Author: Christina Neubauer

Life from the backseat: Profile by Mr Mo

Hi there, My name is Mr Mo, you can call me Mo or Momo. In fact, you could call me anything (preferably endearing) as I don’t hear. I’m 100% deaf, but that’s okay. My disability doesn’t impact on my riding at all. I’ve got my whits about and other senses to help. My nose for example works splendidly despite my age.

But let’s start at the beginning. At 79 years I’m a senior cyclist and I’ve come to riding bicycles very late in my life – I’ve only just started about two years ago. I love it so much though.

I’ll be honest with you, I was a little reluctant to try a bicycle. I mean, at my age? I’m not exactly a spring chicken anymore. What would I do if the bicycle tipped? At first I found it all a bit uncomfortable and really couldn’t see the point. Walking seemed like such a better way of getting around. Keeping the balance was the hardest part and it took me a little while to work it out. But paws down, now that it’s not so new to me anymore, I really can’t get enough of it.

I mostly ride on weekends either to the beach or I join Him and Her who like to hang out at cafés. I myself am not so much of a coffee drinker, which I suppose means that I’ll never be a real ‘cyclist’. Him and her also take me and the bikes on holidays and we explore things together. We went to Denmark a few months ago, rode into town, the beach and visited wineries. Just gorgeous!

I actually experience a whole lot more by bike than sitting in the car where I’m way to short to see anything. And it’s also hard to smell much. With my arthritic hips riding a bike means that I can get around so much faster, yet I’m still connected to the outside. In summer sniffing fresh air, but I’m not getting too hot and exhausted.

Feeling the wind in my face and smelling the scents of my hometown is really important to me. It makes me feel that I belong here.

Payal’s chain reaction

I actually never learnt riding when I was young, just one of those things that got totally missed out. We had a bicycle at home and my brother rode it often, but I never did! I learnt how to drive a car but could never balance myself on a bicycle and never really tried. Somehow, I wanted to learn much later in life in my late twenties, but never came around to doing much about it.

I had my kids and then whenever they’d ride I would think of teaching myself. Finally, when I saw the course at the City of Belmont I just had to join. I learnt a lot at the course, but my balance was still off even on the last day of training. By that time though my confidence was high and I was persistent. I just learnt how to balance very recently after practising with my kids on my elder boy’s bike. It’s only been three or four weeks since I can ride a bike. But I enjoy it immensely.

Now I ride about two to three times a week and for very short distances. I still do not have the stamina to ride uphill from my cul-de-sac, so haven’t gone much further from home yet. But I practice regularly and intend to eventually be able to ride farther from home, maybe to the train station or every day for work, if possible.

My kids ride with me too. And just a couple weeks back my husband bought a bike for himself. Even my father in-law has picked up bike riding. He used to drop my kids to school and walk with them while they rode, which was frustrating for him. He now rides a bike alongside them when he goes to drop and pick them up. This all started in a way after I mentioned that I wanted to learn how to ride…like a chain reaction!<

Riding with Joy

Hi my name is Joy Bolton and I have been cycling with the Wheelie Wonderful Women for about 4 years. My first memory of riding a bike was when my sister and myself received bikes for Christmas when I was 12 which I was to ride to High School in the following year. I loved the freedom of being able to go out on the weekends and explore.

I did not do a cycling class with the City of Stirling but my friend Alison was doing one as we had been talking about buying a bike each to do some cycling. Although I had not ridden for many years except for the trips to Rottnest I felt confident on a bike. Once I went down to part-time work I was looking for something to be involved with which required exercising and would be social as well and I found the perfect outlet in the Wheelie Wonderful Women Group. Once Alison had completed the course she told me about the different riding groups within the City of Stirling program. So we started riding with Sally in the Saturday group and Marie in the Sunday group.

From then I went onto ride with the Wednesday group and once I had retired from work I started cycling with the Friday group as well. I still enjoy the freedom of being on a bike out in the fresh air and hopefully will be cycling for many more years to come. My most favourite ride is anywhere around the Swan and Canning Rivers.

