Cycle Magazine

Love Your Ride

! e l c y C

Bicycle SA

The Members’ Magazine — No 159 August – October 2013 Bicycle SA — More South Australians cycling

Bicycle SA 111 Franklin Street Adelaide 5000 Tel (08) 8168 9999 Fax (08) 8168 9988 www.bikesa.asn.au

Lessons from the world’s biggest cycling conference The 2013 Kona Dirty Weekend Mudlarking — David Robinson

www.bikesa.asn.au

Cycle!

Bicycle SA Office

Contents Club News

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President’s notes

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This Issue…

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Around the office

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Personal Notes

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Grand Slam Challenge Series

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111 Franklin Street Phone (08) 8168 9999 Fax (08) 8168 9988 Email office@bikesa.asn.au Web www.bikesa.asn.au The office is open seven days a week, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm 8:00 am to 6:00 pm during Daylight Saving

$500,000 of bike improvements: Norwood, Payneham & St Peters Cycle Strategy

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Cycle! is published quarterly

Cycling centre stage in push for safety

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Wallaroo wash up

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Lessons from the world’s biggest cycling conference

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Bike SA’s position on ‘A metre matters’

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© 2013, Bicycle SA

10,000 Bike Hires, 7.6 Million Calories Burnt

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University SA offers free bikes

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Cycling to work can be contagious

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The dream of the car is over

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Original articles in Cycle! are copyrighted to Bicycle SA unless otherwise specified. Non-profit organisations may reproduce articles copyrighted to Bicycle SA, with only minor modification, without the permission of the authors, provided Bicycle SA is sent, as a courtesy and condition, a copy of the publications containing such reproduction.

Articles copyrighted to their authors may not be reproduced without the express authorisation of their authors. Bicycle SA and the original authors reserve the right to take legal action for breach of copyright where these instructions are not complied with.

Adelaide City Car Park Levy The 2013 Kona Dirty Weekend

Disclaimer

Velo-city 2013... — page 9

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Chat with the riders: What people said about the event

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What it’s like to be a Rider

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Coming home

Cycle!

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Mudlarking 14 Clare Valley Cycling Team and The Little Red Grape

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The Sheridan Family History

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Belair National Park opens up for riding

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How does new motor vehicle legislation affect bike riders

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Stepping out of my comfort zone

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New Members

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Kona Dirty Weekend...— page 10

Tailwind 18 Electric bicycles may be set to boom

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The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of Bicycle SA. Bicycle SA does not guarantee the accuracy of information published herein

Bicycle SA Executive President, Maureen Merrick maureen.merrick@bikesa.asn.au Vice President, Terry Ryan Treasurer, Tom Walker Secretary, Anne Lewis (Smith) Members John Bassett Chris Beauchamp Warwick Cooper Michael Killmier Des Murray Nathan Petrus

On the cover Finn Peacock on the Outback Odyssey after making it to the top of Razorback Ridge Mudlarking...— page 14

Contributing to Cycle!

Have you something you would like to contribute to Cycle!? If so we’d love to hear about it. Please contact the Bike SA office

Government of South Australia Office for Recreation and Sport Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure

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August – October 2013

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www.bikesa.asn.au

Love your ride Club News President’s notes Maureen Merrick

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ur means of transport does have an impact on the way in which we live in our communities, whether it is in the cities, suburbs or in regional areas.

There is an inextricable link between physical activity and our state of health and well being. It has been estimated that up to 3,000,000 Australians over the age of 25 will develop diabetes by 2025.

These are sobering figures indeed. The value of walking, cycling and using public transport as a way to provide the recommended 30 minutes of exercise each day is significant. By promoting alternative means of travel apart from the car and education through various programmes, as we are aware, can significantly reduce heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and improve general well being, which will result in tremendous cost savings in a health budget that continues to spiral upwards.

We are in a great position to advocate for, among other advantages, the health benefits of cycling.

It is that time of the year when we need to remind ourselves and those with whom we ride to

Around the office Christian Haag

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wear bright, visible clothing, and have fixed visible lights, both front and rear for cycling, particularly at night.

Even in the middle of winter, it is great to see quite large numbers of riders out on their bikes.

We would urge you to share the road responsibly, comply with the road rules, ride no more than two abreast only when it is safe to do so and avoid becoming another traffic accident statistic.

This Issue…

Peter Carter

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ith wind and rain, the weather of the past few days has hardly been ideal for cycling.

But it will pass, and we can look forward to sunshine.

Le Tour is over for another year, with mixed results for Australian riders. For a good selection of images from the event you can’t go past the Boston Globe’s ‘Big Picture’, with two sets: <www. boston.com/bigpicture/2013/07/tour_de_ france_100th_edition_p.html> and <www.boston. com/bigpicture/2013/07/tour_de_france_100th_ edition_p_1.html>.

And if you want to pedal like a professional, take a look at <theconversation.com/pedallingtechnique-and-the-tour-de-france-watch-andturn-15468> on The Conversation site, which is also the source of an item in this issue, ‘The dream of the car is over’.

Velo-city 2013 was held in Vienna, attended by Christian and Joey Fagan who report on the event as Adelaide prepares for next year’s conference.

Christian also reports on the recent discussion on spacing between cyclists and other traffic: a metre matters, but does that necessarily mean 100 cm?

City Bikes continues to expand, both in numbers and coverage, and Julian Ferguson presents a mid-year report, complete with infographic. There are several other advocacyrelated items as well.

Life’s better on a bike >>>

This year’s annual tour, to Kangaroo Island, is booked out, but in this issue David Robinson describes his experiences on last year’s tour from Moonta to Adelaide. David also writes about the Outback Odyssey from Adelaide to Blinman, through the mud.

Mud does not seem to have been on the minds of participants in the Kona Dirty Weekend. We look at the event through the brief views of a number of competitors and a longer account from Sarah Holmes. Obviously a good, if tiring, time was had by all.

Some other items, including an account of a marathon run in London, and of course, all the regular items. Plenty to read bfore, or after, you ride.

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aving just returned from the Vienna Velocity Conference, the one word that springs to mind is BIG: over 1,300 delegates from 57 countries, all converging on the cultural capital of Europe to learn, share and promote our ever broadening ‘church of cycling’.

There was a strong contingent from Australia with Road Safety Minister Michael O’Brien, Transport Department CEO Rod Hook, Motor Accident Commission Board Member Dr Bill Griggs as well as Adelaide’s ‘ever-ride-ready’ Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood and Councillor Natasha Malani, City Council CEO Peter Smith and several of his team.

As the peak advocacy body for SA, what a terrific opportunity to talk bike-biz with these key SA decision makers.

Bicycle SA was waving the flag through myself and Mr ‘Occasional BikeEd Instructor’ and CoFounder of Adelaide’s Bike Kitchen, the alwayspassionate Joey Fagan.

So what were the key learnings as we move toward Velo-city Global in Adelaide next May? While South Australia’s participation rates and transport mode shares are not up with many European and US cities, we are delivering best practice in strategic ideation for urban place making, the importance that cycling plays in improving ‘whole-of-community’ mobility as well as the development of cycling intervention programs for marginalised communities and our obvious achievements in cycle tourism.

Adelaide is described by the European Cyclists Federation, who hold the Velo-city Series, as a ‘Beginner City’. There are many more beginner cities across the globe that can learn much from the work that is being undertaken by the many community, business and government stakeholders working to progress the cycling conversation in SA. Let’s hope that the Adelaide experience delivers in spades.

To more local issues now, through Bicycle SA’s consultancy work with the Cities of Salisbury and Norwood Payneham & St Peters, in delivering planning outcomes to get more people cycling, a major thrust for the team in the lead-up to the election will be a series of announcements on our strategic policy positions. Our key platform with will be promotion of 40 km/h zones on non-arterial local area bicycle networks as well as 40 km/h traffic environments in the City of Adelaide.

Continued next page...

August – October 2013

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Personal Notes The Little Red Grape riding group in Clare has mountain bike rides commencing at 8:00 am on Saturdays and on road rides at 7:45 am at the Little Red Grape Bakery or 8:00 am at the Clare Oval.

If you are in the region during the weekend and would like to join the group for a ride, Nicola 0414 365 477, Nick 0447 843 138 or Vin 0417 840 361 would be very happy to hear from you.

The City of Salisbury has launched their ‘Cycle Salisbury’ programme and working with Bicycle SA a number of rides, like the Upper Para Pedallers, Para Pedallers and Para Districts Pedallers are very welcome additions to our Rides Programme.

Further details of these rides can be obtained from Craig 0423 552 469 (Upper Para Pedallers), Elaine 0422 393 997 (Para Pedallers), and Nigel 0431 838 735 (Para Districts Pedallers).

Grand Slam Challenge Series Two events to go:

#4 Strathalbyn: 25 August, 75km/150km #5 Mt Pleasant: 13 October, 100km/200km For details, see <www.bikesa.asn.au/ grandslam>.

Sponsors: The Heart Foundation Roof Rack City Hammer Nutrition Avanti Plus

$500,000 of bike improvements: Norwood, Payneham & St Peters Cycle Strategy Michael Bridge

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ike SA has been lobbying for an important cycling plan, which could see up to $500,000 spent on improving cycling routes across three Adelaide councils.

The council-wide bike strategy, prepared by consultants InfraPlan in partnership with Bicycle SA, proposes about $500,000 of work to improve cycling routes.

What’s in the plan? The work includes a bike boulevard along Beulah Road to connect Burnside Council’s bike super-route with the city, and a super-route from Church Street Marden to Second Avenue St Peters. Improved bike lanes are planned for Eighth Avenue St Peters, Richmond Street College Park/Hackney, The Parade Norwood, Osmond Terrace Norwood, and The Parade West Kent Town.

The plan also recommends reducing speed limits along popular cycling routes, installing traffic calming devices and better signage, reconfiguring roundabouts and improving crossings at main roads and council boundaries. Establishing a community advisory group and education programs to improve attitudes towards cycling have also been suggested as part of the plan.

As the plan goes to consultation, Bike SA will be fighting hard to make sure these dollars are spent on cycling.

Cycling centre stage in push for safety Julian Ferguson

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here has been a lot of media coverage on cycling in SA the past months on cycling.

In June, The Advertiser ran an editorial on

the need for drivers to pay extra attention and the following day a cyclist was tragically killed

From the office

in an accident on Adelaide’s roads. Since then,

...continued Some local authorities such as Unley have taken the lead on introducing traffic calming solutions (40 km/h being a major component) and the time is right for local governments to introduce these now proven interventions across the broader metropolitan local area bicycle network.

