Category: Culture

Barrack Square Ice-Cream Kiosk Offer

Riding along the Swan River is GORGEOUS and perfect for a family day out, group ride or solo trips. Frolicking dolphins, soothing parks and the marvellous scenery of the river – why wouldn’t you want to explore the shared paths along the area?

The new Elisabeth Keys development is worthwhile checking out too and while you’re there we’d like to pass on an offer from the Barrack Square Ice-Cream Kiosk, which is tucked between the Lucky Shag and Halo, which form the Old Perth Port to the East of the Bell Tower.

If none of these locations mean anything to you then it’s high time to venture into town. But, back to the offer: Print the above voucher and get 10% off of your next purchase over $5. Yay!

Quality of time, or, less isn’t more. It’s less.

The latest buzz is to ‘slow down’. Metaphorical or otherwise. Wisdom has it that if we do slow down we “increase our productivity/health/happiness/work-life balance” – or insert your life goal of choice. Whether it is a meme on your social media platform of choice or a well-meant lunchtime chat, the sentiment is the same. Our way of life is hectic and stressful and can only be improved, our life amplified by the speed of which we do things.

On the surface there is nothing really to object to, really. Yes, most of us are busy. Our schedules seem to be filled to the brim. We chase from one commitment to the next. The to-do lists grow by the minute. We’re anxious, stressed, exhausted. Then we hear the well-meant advice to slow down. Breath. Be less stressed. Be more mindful.

Somehow this feels like adding another layer to the chores. A bit like telling someone who is close to drowning to stop worrying so much or stop paddling so hard, perhaps instead breath more and add a smile to your face while you’re at it.

While the sentiment of choosing mindfulness, of consciously living in the moment may have I incredibly positive impacts on our lives, its attempts to incorporate this set of thinking into the contemporary ‘busy-bee’ lifestyle has warped it into another challenge to be accepted and another idea to be marketed.

And yes, why wouldn’t you want to attend a workshop learn to be more happy, healthy, productive or connected to people around you?

The problem with the idea is the proposition that if you incorporate mindfulness into your day you can continue your lifestyle just as an ‘improved’ version of it when that’s simply impossible.

Let’s say I spend more time on consciously devouring a custard tart. I stop multitasking, put my phone away and really focus on the sweet stickiness on my tongue and feel the  pudding texture in my mouth. No doubt will I have maximised the experience of eating said dessert, which may increase my overall well being and happiness. That doesn’t mean that now that I’m more mindful I have the ability to now catch-up on all the other things I had planned on doing.

In other words, more isn’t more of everything. It’s less of some things. I’m consciously choosing what I don’t want to do and increase THAT part’s quality.

And that’s crux – beauty and challenge alike – of slowing down.

What on earth does it have to do with active transport? Very simple: using bicycles for transport is literally and metaphorically slowing you down. Yes, it is not as fast as a car (depending on your route, traffic and time of the day), but the quality of the journey is improved: your exercising, connecting to your place through experiencing the season, the weather and people around you. The point isn’t to be fast and the consequence is that, yes, I may have spent 15 or 20 minutes longer to get home from work/school/uni, but have increased the quality of that experience.

Living in a time when we can seem to purchase anything the proposition of willingly choosing something we give up and say ‘no’ to in order to experience, treasure and enjoy what we do have seems to be the biggest challenge.

When did you choose to say no last time in order to slow down?

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.

Review: E-bikes share system in Wedel, Germany

You may have read about my newly kindled love for bike share systems. Hamburg’s citybike wasn’t the only project that made my heart flutter: In Wedel, a tranquil little city of Hamburg’s outskirts, we HAD to try the local bike share system. Why was it different to Hamburg’s citybike, you wonder? Well, there you see the boundaries of local government, literally. Wedel belongs to a different local government area, hence they opted for a different bike share system.

