A ride: Around Cox Peninsula

This morning I was up at 4:45 and out the door by 5:30am. On my way to do my occasional ride around Darwin harbour. 

The Plan: 

According to this map the ride will be as follows. Start at somewhere around map 8, cut through 12, 13 and 14 continue through 20 through to Stuart Highway (green line) follow green line through 21, 27 and 34. Turn right at the Red line (Cox Peninsula Rd) continue through 33, 32 and 31 then continue on red line through the places that appear as nothing more than a line on a page until Mandorah (Insert map 31), catch boat across blue bit back to 16 then continue home through 10, 6 and 7 back to 8.... And that's it. - It's not a new ride for me. It's pretty much the only long distance round trip available in Darwin without covering the same ground. I just thought I'd post the rout in terms of our local street directory because it just about covers every map in the book.

I didn't check the weather report but was hoping there'd be a bit of rain about. I checked the moon cycle and we had quite a full moon until after dawn which is always good for early morning or night cycling. Full moon and clear skies are good conditions for night riding... but the clear skies aren't such a good thing when cycling through the heat of the day in the tropics.

End of cycle path, about to join Stuart Highway. (Moon top right)

It was a pleasant ride to Howard Springs Rd along the cycle path, I even had some company for part of the journey. A guy on a road bike was behind me for a km or two, he had an extremely bright headlight which overpowered my puny torch and projected a surreal shadow of me onto the path and surrounding trees right in front of us. I wish I could have filmed it, it looked amazing and entertained me until he decided to overtake. Once he passed me I tucked into his slipstream and coasted most of the rest of the way to Howard Springs Rd, where my temporary travel companion/projectionist turned back. I don't feel too bad about tailing him, he was on a slick bike and I had a few kgs of stuff in my panniers. (Big thanks to you mate whoever you were)

Although the sky was clear it was humid. The grass was wet at home and by the time I'd reached the Stuart Highway my whole body was already dripping with sweat. Damn! Now that I've got a pair of those fancy padded lycra pants, today would have been a good day to wear them, I could already feel the chaffing bite.

The Stuart Highway from Howard Springs to the Cox Peninsula road was predictably hazardous. Several road trains passed me, which can be a fairly intimidating experience but they are usually very responsible drivers and rarely do anything stupid or dangerous, the worst is always the arrogant drivers in V8s or Work trucks who, despite the lack of traffic around them insist on speeding past cyclists as close as they can. Plenty of those on the road this morning.

Insect houses are big in the NT

Just out of Coolalinga I saw a guy pedalling in the opposite direction with trailer load of gear, It looked like all his worldly possessions plus recyclable bottles he'd collected. I'd actually seen him the night before at Palmerston, it's quite an unmistakable rig. I crossed the highway to go and say g'day but he wasn't much into chatting so I headed back in my original direction, it was getting late and I wasn't looking forward to riding in the sun. Unfortunately the sun had begun to rise as I pulled into the Noonamah service station. I'd prefer to get some of the Cox Peninsula Rd out of the way before the sun came up and it was looking like an unusually clear day.

Me and the Avanti taking a break at Blackmore River, Cox Peninsula Rd.

I stopped at the Blackmore Rive bridge for the obligatory 1/2 way photo and rest, it's become a bit of a ritual over the past few years, but this year I'm on a different bike. The Shogun has a flat tyre and the bottom bracket is getting quite rough. By now it was starting to warm up, I guzzled a some water and wondered why on such a long ride I would choose to wear a sleeveless vest and not bring sunscreen!

From here on, as usual the ride became decidedly harder. It's not the terrain, it's more the fact that I'd already ridden about 60km, my back had started aching, I was getting tired and the heat of the sun had started to take it's toll. After another 1/2 hour of riding I was bonked! Had to stop and eat. Macaroni and cheese leftovers picked me up heaps but without cloud cover the sun was just sapping all my energy. I could feel my skin sizzling and knew I'd stuffed up bad.

I finally made it to Beleuen and discovered that the store was actually open. There was only another 10km to go but by now I was feeling dehydrated and was really dragging my feet. I've called in there so many times to find it closed. Not today! Stepping in the door I was greeted by a slushy machine! Drank half an orange slushy sitting at the picnic table outside Beleuin store and took the rest with me for the final leg.

Nearly at my destination I had a minor crash on. On the last few kms from Wagait beach to the Mandorah jetty there's a bicycle path. If you ever do this ride be very careful when leaving the road to enter the bike path. All the dirt and grit from the unpaved gutter washes out onto the beginning of the path. It's deep enough for the front wheel to lose traction. I approached the path on a slight angle, the front wheel slipped and I ended up sliding on my  side a couple of meters with the bike on top of me. No great damage done just a few grazes, my pannier got a bit ripped but the bike was OK.