Speed reduction is the most effective and cost efficient form of ‘infrastructure’ that will improve safety for cyclists.

So we seek the advice and support of our members through the next period to ensure that we can achieve the best outcome for all who ride (or who want to ride) a bike in SA: whether that be for transport, recreation, health and fitness, the environment or just because it’s so addictive.

With one voice, the team at BSA believe the cycling community can make a significant difference this election. So please engage with us, respond to our member and user surveys and get involved. Your views will shape our work towards a more cycle friendly community.

we’ve read about the need to improve the safety

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conditions for cyclists and a lot of mixed debate on what should be done.

Aside from the tragic death and despite some of the negative public response, we do think it’s a good thing that the media and government are actively talking about improving cycling safety.

We’ve been speaking about the need for improved cycling infrastructure, slower speeds and drivers to take extra care when cyclists are on the road.

For all those that are members of Bike SA, by being a member, you’re advocating for more and safer cycling and we encourage those that aren’t yet members to join us so we can have a louder voice.

Bike SA remains focused on the benefits of cycling: improving health, congestion and environmental outcomes. Getting out on your bicycle is a good thing, and the freedom and joy of cycling is something that nothing else matches up to.

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Wallaroo wash up Kate Irvine

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ike Ed has been off travelling the countryside again as we do at the end of every school term.

This term one team delivered in Mount Gambier, the other (my team) to sunny (but extremely cold at night) Wallaroo. The drive to Wallaroo was an early start but after a coffee and hot food stop at Kipling’s bakery in Pt Wakefield we were good to go for the rest of the day.

Wallaroo Primary School was very excited to have Way2Go Bike Ed back in town. Some of the children and staff even remembered the Instructors from visit two years ago and eager to cycle. The staff at Wallaroo were fantastic at welcoming us to their school with Mrs Pattinson, more commonly known as ‘Ms Patto’, being very organised and making us feel at home.

Cycling around in Wallaroo was fun and interesting for the students as they got to show off their town to the Instructors. The Year 5, 6 and 7 students showed themselves to be both competent and skilled with a good understanding of the road rules. They didn’t hesitate to tell me I was heading down a one way street the wrong way until after I missed the sign!

Students commented that roundabout day was their favourite lesson as the traffic had to give way. Wallaroo has two roundabouts heading into the town, and for anyone who’s been there before you will know that these structures are on the larger side of things. One of these roundabouts is at the entrance to the giant Viterra Grain silos with frequent trucks coming in and out. The students were amazed that a giant B-Double truck had to give way to them although we took time to discuss giving the trucks space, the driver’s limited vision and pulling over to the kerb to let them pass. Riding on the roads and understanding the rules was a big achievement for the children and the driving skills and patience shown by the local community were exceptional. The students were constantly encouraged to use eye contact demonstrating driver-cyclist relationship to share the road can be achieved.

The Bike Ed Instructors spent their nights trying to catch the elusive squid of the end of the Wallaroo jetty. Unfortunately the squid got the better of us. Lucky the local hotel serves a mean salt and pepper squid.

The Students were so confident and knowledgeable with their cycling they planned the final ride delivered on the seventh and last session of Bike Ed and leading the instructors around the town. Well done to all the students at Wallaroo PS. Whilst we were there the Year 6/7 students held a fundraising car wash on the first Friday of our stay.

For the cheap price of $30 I managed to get the Bike SA van and trailer washed and cleaned. Thanks guys! Now I just need to clean the top half of the van...

Scan, Signal, Scan!

Kate Irvine is Bike SA Education Coordinator

www.bikesa.asn.au

Love your ride Lessons from the world’s biggest cycling conference Bike SA CEO Christian Haag

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e listened, we shared, we ate, we drank coffee, and more coffee, ate strudel, listened to the odd Viennese Waltz and got to ride around the beautiful city of Vienna.

We being Joey Fagan (Co-Founder Adelaide’s Bike Kitchen and part-time Bike SA BikeEd Instructor) and myself, Bike SA CEO Christian Haag.

So Velo-city 2013 has come and gone. Next stop Velo-city Global in Adelaide, May 2014...

The primary theme for Vienna was the “sounds of cycling”: or more precisely, the definition of cycling culture. In this sense, the list of speakers certainly displayed the heights that cycling policy has achieved in the European theatre. It was a showcase of elected members and departmental representatives of local, state and federal governments.

Programming for this conference was heavily geared to stimulate debate and create change in the central and eastern European block of countries. Vienna is perfectly situated to not only showcase the work that has been done there to promote cycling, but to also act as a ‘cultural bridge’ between those countries in the west of Europe that have well known and popular bike cultures and those beginner countries to the east that sit with similar mode-share rates as Australia.

Phillipe Crist from the International Transport Forum, Federal Ministers from the Austrian government, numerous Mayors and Vice-Mayors from around central and eastern Europe as well as members of the European Commission and European Parliament.

To support the ‘Cultures theme’ for the conference, a few of the stand-outs were Lenore Skenazy and her thoughts on free range kids, Mikael Colville-Andersen of Copenhagenize and CycleChic.com fame, as well as a number of professionals in the social sciences, human biology and those investigating the behavioral characteristics of cognitive training.

An impressive line-up of the key decision makers.

The conference certainly made a measured statement of where cycling fits within the building of better communities. The messages were consistent and clear: if we don’t change the way we are building cities and provide smarter transport choices, we will suffer the burden of congestion and increased travel times, the associated health effects through a less active community as well as the well understood environmental impacts.

The most common ‘take away’ message for many was a better understanding of the shear breadth of cycling and how it touches so many parts of the community in a meaningful way. This was echoed by many of the Australian contingent: Road Safety Minister Michael O’Brien, Transport Department CEO Rod Hook and Motor Accident Commission Director Dr Bill Griggs.

Naturally, Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood, as the host of the next Velo-city conference, was

Life’s better on a bike >>>

promoting the City, the state and what cycling means to us in SA. But the standout moments had to be the Cycling Visionaries Awards with so much creative talent from around the world being showcased (see more below), attending the Scientists for Cycling workshop with many of the foremost cycling researchers, Bicycle SA’s successful application for membership of the European Cyclists Federation and the linkage opportunities that this will provide the organisation, the 6,000 odd bike parade participants and the of course the networking.

Roll on Velo-city Global in Adelaide next May: much work to be done and some great opportunities for SA’s cycling community to get involved.

My summary of Cycling Culture as presented at Velocity Joey Fagan: Co-Founder Adelaide’s Bike Kitchen and part-time Bike SA BikeEd Instructor

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ultures evolve, but they are also engineered.

In this way different European Countries and Cities have very different cycling cultures due in part to their different historical approaches to cycling. Some promoted racing as a national recreation, while others focused solely on touring and build up vast networks of cycling paths.

As a result those who promoted touring (The Netherlands) have a far stronger (and wider) cycling culture in urban centers today.

The first thing I thought in cycling cultures were the contemporary popular demonstrations such as the Critical Mass movement. The History of Critical Mass showed how self-organised community rides have spread worldwide to rally (sometimes) huge numbers of bike users in one place to present cyclists as road users on a monthly basis. The San Jose Bike Party draws from the same idea of group rides, but with a focus on pure recreation and little political agenda. Both have had the effect of raising the public profile of cycling as a movement

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and raised people’s confidence riding on roads in groups and in some cases alone.

A highlight for me was the Conference’s ‘Cycling Visionaries Awards’ which awarded 60 free conference tickets to projects that showed innovation and creativity in promoting cycling from around the globe. These entrepreneurs brought creative cycling solutions to the conference and livened the debate with their hands-on experiences.

The next level up was community bike-hubs in the form of for-profit social enterprises as presented in the book ‘Defying poverty’ by Sue Knap. This raised the debate between socially minded organisations (from all over the world) whose mission was to promote cycling and how to establish sustainable business models.

Then there is the ‘bicycle advocacy’ and ‘lobby groups’. Here is a movement to influence decision makers’ attitudes toward cycling. These groups (e.g.

A-G Fahrad in Vienna) aim to improve the bicycle policies of decision makers using strong evidence based arguments and exposing existing biases.

There are socially constructed identities of cyclists and both mental and physical barriers that limit cycling as a major mode of transport.

Dave Horton outlines ironies of efforts to improve cycling safety having the opposite effect in his paper ‘The Fear of Cycling’.

What became apparent through these discussions are that cultures are formed by the multitude of ways cycling can be included (or excluded) from society. Promoting cycling culture therefore requires a broad multifaceted approach sensitive to issues that inform and mold peoples behavior.

A topic within culture is Education...

Angela Van Der Kloof from Mobycon, referring to her programs that train migrant women to cycle in The Netherlands discussed the meaning of cycling to people. Her approach involved levels of ability on an adaptation ladder from riding indoors,

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to in the park, in traffic and finally to the shops and transporting children. The programs use specific types of bikes for different skills and address issues such as skepticism of users and lack of support.

When discussing the issues of older cyclists, it seems that there is too much diversity in cycling cultures and too little integration. While cycling is more dangerous for older people, this does not mean we should discourage them, rather we should seek accident prevention measures. For example, often accidents involving older cyclists are when stationary and thus raising the profile and adapting spaces to alternative bike designs such as recumbent and tricycles is important.

There were also great examples of integrating active mobility into education systems. This is supported by the point that it plays a larger role in learning than breakfast. One study by FACTUM began at kindergarten level and showed that programs promoting the advantages of active mobility such as walking and cycling to promote environmentally healthy lifestyles were more likely to succeed when parent evenings were ‘hosted’ rather then just material distributed.

A trial in Denmark (partly in order to save money on the high costs of public transport) aimed to make cycling an integrated part of everyday life in schools (e.g. 90% of teachers to use cycling in some way twice a month). Part time cyclist teachers were used as ambassadors in schools, promoting the program and designing the

Adelaide Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood with Manfred Neun, President of the European Cyclists’ Federation and Maria Vassilakou, Deputy Mayor of Vienna at Velo-city In my opinion this is the direction we should way it could be implemented. For example cycling take with bicycle education. To best realise the was treated as a subject, with younger children benefits of active mobility, we must focus on making bike related games and art, moving up to more than just the road rules, involve the parents learning skills and basic maintenance. The program and extend the contact time these programs are was well received by teachers as it effectively afforded. Begin much earlier and even integrate enlarged the classroom and allowed for more it into the curriculum or insert cycling into our creative teaching through practical and excursions. schools’ DNA.