Before joining the group I used to visit the gym regularly so I suppose I was quiet fit. Although my first day out by myself on my new bike did test me from Hillarys to Burns Beach which I had to turn back because of the hills and my longest ride to date is 100km so I have come a long way. I usually ride a minimum of 3 times a week and that has really built up my stamina. Sometimes I ride solo when I am training for one of my cycling trips away but normally I like riding in a group. I have been to New Zealand in 2014 and cycled the Alps to Ocean Trail. In 2015 I went to Victoria and cycled the Three Rail Trails and 2016 I cycled for two weeks along the Danube River from Passau to Budapest all of these trips with ladies from our cycling groups.

On 24 February, I will also be travelling to Tasmania with some of the ladies and a few husbands as well and we will be cycling from Launceston to the East Coast and then down to Port Arthur over 10 days. We also have long weekends away in Albany, Margaret River and Rottnest Island so there is always something in the planning. I bought a mountain bike a couple of years ago and have also done sections of the Munda Biddi from Manjimup to Northcliffe over 4 days and many day trips on the Railway Heritage Trail.

I am so lucky to have found this great group of ladies. We all love our cycling and coffee stops for a chat and the girls are very supportive of each other. I would like to get my husband involved in doing some cycling with me but so far it has been baby steps. It would be great if we could do a trip together sometime.

Indicate for a Brighter Tomorrow

Anthroposemiotics, or human communication, is a fascinating field. We, the good people of this plant, are rather remarkable in our ability to use sounds, signs, and signals for the purpose of cooperation and sharing intentions.

What began as a grunt-grunt in some prehistoric cave, developed into words. There are thousands of languages spoken in the world today, with millions of variations on the theme of verb conjugation, and innumerable school children that suffer the consequence of this sophistication. Language is perhaps the highest level of communication, but there are other means of getting your point across. Facial expressions and body language, for example. A wide-eyed gape or an eye-roll are as effective at saying “no way, dude!” or “whatevs” as the words. In fact, these less intricate modes might be considered of greater integrity than language, which is prone to manipulation and subject to interpretation.

The more basic the means, the greater the clarity.

Signage is a good example of this. A big, fat, yellow sign with Skippy is hard to misunderstand. It’s simple, but clear. Which brings us neatly to the point behind this particular attempt at communication: indicating.

Indicating?—?a seriously underestimated, mundane example of communication, but one of its most splendid manifestations.

Once upon a time, in the dark ages before drive-thrus, people had to use legs to get about. Not satisfied with their own two legs, they employed the four legs of the horsey. But even this left a need?—?a need for speed. There followed a few attempts at harnessing the power of steam, until someone went “Aha! Combustion engine!” Suddenly the population was able to convey themselves at neck-breaking speed.

Well, it was more like two dudes, François and his mate, Bob. Though a bad fall on your head at 8km/h could do some damage.

History, as we live it, was written. Eventually everybody got driving, and driving got pretty fast.

At some point someone decided that it would make sense to equip the automobile with means of conveying one’s intention to other drivers. This was in a time of top-hats and old-worldly sophistication, where good manners and etiquette, still mattered. It makes sense that the history of indicating can be dated back to an age where people knew the proper reply to “how do you do”.

When I convey myself down the highway in my automobile and someone indicates, I hear a posh Victorian voice saying:

“Good day, Madame. It is my intention to change lanes to my left, and hope that this purpose will be well received by your good self. If you should find it convenient, I would hold it in the highest regard should you offer your cooperation. Kind Regards, and wishing you a pleasant day, Mr. Volvo.”

When someone performs any maneuver without indicating, I hear Donald Trump saying:

“Fuck you, I’m Tweeting.”

Indicating is, obviously, a matter of safety. Letting the five-ton truck behind you know that you are about to merge seems like basic survival instinct. Indicating also makes people active drivers by encouraging thought before communication before action. It makes the driving collective more efficient?—?clear communication keeps things running smoothing and without unnecessary delays. As a driver, the pursuit of your own interest (i.e. getting somewhere safely and speedily) is in everybody’s interest. By being a safe, responsible driver you are contributing to the communal happiness by also helping everyone else attain their goal.

