WOOP - The Movie!

The WOOP Festival to celebrate the Bourke Street Cycle Way was a day that will stay with all who attended for a while.  It was a day that heralded a new Sydney, a safer biking Sydney and a community spirit that I heard on the day compared to Sydney during the Olympics.

So here's a little reminder thanks to the City of Sydney, cause we can never get enough of happy citizen cyclists.

Bourke Street - it's only the start of it.

The Two Faces of "Commuter" Cycling

We at Cycle Chic dislike the word commuter.
It's not that we don't "travel some distance regularly between one's home and one's place of work" like countless other people but more the connotation that it must be a "specific activity".

Bicycles to us are just a way to get from A to B.  Always have been.
It's only in recent years that they have become an accessorized sport tool rather than a simple, easy, accessible mode of transport.  We aim to reclaim the humble bicycle - to remind you that it can be easy, it should be accessible and nothing is needed other than a set of wheels.

This morning on Twitter I happened across two very different examples of regular citizens heading off to work - commuting if you will - which I'd like to share.
We'd be interested to hear your comments.

The first is a video from Cascade Bicycle Club in Seattle showing a first-time commuter as she prepares for and starts riding her bike to work.

And then there is this image from the Sartorialist - ever stylish, ever inspirational.
http://www.thesartorialist.com/photos/51511LucaR_0738Web.jpg

It reminded me of a certain dapper gentleman I snapped back in September last year outside Customs House.  A beacon of "commuter" style on the street of Sydney.

My work colleague summed it up nicely this morning when she said "the word commute to me means being specifically "equipped for the journey" but surely it's just a question of taking the bike out of the house and getting on it".

Indeed.

WOOP WOOP - Cycle Chic Kids Get Crafty in the Sunshine!

Wow, what a brilliant day we had yesterday.  The buzz was incredible as families, hipsters and everyone in between turned out to celebrate the opening of the Bourke Street Cycle Way and join the fun at the WOOP Festival.

The sun shone and Wimbo Park was truly alive with craftalicious fun as kids (of all ages!) upcycled their bikes with our flowers and streamers and bells.  Great seeing those handlebar ribbons appear on all the photographs today!

     

     

We even managed to get a bit of a ride in - it was so nice to see the kids out in force on the bike lanes.

Check out the rest of our WOOP photos here and if you have photos of the event to share, we'd love you to join and add them to our flickr group (or email me if easier).

Don't forget to like our Facebook page to keep up to date with future events.

So many kisses and thanks to my gorgeous team of helpers and Upcyclers who crafted up a storm!

(Liane, Milou, Heidi, Bea, Samorn, Tanja, Sonja, Jim - THANK YOU x)

And Reverse Garbage and Opera Australia for the bling!

     

Get Your Craft On Cycle Chic Kids!

Just one more sleep to go to the much anticipated WOOP Rolling Festival on Bourke Street and we're excited!

We have piles of wonderful recycled craft generously donated by Reverse Garbage and Opera Australia.

Gorgeous lucky dip giveaways for all crafty kids thanks to supporters Gazelle Australia & CycleStyle and a FETE STALL!
(It's my first fete stall, forgive me for my joy!)

     

Our team of BRILLIANT Crafty Upcyclers will be on hand to help you make art out of your bikes and then on to the beautiful cycle way you go!

It's going to be a gorgeous day - stop by and say hi (even you big kids) and grab some ribbon for your handlebars.... go on you know you want to :-)

We'll be in Wimbo Park on Bourke Street (opposite Devonshire Street) between 11-3 on Sunday 15th!

Cycle Chic Kids are go!!

Cycle Chic Kids Do WOOP!

It's been a long time coming but the kids are ready to roll again!

We're very pleased to be presenting the next Cycle Chic Kids event as part of the wonderful WOOP! Rolling Bourke Street Festival Extravaganza on Sunday May 15.

This well-overdue celebration of the Bourke Street Cycle Way is morphing in to a fabulous community festival with all sorts of things planned - live entertainment, a vintage bike exhibit, kids activities, street entertainers, bikes and MORE BIKES and a mega raffle to raise money for the Cancer Council NSW initiative "Do Your Thing."