Bike SA’s position on ‘A metre matters’ Christian Haag

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here has been a lot of social media recently about a Queensland case where a truck driver was acquitted of killing a cyclist after turning in front without allowing for adequate distance. As a result of this tragedy, the Amy Gillett Foundation has called for legislative change that would see a mandatory and specified “one metre” distance passed into law. This would be a variation from the existing law that requires a motorist to pass with a “safe passing distance”.

Through the Australian Bicycle Council, Bicycle SA provides input into potential changes to the Australian Road Rules that will both enhance cyclist safety as well as improve separation between motorist and cyclists. In addition, we engage with SAPOL in their role as the local enforcement authority, to discuss such variations.

Bicycle SA believes that (based on current research and advice received) a proposed mandatory passing distance of one metre will not yield a higher conviction rate for those motorists that either cause a crash scenario or present a level of risk that causes a cyclist to take evasive action, with the inherent potential for injury. There are a number of reasons for this: • A one metre mandatory distance does not allow for the diverse speed limits that currently operate on our roads. The heritage thinking around the one metre rule is based on an

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average 50 – 60km/h speed limit. While our arterial network currently operates broadly within this range, increasingly local councils are utilising 40 km/h zones (down to 25 km/h in school areas) as a more effective way to improve cyclist and pedestrian safety. Crash research clearly shows that a 40 km/h speed environment significantly reduces the risk of severe casualty or fatality. Additionally, at 80 km/h speeds and up to 110 km/h on country road environments, a metre distance is clearly insufficient.

• It therefore follows that the one metre rule must be attached to an appropriate speed range to deliver the safety it seeks to provide a cyclist.

• Further, for the enforcement authority, the burden of proof would fall upon the officer to prove that the motorist was in fact driving within the mandatory one metre distance.

Conversely, the motorist has the right to seek adequate proof from the enforcing authority that in fact he/she was in fact within that mandatory zone.

• The current law allows for an officer to exercise ‘discretion’ when considering whether a motorist is driving in a safe manner. Bicycle SA is of the opinion that the capacity for an officer to ‘exercise discretion’ is a more powerful tool when seeking to gain a conviction as well as allowing that officer to ‘educate’ a driver through the caution process.

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There is no doubt this is a highly emotive issue.

Recent CASR research (Centre for Automotive Safety and Research) shows that 80% of crashes are caused by the motorist. Further, over 75% of all incidents that result in a cyclist being hospitalised are caused by frontal incidents (vehicle turning right across trafficked lanes or emerging from a side street). Rear/side incidents are relatively small, though clearly potentially resulting in equally tragic consequences. Of course this research doesn’t diminish the unacceptable reality that motorists frequently place cyclists at risk due to inattention.

Bicycle SA consistently seeks to encourage and engage in initiatives that achieve sustainable behavior change. In this instance, we see a mix of robust enforcement and education strategies being critical in achieving a greater awareness among motorists that they need to be aware that more and more cyclists are on our roads. The key issue is whether we would see a better outcome in shifting motorist behavior from a rare conviction in the event of a fatality or severe casualty, or through a broader enforcement and education campaign.

We will continue to review the available research and engage with our road safety partners to give consideration to the most effective mechanisms that will see a reduction in fatalities and casualties.

www.bikesa.asn.au

RIDE TO BEAT BREAST CANCER Ride to beat breast cancer at the 2013 Gear Up Girl bike ride on Sunday November 24 At Cancer Council SA, we believe that the 13,500 women diagnosed with breast cancer in Australia this year should all survive. We ask you to bring your family and friends together; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Gear Upâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, ride your bike and raise funds to help us beat breast cancer.

Ride commences at 9:30 am at Elder Park and you can choose to ride a 15km River Ride, 35km Beach Ride or 50km Hill Ride.

Register to fundraise at

cancersa.org.au/gear-up-girl For more information about the ride contact Bike SA, ph 08 8168 9999 email bikesa.asn.au

Cycle!

10,000 Bike Hires, 7.6 Million Calories Burnt Julian Ferguson

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re you one of the many who has hired out an Adelaide City Bike? Well you’re not alone.

It would appear that everyone is using one these days! Adelaide’s free City Bikes have seen record hires this year as locals, interstate and international visitors flock to the scheme.

Nearly 10,000 hires have been made this year alone (January to May), a 46% increase from the same period last year. That means 7.6 million calories have been burnt, or by our calculations over 18,500 Farmers Union Iced Coffees.

“We’ve got more and more people getting on bikes in Adelaide, with commuters doubling in the

past decade” says Christian Haag, CEO of Bicycle SA. “For those people contemplating buying a bike or getting back in the saddle after many years, the opportunity to come and hire a free bike and ride thorugh Adelaide’s parklands is an absolute ‘try before you buy’ winner.”

First beginning in 2005 with only 20 bikes, Adelaide City Bikes have seen more than 110,000 hires. The scheme now has 220 bikes across 19 different locations. It has been a huge hit with international visitors accounting for 59% of trips, up from 50% at the same time last year.

Participating councils have also found the scheme to be positive.

University SA offers free bikes

Cycling to work can be contagious

Michael Bridge UniSA now has an Adelaide City Bikes’ node.

cycle, offering relatively quiet spaces to turn over

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the pedals.

City Bikes, available to the general public as well as

the Parklands every day of the year. Apart from

students and staff. There are now twelve Adelaide

the road crossings, the shared used paths are free

City Bike locations in the city, plus two in Unley and

of motor vehicles. Navigating the circuitous trails

five in Charles Sturt where you can hire a bike for

surrounding the CBD provide perfect places to

free. It’s quick and easy. All you have to do is fill out

escape with friends or family, or just enjoy some

a form and leave your ID as collateral. The Adelaide

alone time on your bike. They also provide some

Parklands and Linear Park are popular places to

direct links for cycling commuters.

he University of South Australia’s City East and City West campuses will offer free Adelaide

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“Cycling is a healthy, fun, inexpensive way to get around and more people on their bikes will help to ease traffic congestion in our streets and increase awareness of cyclists,” says City of Adelaide Lord Mayor, Stephen Yarwood.

Other participating councils also have enjoyed the bikes in their community.

“The City of Charles Sturt and OPAL have been impressed with the success of the Adelaide City Free Bikes program throughout Charles Sturt,” says Kirsten Alexander, Mayor of the City of Charles Sturt.

Bike SA has made an infographic detailing the success of the scheme.

Users of the Adelaide City Bike scheme populate

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Julian Ferguson

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e already knew it, but now there’s a study to prove it; cycling to work is contagious!

A new study reveals that spouses or co-workers of active commuters are more likely to take up the practice. Researchers in USA looked at the social influences of what they call ‘active commuting’, like biking or walking to work, and the results from their research are published in the July 2013 online edition of the American Journal of Health Behavior <www.ajhb.org>.

www.bikesa.asn.au

Love your ride The dream of the car is over Jason Thompson

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had always been obsessed with cars. To me, cars represented freedom, engineering excellence, modernity, technological brilliance, speed, fun and excitement.

I still love cars but not like I used to. Now, I grieve for them. I grieve for what they promised me but cannot deliver. Why? Because these days, driving a car is sadly neither exciting nor liberating.

More frequently it is mundane, unproductive and frustrating. Worse, it is deadly.

Accepting the dangers Around the world, traffic injuries claim 1.2 million lives every year and injure up to 50 million more — and rising. We no longer accept death from food poisoning, medical procedures, infectious disease, assault, or workplace accidents.

Trauma created by cars, however, remains largely tolerable.

In Australia, 20 people are still killed every week on public roads. If 20 people died in Australian cinemas every week, how many of us would go to the movies? Would we not demand a better system for watching films?

Private cars are rapidly gaining precedence in developing countries such as India, China, Indonesia and Vietnam. As these countries follow their developmental right-of-passage to the freeway, road trauma is projected to become the fifth greatest cause of death and disability worldwide by 2030.

In a cruel irony, numerous studies from across the world clearly show that as cars increasingly dominate, people inside cars become safer while people outside cars (generally the poorest, youngest, and most disadvantaged groups in society) face even greater risk. Twenty seven percent of the world’s road fatalities are among cyclists and pedestrians killed or injured by someone driving a car.

So why do we keep pushing cars to the centre of transport policy?

Skewed reality In Australia alone, the auto industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising each year convincing us that cars are fantastic. I agree that as individual pieces of machinery they certainly are. They are brilliant, shiny, beautiful machines, designed to move you incredibly quickly, in comfort, while impressing other people along the way. To function optimally, though, they rely on the presence of a perfect system — one that chiefly does not contain humans or other resemblance of reality either here or overseas.

Beyond never represented alongside deaths and injuries, consider some perhaps more benign examples apparently common to the thriving world of advertised cars but particularly uncommon to everyday life: In the world of advertised cars, full car parks don’t exist. You never need to drive around the block five times or park 500 metres up the road, in the rain.

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Advertised cars are never shown driving alongside melting glaciers or through freak storms.

Despite this, cars produce around one-fifth of our entire greenhouse gas emissions.

Over half of non-work trips taken by drivers are to destinations that are less than five kilometres away. Advertised cars never exit the driveway only to drive two blocks to the shop when they could have more easily walked or ridden a bike.

Australians waste a lot of time in their cars.

For example, the average Victorian drives 17 km to and from work each day at an average speed of just 33 km per hour. But ads never show an unproductive, boring, frustrating 60 minutes per day deleted from every working person’s life. There is nothing you can do in your car that you can’t do better or more effectively somewhere else.

Drivers of advertised cars rarely drive alone. If they do, it is only briefly before picking up a friend/ date/rock band/entire sports team. The advertised car is a means of connecting with others — in reality there is an average of 1.2 people in your car at any time. You are alone.

Road to congestion Another commonly used image we readily accept from advertised cars is one of a single car driving down wide, empty streets, unimpeded. It is the equivalent to driving in Perth, on a Tuesday night, at 2 am, all the time. However, unless it

actually is 2 am and you are in Perth, this never happens.

As drivers, though, we consider regular, everyday congestion to be a source of frustration — almost ‘unfair’. Stuck in traffic, we crane our necks to see the dream presented to us by manufacturers; that our car is noble and good while the problem is the roads, the number of other cars, or all the other ‘bad’ drivers.