Mandorah Jetty - Low tide

There was an hour wait for the ferry so wandered down to the sea and washed the gravel and grit of my elbow and knee. By now I had become aware just how burned I was. Even though I'd done the bulk of the ride there was still one more leg to do. The ride from the city back home to the northern suburbs... Another 15 km, I'd rather not ride. As usual this part was slow and painful, I had a headache and when I finally arrived I was totally spent (as usual). All in all a good way to punish myself out of the funk I'd been in for the past few weeks. 

Comfortable ride across the sea

Happy cycling!

Whose streets are they anyway?

Today got fairly difficult filled with anger and despair. Only now at 11pm have I been able breath out and find some peace and mental quiet... quiet.

Life will always present us with adversity... but how do we fight a society that would seek our demoralization?

I have to confess I occasionally struggle with the obvious futility and meaninglessness of many things in this life. I know I am prone to seeing the darker side of things but most of the time I manage to keep it fairly real and just get on with things... Actually I'm not a depressive kind of person, I just don't like to kid myself too much about what's going on. Honestly I try to get a great deal of pleasure out of this world, but today I got a glimpse of the dark side and have struggled not to be overcome by it.

(Side note)

I recently received word that a man who has been on hunger strike for the past two months may soon succumb to severe malnutrition and all the unpleasant consequences that go along with it! I am not writing this to invoke an argument or stir any kind of reaction. I include this piece of information only to suggest that there is cause for despair! If a person has gone to these lengths to defy the callous nature of his imprisonment and the dehumanizing system that would treat him and other asylum seekers the way the Australian Government continues to do, then any human being with a heart must ask themselves is this justice? To loose all hope for a future and be driven to take such action must surely be the response to an absolutely intolerable situation. My heart goes out to this man and his family. I believe it is too late to rectify the harm starvation has done to his body and he may only have days to live.

"When I was your age...."

Yep I think it and I say it all the time and I know that every generation seems to struggle to relate to the one before it or after but!

The tipping point for me today came when this happened!

When I got home from work the kids and wife appeared having just ridden their bikes back from the local park. It's not far and they only had to ride on 'quiet' suburban streets. Sadly there is no such thing as a 'quiet suburban street'!

In just a few hundred meters ride my boy was nearly hit by a car and apparently soon after another car passed my family, and in a completely unrelated incident some dickhead yelled at them to get off the road and ride on the footpath! (Not on a major road but a suburban street with a speed limit of 50km per hour and 40 during school days!) This scared the crap out of my children and caused my wife to feel vulnerable and intimidated! 

The kids got home and were in tears, they vowed never to go out on their bikes again! We talked through what had happened and the kids were reassured to know they'd done nothing wrong but this did nothing to restore their faith in their fellow humans or their entitlement to be outside at all! I could not lie and tell them that on the whole people are OK. As a cyclist on Australian roads generally we have to assume that our countrymen and women are NOT OK! They act with such a sense of entitlement on the roads and an almost narcissistic disregard for human life that they need to be regarded as extremely dangerous.

Recently in an eight week period Darwin has had 5 hit and run incidents.

This incident coupled with the knowledge of the condition of a man who'd rather starve himself to death than entrust his future to the care of the Australian people has left me once again wondering if humanity is only a romantic myth.

Things were different when I was a kid! And the differences cannot be ignored!
When I was my kids age, I was free to play outside without any great fear of being killed by my neighbors. We all played in the street. Cars slowed down when they saw people on the road and it was expected that we would share the road! Without that kind of liberty how long will it take for our children to reach the same level of despair experienced by our friend who is now lying in his death bed? If we allow the bullies to determine the culture and don't actively start caring for each other pretty soon we may lose the capacity to care for ourselves!

Peace.

Great Vic. A bike ride... Part VIII

Day 4 - 2nd December 

Bright - Moyhu

Last post for this ride I reckon! It's been nearly a week since I ended the ride and it's really becoming hazy in my mind.
Tuesday 2nd December.... 45th anniversary of my birth.
Packed up wet tent, had breakfast early, loaded gear in truck rolled out of Bright at 6:45, the air was cool, sky was blue through a veil of mist, road dry, skin tingling from the coolness. Perfect day for a ride.

The ride along the Great Alpine Rd to Myrtleford. The most beautiful scenery, riding through a valley full of old tobacco drying towers, hopps gardens, grapes and various other crops. 84 km of downhill cruising, you can peddle along at a comfortable speed of around 30km/h.

The camp at Bright

I stopped in Myrtleford for a breakfast birthday treat and a chat with some other riders then slowly made my way back into the growing throng of riders and was soon turning left into Snow Rd headed, in a round about way to Moyhu. The road continued downhill and the landscape and foliage began to change as we descended the hill. We arrived in Moyhu before lunch time. It was quite a contrast from soggy Bright. Dry yellow fields, a very small town nestled between the eucalyptus on the banks of the King River. I think we're still in wine country but the field we camped in was rutted from the hooves of cattle.