The fact that thousands of people can speed along in their cars, heading in opposite directions, in a relatively civilized and orderly fashion is nothing short of magical. Roads offer methodical access, while traffic lights and signs provide order. But indicating?—?indicating brings the humanity. Without these little flashes of recognition, we are just automatons mindlessly bopping along on the road to nowhere. We start, we stop, we start, we stop, and we are alone.

Indicating brings us together. It is an acknowledgement. It is acceptance of the fact that we all have to share this world, and the roads, and that a little bit of consideration will make the journey a more pleasant one.

Indicating might not be as showy as a Shakespearian sonnet, but it is the most eloquent expression of survival savvy, efficiency, and civility.

And all this goodness requires basically no effort. A little flick of the finger and you are making the world a better place.

Which is why one’s mind is always boggled by the number of people who opt out of this exercise of common sense and decency. Every day, on highways and side streets, thousands of drivers are extending only the proverbial middle finger.

Why?

Perhaps laziness. Or bad habits. Or perhaps it is a symptom of the disconnectedness of our times. We trust in the virtue of our own instant gratification. Any discomfort, however slight, is considered a breach against my right to be comfortable at all times. I look away, buy something pretty, and assure myself that my needs are definitely more significant than anybody else’s. Aggressive individualism does not benefit the individual. It fragments society and isolates people from each other. The only ones who benefit are the organisations trying to sell you something.

You are just so damn special that you deserve this $100k SUV with all the safety features. Think about the kids. Think about the box of eggs you have in the trunk. You can crash this beauty into a cement bypass at 120km/h without so much as spilling your coffee. You need this to be safe, and you should be safe because you are special.

Or you could just indicate.

There should be some empirical research done into the cost of non-indicating. It would be interesting to know just how many accidents might be traced back to someone randomly ploughing their 4×4 across all the lanes, without so much as a wink. It would be good to have data on the number of delays caused by confused drivers having to anticipate the intentions of the Jeep God in front of them. If he goes left, the rains will come.

Do the non-indicators think themselves too cool to play along? Society expects them to indicate, but they just won’t be tied down by no rules. It may be some kind of misguided attempt at rebellion. James Dean probably didn’t indicate either.

Whatever the reason: stop. Or rather, start. Start being a slightly more considerate human being, who accepts the possibly of the world not revolving around you. Start paying other people a bit more respect, and in the process start being part of a community. It is the little things that make the world a better place?—?a smile from a stranger, someone giving up their seat on the train.

Start making the world a better place?—?indicate.

Profile: Carol Green’s bicycle story and Auckland’s bike advocacy

I grew up in a small village just outside Cambridge, UK. My Dad never learned to drive a car, so he always biked everywhere, and still does, at the age of 74. I think he was a big part of normalising bike riding for me. He’s my bike hero.

I was quite late to learn to ride my own bike, until I was 7 I used to sit on the front of my Dad’s bike and go really fast down hill (and I wasn’t a small child). The road we lived on, at the outskirts of the village, had 70mph traffic so I didn’t learn like my friends did, out in the local streets.

In the last class of primary school, all the kids did a cycling proficiency test: riding on the road, indicating, that sort of thing. I think because it was the early 80s and because it was Cambridge, it was seen as a necessary skill to learn, like swimming.

Both my primary school and secondary school were too far to ride to for a kid, but at weekends I would ride to piano lessons and to visit friends in the village. I think because my Mum was the only car driver in the family, giving us the extra independence of a bike meant that she was in less demand as a taxi service.

My 6th form college, when I was between 16 and 18 years of age, was close enough to ride to, so I spent 2 years riding there and back, followed by two years on a course and working in Cambridge city. This was when my bike afforded me the most independence and I’d do most of my days and nights by bike. Almost none of my friends my age could afford to buy or run a car.