But our cars won’t be set free with one more bridge, one more lane, ring road or tunnel. It is no truer to say that a lack of roads is the cause of congestion as it is to say a lack of aspirin is the cause of a hangover.

The problem is not the roads, the problem is an abundance of cars. An abundance of cars facilitated by a transport system that continues to place the car at its core.

By accepting the skewed reality presented to us by the dream of the car we consign ourselves to placing ever more cars on our roads and ignoring more efficient and productive alternatives. In doing so, we willingly preside over a transport system that creates wholly predictable deaths, injuries, pollution, congestion and even ruins the once loved experience of driving, itself.

Jason Thompson is Research Assistant, PhD Candidate at Monash University Item from The Conversation <theconversation. com/the-dream-of-the-car-is-over-15450>.

Adelaide City Car Park Levy Christian Haag

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he proposed CBD parking tax on car park owners is certainly causing a stir with both political parties drawing a line in the sand.

The government maintains the tax will fund ‘park and ride’ hubs around the city which will encourage greater public transport use and reduce the daily congestion gridlock that continually grows.

The development of these ‘park and ride’ hubs would also be a terrific opportunity for the ‘ride’ to refer to biking as well. Multi-story secure bicycle parking stations or an expanded City Bikes program would significantly increase the catchment of commuter riders to not just the CBD but also to commercial nodes in the ring councils that surround the City. Residents who commute from mid to outer metropolitan suburbs would catch existing express transit to these hubs and

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then jump on their bike for the short ride to work. With a 1 – 3 km ride well within the sweatfree range of most of us, that is an impressive geographic area for which it just became a whole lot easier, cheaper and more convenient to ride a bike.

Let’s not forget that 60% of Australians consistently say that we would ride our bikes more if it was more convenient and safer to do so. The economic argument stacks up, the health argument stacks up, the congestion reduction and workplace productivity arguments all stack up.

And let’s not forget that for certain retail precincts, shoppers who walk or cycle to shop, spend more overall and shop more frequently.

It’s just a matter of choice, the right choice. Of course, the parking station owners don’t have to pass on the increase onto the consumer.

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The 2013 Kona Dirty Weekend

Chat with the riders: What people said about the event Julian Ferguson

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he Kona Dirty Weekend is more than just a race. It’s turned into something of a celebration and a must-do for everyone that is into mountain biking. Held in Cudlee Creek, the annual race attracted more than 315 riders — the biggest to date — with hundreds more coming to watch, volunteer and celebrate the region’s booming mountain bike culture. People came from Victoria, New South Wales and as far as Queensland to stay the whole weekend. In teams, pairs or on their own, participants did laps around a 10 kilometre track for 6, 12 and even 24 hours.

Bike SA had a chat to some of the riders that took part in the 2013 edition. Here’s what they had to say...

Kevin Pullen, Solo 24 hour (male) Kevin was one of those crazy characters that rode his bicycle around for 24 hours without stopping. Not only is he completely mad, but he also had a good time.

“It was enjoyable at times,” said Kevin, “but was quite painful for most of it.”

By the time we managed to talk to him, he’d just finished his race and could hardly walk, the poor guy. What were the hardest parts of his epic adventure? It was when night fell that he started feeling lonely.

“The early morning was the hardest part, when you could see everyone lighting fires, having a few beers and going to bed.”

He did however find the track to be fantastic, praising SAMBA for their hard work. But he was more excited about heading home than anything else.

“I’m jumping straight in the shower... I’m filthy.”

He also told us that he’s not looking at a bike for a little while. We understand why...

Carson Tully and Harry Mirikliss, Team XPower Duo 24 hr (male) “I reckon the trail is awesome,” said Harry who with his good friend Carson made the trek all the way from Melbourne to race together.

“This our fourth year here, and our fourth title,” he explained, “We’ll definitely be back next year.”

The two managed to win their category. What’s so special about the Kona dirty weekend for them?

“It’s a bit of a classic,” said Carson, “They need to spread the word a bit and I’d love to see more people racing in the different categories.”

There were a few hairy moments on the track.

Carson almost managed to kill himself.

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“I did a double pike somersault sideways and put a dint in my frame,” he laughed, “But I didn’t care. You see when you’re out there you hate it. You say never doing another one, and then we’re back here ever since. It’s just an awesome event.”

Carson and Harry were amongst those that had travelled to Cudlee Creek all the way from Melbourne. They think that South Australia definitely has something special about it.

“Other [mountain bike] events in Victoria days aren’t as popular but this one was sold out,” explained Carson.

“I think what makes it so special is the people.

Everyone’s so friendly and social.”

I’m sure we’ll be seeing those two on the track in 2014, and for many years to come.

Sam England, AKA the Green man. Duo 12hr (mixed) Donning a green skeleton suit and an expressionless look, the Green Man is a regular on the Kona Dirty Weekend track. What was his highlight in 2013?

“The finish and the beer,” quipped Sam. When we asked him why he thought this year was a sell-out, Sam put it down to marketing and more specifically his green suit.

“People come to Kona for me,” he joked, adding “they all saw my photos in the promotion this year.”

Andy Murnaine, CycleWorkx Avanti Plus, 12 hour Team of Four (male) When we spoke to Andy, he was looking pretty exhausted sitting in the back of his caravan. But beneath the exhaustion, you could see a smile on his face.

“I loved watching the guys coming through in the middle of night, watching them plug it out for 24 hours,” he explained.

But he thinks the real drawcard of the weekend was the social side of it.

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“They’ve kept it as a really social event so it’s really good for the families and the kids to come out and watch. You can have the elite riders as well as the beginners and the youth.”

Margaret Shanafield, Duo 12 hour (mixed) Margaret tells us she took it quite easy on the track and thought it was a real smooth ride. You almost had the impression that she treated it like some form of meditation.

“There’s some new track this year and it was really smooth and rolling and awesome,” she said, “It’s just a great atmosphere, lots of fun riding and good support.”

Originally from America, Margaret believes that Adelaide has a lot to offer international visitors when it comes to mountain bike events.

“I’m used to riding in California and some of it is very similar. I’m always trying to get people from overseas to come and check it out.”

Mic Upfront Bikes, 24 Team of Four Everybody could spot the Upfront bike team on the track, who were sporting matching jerseys and affros. But the colourful outfits did not stop them from getting tired.

“I’m pretty cactus,” said Mic, who was in charge of keeping his troops in order.

“The track was faster, wider, much quicker than other years, but I thought it was a bit more fun.

There was a lot less short pinchy climbs and a lot more fast flowy downhills.”

What made the weekend special for him?

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Love your ride “It was just a brilliant weekend, well run, brilliant race, great atmosphere, great people, great food. We’ve got our tent spots booked for the next five years,” he says.

We all wonder what the upfront team will be wearing next time.

Ben Hogarth, Sooth Austrica 24 hour Team of Four (male) For someone who’d been racing for 24 hours, Ben still looked full of energy and ready to go for another 24.

“It was a really smooth race,” he said. “Only had one slight problem with one of our boys snapping a chain, but apart from that, easy.”

His team managed to take the lead early and ended up winning their category.

“We got off to a good start, tapped it out, and managed to hold the lead all through the night.”

So was it all easy?

“The hardest parts on the track was the climbing. There seemed to be a lot more of that this year.”

He added: “It had some nice technical bits. Kept you interested but didn’t make you fall off!”

He praised on those that got the track ready for the event: “There’s a lot of work being done on the trails by SAMBA. and every year it gets better and better. The tracks are really plush now. The Giant team will be back.”

Darius Kubilius, Melrose Militia-Over the Edge, 12 Hour Team of Four (Mixed)) “The track was beautiful. If I had to describe it in one word? Relentless... There was nowhere to take a break,” explained Darius, who in a mixed team of four did laps for 12 hours around the track.

“It was short, sharp and shining and kept everyone on their toes.”

But ultimately Darius thinks that the appeal of the race lay within its diverisity.

“You can go and enter as a solo 24 entrant, or a team of four, or in pairs or whatever. It covers all different ranges of skill. Some people come and keep it social, and others really race hard. It caters to so many different people.”

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What it’s like to be a Rider Sarah Holmes

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he Kona Dirty Weekend is always a great weekend spent at Fox Creek in the Adelaide Hills. With a few race options I was keen to give something a little different (and harder) a go! Last year TORQ raced the 24 hour in a mixed team of four and it was a blast: we won the mixed category and overall. Unfortunately this year we weren’t able to get the team together, and I had decided to race the 12 hour solo to get some decent training hours into the legs. A stressful week in the lead up with an unhappy gear shifter, Jason Morrison came to the rescue (while Monza are waiting for a new shipment of parts), allowing me to be able to race on the MTB, and not completely destroy the body on the cyclocross bike!

The forecast all week was looking good... Until Saturday morning when I realised we had all been looking at the Adelaide forecast: forgetting that Fox Creek has its own weather system, and when sunny in the city you can almost guarantee it’s freezing, windy and wet. And so it was. Arriving mid morning it was sunny but fresh. Quite fresh.

According to my Garmin it was 11 degrees for race start at 2 pm. The BikeSA crew had done a great job setting up the event village and it was good to see the ridgeline camping area packed, and lots of keen riders preparing for a big weekend on (and off ) the bike.

Race start came around pretty quickly and I had set up my feed table, as I was self supported for the event, with Dean unable to come over for the event with the luxurious caravan, and all my mates also racing. The 12 hour solo race was definitely going to be my toughest yet, with the 12 hour broken into two 6 hour stints on the bike.

Race start was 2 pm Saturday and I knew I would be on the bike for another six and a half hours if all went to plan to get the maximum number of laps completed in the dedicated time. The second six hour stint started at 8 am Sunday until after 2pm depending on the lap times. The lap was 10.5km long and average lap time (for me) was between 40 and 50 minutes. The first couple of hours were easy, as I am pretty solid for two hours!

Coming into the late arvo I had a few gear cable issues, and once again Jason Morrison helped my bike out with regular time in the workstand!

Obviously not ideal, but that’s racing. Coming into the night laps I knew Jackie had a decent gap on me, and I was comfortable with that, as I know her endurance form is far superior to mine at the moment, and whilst wanting to win, I also went into sustainability mode!

Finishing the day around 8:30 pm with eight laps in the bank I was shattered. Having completed 83 km of single track, with roughly 280 m climbing per lap: that last lap was tough! Jackie was sitting on nine laps, so the gap was big. Jane was sitting in third place, also on eight laps but 30+ minutes behind me.

