Farewell to The Squeaky Wheel

A few days ago, Melbourne’s beloved community bicycle engagement project The Squeaky Wheel announced it is closing after 6 glorious years in operation.

The Squeaky Wheel was a much loved proponent in progressing Melbourne’s bicycle community.

For those who do not know about this organization, it is well worth the effort to check out the creative and popular events, rides, initiatives and programs that were organized by The Squeaky Wheel – a very impressive and influential range!

Leaving behind a wonderful legacy and example for others

So this post is a homage to the amazing work that Pip Caroll and the whole Squeaky Wheel team (and their partners) have achieved over the years.

This venture was truely a community-driven organisation that had community and positive cycling for all as its core.

Although it is sad to see The Squeaky Wheel close and I will miss supporting their events (as will thousands of others), The Squeaky Wheel leaves behind a wonderful legacy and example for others to follow.

A massive range of community participation and bike-inspired projects!

Over the last 6 years, The Squeaky Wheel has managed and produced an impressive array of bicycle participation, projects and advocacy campaigns. Their volume, scope and range speaks to the passion and commitment of those who made it all happen – events like …

Even though the main umbrella is retiring, a number of their popular projects will still be operational – hooray! I am delighted to see that a number of their projects will still continue such as Roll Up (who have also taken over Bike ‘n Blend) and the sensational Pushy Women annual event is also set to continue. Pushy Women is a great event where a panel of well-known women tell their stories about bikes, bike riding and cycling. This show is always peppered with moments of empowerment, hilarity, poignancy, nostalgia and thought-provoking experiences – always a top event. I’m happy to hear that this event will continue.

But others will not continue. So in memorandum, here is reminder of the plethora of The Squeaky Wheel events, rides and tours that have been put on over the years – incredibly prolific community engagement!! I’ve listed the events below (you can find out more about each event at their website), to get a visual gauge of how productive this collective was – and to showcase the range, dedication and scope that The Squeaky Wheel is revered and loved for. Their events list is humbling.. check these beauties out….

Adios The Squeaky Wheel!!

As a final adios to The Squeaky Wheel – below is a 4′ 39″ video of their 2012 (3 week) Melbourne BikeFest- which was just one of many of their amazing events over the years – but one of my personal favourites!

For all those involved with The Squeaky Wheel will miss you, thank you for all your amazing work over the years. We wish you luck for your next riding adventures!

See more videos of The Squeaky Wheel events here.

29/06/201705/07/2017

Knitted bike seat covers

It is now winter in Australia.

We have had a few particularly cold and frosty mornings.

If it keeps chickens warm, it can work for cyclists!

On one of the more colder mornings in the last fortnight, I was heading to work listening to ABC Radio National. There was a lovely short feature segment about a group of Gold Coast locals who meet regularly in a café to knit jackets for a flock of ex-battery hens who are residents at Storybook Farm – a refuge for rescued animals and animals with disabilities.

The jackets were knitted for the chickens to keep warm during the cold wintery season. For these rescue chickens with little feathers left, these kitted jackets can save their lives. It is a fantastic little story about a community coming together to help those less fortunate and is, and well worth the listen at the link here.

It got me thinking about the link between knitting and bikes – and I especially wanted to take inspiration from the chicken’s knitting approach for keeping warm in the winter months….so….

Knitting, croqueting and needlepointing bike accessories

Many people have seen bikes that have been yarn/stitch bombing and can appreciate how colourful happy and creative the final bike can be.

But what about knitted bike seat covers?

I’ve noticed the range of practical knitted bike accessories online has expanded with places like Crochet Concupiscence providing crafty folks with new ideas and patterns on how to apply croquet (as well as knitting and needlepointing) to bikes.

Knitted bike seat covers

If you are up for adding a little bit of ‘personality’ to your bike, then a knitted bike seat cover is a this is a great way to do it.

There are many good reasons to have a personalised knitted bike seat cover….. here are just a few….