Moyhu camp, drying our wet gear out

Birthday treat

The people of the town had converted their local park into a kind of mini carnival ready for a street party to welcome the riders.  The streets were decorated with bikes of every kind and in all kinds of condition.

colourful decorated bike Moyhu

Frightening reminder

It was a very hot day so I shouted myself a sorbet icecream. Riding back into town I was told we can swim in the river, just a kilometer down the road. Fantastic! I get to cool off and don't need to cue for a cramped 2 minute shower!

King river swimming hole

I had some pretty good company for dinner, unfortunately I've forgotten my new friends names, A fella in his 50s along with his daughter and her fiance, we had a great chat for an hour or so before dinner then the crowds started to appear and I decided it was time to make room for people to sit and eat their dinner. It amazes me the people who do these rides! Families, people of all ages and ability, it's fantastic to be amongst so much good spirit, enthusiasm and zest for life. This had been a good day, right up until I finished my dinner.

After dinner I started to feel a bit off, the feeling became worse all evening until I couldn't bear it and went to the sick bay. I just wanted to vomit but couldn't.

At the sick bay I was treated for dehydration, they stuck a saline drip in my arm and jabbed me with anti nausea something or other. It didn't work and by 2am I was spewing my guts out in the middle of a paddock.

Didn't get much sleep all night but at least I got rid of the nausea.

Day 5 Moyhu - Mansfield

The longest ride on this trip, this day was scheduled to be the most challenging ride day. At first I thought there's no way I can ride. I had intended to sleep in and just ride the sag wagon all the way to Mansfield but something compelled me to pack up my gear and get going.

I left camp reasonably late and experienced what it's like to ride at the back with the stragglers and the goof offs. I say goof offs because there were quite a few school groups toward the back and they didn't show any of the discipline I'd become used to with the front riders. The boys were all over the road and there were a lot more people to contend with. People were riding at very different paces and there were so many of them that there was constant need to overtake, It was much harder to avoid collisions riding at the back.

I was feeling very weak but determined to go as far as I could... By morning tea time I was spent! I'd peddled just 24km and I felt like I was going to have a seizure! I'd reached my limit. I pulled up on a patch of grass and felt reasonably content that I'd given it my best. Most of the next 50 km would be up hill. I was in no condition to do that so I decided to end the ride there.

When the road headed uphill at the Mansfield - Whitfield Rd I sat comfortably in the 'Sag Wagon' (the bus used to ferry all the little engines that couldn't). While in the bus I broke into a fever and had the shakes. I dozed and woke and dozed and all the time we were climbing. As I looked out the window from time to time I could see exhausted riders pushing their bikes up the hill. When we reached the top of the hill there was a road block. That's when we heard the news that a rider had been killed. A man in his 60s had lost control and fallen in front of a truck. Very sad.

End of ride odometer reading

I spent the rest of the day in Mansfield staggering around with a fever, I tried setting up my camp when I eventually found my gear but was in such terrible shape I ended up back at the sick bay, sleeping on the sick bay floor, fever, headache, etc... Apparently it was a virus which was starting to spread through the camp.

My family had been calling and Mum and Dad decided they weren't going to let me spend the night shivering and sweating in my tent so they drove 2 hours to come and get me.... Can't say I was disappointed to have a bed to sleep in that night.

I didn't mind missing the final days ride so much but would have liked to see a bit more of Mansfield. This had been an amazing ride through beautiful country. The Great Vic Bike Ride was the most incredibly well organized event I've ever been to. I've never ridden in a large group before and the experience was a little overwhelming. All up I cycled 420 km. I'm glad I did it! But now I've got to go and take care of my sick kid!

Great Vic. A bike ride... Part V

Plans, Mice and Men!

To Melbourne on the plane:

No Problemo! One bag of carry on luggage. One bike stuffed into a cardboard box. My sister even came and picked me up from the airport, and gave me a bed for the night and even cooked me a delicious omelet in the morning. It was great to see her and my two nephews again.

Mulwala - 24km south of Moyhu (Sunday 30th Nov. - Wednesday 3rd Dec.)

Before I left Darwin I attended a talk by the author Arnold Zable who mentioned the two archetype story tellers (and so I presume 2 basic stories), one is the role of the great law/lore keepers which we have depended on throughout time to keep our aural history and record happenings in our society, maintain relations, family connections, interesting events, the law and what we call lore etc... the other which we are most familiar with these days is The Hero's Journey. Zabel told the story well, I'm not going to try and recount it for you but it was great to listen to... Fundamentally though my reason for mentioning this is that my posts lately have been around a journey... The Great Victorian Bike Ride 2014. Since the story is about my journey you won't find much in the way of heroics, but out of the two story modes I don't have many options.

A good story usually has a bit of drama. It's probably the drama which makes the difference between an ordinary travel log and an adventure story. Now I believe the great and Internationally infamous traveler Kris Larsen loathes to be called and adventurer, since that implies he is reckless and does not take precautions. I am not he, or like to him much at all, and if I had to live through his 'travels' my hair would have dropped out from fear, struggle or suffering (or before it even came to that fear of the struggle and suffering)! So I will take caution in the use of the word adventure, especially since this was a very well organized trip, but I must say.... as I began, like most road trips this one did not go exactly to plan.