It was cold, I was hungry, And I could barely talk. Flopped myself into the bean bag with

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my TORQ mandarin recovery and a big bowl of delicious dinner. At 11:30 pm a full body massage was calling my name. Crawling into the tent after midnight I was ready to get some much deserved sleep! Rugged up with three hoodies, beanies, and trackies I was snug as a bug.

Morning came and so did the wind. It was bitterly cold, and must have been around zero overnight. Getting out of the tent to the crisp air ensured a fairly quick wake up. A bit of a stretch and some brekkie and it was time to head to the startline for round two. Feeling for the 24 solo riders riding all night, I was glad to have had at least six hours solid sleep.

Feeling a bit battered I was off to a solid start.

Stoked with my efforts the day before I was feeling strong and motivated to tap out at least the same amount of laps, and hopefully close the gap to first, and open a bigger gap back to third place.

The course was a bit different from last year’s, and the climbing definitely felt a bit tougher, but it was hard to tell. It was a rough course to race on for over 12 hours on a hard tail. I love my hard tail, and wouldn’t have it any other way, but I can see the merit in a duallie for comfort in this style of racing.

I finished the day with another eight laps, bringing my total to 16 laps. Jackie finished up with 17 laps, putting me into second place. I was not surprised, and I think I was too exhausted to be too worried about it! Jackie has been putting the hours in on the bike, and is definitely rocking some great form at the moment. I was super impressed with her efforts! Kudos.

This was definitely the hardest race I have done, I think back to the Alice Springs and 12 Apostles Continued on page 17...

August – October 2013

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Coming home David Robinson

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bike tour from the Copper Coast to Adelaide via the Clare Valley. It sounded brilliant, but I was a tiny bit worried. Would a total of two rides in ten months prove sufficient preparation for a nineday bike tour? I suspect I already knew the answer to that question before I embarked on my eighth Bike SA Annual Tour...

Triangulation I jumped off the Bike SA coach in sunny Moonta, set up my camp and got organised for the first day’s ride. After a quick lunch and an even quicker riders’ briefing, it was time to head off.

Luckily for me, our first day wasn’t too arduous.

We rode a triangular route which initially headed east from Moonta and took us to a couple of localities, the existence of which I’d never previously been aware — Agery and Cunliffe — before arriving back at camp a couple of hours later. It was a fairly flat 47 kilometres, and wind wasn’t really a factor. It didn’t particularly hurt, which was a relief. The distance itself, though, was more than I’d ridden previously in 2012 so I was satisfied that I’d made it without tiring.

The evening was the time to reacquaint with old friends, and the Bike SA evening routine. I had a substantial feed, a couple of reds, and crossed my fingers in the hope that the next few days would be OK. An ill wind It’s colourless, (usually) odourless and tasteless.

Depending on its direction, it can be of great assistance or it can smash you to pieces. Wind.

On Sunday the ride took us to Kadina and then on to Wallaroo. It was a pleasant novelty to leave camp without having to pack up. The route to Kadina was fast, the strong breeze pushed us all the way there, but as soon as we turned for Wallaroo and Moonta everything changed.

The wind was right at us, and the long, straight stretch from Wallaroo to Moonta Bay was hideous.

Exhausting. Partly because I was out of condition, but mainly because the wind was foul. The 4WD that missed me by centimetres didn’t do much for my opinion of tank-driving dunderheads either.

Anyhow, for the bulk of the ride I just tucked in behind my mate and cursed all the way home.

Happy days indeed.

I spent the afternoon recovering from a precarious position. I felt pretty bashed up. The miniature train ride around the mine helped a little, as did the restorative ‘brown champagnes’ at the Royal Hotel.

There’s no town like Snowtown I’d slept really well so I was about as fresh as I could be for Day Three. I rose, washed, packed and ate with boundless efficiency. I was expecting a pretty tough day, which was likely to compound my feelings of soreness.

It was a cool, cloudy day which probably suited us for the early push out to morning tea. The leg to lunch at Bute was pretty flat, and pretty fast.

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As it turned out, the main part of the day was more of a solid grind than a series of punishing climbs. After a couple of hours of gradual climbing it was a great relief to hit the 10 per cent descent into Snowtown.

We camped at the school, and walked into town. Sherrilee and Flash the dog greeted us as we walked into the hotel.

As I replenished my lost fluids I gazed out of the window. Even in a sleepy town, gazing out of the window is a better option than watching daytime TV on the big-screen. I could see two people performing some kind of ‘show’, larking about in a barrel in front of that building, inviting folks to take photographs. Not sure if they were locals or blow-ins. They probably thought they were being cutting-edge and funny, but it just looked boring and more than a little sad.

Dinner was one of those lovely community affairs, held in the Town Hall. The food, drink and friendship were all top-notch. Thank you, good folk of Snowtown.

We walked back to camp under one of those moonless, starry, country skies that never fails to remind me of my insignificance. Truly beautiful.

Despite the cool night, I slept well.

Into the valley I got up at 6:00 and was surprised to see a healthy covering of ice on the outside of the tent.

It was an extremely cold morning. I was tempted to crawl back into my safe haven but the clear blue sky was promising.

Breakfast was back at the Town Hall, which added an extra dimension to the morning’s preparations. A bit more to-ing and fro-ing. I left my shoes outside to dry out/warm up in the morning sun.

The ride to Brinkworth was slightly uphill and slightly into the wind, so it served as a decent warm up for the day. One of locals came down for a chat, resplendent astride her three-wheeled bicycle. The next section was a solid climb, and my poor mountain bike and I laboured along the

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long, upwardly mobile route. About 20 kilometers outside of Clare things started to undulate, which provided the odd moment of relief. It was a beautiful spring day, and the scenery was lovely: blue, green and yellow. The penultimate section was another big climb up Barinia Road, a bit of a gut-buster, before we turned right and headed into town along the extension of the Riesling Trail.

Lunch at the fitness club was all very pleasant, as was our afternoon spent wandering around the town.

After dinner, Ray and I sought assent from Bike SA high command to deviate from the planned bitumen course and ride the Mawson Trail between Clare and Burra. Green light!

A dirty job As planned, we rode the Mawson Trail rather than the established bitumen route on Day Five.

And what a brilliant ride it was.

Initially overcast and rainy, the day’s conditions improved as the hours passed. From the moment we turned onto Angus Court Road, I was filled with happiness.

I’ve ridden this leg about half a dozen times in the past, but always in the autumn. To do it at this time of year was something a little different. The canola fields provided an impressive backdrop to Camel Hump. We didn’t stay long at the top of the climb as it was a little fresh.

It is fairly flat from there to Burra, but there a couple of pretty thick climbs and some joyous freewheeling sections too.

We were buzzed by magpies, saw kangaroos, felt a few spots of rain, encountered cows on the trail, waited while sheep were led from one field to another, and we had to get over a couple of electric fences. Ray took a tumble in the mud, just for fun. All in a day’s work, really.

We were fortunate with the wind, which was across us at worst. The roadies’ route meant that they had to endure a tough slog into it. Gotta love those mountain bikes.

The Burra Hotel was pleased to see us.

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Love your ride Just before we got back to the highway, I clocked 60 km/h on one of the bitumen downhills.

Nice.

The ride back into Tanunda was uphill, and into the strong wind. Traffic, magpies, and a bumpy shoulder. Not much fun, but a necessary evil. We managed to get to camp in time for lunch without too many dramas.

Day of Rest Rest day in Burra. Again...

I didn’t do much. The sleep in, hot shower and cooked breakfast provided a sense of luxury and leisure, and from there it was a case of just wondering what to eat or drink next. I’d cleaned and lubed my bike the night before, and done my washing, so I was free of the burden of responsibility.

Lunch was a surprisingly good pizza from Cook o’ Burra, which we ate sitting under the verandah of the Burra Hotel.

I bought three LP records for $1 each, and managed to safely stow them on one of the trucks.

In the afternoon the weather turned pretty foul, and broke a couple of tents. Judging by the strength of the wind, I think we were lucky that it was only two. Thankfully, the poor weather and high winds were gone by the evening.

Wind problems The first stretch of the Day Seven ride was a lovely sprint out of Burra and towards morning tea at the Russian Molokan cemetery.

Once the wind had gotten up though, it was a different matter entirely. The breathtaking, panoramic views of the ranges were soon forgotten as we rode the World’s End Highway and climbed into the wind. The leg between Robertstown and Point Pass was particularly tough. Point Pass looked like a bigger place that I would have imagined, and the golden spire of the church stood out for miles. I was happy and relieved to make lunch in Kapunda, where I enjoyed the best roll of the trip.

The last section was also quite climby, but we held a pretty good speed and actually quite enjoyed ourselves all the way into Kapunda, our evening

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destination. Unusually, we didn’t see another bike along the whole stretch.

We enjoyed a few pints in town, visited the bakery, and I bought a two-dollar 1940 edition of Treasure Island from a second-hand shop.

Back on the Mawson On Saturday, we hit the Mawson for some more off-road hi-jinks. The Kapunda-Tanunda journey is picturesque, and there’s some good riding to be had. I think it was the first time on the tour that we stopped specifically to take photographs.

We overshot a turn towards the end of the trail (still not sure how: all the markers were clearly visible), but even with the slight detour we were still sitting in Nuriootpa enjoying a coffee and a finger bun at 9:30. It was far too early to end the day’s riding, so we planned a route out of town, onto some dirt, and then back onto the Mawson towards Rowland Flat. We passed a few Annual Tour riders on the bitumen heading out; I think they must have thought we were lost or heading the wrong way. I suspect we confused more than a couple of them.

It was a stonking good ride. The dirt was a great workout and, once again, the scenery was beautiful.

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All good things...

Homeward bound.

I was expecting a tough day, as the profile and wind forecast were both suggesting hard work. I wasn’t disappointed.

We packed for the last time, and left camp around 7:30. The expected gentle downhill 30 kilometre run into Gawler seemed anything but.

The wind was fierce, blowing us sideways, and there was more than a little climbing, even if it was a nett downhill leg.

The five kilometre climb out of Gawler wasn’t too gruelling, and the ride along the top had its moments, both good and bad. The wind was another ripper though; probably the stongest yet.

The ultra-slow grind up to the summit of One Tree Hill Road was a bit of a heartbreaker. Not a lot of space for bikes and traffic, especially when you are tired and a bit wobbly...