At 19 I went to university in Nottingham and took my bike with me. It didn’t really occur to me that I was one of the few people who rode a bike to college. In my final year, my bike got stolen and it felt as if my independence had been taken away. Walking home alone in the dark felt too dangerous, but riding a bike seemed much less so.

I moved to New Zealand in my mid-twenties and settled into Auckland, where the only people I saw riding a bike were mostly men on road bikes, wearing Lycra, or on mountain bikes, driving to a mountain bike park, riding round and round and getting back in the car. My partner was a mountain biker and I tried it, but I had to confess to him that I didn’t much like it. I wanted to bike to a destination. I wanted it to be part of my everyday transport.

For the first 10 years I was in Auckland I walked a lot but didn’t really ride a bike. I also drove a lot, like most Aucklanders. But when I visited the UK every 18 months or so, I would immediately get back on my bike and realise I really missed it in my everyday life.

The point at which I really got back on a bike in Auckland was about 5 years ago when I moved from working at home to a shared office a “doable” bike ride from home – 20 minutes – and I started riding every day. Part of that commute was along one of the motorways and I would regularly be riding faster than the cars. An off-road cycle path 50% of the way also helped make that choice easy.

Two offices later I now ride about 40 minutes each way. I wouldn’t have done that at the start – too far – but now it sets me up for the day, gives me some exercise, which I would otherwise struggle to do, and makes me much less prone to feeling down. If I had to go further than that every day (or if I had to deal with more hills) I would get an e-bike.

I got involved with my local bike group, Bike Te Atatu, not long after it had been set up, because their proposal to add bike infrastructure to the main roads and to slow traffic on the side streets was (and still is) a brilliant one. Te Atatu is a peninsula, one road in and out. It’s fairly flat and has lots of families and young people living here, so it’s ideal as a model suburb to try ideas and measure improvements in numbers. Of course everything official takes a lot more time than it should and we are still waiting for these things to be taken up by Auckland Transport. In the meantime we organise social and recreation events and rides, trying to encourage more people onto bikes. I think normalising transport bicycling is important; the more people are seen riding bikes to the shops, for example, the more people will give it a try, and the numbers increase exponentially.

I have also been involved with Bike Auckland (Bike Te Atatu’s ‘parent’ organisation) to help people set up similar groups in their suburbs. There’s a groundswell of cyclists now, not just recreational cyclists but people moving from A to B, going shopping, riding to work or school, and I think the more we can promote and encourage this the better. Recent investment in proper infrastructure has seen rider numbers increase a lot, and completion of some of those networks will help.

I ride an upright bike, fairly slowly, in my normal clothes, with all sorts of things in my giant basket, and (illegally) not wearing a helmet. I like to think that people see me and think “if she can do it, maybe I can too. Maybe it’s not so scary or dangerous. Maybe I don’t need to buy special clothes.” That’s my basic form of every day bike advocacy.

Anna’s Love For Riding

It all really started around 7 years ago. I watched my brother enjoy riding a bike and getting right into it. I was quite envious on how keen he developed the love of riding and how he lost weight. He was a bad sleepy-in person and you could never get him up, but with riding he changed his attitude.

I did own, and ride a bicycle when I was 35 but had no confidence and no idea of gears or brakes. My feet were my brakes. We used to go to Rottnest Island with a whole heap of friends and our young children. The most I would ride was from our lodgings to the town centre. If I had a couple of beers I felt a little more confident. That is until one night I fell off the bike which had a basket with food. That was the end of my riding days and my bike was used by everyone else as a carrier instead of me.

I decided I was going to start riding and saw the advertisement in the Stirling Times for the City of Stirling bike riding classes. I booked myself in for the lessons which were starting the following year in January 2010 and I asked my Kris Kringle for a Kmart bike for Christmas.

The night before my first lesson I tried to get on the bike but it wasn’t happening. I didn’t sleep all night as I felt like a failure. The first lesson I wasn’t particularly good. The second lesson I got better and the third I got the hang of it.

