a cycling review and as part of a discussion on safe cycling on roads, there was a proposal to register bikes and licenses for cyclists. This idea was met with intense public resistance – so it will be interesting to see what happens there.
A Today Online news report cites a lack of etiquette, disregard for the laws and ‘a need to exhibit showmanship’ as a few of the main reasons for accidents.
So, there are definitely a few more things to iron out!
But overall, it is great to see Singapore heading in the right direction.
Change is not easy.
But it is encouraging to see the Lion City taking action to be a more cycle-friendly city in the future.
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.
I’ve listed the program at the end of this post for those interested.
For anyone going – I’ll (virtually) see you there!
AWCC 2019. Source: AWCC
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.
Matt Root and his two cargo bike under 95cm ‘city experts’. Image: Radio Adelaide.
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.
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 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.
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 (Ebook pg 54 & 55).
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.
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.
Ed Birt and bike. Image: The Disability Trust
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.
I am a community bike rider and researcher living in Brisbane Australia. I live with a gorgeous kelpie named Zoe and a bike named Kissime and we have spent many happy years riding bikes together.
I have a blog and we regularly post about dogs and bikes, see for example:
We recently came across your Etsy page and saw your handmade dog-and-bike plates.
And we love them!
You have a good selection of dog breeds including Daschunds, Retrievers, Boston Terriers and Dalmatians. Some of them have hats or scarves and they ride different bikes.
Very savvy to have different sizes and shapes of plates, platters and serving trays, too.
We love your other bike riding animals – especially the elephants, flying pigs and octopus!
Zoe was delighted to hear customers can custom order for a ‘girl dog’ too – but wondered how that might change the illustration.
Congrats on your impressive range of other designs including, nautical and underwater themes, butterflies, farm animals, florals and botanicals, Alice in Wonderland, heaps of land and sea animals, insects, anatomical body parts and metrics, skulls, and of course bees!
We appreciate the effort you take in hand making each plate in your US studio – and that you have created endearing designs that are quirky and whimsical and have that ‘ye olde timey’/vintage style about them.
On your Esty site, it says your bike-and-dog plates are: artful, fabulously glossy, and highly durable range of kitchenware made out of ThermoSaf® Composite Polymer, which is also:
Microwave-safe.
Melamine-free.
BPA-Free.
Dishwasher-safe.
Formaldehyde-free.
Break-resistant.
FDA approved for food contact and oven-safe to 300 degrees (45 min. or less).
We saw you do request orders too: awesome for custom matching for decor, colour, bike and dog breed preference, use and style.
Will kelpies be added to add to the range? Zoe is happy to help if needed!
We know there are many people who love riding bikes and love dogs – thanks for offering such beautiful, original products that celebrate our combined passions!
We wish you all the very best for you and your business.
Keep up the amazing platefuls of bikes and dogs!
Warm regards, tail wags, and muddy trails.
Zoe the dog, Kissime the bike, and Nina the rider.
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.
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.
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.
I am recovering from a 3-week intensive marking bender.
My eyes are itchy, my lower back aches and my approachablity is incendiary.
A tight uni turnaround to mark 28 x 6,000-word research reports and 28 x 2,000-word workplace assessments (both Masters level and worth 80% of the total course!) PLUS 21 x 3,300-word undergrad mixed-method research reports (worth 50%). Epic!
I am grateful for the work. Like many others, I’ve had no uni teaching or lecturing for Trimeter 1 due to university COVID response measures. No sessional work, only marking. Thank goodness for my educational consultancy. Tough times.
The students worked hard and so did I. There’s a lot riding on these assessments – and I take the job seriously. I’m not the kind of academic who breezes over assessments and gives 3 comments like: good or need more work here and interesting point– what the hell kind of feedback is that? So unhelpful! I am NOT that kind of marker – I hate that shit! So, I put in the work and gave each assessment my full attention.
So in a similar mood for @Artcrank, I looked for a new source to lift the spirits and remind me of the creative playfulness betwixt bikes, community, action, spaces, materiality, bodies and brazenness.
Here is a 100-word worlding I wrote after seeing @bikeart.gallery for the first time.
I love bikeart, too.
Eyes itchy, shoulders aching and approachablity is incendiary. Time for bike art. @bikeart.gallery – newly discovered on Instagram. Stickers, prints, icons, charcoals, photos, cartoons, designs, and paper cuts. I love bikes and I love art, too. Some super progressive bikeart, others not so. Hypersexualized disembodied females with-on bikes (really? still?!) – cringe-worthy. Elsewhere, I marvel at super spunky rider couples, surreal adventure rides, fantastical bici creaturing, and cheeky postmodern velo classical reinterpretations. A few memes. Close-ups, portraits and movement. Audaciousness. Lego, flames, tattoos, air travel, and (Fr)eddie Merxc(ury). @jctdesign’s spontaneous napkin doodle ‘unplug and ride your bike’ is good advice.