The sideways buffeting of the wind as we reentered the suburbs made playing with the traffic even more difficult than usual. I got the feeling the most of the drivers felt that ten or so centimetres was more than enough space. How considerate...

The ride into the city along the Linear Path was a relief, notwithstanding the occasional careless dog owner.

I was delighted to arrive at Bike SA, some nine days after leaving, relatively intact and in good spirits. Lunch, the gathering up of gear and the usual bittersweet farewells were brief.

The toughest day of the ride was saved until last, so I definitely earned my Radox bath that afternoon.

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Mudlarking David Robinson

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here she was. Finally, after two weeks of slogging through mud, wind and rain along the best bike trail I know, I could see it. This was no mirage. All the anguish vanished from my mind and body as my own personal Shangri-La came into view. The North Blinman Hotel. Made it.

As I dismounted and merged into the growing throng of satisfied, relieved bike riders, it crossed my mind that this had been the toughest of the five epic Adelaide – Blinman Mawson Trail adventures upon which I’d embarked...

Preparation nil I was a long, long way from being anything like fit and ready for the 2013 Bicycle SA Outback Odyssey. Interstate and overseas travel, the associated jet lag, a lingering head cold and a cracked right rib conspired to put paid to any plans I had about getting properly fit. I’m generally pretty underdone when it comes to tour preparation, but this year took the biscuit. Had I made the right decision to embrace another 900+ kilometres of off-road riding? Would experience and muscle memory be enough? Only time would tell.

The first day The threat of bushfires prevented us from ascending via Stone Hut Road from Castambul on Day One. Given the weather that accompanied the Odyssey for the majority of the fortnight, the notion of bushfires seems almost incomprehensible now. Because of my lack of fitness, I was quietly relieved that we were going to be sticking to the road. It’s a nice walk up through the hills of Castambul, and the views are brilliant, but my bike and I have done it quite a few times already. The climb up through Kangaroo Creek Dam along Gorge Road was challenge enough for me, in any event, but I managed to keep on pedalling. The toughest climb, though, was the last push of the day, just before we dropped into Lobethal. I was glad to have saved some energy due to the detour, but it was a good workout nonetheless. I’d need everything I had in reserve to get me through the next few days while I regained some bike fitness.

Onwards we rode.

Resting I was happy to get four days under my belt. I still didn’t feel 100%, but I was growing into the ride. A rest day helped. Despite waking up on Wednesday to discover that the rain had found a way into my tent and I now had a small wading pool down at one end.

track were still wet, slippery and muddy, the blueish skies brightened things up. Highlights included the big climb through the wind turbines on the way to Spalding, riding the Bundaleer Channels, the lung-busting traverse up and over the Never Never Range, and the fast and bumpy Sunday morning stretch along Lynches Road.

Burra – Melrose The weather was certainly better behaved for the middle section of the Odyssey. It was still fresh, and I was wearing quite a few layers on Thursday, but the skies were significantly brighter. The day started with a detour along the bitumen, followed by a muddy climb to morning tea, but improved after that. The ride through to White Hill and then along Dust Hole Creek Road to Dare’s Hill is both challenging and exhilarating, and 2013 was no exception. Tooralie is no longer available for camping, so it was on to Hallett for our evening’s revelry. This stretched the day out to a distance of 89 kilometres, and the last windy and undulating hour of the day’s journey certainly made the extra distance memorable. The pre-dinner recovery session in the recently re-opened Wildongoleechie Hotel was well-deserved.

The rides to the pleasant towns of Spalding, Laura and then Melrose were completed in good conditions and, although some sections of the

Melrose After four more days of effort, Melrose provided the opportunity to take another break. The chance of a sleep-in on Monday meant that we could have a little fun on Sunday night. As we sat around the comforting campfire, I played a few songs on my guitar. Kind folks kept filling my glass, so I kept on playing.

Mud, Glorious Mud After lunch on Tuesday, the day of the Melrose to Quorn leg, the mud was almost impossible to negotiate: even on foot. Many, perhaps most, turned back and sought the solace of the blacktop.

A few of us pressed on. We rode when we could and pushed when we had to, often stopping to poke out the red, sticky clay from wheels, frames, cranks and chains. It crossed my mind that we might have been mad. Despite spending more time on foot than on the pedals as we crossed Richman Gap, we were truly grateful that we’d

Missing the hump After a couple of damp, challenging but reasonably uneventful days, we left Riverton on a cloudy, drizzly and cool Tuesday morning. The recent rains had rendered sections of the Mawson Trail all-but impassable, due to deep, deep mud.

This deprived most people of the pleasure of riding the trail all the way from Clare to Burra, as Mawsoneers were diverted after traversing the first few kilometres of Angus Court Road. This was a shame because the trip up and over the Camel’s Hump and on into Burra along the glorious red dirt is one of the early treats of the Odyssey. A couple of intrepid adventurers ignored the detour and rode the full Mawson and, while I was happy for them, I wasn’t envious. Especially when I saw their photos.

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Love your ride done so when we reached the summit. Under grey skies the vista was breathtaking, if not quite as spectacular as usual, and the scrabbly downhill was dry enough to enjoy some full-tilt descending.

We’d certainly earned it.

The longest day Things got off to a bad start the morning we left Quorn. I was waiting to depart, perched upon my bike, leaning on a fence post in the dark, drizzly gloom. As I pushed off to leave, my wheels refused to move. They’d sunk and gotten stuck in the mud while I’d been sitting on the bike. I fell to the left, couldn’t get my shoe out, and hit the ground pretty hard. It hurt a bit, but no one saw: that’s the important thing.

There was more mud to come, not long into the day. It was pretty solid stuff too, but we were getting used to it.

The post-lunch ride to the Cradock Pub, now officially part of the Mawson Trail, was pretty tough. The mud was wheel-stopping in parts but at least the sun was shining. I kept my swearing to a minimum.

After cleaning the crud of my bike I noticed that I’d broken a(nother) spoke. My wheel would just have to cope for the last couple of days.

The muddy campsite at Hawker added a final emphasis to what had been a hard day. Everything I had with me was now officially brown.

I expect many campers wondered what all the whimpering was about at bed time that night.

My left-hand side was giving me a lot of pain, and getting into the sleeping bag was a major effort.

This evening serenade was to continue for the rest of the trip.

North of Hawker By some miracle, the skies brightened for the last couple of the days of the Odyssey. We still endured detours, and it was quite cool and windy, but it was dry and not too muddy along the revised routes on Thursday. It was an easy ride until we arrived at the Moralana Scenic Drive, where we turned into the wind and enjoyed the next 30 unforgiving, bumpy, undulating kilometres. At least the surface was hard.

Friday was almost perfect. Clear blue skies and dry ground. No need for detours. The bouncy thrills around Rawnsley Bluff in the shimmering, ice-cold dawn sunlight were brilliant, and the rest of the day lived up to all expectations. The single-track out of Wilpena is still close to being the best stretch of the Mawson, the views from the top at Razorback were unsurpassed, and the afternoon grind was a terrific workout. It’s a pretty tough course, and has every sort of riding imaginable, but it’s hard to beat. And, of course, there’s the ultimate pay-off: Blinman.

all the hype is about. My advice is to come again and hope for sunshine and a bit of warmth. There’s no doubt, however, that this year’s trip was an adventure. I didn’t mind most of the detours as I think that I have probably traveled every inch of the Mawson in previous years. And it’s not just riders who were affected by the conditions.

The organisers, marshals, volunteers—everyone involved in putting on the tour—had to do a lot of fast thinking and quick planning to make the journey a success for all. Even though the two weeks was challenging in many ways, the spirits of all involved, whether on a bike or not, remained commendably high. The 2013 Odyssey was something different, something I will always remember.

I was still quite sore on my left hand side when I returned home. The doctor confirmed my suspicions: Iíd cracked two ribs when I fell as I was leaving Quorn. He mentioned something about ‘men of my age’ and ‘knowing better’ but I wasn’t paying attention. I was dreaming of the Mawson Trail.

Aftermath Given the myriad diversions and poor weather, I suspect that firsttimers might have wondered what

Life’s better on a bike >>>

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Clare Valley Cycling Team and The Little Red Grape Clare Valley Cycling Team

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he group was originally formed in 2009 by Andrew Waters, Manager of the Lifestyle Centre Clare. The Clare Council had won the opening stage of the 2010 Tour Down Under and Andrew placed an advertisement in the Northern Argus asking for local riders to ride in the Tour Down Under 2010 as the Clare Valley Cycling Team.

Since then the group meets at the Clare Oval every Sunday for a ride in the district. The numbers of the group have continued to grow and now we have over 20 riders.

The group has entered various events held

by Bicycle SA, like Amy’s Ride, the Grand Slam Challenge series, and the Coast to Coast Challenge.

With Nick Tillbrook’s encouragement some of the riders in the group have started racing with groups like the VLCC (Veterans and Ladies Cycling) while some of the other riders race under the Masters’ Licence. Another rider recently took part in an Iron Man event.

The Little Red Grape Doran from the Little Red Grape Bakery approached us recently and asked to sponsor the group. He has supplied us all with the Little Red Grape cycling kits, and we have now changed our name from the Clare Valley Cycling Team to the Little Red Grape Cycling group.

We conclude each Sunday’s ride with a coffee, and plan to put a team in the 2014 Tour Down Under in our new name, complete with riding knicks and jerseys, of The Little Red Grape.

If anyone is interested in joining us for a ride please contact Nicola Edwards 0414 365 477 nicolawayne@smartchat.net.au Nick Tillbrook on 0447 843 138 or Vin Kelly 0417 840 361 kvmtkelly@ bigpond.com.

August – October 2013

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Cycle!

The Sheridan Family History Raelene Mason of the Peninsula Pedallers

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wo years ago Peter Sheridan told me he had been investigating his family history and found that in 1902 his grandfather and his brother had cycled 20 miles north of Hawker down to Clare for his Grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary. I said, “Well Peter, you know what you have to do; reenact that!” They rode it in January, but we sensibly decided on April school holidays as the weather would be better.

So on Sunday 14 April we drove to Hawker, stayed the night in the caravan park, and the next morning formed up and cycled to Quorn. Six of the group actually had stayed the night in Quorn so cycled out to meet us at the lunch spot and we cycled together into Quorn to the Bakery where we all demolished coffee and cakes. We re- grouped to have pre dinner drinks and then off to a local hotel for tea.