It is a great way to keep warm
People will start a conversation with you about your unique bike style
Shows you are a creative, cool and colourful person
Support local artisans and handcraft skills
It a small-scale knitting project for beginners to start practising on
Supporting DIY, recycling and refashioning of materials for innovative purposes
Great way to share your (or friends) knitting skill
Indicates interest areas (pets, hobbies, depends on what you design you have, etc.)
Helps you find your bike quickly and easily at a filled bike rack
Added cushioning support for your tush
Imbue your community with a little more style and fun when riding around
Be a role model for others to be have a more creative approach to bikes
Great for your mental health and happiness – will keep you smiling
They are personalisable – so can be made more playful, cheeky, unusual or unique to suit your taste, aim and styles
If bought, helps support income-generating opportunities (pattern-makers and artists)
Help deter bike theft

Pinterest is full of amazing knitted bike seat designs, colour and ideas (just use keywords as per below)– and you can find all manner and types of bikes seat covers to suit all kinds of styles. Just check out these keywords…

As a sample representative of that vast array of styles available, here is a quick handful of some of the more distinctive bike seat covers to show here… all manner of shapes, patterns and motifs to suit any cycling persuasion or interest.

Knitted Bike Seat Covers — Source: Pintrest

They may not be for everyone.

But at least the are a great indication that you are a person of humour, style and confidence!

And that you don’t take yourself – or your riding – too seriously (*heaven forbid!*).

So how every you choice to do it – happy warm bums on bike seats!

25/06/201726/06/2017

Bicycle Film Festival 2017

I love Bicycle Film Festivals (BFF)!

You get to go with your bike mates to see films about bikes, made by people who love bikes. BRILLIANT!!

BFF contributions can be quirky, inventive, sweet, hilarious, poignant, thoughtful, exciting, through-provoking, suggestive – and everything in between!

I’m bring up BFF now as we are nearly halfway through the year.

This means there is 6 months left to get to a BFF – if you have not already done so.

This post will help get you inspired with 2 Bike Film Festivals – one Aussie and the other is the Bicycle Film Festival (World) which has just launched and is currently on in NYC.

1. Upcoming 2017 Australian Bike Film Festival

I’ve not yet been able to find any BFF dates or info for Hobart, Perth, Canberra or Darwin. (If you hear/see of any please let me know!). Melbourne and Sydney have yet to release BFF 2017 dates (maybe later this year when the NY BFF goes overseas – fingers crossed). Brisbane BFF was held in March 2017. So, to date, only Alice Springs has an upcoming confirmed BFF.

Alice Spring Bicycle Film Festival

This BFF will be held on Friday August 11th, 2017 at Olive Pink Botanic Gardens. Film submissions are free to enter and are due on August 3rd. requirements are the film must have something bike/cyclist related in it – but other than than you have tree reign! All local films are in the running for the People’s Choice Award.
To enter for the Best Film Award (awarded via judging panel) email ASBFF for what you need to do and criteria. Entrants must be in .MOV format and be under 10 minutes (inc credits). Family friendly BFF. For more info call Don on 0415 361 392 or Phil on 0438 887 952. Details: alicespringsbikefilms@gmail.com. www.alicespringsbicyclefilmfestival.com

Source: Alice Springs Bicycle Film Festival 2017.

2. Bicycle Film Festival (World -New York) 2017

This Bicycle Film Festival tours internationally and was established in 2000 by Brendt Barbur after he had an accident with a bus while riding his bike through New York City. 2017 will be this festival’s 17th year and it has gained traction locally and overseas. As the official FB page states:

The Bicycle Film Festival celebrates the bicycle. We are into all styles of bikes and biking. If you can name it – Tall Bike Jousting, Track Bikes, BMX, Alleycats, Critical Mass, Bike Polo, Cycling to Recumbents – we’ve probably either ridden or screened it. What better way to celebrate these lifestyles than through art, film, music and performance? We bring together all aspects of bicycling together to advocate its ability to transport us in many ways. Ultimately, the Fest is about having a good time.

So basically this BFF covers all bike genres and is incredibly popular.

Which is what these events are all about!

At BFFs you get such a smattering of ideas, lifestyles and insights.

I like not knowing what films are on offer before going in and just letting each film speak for itself.

If you can go – GO! If you cannot, advocate you local cycling group to push to get your national city added to the tour dates (??) and watch the trailers – and maybe even host your own BFF!!

Preview the trailers! The BFF (World) 2017 program has heaps of awesome bike short films – click here to see some of the trailers for Bicycle Film Festival (World) 2017.