The Journey

Change of plan: Instead of catching the train to Shepparton my parents decided to take a road trip with me to Yarrawongah / Mulwala which saved me 1 day of riding and gave us some time together.

Ride Day 1. 

Mulwala - Albury 99km

Route day one: I intended to ride through Victoria and to see Rutherglen but decided there wouldn't be time

Club Mulwala... It's huge.

Had breakfast at Club Mulwala (the most enormous RSL club I've ever, ever seen!) with Mum and Dad, then headed off on the NSW side of the border, following a cycle path along the lake through Kyffins Reserve where there was free camps right at the waters edge. (I'm still struggling with the idea that you can walk right into the rivers and lakes here with not a thought of crocodiles)

Me before the big ride. The bike is all painted up with anti fracking stuff... and #Freethechildren !

The reserve soon ended and I was cycling along Spring Drive which after Corowa became the Riverina Highway. There's a lot of wheat and sheep in this country. It's fairly dry but close to the rive so they have water for irrigation.

Basically after Corowa I had head winds most of the rest of the way to Howlong. Yes by the time I'd reached Howlong I was asking myself the same question!
It was about 1:30pm, I was dehydrated and tired, sculled a 750ml bottle of some fancy energy drink from the shop and pushed off into the wind and now hills to try and make Albury by 3pm.

Tough ride! Met up with Mum and Dad again at Wonga wetlands and they gave me a ride to the Base Camp for the GVBR2014.

Staggered into camp at around 3:30 and the sight nearly floored me! I can't remember having seen so many people in one place before and they were all there for the bike ride, the magnitude stunned me. What have I gotten myself into?

This is only a fraction of the tents on site in Albury. The camp went a lot further back than you can see here.

Great Vic. A bike ride... Part IV

Getting there and away... reality hits... and if only it were that easy

What ya don't know surely can't hurt you... But I had to go and read more of that email this morning and I came to the bit that said THIS! 'Limited V/Line transport to Albury'

Full message HERE

The bottom line, there's gonna be a lot of cyclists headed to Albury and the Railway isn't prepared to accommodate the influx of customers!

"If a V/Line conductor determines that there is not sufficient room to carry a bicycle on a V/Line train, it will not be able to be carried on that train" 

(Thanks for nothing V/Line! How I wish you could operate at the standard of British Rail back in 1955! See HERE for some pointers!)



I've had all day to think about it and I've decided that this situation could actually be an opportunity for me to make a longer trip. I've checked the maps and the railway timetables and there is another line through central Victoria to a town which is a rural hub for agriculture. Shepparton (or Shep as we like to call it). This appears to be the closest I can get to Albury by rail without boarding the Albury train. The problem is that Shepparton is about a 165km bicycle ride from Albury! That's more than I'm comfortable doing in a day so I've got some more planning to do.

Getting there and away. PLAN B.

Melbourne to Albury:

pt 1.  Catch train Melbourne - Shepparton.

Melb - Shep V/Rail about 2.5 hours

According to Google Maps the shortest distance from Shepparton to Albury is 163km with a few twists and turns along the way. That's too far so I've decided on another rout which is only about 10 km longer and will take me to some places I've never been before.
Here's the plan:

pt 2. Day 1. Ride Shepparton - Yarrawonga cross border into NSW and the tourist town of Mulwala

Approx 81km, estimated time 4 hours if I don't miss any back roads or short cuts. Find a free camp somewhere near the lake.

Shep - Mulwala cycling about 4.5 hours.

pt 3. Day 2. Ride Mulwala - Albury (via Rutherglen)

Approx 96km and about 5 hours straight pedaling if I don't get lost on any of those back roads I mentioned earlier. I'm thinking I'll give myself a whole day for this part of the journey as I'll be passing through some interesting country and may make some stops along the way.

Mulwala - Albury 5 hours, probably more it looks interesting

OK, I admit it, until now I've been treating the whole planning thing like a bit of a joke, but it's finally starting to dawn on me that if I don't do a bit of strategic planning I'm going to be standing at the station with my bike in pieces, none of the gear I need, no idea where to go next and probably (if past performance is an indication) no air in my tyres!

 Play around with the map if you'd like to find a better rout.

I suppose I should also be thinking about what time I roll into camp on Saturday. I'm sure there will be some important information about the actual ride that I'll need to hear.

Drafting a Bike Plan

The City where I live... and maybe you do too has just released a Draft of it's Bike Plan for the next 5 years.

Kids riding against the traffic, no helmets....Why?
I don't believe I am a control freak. I just get agitated when I see people doing something that defies logic. I understand the reasoning people use for riding against the traffic. The argument just doesn't stand up to logical scrutiny. If they were doing it out of contempt for rules or to tempt fate or play chicken with a potentially high impact death, that would make sense... However I am quite sure most people do this because they think it gives them some mastery over the road and circumstances because they can see oncoming traffic, it makes no sense.

