Self Righteous Cyclist

I was chatting to a neighbour last weekend that had dropped her husband off at his local golf course early on a Sunday morning.  You should have seen all of the mamils out there this morning, she exclaimed.  I could smell the bait but I wasn't biting.  My straight bat reply was so there was a lot of wild life on the golf course.  What are we talking about kangaroos, wallabies, bats?  No!  Don't you know what I'm talking about? I've seen you on your bike, aren't you one of them? All those middle aged men in lycra riding their bikes. I wish I'd invented the stuff, she lamented. Ok, so I'm in my mid 40s, but does that fact alone make me   middle aged ?  Isn't middle age more of an attitude thing along the lines that you're only as old as you feel?  Society, the media and academia have a need to label and categorize and with the mamil, it's a term that's stuck and besides they do display some odd nocturnal habits like their animal name

Riding to work early last week I was excited to see a bunch of cyclists whizzing past down a main road. Lights ablaze, plenty of colour and a variety of steeds, road bikes, mountain bikes, cyclocross and hybrids.  Always great to see a group ride happening at anytime, the whir of the gears and the buzz of the conversation, but it was 6:40am on a Thursday morning in Box Hill, hardly a cycling mecca.   Perhaps a group heading for the Dandenongs, who knows.  I caught them up flying down the hill heading into Box Hill from the city and they caught me at the lights.  The lead rider pulled up beside me and we swapped the usual cyclist's small talk about the conditions and our destinations.  Are you a club, I inquired. Turns out this was no ordinary group of riders, it was a group of 12 to 15 women  out on a  Breeze Ride  and about to wrap up their 30km morning spin with a coffee at the  Red Cup Cafe . The most expensive coffee around I'm informed, but very good I'm assured.  

Have to admit I've been a little distracted with work and other pursuits for the past few months, which has not left a lot of time for blogging about cycling culture.  I'm hoping that just like a good ride can blow out the cobwebs and get me refocused, a stimulating encounter of the sensory kind might be enough to get back to the blog I enjoy writing. Whilst out for my run yesterday morning I spotted a tent set up next to the bike path near the corner of Nicholson and Park Sts in North Fitzroy.  Must be counting bikes for a survey I thought.  Hang on a minute it's a little too early for Ride to Work Day  on Wednesday the 16th October.  Oh well I'll stop and check it out on the way back.   Well I have to hand it to the clever folk at St Ali cafe in North Carlton, as they really know how to capture the attention of the passing traffic.  About 100m from the tent was a young lady with a smile and promises of more ahead.  Yes that's her below. The main event in

Late last year my wife and I bought a new house and sold the old one.  During the sale preparation we went through the process of de-cluttering the house and garage.  The question came from my mother in law - "where are you going to put all the bikes?".  It also turned out that a lot of feedback from people who viewed the house (including nosy neighbours) was "what a lot of bikes!"  And then the odd question such as how many bikes do you need?  Do you ride them or collect them?  I was happy to inform people that, yes, 9 out of 10 of the bikes are ridden at least once a week.  Not a bad effort for a single car family of 6. The garage at our old house (which could never have fitted a car given all the bikes) was home to 10 rideable bikes, 2 project bikes and 5 scooters at the time. Having good bike storage is important  when you've got that many bikes.  It means being able to securely store your bike, have a space to work on it and still be able to move arou

It’s time to turn my attention to pike paths.  After recently moving house only about 1.5km east of our old home, I was suddenly faced with a decision to continue riding the same way to work sticking to the roads or take an alternate route on the  Main Yarra Trail  and  Koonung Trail  which runs alongside the Eastern Freeway from the Chandler Hwy in Kew all the way through to Blackburn Rd.  I'd ridden and run this trail intermittently in the past.  After the first time riding with a mate one Sunday morning I loathed it.  With high pressure tyres and lines in the concrete every 5-6 metres along the river flats providing an endless bump, bump bump, I found the "road shock" through the body was too much to bear. My neck and shoulder muscles ached from the experience and that was enough to put me off entirely.  Admittedly I was just getting back into riding and my body had not adjusted.  I'd been back a few more times leading the way for a work colleague having a go at

This week I'm as mad as hell.  I rode my mountain bike down to the local football ground to meet up with a few other coaches to sort through our gear for the coming season.  I locked my bike up to a secure post in a well lit place about 10 metres away from the building where we   were working, thinking it would be fine.  I walked out an hour later to retire to a local establishment only to discover my bike had been relieved of its lights.These were no ordinary lights, they were  Knog Frog Strobe  lights.  They are great little lights not much bigger than my thumbnail, visible from up to 600 metres away, waterproof and so easy to put on and take off in a couple of seconds, which makes me wonder why I didn't. It goes to show that sometimes I trust people to much to do the right thing.  What I've learnt from this experience  is to make sure my equipment is adequately secured and if it can't be, then remove it from the temptation of others.  If you've got a d