Find out more about the BFF (World): @BicycleFilm Festival, or on Twitter @BFFWorld or Facebook: Bicycle Film Festival

I’m a little concerned about the BFF (World) schedule (as shown above for the offical website) as there are no Aussie dates this year and the international tour looks VERY limited compared to last year!

Baisikeli – BFF (World) 2017 Short Film

One of the entrants this year is the Baisikeli Trailer (Director: James Walsh).

This short film documents the origins of the Kenyan National Cycling Team as they work towards gaining similar successes to their marathoners.

For me this short film is of particular interest as Kenya is one of the possible locations for where my PhD community bike intervention research project maybe located. Even though this film is based on elite men, it is still heartening to see increased interest, investment, effort, promotion and more cultural acceptance for bicycle use in Africa. I’m looking forward to seeing how this bike advocacy and acceptance can be harnessed to enable females in rural communities to use more bicycles for mobility, employment opportunities and to increase access livelihood services (like health clinics and education).

One step at a time I suppose!

08/05/201708/05/2017

Yoga for cyclists

This last week I returned from an (informal) 3-day ‘yoga for cyclists’ retreat.

I say ‘informal retreat’ because we actually to visit an old school friend of husband’s and his gorgeous partner at a spectacular property in Dunoon, NSW. And I say ‘for cyclists’ because both husband and I have been riding bike recreationally and competitively for a number of years now.

Luckily for us, our delightful host couple have just recently returned from an extended stay in India, where they were living in a yoga ashram to undertake their yoga instructors course (hence ‘retreat’!).

It goes without saying that staying with them was blissful, gentle and wonderfully restorative.

Yoga for cyclists! Start the day right!

We were up at 5 am for an hour of meditation, then two hours of yoga followed by some more meditation – all before breakfast.

What a way to start each day!

Although I still did some reading for my PhD, I did not ride during this trip as I just wanted to invest in some quality rest and relaxing downtime. To this end, I was really just a love sponge for the amazing views, good company, scrumptious veggo food and stunning campfire-under-an-endless-night-sky vibes (*sigh*!).

Best of all, we did yoga every day – and I mean good yoga!

We did all the yoga poses you would get in classes, but also held some for considerably longer. Plus, we did a variety of yogic purification breathing techniques that I have not tried before – super interesting!

An additional bonus was that both our hosts team-taught each session, which was brilliant for the balance of yin/yang – male/female energies.

However!

Given years of competitive and recreational mountain bike riding, this daily yoga practice really drove home how tight my thighs and hips were – and how important regular stretching is.

A month of yoga (for cyclists) challenge

Since returning, I have committed to a month’s yoga challenge – with a focus on unlocking and releasing the years of stored up cycling tension (it might take a while!). After my initial month trial ends, our two yoga hosts suggested to check out their ashram’s online yoga practice.

Their ashram, Akhanda has a number of yoga classes free online as well as a private youtube channel, which for $10 a month, you are able to access to a series of yoga sessions (5 x 30 mins per week, or 5 x 60 mins per week, etc.).

Overall impacts thus far?

I am feeling so much better for doing daily yoga and will definitely continue. I have really enjoyed the progress I have made in the last eight days and can feel the difference in my legs, hips and torso. I feel a lot stronger, more centred and have noticed a considerable improvement in the range of movement in my hips.

This month’s yoga for cyclists challenge serves as a timely reminder to slow down and to explore alternative approaches to getting stronger.

Maybe some days, if it is raining outside and you are not up for a ride, you can work in, instead of work out! (Oh no, dad!).

So if you have not done yoga lately, here is one of the better of many popular yoga classes designed specifically for cyclists to get started.

I hope you have fun and get as much satisfaction out of it as I am! Enjoy!

30/04/201706/12/2017

Ginger Pride Rally 2017

Every so often, I really leaving Melbourne – especially on days like today!!

Today was the Ginger Pride Rally 2017.

As a passionate and enthusiastic lover of redheads, I sorely missed not being able to support my fellow copper-topped brothers and sisters in person today (*sigh*).

The Melbourne event looked awesome!

It was not only a great opportunity for local redheads to shine, but the event also raised some valuable publicity about bullying issues.

I was delighted to see over 1,000 redheads march and that the event received some good news coverage.