We started our 12 week Social Ride course and our first ride was to Gwelup, a proud 7 km round-trip. The following Sunday we went from Hillarys to Mullaloo, double the distance 14 km. The class taught us how to catch trains with a bicycle and how to go into the city with our bikes.

This was my new way of spending Sunday mornings and always finding a nice coffee with my new found friends. At that time my husband would be at the soccer club and the children were busy too. I was very happy with my new way of life.

I also joined the Friday and Wednesday group, but as I wasn’t committed, due to going away, I lost a little confidence on the Wednesday, so I started the Wednesday Easyriders group, which was mainly riding in the City of Stirling between 20 and 25 km. I was keen to be back home by 11 am and the other ladies enjoyed the rides and social time.

Nowadays I try and ride twice a week: Wednesday and Friday. Life has changed at home and Sundays are now reserved for grandchildren and soccer. My passion for riding has grown in the past 6 years. I love being out there in the sunshine and I love the encouragement from the others as I get better and continue to build my confidence.

With riding it has been beneficial to my health. I had suffered from clinical depression, now I’m off medication and enjoy the fruit of life. Feeling pretty good and loving it. I’m having my 60th Birthday soon so I think a new bike is on my wish list.

I’m very involved with the MS society as my youngest son has MS. They have a lot of events to do with bike riding and I did the bridges ride which was over 40 km. It took me 2,5 hours in the dark, but I was happy that I completed it. We had a most spectacular ride with wonderful city views by night. That morning I had ridden 32 km with the Friday Ladies, so I totalled 75 km for the day.

I love riding and I am ever so grateful to the City of Stirling for creating such an opportunity for us. The friendship with these ladies grows every week. We all look out for each other and hope to ride safely for a very long time.

Hello from Comrad Chris

My name is Chris Castalanelli and I am just the other side of 60 years. I am a retired horticulturist having owned my own garden centre in Bayswater for 10 years, then I worked as a pest and disease information officer for The Department of Agriculture. My hobby is slideshow presentations enhanced by the photo editing software Photoshop… my best friend!

Having grown up in a small rural town in East Gippsland, Victoria it was essential one had a bike. On my 8th Birthday my wish came true with a recently painted second-hand blue 24” bike. Oh, where we rode! Leaving home at breakfast we would not to return until tea time. Water, sunscreen, hat, no way! No such thing as helmet in those days.

As life moves on, I left school, moved to Melbourne then on to Perth leaving my bike and interest behind. Then one Christmas under the tree, was a brand new sparkling mountain bike, tyres with tread thicker than a tractor and the weight to match. So my journey started again. Just by myself I started doing short rides getting the kilometres under my belt. However something was missing and that was companionship.

One day as I was leaving the Hammersley Recreation Centre, I noticed a pink brochure from the City Of Stirling titled “Women on Wheels” which not only outlined various riding and maintenance courses, but a ladies group called “Wheelie Wonderful Women”. From that moment on I became a “Wheelie Woman”. I have been involved with the group for 3 years and have gone from riding 25 kilometres once a week, to regular rides on the Wednesday, Friday and Sunday clocking up a minimum of 140 kilometres per week especially during the cooler months.

Joining the “Wheelie Wonderful Women” has been a life changing experience and given me friendship, comradery and so much fun.

My collection of bikes has grown from 1 Giant Cross city hybrid bike, to a road racer with drop handlebars and cleats, and a recentnew addition of a brand new ladies mountain bike. You can never have enough bikes! I have convinced a few of my riding buddies to invest in mountain bikes as they are so much fun, and during the winter months we have started “The Tuesday Adventurers Group”, riding every fortnight sections of the Munda Biddi Trail, Kep Track and the Railway Heritage Trail. I have ridden The Kep Track twice from Northam to Mundaring, which is 72 kilometres. It’s a gravel path and sections can be challenging, but it’s always rewarding when you hit Mundaring. As with the number of bikes, it is also refreshing to join other groups.