The plan comes in three volumes, including baseline data, The Proposed purposes of the plan and it's implimentation.

Darwin is a really great place for  cycling but infrastructure is inconsistent and there are major attitude problems on our roads and shared cycle paths. Anyone who rides a bike will know that cyclists do not fit neatly into a single demographic. Cyclists needs are quite diverse, similarly are our attitudes toward road use, other users and how we prefer to ride. I hope the study has been able to take into consideration some of this diversity.

I'm gonna head down to the library to get hold of a hard copy, if you're interested in how our municipality is attempting to address cyclists needs and plans to cater for us over the next 5 years then you can read it yourself HERE.

http://www.darwin.nt.gov.au/darwinbikeplan

Not Wasted...

Just ordered a cool new CD.
Can even download the lot straight to my mp3 music playing thingie...

here's a sample.


 Awesome deal on some pretty funnnky permaculture, Greenie style music.

Check out the Formidable Vegetable Sound System website.

And what have I been doing? Well I got pretty caught up with the election... Unfortunately I didn't succeed in preventing a disaster of biblical proportions but my conscience is clear when it comes to not turning a blind eye when evil entered the room! Now we'll all have to live with whatever that's going to mean!

Actually there were even a few benefits from the recent election. I took on a contract to deliver political flyers in my neighborhood. (OK you've probably got your own opinions about that.) 

I really enjoyed myself just peddling around on my old bike with coaster brake. Having spent 10 years as a postie, delivering mail while being barked at and chased by dogs is kind of like second nature to me, in fact I found it quite therapeutic (None of the dogs actually got out). After a couple of full days of delivering pamphlets I could feel my legs getting stronger, I didn't have to think about anything except slipping pamphlets into letter boxes while keeping the bike in motion. Cruising the suburbs on a bike, listening to my favorite tunes with nothing important to think about and no one else to please, or serve left, me feeling totally blissed out! Can't wait till the next election so I can do it all again...

Riding against the Traffic Part 1

Another footnote in the anals  annals of a cyclist... ;)

Over the years I have had too many conversations about, rules, regulations, laws etc... when it comes to cycling. I have read 1,000s of blog articles, news reports and so on about the merits of cycling, the attitude of  drivers vs cyclists and so on... My experience has been that arrogance, self righteousness and pigheadedness are not the exclusive domain of car drivers. If you're a pedestrian on any of Darwin's shared cycle/footpaths you will find that some cyclists can be even bigger arseholes than the majority of drivers when it comes to their sense of entitlement on what they perceive as 'their road'.

Quite a while back I wrote a blog post that discussed roadmanship; at the time I thought I'd continue to write about such things but the reality is, I don't have the time or the energy to devote to producing any deep study or reflection on the subject. These days I'm flat out just getting to work and performing my parental duties, but, all the same issues still irk me! Besides that I've discovered that I'm actually lazy. ;)

As a cyclist and someone who would like to see much more acceptance of bicycles as a legitimate form of transport I am often dismayed by the crazy shit I see cyclists doing on the road. (OK I've made a few mistakes on the road and have been grateful to survive.) I am not talking about minor maters like failing to dismount to cross a road. There are a lot of road rules that make no sense and I believe that with a strong sense of self preservation, a clever defensive cyclist can assess the potential for danger and choose the path of least hazard regardless of what appears to be the rule. Helmets are a good example. The NT has quite sensible helmet laws. Children must wear them all the time, adults can choose not to wear a helmet  when cycling on the bicycle paths but must wear them on the road. I'd prefer no laws on helmet use for adults but can live with what we have here. It makes sense and common sense dictates that even if the police aren't too interested in busting people for not wearing helmets on the road I wear one whenever I ride on major roads. There are signs along one of the local bike paths that instruct cyclists to dismount before crossing the road. This makes no sense and is potentially more hazardous so I do not comply! However there are some activities that defy logic. One of these is riding against the flow of the traffic!

WHAT NOT TO DO! (Giddy Goanna, Bikes Busses and Roads. Book 4, 2000 Giddy Goanna Ltd..)

I don't know if this happens so much in the other states but here in Darwin I regularly see people cycling on busy roads against the traffic. I admit there are times when crossing a road or switching paths I have found it necessary to travel a short distance in a contrary direction to the rest of the traffic. For example there a section of road inbound on the Stuart Highway where the bicycle path ends a few hundred meters away from the Post Office in Winnellie, it's crazy, that there's nowhere to go except onto the verge and into oncoming traffic, I have ridden it a few times and it's always hair raising! For me this is an exception. What I am talking about in this post is something else. It's about the large number of people in Darwin who seem to think that riding against the traffic is the norm. It is my belief that riding against the traffic is extremely dangerous and creates all kinds of danger on the road including potential head on collisions with other cyclists but so many cyclists in Darwin seem oblivious to the danger. 