Ginger Rally 2017

The Ginger Net organised the event – and spruiked the event on their website thus:

Redheads and copper-tops of Australia, the time is nearing for the hottest event in the 2017 social calendar! The Ginger Pride Rally hosted by Buderim Ginger and our friends at RANGA s back in Melbourne for a second year and set to be bigger, better and more fiery than the last!

Assemble your ginger and redhead #squad to celebrate our super powers, unique fiery manes, enviable moontan complexions and unbreakable spirit with a ginger rally starting in Federation Square, marching to celebrate uniqueness and diversity in the community. The march will be followed by a finishing festival back at Fed Square with free ginger beer, vigorous games of ‘Ginger Beer Pong’, photo booth fun, a kid’s activity zone and for the first time ever ginger speed dating hosted by Singles Events Melbourne! Oh and plenty of shade and sunscreen of course.

You’ll also be bopping along to bangers from redhead bands including The Vanns, Luize Scott and X Factor standouts Brentwood. We’ve also partnered up with the Alannah & Madeline Foundation to help raise awareness and funds to stop bullying against children, including mini gingers to help deliver community education programs to make a valuable change in the life of so many kids.

Advance Ginger Cyclists!

For those of us who could/did not attend, it is a great opportunity to reflect, encourage and pay homage to the beautiful, robust, vitally important and wonderful flame-haired cyclists among us – whatever their age, bike choice or ability.

So in support of the Ginger Rally 2017, here are a few pictures of inspiring biker redheads through the ages and across all biking disciplines – Enjoy!

23/04/201709/05/2017

Bicycle Temporary Tatoos

Ever dreamt of having a killer bicycle-inspired tatoo, but aren’t sure of the permanent commitment?

Ever looked at a hot fixi chick and marveled at the bold black ink that decorates and differentiates the owner from all other bike riders?

Maybe you have fantasised of enshrining your love of bikes in some body art way, so that everyone will know how much you love bike and riding.

This blog has previously featured cycle ink and bike tattoos, but for this post, we are delving into the safe, but arty world of temporary bike tattoos.

Temporary tatoos are a great way to signify your love of all things two-wheels, while side-stepping the cost, uncomfortableness and potential problems of a permanent tattoo. Temporary tattoos used to be only reserved for school kids and were originally found in bubblegum wrappers or junk food promoting special deals or the latest Disney movies.

Today temporary tattoos have evolved past the pasty faded old outlines of yore, into some progressive marketing for television programs, sports teams and cartoon characters.

A recent creative development has emerged whereby local artists spruik their designs through a range of products – like homewares, prints, cards, tee-shirts, and of course, now as temporary tatoos!

To go one step further, there are places like Australia’s Amazing Raymond who offers a personalised service to get your own unique bicycle-inspired temporary tatoo printed and shipped out to you.

So what is the attraction?

As with any tattoo genre, bicycle tattoos vary in shape, size, design and identity associations – both for the owner and the observer.

Admittedly it is does not carry the same dedication and kudos that permanent inkwork does, but at least it provides a happy medium.

Even as in temporary form, these designs are still eye-catching and communicate important messages. I think it is interesting to keep in mind what Mark Bauerlein points out, is that “a tattoo isn’t the Word made flesh, but the flesh made word.”

May I please have a bicycle temporary tatoo!!!

Tattly

Tattly celebrates art by licensing designs from professional artists and turning them into high-quality temporary tattoos. Our artists get a generous cut of every single sale. We think that’s only fair. We see our tattoos as an experience of play and self-expression, a moment of being a rebel and doing something daring. Wearing a Tattly allows a glimpse into a life where you don’t care about what other people think. Tattly started as a side project by our founder Tina, aka swissmiss and has grown into a healthy, creative business.

These designs are originally from this site – although you will see other providers supplying the Tattly bicycle temporary tatoos elsewhere. These designs are very popular.

Source for above image & words: Tattly

Tazzel

Scared of long-term commitment? We know the feeling. But with 100% customisable temporary tattoos, now you can have your cake and eat it too. Create your own design or choose from thousands of pre-made designs. These temporary tattoos are the perfect fun addition to fancy dress, office parties, fun runs and other special events.