On Tuesday morning we met at Eighth Street and cycled up the hill out of Quorn toward Melrose. It was a beautiful day; no wind and a joy to be on the bikes.

We commented that we had gears to ride with.

In 1902, Grandpa would have been in his suit and white shirt, skinny tie and had metal clips on his ankles to stop the trouser leg from getting caught in the chain. He may even have had a kitbag on his handle bar. He certainly would not have had panniers as we know them!

On the way we saw a few different vehicles, but we had one lady pull along side of us, wind her car

window down and ask what we were fundraising for. When we replied that we were re-enacting a journey from 1902, she was excited and said well done, put her foot down and drove off. They didn’t have cars in 1902.

On arrival in Melrose we went to our various accommodation locations and regrouped for the evening meal. We stayed with Josie’s relative and enjoyed wonderful hospitality.

Next morning, as we had been doing, a lady friend of ours drove off in our vehicle in support of our morning tea stop, carrying extra water, and eats, and we cycled on toward Wirrabara for morning tea. We stopped and had lunch in the town square in Laura where we also enjoyed magnificent Golden North ice creams. It reminded me of why we cycle. We can indulge and not worry about how many carbohydrates we consume. And we need them!

We were all booked to stay in the Gladstone Gaol for the night; and what a night it was! We had enough food for the whole group so had a magnificent feast, did a tour of the gaol and enjoyed the company of the caretaker, Dutch Holland. He had some great stories to tell.

The next morning, the slow morning riser of the group (me) was the first up the stairs to the roof to see the sunrise. It was well worth it, and I saw the kangaroos feeding inside the gaol grounds, and a train went through and on up toward Broken Hill all in the early morning twilight. It was a spectacular start to our final day’s ride.

Belair National Park opens up for riding

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August – October 2013

Our itinerary: Monday 15 April: Hawker to Quorn, 66 km Tuesday 16: Quorn to Melrose, 63 km Wednesday 17: Melrose to Gladstone, 58 km Thursday 18: Gladstone to Clare, 74 km

How does new motor vehicle legislation affect bike riders

Christian Haag

ant some more trails to ride on? Now you’re in luck! The Department of Environment’s pilot programs to increase access for mountain bike riders in a number of Parks across the Lofty Ranges is gaining momentum. Building on the success of the Craigburn Farm network at the end of last year, readers will remember that Cleland Conservation Park was opened up for mountain bike riding on specified management tracks and trails. There is no doubt that it has been a great success for the community, who can now enjoy these precious natural assets by bike.

Environment Minister Ian Hunter recently declared the shared use network in Belair National Park open, with over 60km of shared trails available to walkers and riders. The trails at Belair National Park attract more than 300,000 visitors a year. “South Australia’s conservation parks and reserves exist for the enjoyment of the whole community and we know that bike riding is an increasingly popular way for people to enjoy nature and the outdoors,” Mr Hunter said. Added to this will be a 17 km-long, specially-designed network being built at Sturt Gorge Recreation Park, to cater for families and cyclists of all ages and abilities.

Several photos later, we departed for Gulnare for morning tea, lunch at Yacka, and on toward Clare. We had a heavy head wind that day; the first I might add, so up until then we had been very fortunate.

We rode through the road works for the new highway extension and all got wet and dirty bikes, but cycled in to Clare feeling a sense of achievement. We could not imagine what it must have been like for riders all those years ago, with no bitumen, no gears, and depending on hospitality along the way for water and food.

Well done to Peter and Lana Sheridan for offering this ride to the Peninsula Pedallers Club members, and thank you so much for sharing it with us. It was a great ride. All the team members enjoyed it immensely and we have a sense of comradeship we would not have gained any other way.

Several members of the group are triathletes, some road riders only, and some prefer to tour, but we kept together and had an immensely enjoyable time. The ride left Peter with only two weeks before qualifying for the Kona Hawaii Iron Man Challenge in October. He is now into serious training and we all wish him well.

Michael Bridge

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ew legislation will affect cyclists involved in accidents that are seeking compensation.

In order to understand the legal talk, Andersons

Solicitors have outlined exactly what this new legislation means in their LawTalk Blog. They believe that Government has “created an entirely new” and “unnecessarily complicated system” of assessing claims. Make sure you read about the new changes.

It is important to remember that these trails form part of a broader pilot program to assess the benefits of riding in Parks. Visitation levels, trail conditions and maintenance requirements will all be measured to ensure a net benefit to the community is delivered. So if you have ever wanted to ride through some of the best riding country in the country, now is the time. And please share your experiences with us on Facebook.

But remember, these are shared use trails, so watch out for other walkers and riders and slow down when passing.

Make sure that you check out the map online at <www.bikesa.asn.au/servlet/Web?s= 4036293&action=downloadResource&resource ID=1716369994>.

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We suggest that you read the blog here to better undertand the legislation: <www.andersons. com.au/lawtalk/posts/2013/july/how-does-thenew-motor-vehicle-accident-legislation-affectbike-riders.aspx>.

If you’re member of Bicycle SA, you can sleep in peace. You’ll have the security of third party and personal accident insurance, whether you’re riding for work, for fun or for training, seven days a week anywhere in Australia and NZ. Not only do you get insurance but you’ll also save money in bike stores and on Bike SA events and activities. Members also receive a free first interview and 10% discount on a range of legal services including vehicle accidents with Andersens Solicitors.

www.bikesa.asn.au

Love your ride Stepping out of my comfort zone Des Chabrel Bike SA members love cycling. They also love getting out there and doing other crazy activities. Des went to London to run a marathon. welve months ago I made the decision to step out of my comfort zone and run the London Marathon in 2013. My wife and I were planning a trip overseas and I had the opportunity to include the marathon if I could get an entry. Entries by open ballot closed within one week of last year’s race so although I got into the ballot I did not hold out much hope of scoring an entry. The second option was to approach one of the many charities who ‘buy’ entries and ‘sell’ them on to their selected supporters. I chose WaterAid as my charity and sent them a resumé. Their vision is to help provide safe water and sanitation to third world countries and as I spent all my working life in the water industry this was the obvious charity for me.

In October 2012 I was advised that I was not successful in the open ballot but WaterAid were happy to have me as one of their team of 100 entrants. I had to guarantee to raise a minimum of $3000 for WaterAid to secure my place.

After six months of training and fund raising I left for London. Many friends and family had helped me make my financial target and I was quietly confident of my physical ability to complete the 42 kilometer run. The big day started at about 7:00 am from our B&B in Kensington. It took one hour and three trains to get to the start area in Greenwich Park. There were over 39,000 entrants gathering there in all states of excitement and apprehension. I spent the next two hours either on the queue for the toilets, or the queue to drop my gear on the bag truck for the finish, or chasing small patches of sun around Greenwich Park. There was a period of 30 seconds of silence before the start as a mark of respect following the bombing in Boston the week before and it was very somber moment in the midst of all the frenetic activity.

We set off at 10:00 am from three different start

2013 Kona Dirty Weekend: What it’s like to be a Rider ...continued stage races, and realise how little climbing there was in those events. A total of 167 km of single track with over 4300 m climbing I was stoked to

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have survived and finished (fairly) strong. When I say strong; I mean I didn’t cramp. I didn’t bonk.

But I was well and truly cooked to ‘well-done’ standards.

Fellow TORQ rep Jamie Moore had a super solid race in the six hour solo category finishing in eighth place with a total of eight laps.

Sunday night came and I was stranded on the couch, unable to move. Walking like a starfish and lines and merged together about 5 km into the race. There were crowds of spectators on each side of the road right from the start. Each time we ran under a subway or underpass there was a band belting out music. So much crowd support because the majority of runners run for charity and have their names on their tops so the spectators cheer them on.

The course took us from Greenwich, down to the River Thames and then followed the river to Tower Bridge, around the Isle of Dogs (the old London dock area), back past the Tower of London, along The Embankment to the finish in The Mall.

The crowd support was amazing. Press reports quoted over 700,000 spectators around the course.

WaterAid had two cheer stations and an after-race reception for their entrants and I had family in the crowd as well. I went through as bad patch at about 18 km but got over that to finish well with no injuries. My aim was to finish in four and a half hours and I actually finished in four hours thirtynine minutes in position something over 19,000th but well up in the over 70 age group.

The whole experience was fantastic and a great way to get out of my comfort zone and at the same time do something for people less fortunate. A big thank you to all who supported my financially and with their interest in my cause.

dreading what Monday morning would bring!

Thankfully... Monday I woke feeling ten times better, but very tired and hungry!

I do not know how the 24 hour solo riders do it.

I don’t think I ever want to find out. Serious kudos to all the solo riders out there... You are amazing.

The thankyou list...

BikeSA for a great event SAMBA for the track design All the volunteers that make this event possible As always to TORQ Nutrition: without this product I would not have survived!

Jason Morrison for lending his shifter and providing mechanical support!

Dad for the photography and delivery of the delicious muffins we left in the fridge!

Over the Edge for the encouragement and use of their tent!

The little kids on course for their constant cheering: always bringing a smile to my face!

The Cat Empite, Alt-J, Fun and Triple J for the survival beats Sarah Holmes works for Bike SA and is a mountain bike fanatic, being sponsored by Torq Nutrition since 2011.

She was brave (or crazy) enough to enter into the 12 hour female solo ride during the 2013 Kona Dirty Weekend.