What spurred this post was seeing yet another wrong way cyclist on my way to the Airport recently. I saw a young woman cyclist cross the road on the opposite side of the road to me and was confounded by the way she rode. She was heading in the same direction as me but was riding against the traffic. She rode boldly along the side of the road, not on the dirt but on the road toward oncoming traffic. The traffic was not going fast but the combined speed of car and bike increased the danger enormously. I watched the cars coming towards her and flinched at the thought of the impact. The cyclist peddled on oblivious. I have seen it so many times before... why do they do it?

I have discussed the practice (issue for some) of riding against the flow of traffic with a few people, cyclists and drivers, and have had some curious responses to my questions about safety. Perceptions seem completely contradictory to each other, yet none of the people I've spoken with have offered any logical argument either way... What has become most obvious to me is that generally people don't seem to be interested in thinking about these things they just want people to stay the f--k out of their way. 

Now I've written a swag of words and still haven't made my point so I'll label this 'Post 1'and try to follow up another time.

Larding up

A life of balance and moderation... must be nice.
Even though I've reduced many of my excesses I am still prone to over indulging for pleasure or recompense. Like just about everyone else I tend to seek escape in worldly pleasures, these days they're fairly tame but can still cause problems. My indulgence at this time of year is FOOD! There's so much around, Christmas is like a glut!

Shortbread for your love handles!

Early January is a funny time of year, the stores are over stocked with Christmas goodies and Darwin is still mostly devoid of people, due to the annual Christmas Exodus. Basically in this town many of those who live here come from elsewhere. A lot of people head back to whence they came to spend Christmas with their family. Retreating South, 'going home' for Christmas! I reckon Darwin is a pretty cool place to live in at this time of year. It's nice and quiet. It also means that the shops have to reduce the price of all that Christmas stock, which presents me with more temptation than I can bear!

By nature I tend to function a bit like a 'Hunter gatherer', well more of a scavenger actually. I plan my personal meals around what I can scrounge for the lowest price if not for free! Family meals are more organized but we do tend to rely on marked down food from the supermarket, we get by pretty well like that actually. It's more of a lifestyle choice than a necessity for me really, living frugally has allowed me to work 4 days a week and doesn't create too many problems... Unless I actually get more than I need!

Through the year we tend to eat a lot of potatoes, rice, noodles, vegetables and not too much meat (not counting last month's unprecedented amounts of ice-cream!). I can usually counterbalance any dietary excesses by doing extra miles on the bike or riding harder... or missing lunch at work... (I hate missing out on lunch!)

I love food but can get away with eating fairly large serves of normal food so long as I work it off on the bike. The problem at this time of year there is so much cheap food and this month I am only riding to work twice a week! I've been scoffing down cheap fruit mince pies three at a time and so much lovely shortbread that I can feel the butter oozing through my veins! It's disgusting and they keep marking the prices down, cheaper and cheaper! Today we got half a dozen three dollar packets of the shortbread for 49 cents each! At the rate I've been eating this stuff it's possible I'll die from a heart attach or an aneurism on my way back to the shop for more shortbread while stuffing another mince pie in my gob!

Moving Lard Cart

It's time for a reality check! Last night I as I slipped into my chair at the computer I felt my belly resting on the desk! A loose roll of fat rolled over the edge of the table and wobbled as I sat down! Not a good sign! I can no longer rely on physical activity and a limited budget to maintain reasonable health... I'm going to have to practice... moderation.... and possibly stop eating after my first second fruit mince pie... ARGH!

I find the thought of being mindful of my weight appalling! What kind of life am I living that I cant expect to burn off any excess energy simply as a matter of course during my daily activities? Have I become some sedentary suburban slob? (Well yes technically I have been living like this for many years but I refuse to be classified in that way or to concede defeat!)   

Now that we've got this new Cargobike our family is facing another dilemma, although we are getting exercise riding to the shop, we actually have carrying capacity for so much more junk food! 

I may be saved... they're selling 5kg bags of Basmati rice for just $6! I can remain true to my scavenger nature and actually get some reasonable food back into my diet!

Happy New Year.

Smiling Cyclists

Today as I peddled home beneath Thor's Mighty Mountains of vaporous silver light and dense black thunderheads, I felt an odd euphoria. With all that weather up above there must have been a lot of negative ions in the air. I slowed my pace and sat back on my saddle with arms outstretched just feeling the air flowing across my arms, as the breeze blew through my fingers my hands caught enough to pull my arms slightly back behind me, up above clouds expanding shining and full of power. 

It's funny the joys of cycling. 

I remember how as a motorcyclist I had joined a fraternity of Riders. We were set apart from the drones who sit dumb behind the wheels of their automobiles! Trapped in steel cages! We lived closer to the road, closer to the trees and rocky verge. We were with the sky, in the rain and the sun and closer to danger and life. On a motorbike you get to contemplate the fragility of life, instant by instant and you get to really appreciate the beauty of movement and those times when it's all flowing in perfect time! I can remember that once out of the town riders would usually acknowledge each other on the open road.