Source for above image & words: Tazzel

Etsy

Etsy empowers artists, designers and curators to start and grow businesses on their own terms. Etsy is an ecosystem that connects buyers around the world to the communities where Etsy shop owners live, work and create. By building and supporting this people-powered economy, we hope to inspire global business practices that are sustainable, responsible and profitable.

They have a decent rage of bicycle temporary tatoos, and in some cases you can custom order your own design.

Source for above image & words: Etsy

A few other bicycle temporary tatoos providers -with much smaller ranges

Ali Express has a limited rage

Tats and Tags

For our European friends – there one sweet image available at Happy Bicycle (Portugal)

How to DIY bicycle temporary tatoos

If you don’t see anything you like – then feel free to make your own design.

Here is a quick 3 min video on a simple DIY hack to create your own temporary bicycle tattoo.

*Please note: the owner of this post and blog DOES NOT receive any financial compensation or incentives from any of the providers contained in this post. In fact we never have for any of our posts!!. The outlets included here are merely provided as a point of reference to start looking for said products. BBC does not take any responsibility for the organisations, services, actions or products contained within this post. Please exercise buyer discretion when purchasing anything online.

If you come across any other bicycle temporary tatoo providers, artists or services you think should be included here – please email me the recommendation via the contact tab.

15/04/201720/04/2017

Cycling from India to Sweden for love

Thanks CT for recommending this story as a post. This story is the perfect mix of all the good things that this blog celebrates- community, adventurousness and positive people making remarkable changes – but most importantly, how bicycles help people not only come together – but flourish as a result. Reading about PK and Lottie really lifted my spirits and reminded me to be grateful for all the good things in life – and especially those that come on two wheels!

This post features a heartwarming tale of a serendipitous meeting, creativity, travel, hope, love and the bicycle ride that brought two lovers from opposite sides of the world together (*sigh*)!

For me, it brought up lots of happy memories of riding with family, friends and loved ones, the unique exhilaration, and opportunities that travel provides and how you should never give up on your dreams.

Cycling from India to Sweden for love

You may have heard of this tale; it is about PK (then a young Indian artist) and Lottie (a Swedish backpacker) who met in India while Lottie was travelling here in the mid-1970s. They met by chance and instantly fell in love. This is a picture of them now, over 35 years later.

After a whirl-wind romance, Lottie had to return home. Missing each other terribly, PK decided to take fate into his own hands and embark on an 8,000 kms overland bike ride from India to Sweden to be with her again.

The full story of their initial meeting, PK’s bike journey and what has transpired since, is an epic story in itself- the details of which you can read more about here.

Ultimately, over 35 years later they are still happily married – and still riding bikes!

Love life, love bikes, love lovers

In a world that broadcasts so much doom and gloom, this story was a lovely reprieve. There are so many elements of PK and Lottie’s story that many of us can identify with. For those of us who have travelled overseas, or who cycle, or who have fallen madly in love their life (or all three!) wonderfully reaffirming love story.

I was also really touched by PK’s unwavering positivity and commitment to making their dreams come true. Unfortunately, it is quite rare these days to see a couple exude such genuine joyfulness and love for each other – and for life in general.

Which makes this story even more important.

It is a wonderfully reaffirming love story (for them) and a reaffirming life story as well (for us).

May each of us love well.

And may we all ride courageously

to make happen,

the things that make us most happy.

11/04/201713/04/2017

The Lightning Furies

I love it when readers suggest and recommend people and projects for this blog. RG sent me an email suggesting I check out The Lightning Furies – which I did. I checked them out online and then contacted them. Anna replied and we ended up meeting for a coffee. Here is what transpired. Enjoy! Nina.

The Lightning Furies

The Lightning Furies is one of a number of projects created under the SNAPCAT umbrella by Perth duo – artists Renae Coles and Anna Dunnill. As Snapcat themselves describe, their work is “ambitious, cheeky and political and involves painting, sculpture, video and participatory performance.”

Snapcat has produced a number of interesting, topical and provocative works – and none more so than The Lightning Furies. This project came out of their researching into women and sport and then was further developed in response to other input (like community consultations) into the feminist bike gang The Lightning Furies.