Image: @andy_warlord
Image: Rachel aka @rachpetru!
Image: IG @artbike.gallery
Image: @bikeart.gallery
Image: @AlvaroLopeMoralesQuevado
Image: @tadapota
Image: @bikeart.gallery
Image: @bazasportpenza
Image: @josekoebrugge
Image: @abphart
Image:
Image: @hello_mrbaker
Image: IG @artbike.gallery
Image: @daemoncycling
Image: @kosuke_masuda_5
Image: @lbbjkt
Image: @bikeart.gallery
Image: @eila_kai
Image: @davidlgill
Image: “Organic Growth” art installation (umbrellas & bicycle tires) by @izaskunchinchilla (account not longer exists) at Govenor’s Island.
Innovative technology is increasingly being applied to bike riding to address some very pressing issues, such as increasing bike participation and rider safety.
Previously I’ve posted on the pioneering work of Griffith researchers working on the world’s first ‘thought-control’ bicycle for spinal injury rehab (see more here). This story details Dr. Dinesh Palipana who is a Griffith University medical graduate. Dinesh became a quadriplegic after a car accident partway through his medical degree. Despite this, Dinesh completed his degree and has since been collaborating with a Griffith research team on the world’s-first integrated neuro-musculoskeletal rehabilitation recline bike that will enable quadriplegics to use ‘thought control’ to ride a specially adapted bike. This project uses ground-breaking 3D computer-simulated biomechanical model, connected to an electroencephalogram (EEG) to capture Dinesh’s brainwaves that then stimulates movement that not only push the pedals for him but also helps revitalise is neuro pathways for eventually recovery.
I recently came across an article written last year by Timna Jacks for the Sydney Morning Herald that looked at a ‘mind-reading- bicycle designed to save lives by improving riders’ safety. I was particularly curious about this article as the researchers were using e-bikes in this case Timna makes links with the unprecedented surge in bike use due to COVID-19 – something we have all noticed. So, if you missed this article, I’ve included it in full below.
The ‘mind-reading’ bicycle that could save lives
Cycling in Melbourne might seem a dangerous game, but what if the bike was so intuitive that it could detect when you were in danger and manoeuvre you to safety?
Researchers at Monash University, IBM Australia and the University of Southampton in the UK have invented an e-bicycle which they claim can “read” people’s minds and detect when a cyclist is in danger.
The electroencephalogram-supported e-bike prototype, built by the researchers over more than a year, scans the electrical activity in the cyclist’s brain to detect the nature of the rider’s field of view.
An EEG electrode cap measuring electrical signals in the cyclist’s occipital lobe, the visual processing area of the brain, feeds into a small computer in their backpack, which converts the signals from brain activity to instructions for the bike’s engine.
If the rider’s peripheral vision is narrow – a neurological response when a cyclist detects a danger ahead such as a car cutting them off or an obstruction to a bike path – the bike’s accelerator halts. The cyclist can still move forward by pushing the pedals, albeit more slowly.
Conversely, if the rider has a wide peripheral vision because there is no threat in sight, the bike accelerates.
Changes in peripheral awareness are often linked to a person’s awareness of their surroundings, and their physical performance and co-ordination.
Researchers at Monash, IBM and University of Southampton Josh Andres said cycling accidents often occurred at intersections where cyclists needed a heightened awareness of their environment.
He wanted to find a technology that gave riders extra time in critical situations, but instead of outsourcing this skill, he wanted to build a technology that helped riders connect more with their bodies.
This e-bike, named Ena, would provide a feedback loop for cyclists, enabling them to improve their peripheral vision.
“This is a problem right now. Many of the technologies we are building are teaching us how to outsource how we feel, whereas we should try to be more in touch with our bodies, more in tune with our bodies,” Mr Andres said.
He has previously built e-bikes that connect the bike’s motor to traffic light signals and instruct the cyclist to speed up or slow down.
Monash University researcher Floyd Mueller said the new bike was aimed at boosting people’s confidence in cycling, allowing them to feel in control.
“We know from good cyclists that they talk about how they become one with the bike … what this technology allows is for the cyclist to be an extension of their body. The bike knows when the cyclist is in danger or having fun without being explicitly told.”
Cycling is having an unprecedented surge in popularity because of the COVID-19 lockdown. A Bicycle Network count of 8800 riders on April 25 showed the number had increased by 270 per cent compared with November last year.
But Uber this week confirmed that its shared e-bike outfit Jump would be taken over by Lime and pulled off Melbourne’s streets, in line with similar moves overseas.
The program launched in early March and paused three weeks later as COVID-19 lockdowns began.
It is understood the decision was made in the face of financial strain wrought by the virus, with the company reportedly expected to lay off more than 100 Australian employees as part of its major global job cuts.