New Members Jamshed Ahmed Gillian Alsbury Kevin Applebee Ryan Beggs Les Birch Nathan Bird Gavin Blackwell Sam Blight Ian Brenner Josie Buckwell Emily Buddle John David Burgess Gregory Burns Greg Butler Nicole Casanova Neil Coghlan Eddy Collins Shaun Colum Mike Costa Paul Crawford

Greg Crome John Crossley Jay Cummins Ben Currie Michael Davies Colin Davies Geraint Davies Jeffrey Della Bosca Chris Drabsch Patrick Dupont John Edmeades Gavin Faehrmann Phillip Fisher Brian Fix Kerrin Florance Jessica Flynn Peter Forbes Anne Fowlie Carmine Gallarello Colin Ginn

Life’s better on a bike >>>

Nevi Gorup Robin Gray Kaye Greenwood Nicholas Hall Darien Hallam Kerry Haythorpe Richard Hein Jess Heyer Katelin Heywood Alan Hole Simon Howard Tony Hughes Peter Humphries Eddie Jin Andrew Kemp Cherie Kirkwood Joshua Lapsley Michelle Leigh Mark Lockwood Michael Lumsden

Contents

Steve Mackie John Mangano Larry Marshall Greg Mccarthy Hannah McConnell John McKeown Georgina McQuade Nadelle Medlen Danny Mulyono Peter Murphy Wayne Musster Vinh Nguyen Jason Nieuwoudt Michael Nitschke Catherine O’Brien Anthony O’Brien Tracey O’Callaghan Jack Paitaridis Jenny Panagaris Helen Parsons

Chris Payne Luk Peeters Tim Peters Christine Petrou Dennis Pheasant Riki Popovic Sharon Powell Adrian Quintrell Hannah Rice Richard Sabel Erik Schartner Matthias Schneider Evan Schultz Leroy Searles Richard Shanahan Peter Simpfendorfer Jaskarn Singh Paul Solito Alistair Standish Josephine Stirna

Barry Sumner Ronald Taylor Paul Thomas Rowena Tiller Philip Toft Nathaniel Toll Paul Tolmachoff Celia Tomlinson Thien Truong Kelly Vincent Ian Vogt David Wall Matthew Walton Ashley Wass Jennifer Weaver William Wray Teck Yit Tan Mike Zbierski Grant Zippel

Welcome all

August – October 2013

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Cycle!

Tailwind

The Conversation is an Australian website with intelligent opinion on a range of subjects, transportation included. There’s one piece from it on an earlier page. Another recent item reads, in part: “Whether we like it or not, there is a pecking order on the road. At the top, either high performance sports cars or the massive B-double freight trucks reign supreme. On the lower rungs, pedestrians and cyclists vie for the last place in transport planning.

“And somewhere near the bottom, perhaps a rung or two above pedestrians and cyclists, you’ll find motorised mobility scooters (gophers), the Segway personal transporter, and a variety of not-so-acceptable and not-sowell-known electric-motored mobility devices.

But these devices could be the answer to an intractable challenge: getting people out of their cars for short trips.

“Personal mobility devices, or PMDs, are worth a fresh look as a solution to urban travel...”

Read the rest at <theconversation.com/electricunicycles-minifarthings-and-the-future-of-urbantransport-13331>.

While you’re there, take a look at a piece with medical workers’ views on helmets: <theconversation.com/bike-helmets-anemergency-doctors-perspective-13935>.

Its absolutely you!

A team in the UK has developed a helmet formed of recycled newspaper: even the strap is paper fibres although the buckle is stainless steel. It’s aimed at bicycle hire systems where it would be used by one rider and then recycled.

See <www.paperpulphelmet.com> for all the detail.

Will we see it with City Bikes?

This is Norman the Scooter Dog, who has his own website at <www. normanthescooterdog.com>.

“But back in 1948, a number of inspired amateur craftsmen — not content with riding mundane, conventional bicycles — took their enthusiasm to another, unlikely level and…” is part of the introduction to a slideshow of ‘preposterous creations’. Here’s just one: the rest are at <life.time.com/curiosities/bizarrebikes-built-by-chicagoans-in-the-1940s>.

It’s a bicycle, but that trailer is something special: it turns the bike into a flying machine, a motorised paraglider. Probably not the thing to commute on. Read about it, and watch video, at <boingboing.net/2013/06/20/flying-bicycle.html> and other places.

Are bikes good for business? A recent study in New York “shows that streets that safely accommodate bicycle and pedestrian travel are especially good at boosting small businesses, even in a recession.”

See <www.americabikes.org/nyc_study_finds_protected_bicycle_ lanes_boost_local_business>.

Every now and then someone reinvents the wheel. Take the Loopwheel: “Loopwheels do away with conventional spokes in favour of three carbon fibre springs or limbs. The idea is that this wheel offers integral suspension and in-turn additional comfort to the rider by flexing in a way that a conventional wheel never could.”

More at <www.bikeradar.com/news/article/loopwheels-spokelesssuspension-wheel-on-show-37032>.

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August – October 2013

Contents

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Love your ride Support the stores that support us Aldgate Bike Shop Avanti Plus Salisbury Bernie Jones Cycles Bicycle Express Bicycles Mount Barker Bike About Bike Lane Bike Society

The Bike Station Bio-Mechanics Brooks Cycle Depot Challinger’s Cycles The Classic Bicycle Shop Clark’s Cycles Complete Cycle Corsa Cycles Cumberland Cycles Cycle On Cycleworx

Cycle Worx Avanti Plus Euride

Flinders Active Lifestyle Flinders Cycles G&D Cycles Gawler Cycles

120 Mt Barker Rd Stirling 8339 5954 3/1760 Main North Rd Salisbury Plain 8258 8885 239 Diagonal Rd Warradale 8296 9652 124 Halifax St Adelaide 8232 7277 12a Walker Street 8391 4777 2/80 Onkaparinga Valley Road Woodside 8389 7681 Shop 69 The Golden Way Golden Grove 8288 7766 100 Anzac Highway Everard Park 8297 9952 391 Brighton Road Hove 8358 500 394 Main North Road Blair Athol 8262 5449 352 Brighton Road Hove 8296 6011 260 Waymouth Street, Adelaide 8410 9499 63 Bridge Street Murray Bridge 8532 2868 8 Tyler Street Port Lincoln 8682 3468 254 Pulteney Street Adelaide 8232 3330 354 Magill Rd Kensington Park 8332 3083 45 Cliff St Port Noarlunga 8327 0200 182 Gouger Street Adelaide 8221 5068 468 Goodwood Rd Cumberland Park 8271 6550 2/19 Albyn Terrace Strathalbyn 8536 3211 106 Semaphore Rd Semaphore 8449 8199 820 Port Rd Woodville 5011 8268 6404 122 Unley Rd, Unley 8271 8001 135 Semaphore Road Semaphore 8449 8199 102 King William Rd Hyde Park 8272 0422 1a Pattinson Road Newton 8336 9958 197 Rundle Street Adelaide 8223 3315 Lindes Lane, Rear 93 Rundle Mall Adelaide 8223 1913 1 Hospital Rd Port Augusta 8641 0269 52 Commercial St East Mt Gambier 8725 6002 63 Murray Street Gawler 8522 2343 17/485 Main North Road Evanston 8522 2343

Giant Adelaide Glenelg Cycles International Cycles JT Cycles

Lifecycles Mike Turtur Cycles Mitcham Cycles Moonta Cycle & Sports Norwood Parade Cycles Over the Edge Oxygen Cycles Plympton Cycles Ray’s Outdoors

Road Rage Cycles South Coast Cycles Standish Cycles

Star Cycles Super Elliotts Tailwind Cycles The Classic Bicycle Shop Trak Cycles Treadly Upfront Bikes Victor Harbor Cycle & Skate

2 –3 53/67 Hindmarsh Square Adelaide 8223 5978 754 Anzac Highway Glenelg 8294 4741 70 Payneham Rd Stepney 8362 2609 266 Pulteney St Adelaide 8359 2755 650 North East Rd Holden Hill 8369 0550 45 Kensington Rd Norwood 8331 3255 55 Main North Rd Medindie 8342 1882 21 – 23 Belair Road Kingswood 8271 0692 49 George Street Moonta 8825 3222 216 The Parade Norwood 8332 1889 6 Stuart Street Melrose 8666 2222 143 Main Road McLaren Vale 8323 7345 428b Marion Rd Plympton 8297 0312 399 – 403 Main North Rd Enfield 8359 5866 721 Tapleys Hill Rd Adelaide Airport 8355 4333 1 Phillip Hwy Elizabeth 8252 0166 199 Payneham Road St Peters 8363 1003 125 Beach Rd Christies Beach 8326 1664 290 Unley Road Unley 8271 9733 ??

Shop 12 Tea Tree Plaza, 976 Main North Rd Modbury 8264 6001 348 North East Rd Klemzig 8261 1696 26 Park Tce Salisbury 8285 1144 Marion Shopping Centre Marion 8377 1752 170 Main South Rd Morphett Vale 8384 4704 Shop 24 West Lakes Mall 8356 5492 195 Henley Beach Rd Mile End 8443 5435 5 Barfield Crescent Elizabeth West 8255 1979 200 Rundle St Adelaide 8223 3946 40 – 44 Blackburn St Reynella 8322 6714 254 Pulteney Street Adelaide SA 8232 3330 138 The Parade Norwood 8431 5711 5/4–10 Ebenezer Place Adelaide 8232 0158 7/47–67 Main South Road O’Halloran Hill 8381 9069 73 Victoria St Victor Harbor 8552 1417

Electric bicycles may be set to boom Julian Ferguson How to “... provide safe bicycle parking and simultaneously create an interesting visual and spatial impression...”

See it at <www.designboom.com/ design/the-mad-peleton>.

Four wheels bad, two wheels good. What about one wheel? This electric personal mobility device is gyroscopically controlled and is the impending product of RYNO Motors, <rynomotors.com>.

Life’s better on a bike >>>

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lectric bicycles could be set for growth in South Australia, with legislation to be introduced this year to increase the maximum power of the motorassisted cycles from 200 watts to 250 watts.

Bike SA had a chat to the media about the new legislation which we think is good news.

“It will bring Australia more into the international market: more on a par with the European Community,” said Bike SA’s CEO, Christian Haag.

The online newspaper InDaily noted that in Germany there are 1.3 million electric bikes on the roads, with a top speed of 30 km/h and a range of between 30 and 40 km between charges.

There are many benefits of the e-bike, particularly for older riders and businesses, such as couriers.The Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood told the media that they have implications for the road and cycle network that will need to be addressed over the next five years as Adelaide’s cycling culture shifts from ‘the Lycra set’ to commuter cycling.

Will Adelaide’s streets be full of electric bikes in years to come? Only time will tell.

Or even things like that?

August – October 2013

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2013 Get timed along the SOUTHERN EXPRESSWAY Closed to cars! Open to bikes!

2013

Amy’s Ride SA

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

120km

• 65km • 30km • 25km • 18km

SUNDAY 3 NOVEMBER

• Ride the time of your life and support the Amy Gillet Foundation and Bike SA’s road safety campaigns in SA • Meet your personal challenge • Ride the Southern Expressway with your family and friends!

• Family-friendly and fully supported bike ride EVENT UPDATES Twitter Facebook # AmysRideSA fb.com/BicycleSA

R E GI S TER AT

• 100km

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“The best cycling event I have ever been part of!”

Anna, Participant