In their own words, The Lightning Furies are “a bike gang of tough women and non-binary people, dedicated to a feminist mission of utopic bad-assery. Wearing denim vests, bikes adorned with pennants, the Furies ride en masse through urban streets, wind through laneways and hold up traffic. Aesthetically, the Lightning Furies fall somewhere in between an outlaw bikie gang, Girl Guides, and the Vuvelini (Mad Max: Fury Road). We have a Manifesto and an Oath. We have gang colours and patches. We are fierce and inventive and ready to smash the patriarchy with boots and glitter.”

Meeting The Lightning Furies

Following a reader recommendation, I contacted the The Lightning Furies and this weekend met up with one of the co-creators, Anna.

Over a coffee, it was very inspiring to hear the background, development, reasoning and evolution of how The Lightning Furies came to be – and what they do.

I was intrigued by this project for a variety of reasons. It has significant impacts as an arts project and for personal and community development, as well as creating a space for much needed further discussions about important concepts such as gender, access to public spaces, the Australian cycling culture/s, normative behaviours, social governance and civic participation.

Their website gives a broad overview of the monthly rides and few cool snapshots of what happens on the rides, but correspondingly, these rides as a rich platform to cast a light onto the underlying ideologies, practices and outcomes that this project is addressing.

During our conversation we spoke about many ideas. We covered bikie groups, girl gangs, females feeling safe to ride bikes on the road, public perception of women riders, feminism, being part of inclusive group, how to get more women riding bikes, The Lightning Furies being invited to perform at events, the role of patches and branding, sport and female participation, and how women do (or do not) ‘take up or use’ public space. It was a great conversation!

Sharing stories and riding bicycles for personal confidence

Particularly interesting for me to hear, were the other critical ’empowerment’ aspects that were built into the project – such as the ‘crafternoon’ sessions that happen before the rides. In these session, participants make their own customised patches, bike pennants and other decorations to adorn their outfits and bikes which encourage individualism, expression of self and celebrating vibrancy through colour and art.

Not only is it valuable to be physically creative and to have a space to express yourself, but also a safe place to share stories.

It was inspiring to hear how important the ‘making’ sessions are for participants to come together and have time to not just work on this projects – but also to connect as a group of women. Anna told a few stories that while making decorations, participants would open up and discuss their riding experience, their fears, new insights and later on, how much stronger and more confident they now felt after being on a Lightning Furies ride – and how they had been able to hold on the excitement and strength they had felt during the ride, and translate it into other areas of their lives to great effect. So great to hear.

I thoroughly enjoyed my meeting with Anna and came away feeling inspired and excited about the innovative and creative ways that people come up with to get more people on bikes and The Lightning Furies is just one example of this.

Source: The Lightning Furies Website

Future Furies Action

I will be staying in touch with Anna and have invited the The Lightning Furies to guest blog post – I am very keen to see what the future holds for this group.

Whether The Lightning Furies is your style or not, they are a wonderful example of a local grassroots collaboration driven by genuine passion, creativity and a strong commitment to positive social change.

The Lightning Furies is just one example of how two women have come together to address an issue that important to them – it presents the rest of us with a delicious challenge – what issue is important enough for us to get up off our butt and get some action and how would we go about doing it?

21/03/201726/03/2017

Nathan Berry’s Project Bike Love Photo Series

Meet Nathan Berry, a Memphis-based photographer who has a panache for bicycles.

Project Bike Love.

Bicycles have featured predominately in Nathan’s work for some years, but my favourite series of his is the 2011Project Bike Love.

This particular series of 28 photos reflects my interest to record and celebrate community members and their bicycles. My #Bikes_CISTA (or Cycling Inter-Species Team of Awesomeness ) features at a minimum one bike, one rider and one dog and they need to be spontaneous meetings in my local area. My series is on the grassroots and immediate end of the photo series spectrum.

What I like about Nathan’s series is that it has a similar approach in that it features locals with their bikes within the Memphis locale. However, Nathan’s shots are distinctly professional and beautifully reflect the polished and expert end of the curated bike/community photo spectrum.

Style, Simplicity & Authenticity

I like the simplicity and authenticity of this series. Simplicity in that the setting is visually additive without being distracting, and authentic as a few key props or clothing really helps frame the personal narrative of each subject without being overly manufactured.