Here a quick review:

The excellent aspects of Wedel’s bike share:

  • This system provides E-bikes, which come with a number of advantages. Hire bicycles cater for normal sized people and anyone bigger (like my partner) than normal will find the bike fit is less than desirable. Imagine yourself borrowing the bike of a five-year old and you’ll get close to my partner’s sensation on a regular bike. While it would have been hard to pedal a small bike, the pedal assist on an e-bike compensated and provided comfort.
  • Wedel is flat as a pancake, but windy as. Again, the e-bikes enabled us to travel without kicking up a sweat. Our goal was to get around in comfort and site-see, which we were able to achieve. I might add, the sleek sit-up style made it VERY comfortable.
  • The self-serve vending machine was easy to use (despite a little paper-dispenser hiccup), accepted credit cards and made picking-up and returning the bike a breeze.
  • Access to the share system was easy: the bike boxes were 20 meters away from the train station and bus port so it was super easy to combine trips with public transport.

The challenges of Wedel’s bike share:

  • We hired the bicycles for two days and by the time we returned our trusted treadlies, both of the bikes’ batteries were starting to run low. While that worked out well for us I wondered how to charge the batteries? One of the options was to hire the bicycles for an entire week – surely you would need a charger cable or replacement battery for the entire time?
  • The system was easy to use, but I couldn’t find any options for regular users like customer cards.
  • The number of access and return points were limited to a few local government run spots (leisure centre and train stations were the ones I came across). Limiting the no doubt expensive infrastructure also limits the use.

If the city’s objective was to provide alternative transport to visitors and tourists then this goal was achieved. We were happy customers and would recommend a trip around town by bike to anyone. Whether this system supports locals’ short trips around town is questionable.

Have you used and e-bike share system? What was your experience?

Bike Share: when it’s done well

What is Bike share? Bike share systems are local government run provisions of bicycles (free or at low cost) supporting a city’s transport system. Such a system works alongside a network of buses, trains, trams, taxi/uber and private vehicles and provide people a way of getting around town without. The nature of trips are usually short and bike shares fills specific needs for users to get around town. Of course, the idea is to get people active, minimise their carbon footprint and alleviating congestion.

Many local government authorities around Australia are playing with the idea of implementing these systems. Advocates and critics cast their eyes to Melbourne and Adelaide where bike shares have been implemented. Running a successful bike share systems contains more than simply buying a bunch of bicycles, locking them at the nearest corner and waiting for people to do their thing. Risk adverse councils like to point to lack of infrastructure and costs versus uptake.

The bike share debate has left me fairly ambivalent in the past for various reasons: my bicycle is dear to me (I’ve named it for god sake!), I plan my trips with my own bicycle and public transport, which means I had no personal need. Yes, I could imagine it may be useful, but as neither Perth nor Fremantle have a bike share I also couldn’t imagine what it would be like with one. You don’t miss what you don’t have.

Well, this all was meant to change on my last stint to Europe.

What are all those red bicycles about, I wondered while doing the tourist shuffle through Hamburg and Berlin. In both cities people were zapping around town on fire engine red “StadtRAD” (Citybike) branded treadlies. Train station exits donned bicycle racks with parked citybikes waiting for their next user. I had to find out more about it.

Hamburg’s bike share website explains how it works: first 30 minutes are free, hire and return your bicycle at any station you like – where are the stations? Well, where AREN’T the stations? There is hundreds of them scattered around town!

Perfect for tourists, I thought. Yes, but actually, perfect for anyone who needs to travel a short journey as the system is set up with customer cards, mobile phone access for very fast and convenient rentals.

It makes sense. The more you know a city the more you know exactly which of your trips are worth using buses or trains for, which require a car and which one you can tick of by bike.

Did people in Hamburg and Berlin complain about traffic? Oh yes, they did. Did they have alternatives for using the car? Hell yes, and they did! In fact, the single most complained about aspect of travelling by car was *drum roll*, you guessed it: parking! Any short, quick trip by car was prolonged by finding parking that riding a bicycle made more sense.

Have you tried a bike share? What were your experiences?

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.