Cycling is sometimes like that! Just like AB Patterson's Drover, 'The cyclists life has pleasures that the car-slaves never know.'

Rolling up to that set of lights that usually catches 3 or 4 of us like a fishing net, holding us for a while while the cars roar past and we catch our breath before the next push headed for home. Sometimes I see familiar faces and sometimes there's people I haven't seen caught there before. We wait for the lights to change. Some riders won't make eye contact, they're on a mission and possibly take no pleasure in their ride home. Maybe they're concerned about their fitness level, or something. But mostly the riders waiting will glance at each other and give a smile or a nod. Today was kind of magic like that. For some reason everyone I came across gave a great grin! As if we could all feel the awesome energy that surrounded us! Or maybe some of us were just glad that the ominous thunderhead wasn't quite ready to dump on us. It the path home was abuzz though. As I crossed that road a bloke on an old postie bike came shuffling up to the lights... he was dragging his feet up to the white line and beaming at me happily! I chuckled and then I laughed! Sometimes it's like that On The Road!

As I got closer to home I felt that amazing coolness of the dark thunderclouds that were now all around me. Not the rush of cold air that comes flooding in with a thunder storm, just the coolness on the skin, a reprieve from the heat. The cloud didn't open up on us, it just slowed on it's path across a bitumen patchwork shimmering heat and combustion engines. Enough to remind all riders, we are blessed!

Beautiful Bike Art

Back in November last year I thought I'd search the internet for articles about cycling in Darwin. That was when I first read an article by Mike Rubbo on his blog Situp-cycle.com. I think he actually came all the way to Darwin just to find out about our bicycle culture and what it was like to ride a bike in the only state in Australia where cyclists haven't been hit over the head with draconian Helmet laws. I was surprised to find that he had actually done a bit of research, provided some statistics and even created a short documentary film to share his experience of cycling in Darwin. See Darwin Shows the Way.

Mike is a Sydney based cyclist/blogger who happens to be an advocate for the mode of cycling he calls Sit-up cycling. It's a kind of attitude toward riding or a philosophy of normalizing the bicycle as a legitimate urban transport option. You can read his blog if you want a detailed definition of this.

(Riding with a guitar by Mike Rubbo)

Mike also happens to be quite a good artist and he specializes in, You guessed it... BICYCLE ART!

Now there's a whole heap of great propaganda Art around the bicycle activist scene, a lot of what I've seen is related to event posters, either hand drawn and reproduced or art produced using fancy graphic art computer programs. Mike's art is quite different to everything else I've seen. He uses three main mediums, Rubbings, Lino-Cuts and Solar-prints. The effects are absolutely beautiful! I love the swirling scratchy lines he produces particularly in the rubbings. They have such a soft and mystical feel. People and bicycles communing with the elements of wind, light and movement. All aspects are linked with flowing lines that barely separate the subjects from the their backgrounds. It's as though the person, the bike and the environment are somehow all united. I really love this stuff. If you're into Bicycle Art (does such a genre even exist) Check out his Bicycle Art Blog. It's well worth taking a tour through his amazing images.

These images allow me to dwell, if only for a short time, in a kind of transportation Utopia. A place where cars are scarce and people have more time to enjoy the pleasures of the outdoors as they cycle contentedly about their daily business, to work, shops, school or just having fun.
I am reminded of H.G Wells quote:

"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race."

 Peace!

Pedicab crawl

Awesome! There are now Pedicabs in Darwin!

Posted on Rickshaw Way

riding pre dawn

For most of my life I've been an early riser.

Even back when I was about 10 years old I'd wake up at 6:00am and take off on my bike. I remember being bored and totally impatient as I waited sometimes for hours outside one friends house looking for signs of life... waiting for someone to wake up and come outside...

When I was a teen I helped friends with their paper rounds and really got a kick out of riding around the suburbs while it was still dark and most people were barely stirring in their beds!

When I left school and got a job, I bought a motorbike and found I needed a lot more money than the supermarket was paying so I got a second job cleaning at a local University.... 4:30am start!

Some time after that I hit the jackpot and got a job as a Postal delivery officer where I thought I had it made! 5:30am start and go home as soon as the mail is delivered! I loved it! There's so many stories I'd love to tell about that job but I've been sworn to secrecy! (I'm serious!) Somewhere along the way the Postal service went through what you might call a cultural change, the milk and honey ran out and one day I found myself in a field of thorns... 'Time to hit the road!'

I left that job and went back to school... learned to type and use the dreaded computer (Like I've written before), stupid machine! The next thing I know 10 years have passed and I've been working in an office, staying up late every night sleeping in... till 7:00am! Sleep deprived and forgetting how much I missed the dawn!