I also appreciate the variety of people selected and the personality that comes through in each portrait. With only 28 participants, the subjects have been judiciously selected for their occupational, recreational or unique valuable perspectives, each of which is highlighted by a short description detail about rider, bike and context. The concise and precise blurbs are tantalising and engaging – just enough basic description to set the person, place and bike – but after that, the rest if up to the viewer to fill in the details for each story.

Bikespiration

The diversity portrayed reflects life choices, lifestyles and just enough identity to glimpse contrasts and associations. It is an interesting choice to provide the job or current activity for each subject as a primary determinate – the juxtaposition between setting, owner and bike – very bikespirational.

The delicious smattering of occupational divisions (community work, hospitality, medicos, commerce, adventurers, even the Mayor, and others ) are a great way to showcase the people, vibrancy, multiplicity and possibilities of living in Memphis.

It gives a unique insight into the Memphis community that I would not otherwise have had. As an outsider, it also makes me curious about Memphis if this is the calibre and characters that live there.

I also love seeing the full range of bike genres represented and seeing what kind of person rides what kind of bike. Stylistically, I like that some of these shots are taken inside and that many of the shots are site-specific and purposefully mirror the individual and bike featured.

See more of Nathan’s work on bikes

So if your mood needs a little lift and you are up for some quality Memphis-based bicycle-inspired art, check out Nathan’s zenfolio, which includes other bicycle photo series such as The Memphis Bike Co.

Here is a small sample of what Project Bike Love entails – see the whole 28 photos here.

Nathan Berry's Project Bike Love — Source: Nathan W Berry. Thomas Elliot and his All City Big Block. TJ is a veteran combat medic in the United States Army, on active reserve after serving in Afghanistan.

Nathan Berry's BikeLove Project Photo Series — Photo by Nathan W Berry. John Payne and his racing cycle. John Payne is a senior financial analyst for Autozone in Memphis. As a member of the Memphis Runner’s Track Club, John competes in all distances including marathon.

15/03/201715/03/2017

Pause to celebrate a series of small successes

A wheelie good week for Bicycles Create Change Blog

As part of my new year goal setting strategy, I made a commitment to celebrate small success. This mechanism is not about attaining milestones and chalking up points, it is primarily a way to practice regular acts of gratitude and to be sure to take the time to enjoy positive results before rushing to move onto the next task.

With this in mind, I very happily acknowledge that this last week has been particularly favourable – what you might call ‘a good blog week’. Having just dragged myself out of a new year funk, I feel very blessed and excited about the awesome things that happened this week.

An extra good blog week

Here are the top 5 amazing synergies from this week:

This blog’s readership broke over 1,000 readers per day
Through the blog network, a Casey City Council Representative asked permission to repost onto the council Facebook page my blog post about the Boys Backyard MTB Track from 26th Feb (CCC has been awarded $2.9m for a new BMX Complex and Cycling Precinct and like the idea that local riders of various skills and ages knew what they wanted from their cycling infrastructure – grassroots example of community consultation!).
I was contacted through via blog comments, by an international academic regarding some of their research that has been featured on the blog (some of the most popular posts too!) and we have been emailing since.
A local business asked if I could display my blog’s business cards at their counter. They loved the idea of the blog and wanted to support me and promote more locals to participate in active transportation.
I was featured in Griffith University’s EPS weekly internal newsletter ‘Hot off the Press’. Each week a different personality is approached to be ‘introduced’. It required answering 7 standards questions – the result of which is displayed below. Since it has been distributed, I have had people come up and say how much they liked it and that they would check out the blog and other super supportive comments.

A super happy week!

Individually, each of these events is a lovely thing to happen, but collectively, it has been fantastic.

It feels good to be recognised for the work I do on the blog, it is not always easy. It is also great that people are now reaching out to contact and connect with me. It has also been great to get some feedback, share ideas and have some two-way interaction with other like minded people – seems like everyone is a bike advocate now!

This week has been very memorable as it is the culmination of lots of (enjoyable) hard work. It is wonderful to have people responding so positively to the blog. This week has been a massive confidence boost and injected me with a healthy shot of motivation. It has been a very unexpected, humbling and exciting week.

Thank you to the regular readers and welcome to the newbies!

A massive and sincere thank you to all those who have contacted, supported and encouraged me thus far.

And to those new friends who are more recent visitors to the blog – welcome to the community and enjoy!