I joined the Cycle Touring Association a year ago, hooked up panniers for first time and rode a four day tour on back roads from Midland to Bindoon (oh those hills in the Chittering Valley!), via New Norcia to Toodyay, and finally back to Midland. A total of 360 kilometres and most impressively a personnel best of 94 kilometres in one day.

Since joining the Wheelie Wonderful Women the group has gone from strength to strength. On a rainy winter’s day in September 2014 and looking for something to do, I had the idea to start a Facebook page highlighting our activities. We have 48 members and apart from a lot of laughs and witty comments, it has enabled us to keep in touch with one of our members Nicky who has moved back to the U.K.

In June 2014 we decided a “raunchy” calendar would be interesting, all in good taste of course – lots of laughs on that day. We published 50 and many ended up as Xmas pressies to unsuspecting offspring – much to their horror! “Mum/Nana dressed in burlesque – no way!”, they said.

Apart from away weekends 3-4 times a year, we have now embarked on yearly “Getaway Weeks” which includes trips within Australia and overseas including New Zealand and an upcoming journey to Germany where we’ll ride the Danube from Passau to Budapest via Vienna.

What does the future hold for me? Well, in June this year I will be joining a group of like-minded cyclist and riding from Kununurra to Broome along the Gibb River road, which is approximately a 700 kilometre journey. Experiencing the magnificent gorges, camping under the stars and enjoying the amazing Kimberley’s – what could be better?

Humans on Bikes: Reaching beyond the strong and fearless

I met up with Sara Stace, creator of Humans on Bikes, Board Director of Cycle and Executive Director of Link.Place.Live, at the picturesque bike friendly cafe Sassys on the Swan in Perth recently and asked her a few questions about her passion for bicycles and her work.

I wondered how her passion for bicycles started and I found her story was basically similar to mine and many others that ride in normal clothes. Sara uses her passion to inspire others via her ‘hobby’ and create policies to support more people on bicycles through her day job.This is what she had to say:

“I am from Perth originally and my passion for bicycles started when I was young. I rode my bike everywhere. I rode to school, to uni and to work. All my friends rode and I didn’t really think about it.

Now I am a transport rider and ride a cargo bike and drop the kids to school. Working on Humans on Bikes and being a board member on Cycle is really my ‘hobby’.

Only 1-2% of people consider themselves bike riders, 7% use bikes for transport and are confident riders, 33% are interested but concerned and 57% say ‘no way’ will they get on a bike. Infrastructure is usually aimed at the first two groups, the strong and the fearless and, unfortunately, fails the other groups. The 33% of the population that is interested but concerned, may ride for transport if more separated bike lanes and paths are provided.

The idea of Humans on Bikes follows a similar format as Humans of New York. People send photos in from all over the world. I also talk to people I see riding and they share their story and pose for a photo.

The biggest challenge in promoting cycling has been convincing bureaucrats and politicians. Clover Moore, City of Sydney Mayor, is gutsy and has a strong vision regarding what she wants to achieve to make a better city. Moore is often attacked by the media and this puts off other politicians and bureaucrats.

My biggest achievements so far have been writing the Walking, Riding and Access to Public Transport  and the ACT Active Travel Framework.

Changes are happening. Less people want their own car and more people are walking, riding and using public transport. More people will consider shared vehicles and use private online sharing services like Go Get, or Car Next Door  that are similar to Air BnB. In the next 20-30 years there will be electric driverless shared vehicles.

In the future we won’t need extra family cars. People will ride, walk or share driverless cars so there will be less car ownership. Everyday bike riding will reach beyond the strong and fearless bike riders to include all those interested in riding, as their concerns will be better addressed.

Imagine the future with less individual car ownership. There will be less car parking and a move to higher and better uses for parking spaces such as proper separated bike lanes, alfresco dining or more trees and playgrounds.”

Sally and Vera in 2015.