The 9 most common excuses for not riding a bicycle

Excuses, excuses. I think I’ve heard many of them all before. In my previous work promoting cycling for transport going to workplace expos and spruiking the idea to get people to ride to work or meetings was part of the job.Setting up stalls, pulling out banners, brochures, maps and the compulsory giveaway tokens also included the mental preparation: what do I say to people’s objections?

Obviously there are barriers as to why people don’t ride a bicycle to work. At the same time there is a need to talk about health and well being, particularly in the workplace – otherwise we wouldn’t have to have any expos and plant new ideas.

But let’s talk about some common (and some terrifically weird) excuses:

  1. The weather is too hot. You can’t possible exercise outside

Absolutely true that it can get hot in Australia. And no, you shouldn’t do any strenuous activities at 40 degree heat.

Let’s be honest though. Out of an entire year there may be, generously calculating, 10 days or so when it is stinking hot in the mornings already and doesn’t cool down over night. Yes, while outdoor exercises or commuting by bike to and from work isn’t an option those days, it leaves realistically, 32 more weeks to rethink your commuting habits.

2. The weather is too cold and rainy. You can’t possibly exercise outside

Said no one in the northern parts of Europe. Ever. Which have the highest bicycle commuting numbers in the world. So suck it up people! There is nothing dangerous about riding in rain. Unless you’re made of sugar.

3. The distance is too far

Usually this excuse is more a combination of people’s lack of fitness AND not knowing a safe, comfortable and relatively direct route.That’s understandable because the routes we use for driving are most of the time the least pleasant ways to ride.

So, people don’t know the way and aren’t fit enough – both of which you can solve in many different ways, for example researching places to ride online with maps and apps, finding a riding buddy who can show you the best route and building up the person’s fitness. No quick fixes, but if you really, really wanted to, there’d be a way.

The interim solution is to only ride part of the way, use trains and buses for the remainder. You can start varying the distance, get used to riding and building up your strength.

4. The distance is too short

Oh dear. You only ride for five minutes? No, really that sounds terrible. Better hop in your car and drive!

5. I don’t have showers (or change rooms) at work

Yep, that’s a problem, particularly if you’re other issue is number 3 (distance is too far). I usually like to find out how many kilometers work is away from home. I also used to have a tablet or smart phone on me to type in addresses in google map and get an accurate figure. Some people consider 5 kilometers too far, some draw the line at 50 kilometer. In addition to perceived distance most of the time people didn’t actually know the real kilometers – and why would you, in your car it doesn’t matter!

My personal distance – and everyone is different here – after which a shower and change of clothes becomes a necessity, no matter how slowly and comfortably I ride, is usually around 7 kilometers. After that, it’s shower time!

With no showers at work finding a gym or aquatic centre nearby that can be re-purpose to suit your needs is ideal, but not always possible. Riding part of the distance to reduce your need for change of clothes/showers/hairdryer/etc may be the way to go. That is, if you really are contemplating giving it a go.

6. I need to drop children off before I go to work

Honestly, this one always sent shivers down my spine. Not because it’s entirely unreasonable, but 99.9% of the time the person who I spoke to and who did the school run was a woman. I imagined the ripple effect on her life (which may be my imagination going wild): the type of work she does (most likely part-time, in a non-leadership role, little career progression in sight unless/until the children leave home), her health (no time for exercise) the other tasks she will feel obliged to do (shopping, cooking, cleaning). Blurgh! Not that these tasks are awful (wait, they are!), but the fact that it is assumed the woman in a relationship will do all of these tasks. Naturally.

So, let’s step back. We can’t solve all of the problems here, but let’s try to find a different perspective and start by asking: does the child need to be transported in a car? Can he or she be ‘vehicled’ in any other shape or form? In a bike trailer, child seat, in a cargo bike, or the child old enough to walk or ride or maybe get on a bus ? Which leads to the next excuse:

7. It’s just too bloody dangerous out there

Usually this excuse is nicely framed by a rant about “all these people on the road who have too little time, drive too fast and don’t care about anyone else. Don’t forget stranger danger when it involves children.”