Events will stretch the length of the Cycle Way from Waterloo to Woolloomooloo and riders are encouraged to ride the loop and show the local businesses (and Sydney!) some bicycle love.  It's time.

Cycle Chic will be situated in Wimbo Park (opposite Devonshire Street) from 11am-3pm, along with Bourke Street Public School and their sausage sizzle.

We are inviting all children (and their carers) to bring their bikes and join in the craft fun with us and our team of wonderfully creative upcyclers.  We'll provide all manner of recycled bits and bobs for you to play with (feel free to bring some bits from your craft box too) and we'll help you to turn your bikes into art!

Have a look at the last event to see what sort of fun we had and then why not finish the day with a ride along the new safe Cycle Way en famille??

We'll be posting more details over the next few weeks but please spread the word to the parents and children in your lives and hop over to like our Facebook page and the WOOP! page to keep up to date with all the details as they unfold.

Cycle Chic Kids Are Go!

Oh Kate Spade - How Delicious This Is!

What a wonderfully sunny way to start the week, this being Australian Fashion Week and all - fun, frivolous and flirty.

A lovely green Abici from Adeline Adeline in NYC, a cute leather Kate Spade satchel that clips to your handlebars, killer wedges and cupcakes.

We like.  A lot!

Tanja - Converted!

Since I started this blog almost a year ago, I've seen changes, great changes with an increase in numbers of people, especially women, riding bicycles.  Sydney's landscape has changed and with the development of the cycle ways continues to edge closer to the liveable city we all crave.  Change and growth is a good thing.

We still have a long way to go before we are close to some of our European counterparts but we're moving forward and as Copenhagen can attest to, major changes to infrastructure and attitude don't happen overnight.  But they do happen.

So I thought I'd start a little regular post and share with you some of the many people I come across who have recently rediscovered the bicycle.  The new riders who are not weighed down by the ways of the past but instead, inspired by the potential of the new and by their sheer visibility and enthusiasm for the humble bicycle, are helping to transform this city.

Welcome to the new happy face of bicycle Sydney!

No1 is my good friend, work colleague and fellow blogger Tanja.

What/who inspired you to get back on a bike again?
I was inspired to get back on the bike again by two things - a work colleague (YOU) and the increasing number of people riding around my neighbourhood in Surry Hills. At first, I thought I would just try and score a cheap, second-hand pair of wheels, just to check that I still COULD ride (!), but then I happened upon a BEAUTIFUL Danish bike on ebay (a Velorbis) - it was a great deal + I just couldn't resist. 

Can you remember how it felt, that first time?

I think having a really delightful, upright, euro-style bike really helped make the transition back to riding a very fun one ! I fell absolutely head over heels for the bike + just couldn't get out and about ENOUGH ! What really surprised me was that all that FUN that you have as a kid on bike is still there to be had - cruising along, wind in hair, utter independence - there is nothing quite like it ! 

What do you say to anyone thinking about getting a bike?
Before I bought the bike, I had been fearful of riding on the roads, but this, too, just takes getting used to. I don't ride on 'big' roads with my lady bike, but I really get around ! I love riding down to Kings Cross, Taylor Sq or across to Eveleigh Mkts on a Sat morning, I love riding to work when I'm down at the Opera House but it is also just fun to cruise down to the bakery to pick up a baguette for the basket and to ride back home again !

How did you decide what bike to buy?
My two pieces of advice for ppl thinking of getting a bike would be: GET A BASKET ! There is so much more freedom in being able to plonk anything in the basket - makes shopping v easy + you don't have to worry about trying to balance carrying a bag. Secondly, buy a bike that you will LOVE. This extra bit of investment will definitely be worth it - I think it would spell the difference between being someone who just rides occasionally and someone seeks out new routes to anywhere and everywhere ! I just can't get enough.


Check out her cool blogs too I [Heart] My Food and I [Heart] My Hood or follow her on Twitter @iheartmyfood @iheartmyhood

PS: If you happen to be watching Masterchef tonight - you might just spot this familiar face!