Sally’s Saturday morning rides

I’m 62, and I work as a family mediator, a job I’ve done for the last 35 or so years. I work part-time, in the interests of keeping my sanity. My hobbies include cycling (obviously!), reading and playing games on the computer (mostly fantasy role-playing games).

Before enrolling in the cycling course in 2009, I wasn’t exercising much. I used to swim regularly when I was pregnant, and I used to walk regularly, but I wasn’t doing either of those as much as I felt I ought to – possibly because of too many games on the computer. So I saw the Back on Your Bike course run by City of Stirling and signed up. I was VERY nervous when I first got back on a bike after after, oh, probably 20 or so years. I was very wobbly and no confidence at all. But Joanne, the coach and City of Stirling Officer, was extremely patient with me and the rest of the other course participants and it wasn’t all that long before I learned to use gears and steer the bike without worrying TOO much about falling off.

The thing that made a huge difference to me, though, was that after the intensive skills development part of the course finished there were several weeks of lower-key skills development combined with social rides. If that hadn’t happened, I don’t think I’d still be riding today.

Back in 2009, my mother who lived in Dunsborough was quite unwell, and her condition deteriorated during 2010. She died in mid-2011. I went from occasional trips down to Dunsborough to monthly trips then to fortnightly ones, which made it difficult to keep up with regular riding. When I was not going down to Dunsborough quite so often, I rode with the group run by Jen Faint, I think it was Sundays?  Maybe Saturdays. However, she stopped organising those rides. By the time everything was sorted out with Mum’s estate and I was feeling up to riding again, there wasn’t a regular Saturday group and the Friday and Sunday groups were riding too far and too fast for me. So I thought, “Well, if I RUN a Saturday group, I’ll HAVE to get up and ride on Saturday mornings.” So I started organising a Saturday group.

There was one week where nobody turned up, but after that there was usually at least one other person. I started getting ladies from the Learning to Ride and Back on Your Bike courses because the Saturday rides were shorter and more gently paced than the Sunday or Friday rides.

I’m currently trying to get myself into cycling regularly more than once a week, but it’s sometimes hard to get motivated when it’s early in the morning and I’d rather sleep in.  As well, I’ve had bad doses of flu during each of the last three winters, which means a slow return to cycling even on Saturdays.

I’ve done some short bike rides around home – these days, I’d probably hop on my bike to get to the ATM or the post box rather than drive down. I did try riding to the local markets once, but I buy too much there!  Because I live on the top of a hill, and everywhere means going downhill but then returning uphill (and I’m not good on hills!) I don’t ride as much locally as I could. I’ve been considering buying an electric bike, though, and I think that’s likely to happen eventually. At that point I’ll probably do more local riding, and maybe cycle to and from the train station when I commute to work rather than driving there.

Through organising the Saturday rides I’ve made friendships  and joined a book club. I’m considerably fitter than I used to be. I organised a ride and high tea for my 60th birthday, which was lovely. I know a lot of wonderful paths around Perth, and I know there are a lot more I haven’t yet discovered. I know a lot of nice cafes to have coffee or breakfast at too, and I take my son out for brunch every couple of months. EVENTUALLY, I’ll go back to Dunsborough just to ride the cycle path between Busselton and Dunsborough. I’m considering – though not yet planning – a Bike to Barge cruise in Europe for 2018 or so.

How to get the cycling wheel turning in Australia?

Rugged up and riding – Utrecht December 2014

I was lucky enough to meet Anita Dirix at the VeloCity Global Cycling Conference in Adelaide this year. I kept in touch and asked her how can Australia move from a focus on cycling for sport to cycling for transport like the Dutch.  Our conversations resulted in the following.

How to get the cycling wheel turning in Australia?

The Dutch have a pragmatic approach to cycling and unintentionally became a major cycling influencer of the world. The Dutch success of cycling has created an international search for an explanation. How did the overall support for cycling start? Can the approach be duplicated in other countries? Can the Dutch process in becoming a cycling nation be reproduced in Australia?