Yes, there are terrible drivers out there. Yes, there are terrible people on bicycles out there. Or awful people on buses, trains, in shops at work. Some are your colleagues. Some are your family. They are everywhere.

There are also terribly wonderful people out there who drive, ride, walk use public transport. They too can be your colleagues, family and (hopefully they are) friends.

There are many things we can do to keep ourselves safe and teach our children how to be safe – these vary with every mode of transport, every life situation. Choosing only to drive because of the perceived risks of any other mode may not actually be the safest option, neither for us nor our family. Think obesity, heart disease, stroke. These are consequences and dangers of our sedentary lives.

8. The excuse everyone thinks but no one admits: it’s so easy to drive, why wouldn’t I?

I wished people had been more honest with themselves. Our world is designed for car use and honestly, people riding around town are only slowly entering the mind-set of planners, engineers, developers – and anyone else in the community, who hasn’t been exposed to the idea.

Our belief that driving is the easiest way to get around is so thoroughly ingrained that we’re happy to put up with traffic, congestion and the hunt for parking and discount the impact on our health, back pocket and environment as invalid.

This is one of the hardest thought patterns to challenge, but not THE hardest I ever encountered. The most terrifying customer I ever spoke to (who had gone through most of the above reasons why she couldn’t possible use a bike) responded to my question whether she might like to just ride for fun, if commuting to work was out of the equation with: “No way. I can’t do that. I’m having my shower in the morning already and no, I’m not going to have a SECOND shower just because of exercise.”

 

On that note, what was an excuse you’ve come across – or conquered yourself?

People on Bicycles adopt Potoroo

Dear People, it is with great joy that we announce our collective community has become parents. Yes, you read correctly.

With great joy we have chosen an adoption… and it’s a Potoroo! So, please put your hands together, welcome our new ‘baby’ to the fold and let me introduce to you the newest member to our family: Potoroo (that’s also his name) is a successful actor, cuddly handsome and currently working in the Spare Parts Puppet Theatre‘s production of Miss Lily’s Fabulous Feather Boa. 

People on Bicycles is celebrating our first year providing interesting stories about Perth’s bicycle culture, running workshops and cycling classes. We’re quite stoked with how our social enterprise is growing and we’re keen to share our success by supporting other non-profit organisations and community groups. Atma Cycles is one example of our partnership program and it was high time to extend our portfolio.

So, you may be wondering, what does a theatre have to do with bicycles? Well, nothing and everything: we believe creating, nurturing and growing our local cycling culture means that we need to look at our community holistically and encourage riding a bicycle not just because it’s such awesome fun, but because it’s often an easy (and always a healthy way) to get around. Looking at the calendar of events that encourage people to cycle, it is vast and ever growing, particular in the lead-up to Bikeweek. All of these are worthy projects that deserve people’s support. The question is, what can People on Bicycles do to add value?

Instead of creating additional, competing events we are seeking opportunities that add more layers to our community. We love incentives and sometimes deterrents help. In this partnership we see two carrots: our partnership with the theatre provide our community (that’s you) with free tickets to performances, yipee! And secondly: the Spare Parts Puppet Theatre is a great example of a venue that’s easy to reach by bicycle (or train and bus, which are literally 30 seconds from the venue). The stick: the parking crunch in Fremantle’s CBD (enough said).

Another contemplation in joining The Spare Parts Puppet Theatre’s adoption program was: how is our donation used? Jess O’Nions of the theatre explains, “We’ve recently launched a campaign to raise $42,500 to go toward extending our schools programs to students that do not ordinarily have access to arts experiences.”

In addition, should the theatre reach it’s target, the Federal Government will match the funds dollar for dollar. This is why we’re keen to spread the word about the program as individuals can also adopt. Check out the puppets and find out more how you can be involved.

We’re looking forward to sharing this program’s benefits with you soon. The next upcoming play in April will be The Little Prince. 

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?