If it's one thing that really annoys me as a Victorian it's the ongoing public debate about infrastructure.  Here's my summary of what I'm hearing right now and my responses to it. Peak motoring bodies like the RACV and Vic Roads see the answer to the city's traffic congestion woes in more roads -  Build more roads and they will drive on it   Public Transport Users Association see improved public transport as a solution -  Build more rail lines and they will ride on it   Toll road operators join the chorus ready to spruik their wares and rub their hands in anticipation of getting their hands on more public road infrastructure -  Do that on the wrong side of town and you might end up with a short political career Bicycle Victoria advocates for improved cycling infrastructure to make this liveable city of ours even more liveable and provide some viable solutions - Build better cycling infrastructure and the

From what I've observed of a lot of riders around my neck of the woods, it's clear that their bikes are an extension of their personalities.  One young lady is often seen pedalling what seems more like a vase on two wheels because it has so many plastic flowers sitting in the front and rear baskets.  The young hipsters favour the fixie in its various guises.  Commuters favour hybrids for their cross purpose ability between trails and roads.  Regardless of what you ride, when sitting watching the passing parade or being a part of it, it's a great sight and makes me glad we are not all riding the same style of bikes.  Although I have read some claims that China's ride to prosperity began on the back of the mass produced bike called the Flying Pigeon that has sold half a billion bikes.  But then again the Chinese communist party has not been widely  known for encouraging individuality. As a keen bike rider I'm often asked what bike I would recommend to buy.  Thi

Last week's post generated enough responses to stay on the theme of pedalling caffeine. Occasionally I get the feeling that everything old is new again.  If only the safari suit I've got hanging in the wardrobe became the height of fashion again, I'd be the hippest guy in town.  Yes fashion trends come and go with the seasons and it's no different with bikes.  The number of cargo and haulage type bikes on the road seems to be ever increasing.  Local cafes, bakeries and micro-breweries have embraced these bikes as genuine alternative delivery vehicles, just as they were used before the rise of the car.  It adds to the green credentials of a business who can make a point with their low carbon footprint, low food miles and also provide a mobile billboard.   Now what happens when a coffee cart collides with a bicycle?  Enter the mobile cafe on 3 wheels. Just add coffee, water, milk, sugar, coffee machine, power, a little imagination and the coffee comes to

If you questioned a cyclist on word association, cycling and caffeine would have to rate highly.  The number of bikes parked outside local cafes across the inner city on weekday and weekend mornings is testimony to cyclists either getting their  pre or post ride  caffeine fix .  Cyclists in the main tend to be a fairly picky bunch and it's no different when choosing their local caffeine peddler.  In fact taking a look at St Ali one new local establishment in my neighbourhood, it would suggest that you would be very unhipster like to turn up to the cafe on anything less than a blinged up or down (depending on your preference) fixie with your courier bag and shiny sliver of a laptop or iDevice for company.  There are bike racks aplenty for those on two wheels and just 5 metres off the bike path and 5 metres from a bike shop. This could be cycling nirvana. Now what about those who in this time poor world we live in don't have time to sit and sip in a cafe?  Yes another First

I have recently returned from a long weekend up in Victoria’s high country with my boys, parents, relatives and friends.  Our combined tribe of 22 (13 kids & 9 adults) between 5 and 71 descended upon what was a quiet little caravan park at   Porepunkah , just 5km from Bright, in Victoria’s North East.  As the event CCO (chief camping officer), I organise the activities, so no second guessing what was on the agenda.  The must bring item on the list this year was bikes and 19 in total came prepared to come along for the ride.  As far as cycling destinations go, this area has it all. There are cracking mountain climbs for roadies, gentle river valley trails for families and touring and it's a mountain bike mecca for those who like their cycling far from a graded trail.   The   Mountains to Murray rail trail   is one of the great assets of the region, with over 100km of off road sealed trails between Wangaratta and Bright, with an optional detour to Beechworth.   Getting e

With four boys in the family, there's usually one of them wanting or needing to upgrade their bike at least every 12 months.  Fortunately for us there's often the opportunity to hand the bike down to the next sibling   However as the boys get older and their interests move in different directions, so too do the types of bikes they want to ride.  Liam my second eldest held high hopes for a BMX, one with "pegs for grinding" at the skate park to be precise.  With what seems the highest concentration of bike shops per capita, the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne provides well for retail cycling therapy, but this time around we  tried a different angle and headed to the Bike Shed at CERES in East Brunswick to see what we could pick up to build a BMX. The Bike Shed is a true DIY experience, so don't expect to be served in the retail sense. It runs as a co-operative and is staffed by some very knowledgeable volunteers.  They won't fix your bike, but they

What's black and has two wheels and bounces up and down on the freeway?  My bike after it came loose from the bike rack at 110km/h!   This year's summer holidays have been memorable for many great reasons, but watching my bike bounce up and down in the rear view mirror at 110km/h was not one of them.  The car was packed to the gills with everything we needed for the next 3 weeks of holidays.  The last thing to do was put on the circa 1995 bike rack; you know the one designed to take skinny bike frames like the old retro one left hanging in the shed.  First on was Paula's oversized Merida aluminium framed road bike and last on was my oversized Scott carbon fibre framed road bike.  We were both planning to compete in the annual   Benalla triathlon   just after Christmas.  It was clear from the outset that this rack was not designed for these bikes.  By the time I'd wrapped cloths around the frame and put the fastening plate onto the carrier, there wasn't a lot t