During a recent visit to the Netherlands, the Australian influentials (government and policy makers) learnt that over the last 20 years, cycling was highly supported by the Dutch government, both local and regional. Cycling is not only highly supported in Amsterdam but also in other cities like Utrecht, Arnhem, Zwolle and Groningen. There are cyclists everywhere. The key questions of the Australian influentials during their visit to the Netherlands related to how to get the more Australians to ride like they do in the Netherlands and how did the cycling movement start?

The more obvious reasons for the Dutch success is that; it is a small country, flat, compact and easy to cycle. The majority of distances to cover are short and suitable for cycling. The Dutch also have a reputation of being economical, even frugal or stingy and cycling is easy and cheap. Dutch people ride for transport because it actually saves time.

The Netherlands have some ingredients which makes cycling flourish, but that does not distinguish them from other neighbouring countries. Of course the Dutch would like to know what started the change in behaviour, discover the one thing that made more people start cycling instead. Knowing that would be a big selling point, but the point is there was no big trigger as a starting point.

In Europe, and also in the Netherlands, there was always a tradition in cycling. At that time, cars and trains were still scarce. A bicycle was more available for obvious reasons. We are talking history, at the first part of the previous century. After the fifties cycling became old fashioned, a poor man’s transport. In the urge to push forwards and with rising prosperity, cars became the desired objects and favourite mode of transport in the Netherlands and in many countries around the world.

The growth of car use in the sixties and seventies was related to issues of prosperity and welfare and rarely to well being. Wikipedia claims the impact of the protest movement, Stop the Child murder, the oil shortage of the 70’s, and the presence of a left wing policy to focus more on well being for the whole instead of prosperity for the few, were a fertile soil to help cycling grow. It is like the starting point of the Nile; many springs make the river flow.

Please don’t misunderstand, cycling was not always taken as granted by all Dutch people. Although nowadays there is no Dutch politician was dares to neglect cycling, this was not always the case. The changes occurred because of some brave politicians who chose the path least trodden. They succeeded to give cycling a boost upwards much like a flywheel and accelerated the growth and support of cycling by the whole community. Looking back, the biggest changes were achieved fighting other challenges. Cycling prospered in the Netherlands when fighting challenges like air pollution, or fighting lack of space in historical centres or fighting traffic jams. The Dutch succeeded in creating a sufficient critical mass of cyclists to make it worthwhile, socially and financially to create good cycling infrastructure. The flywheel of change started turning round, which is still on going. It created a possibility for the Dutch government and policy makers to shift our focus from technical infrastructure, to creating better quality of space and creating better places to be.

Visitors to the Netherlands will notice that Dutch people don’t generally cycle from nowhere to elsewhere but cycle mainly for transport. Dutch people cycle not only on perfect infrastructure, but also cycle in an environment where shops, offices, all sort of activities are widely accessible by bicycle. Cycling in the Netherlands is included as part of normal life and is in everything to improve the quality of public space and urban planning, including social and economic activities. It all fits together.

The Dutch did not start cycling to change the world. The Dutch started cycling as a solution for certain local challenges. They had to deal with some urgencies and supporting cycling helped provide a solution to these urgent challenges. Solving barriers to cycling can help provide solutions to the other problems, creating the flywheel that can help you in turning the wheel around faster. Don’t fight cars, because you will still need them to be mobile; but change the mind frame to smart mobility. Don’t focus to change the world, but set examples which can persuade others to follow. Be persuasive instead of enforcing.

Choose the examples you wish to set wisely. Look for situations in your community where supporting cycling can be more effectively introduced. Look for opportunities. Look at geographical reasons, the willingness of the residents or some other urgent issue that needs to be solved. Setting examples will create energy that will flow and likely be more attractive for others to follow.

There is no copy and paste from the Dutch, you have to create your own flywheels to turn. With this we can support you but it also requires political courage and patience. It took us almost 50 years to get there, but we certainly can support you by sharing our experiences and are pleased to do so.

Anita Dirix Project Management
Utrecht, The Netherlands
06 50 55 50 62
adirix@planet.nl