So now that I've nearly kicked that habit I've been waking early again and re-uniting with the bliss of 5:00am quiet streets, cool breeze and the scent of freedom! Sendiri saja!

On Sunday Saturday morning I was woken up at 4:30am, I wretched the Shogun Katana out from a tangle of vines, put some air in the tires and went for a quick spin down the bicycle path to Palmerston. Still too early to turn back I decided to head for Chanel Island when I discovered the new boat ramp and jetty at the Elizabeth River Bridge. I crossed the bridge then decided to turn back and gaze at the stars from the jetty. I've heard the planets are forming some kind of alignment, I don't know which ones I was looking at but there were about three clustered around a crystal clear crescent moon just before dawn. The rail bridge was alive with micro bats serenading each other in the dusky light. It was beautiful. I got home sometime around 7:00am just as everyone was waking up.

(Drawn impression -human admiring the moment when the night is met by the dawn)
(I forgot my camera!)

This morning there was far less moonlight for riding so I went for a shorter ride earlier in the morning. An early morning mission to collect Rosellas from a the scrub just a few kms from home. Unfortunately there appeared  to be no plants... strange because every other year there have been masses of them. Maybe Parks and Wildlife rangers sprayed them all? I'll have to go back in the daylight to check. Anyway there is only two days before the New Moon which meant the moon was waxing and only a thin sliver of light and to the right I think Venus? I don't know, I'll have to look it up. I came home without the loot I intended, but feeling the energy and lust for life entering my body!

This afternoon I surged home on my early 80s Mixte ladies bike and left a couple of licrad up speedsters to chew on my dust! I don't know if they were racing me but they must have felt pretty weak being thrashed by a fella riding a 30 year old ladies bike in the sitting up position. Arrgh!

Riding the cox peninsular road (couple of years ago)

I just re-discovered this video I made after a ride a couple of years ago.
Cycling adventures are fairly thin on the ground for me lately and with Christmas approaching I am inclined to reminisce.


Cycling the Cox Pen Rd from David F on Vimeo.

We'll be doing another group ride along the Cox Peninsular Road some time in January... See you there!

Where can we ride our bikes?

Recently I read a blog article about cycling culture in Darwin. The author of the blog, who was visiting from interstate, commented on a variety of aspects of Darwin culture that differs from that in other states. The most significant difference is the fact that we have exemptions from helmet laws requiring cyclists to wear helmets at all times. This has inspired me to try and post more on this subject in future. One of the features mentioned was what the author considdered an impressinve network of bicycle paths.

It is true Darwin does have some nice examples of shared cycle/foot paths but I don't believe we live in a cyclists Utopia. There is much wrong in Darwin when it comes to infrastructure and planning for bicycles. There also appears to be growing hostility between drivers and cyclists on our roads. 

I'm not too sure about the state of Bicycle Advocacy in Darwin at the moment, I am aware of a few bicycle clubs but there is only a small group actively involved in our bicycle advocacy network 'Bicycle NT', which must make it quite difficult to form an active or effective advocacy group that is able to influence decision makers in Government.

Lately I've noticed a few changes to some of our bicycle paths but they don't appear to be following any coordinated plan or design. I am sure bicycle path or lane planning in Darwin is an add hock opporation that doesn't refer to any standard of design and I would be very surprised if decisions have been made in cooperation with informed representatives from our cycling community.

Examples of recent works include the new path along Vanderlyn Drive which joins McMillans Rd to the Stuart Highway. Some sections of this path virtually merge the cycle path with the road when there are open fields of open space available on the other side of the path. 20kmh speed limits in areas where there are children's playgrounds and many pedestrians, bicycle paths merging onto main roads at busy intersections and the most pathetic attempt at widening Lee Point Rd after Vanderly. This particular piece of roadwork should be the case in point for bicycle advocacy in Darwin. This is a single lane road with a speed limit recently reduced from Open to 80kmh (People still treat it as if it has an open limit) The road leads to a boat ramp, a popular coastal reserve and a caravan park that houses 1,000s of tourists during the dry season. Many of theis used by fishermen with boatsspeed limit, where drA road leading twhich is relied on  the.

I am hoping to blog some of this stuff over the coming weeks, not to bring you down but just as a means of showing how things are here and maybe questioning the logic.

One of my favorite bicycle blogs 'A View from the cycle path' written by David Hembrow often discusses issues of design and planning with the objective of creating a much more bicycle friendly universe. David produces some great video documentaries.


The latest post David's blog contains a video tour along a Dutch cycle path with text added to indicate various virtues of a dedicated cycle path.
Reality-vs myth dangers of dutch cycle

Although this model would not be practable for a place like Darwin where we have a much smaller population and far greater distances it still offers some basic principals that can be applied with regard to right of way, distance from roads, merging traffic and dealing with intersections.

If we want to create a safe cycling environment in Darwin I believe planners need to give propper considderation to these basic design principals rather than consrtucting cycle paths that channel riders into hazardous situations.