Cycle Chic Sundays Sydney Does Surry Hills in Style!

Wow.  I'm still coming down from Saturday's ride and it's now Monday!
The image of everyone smiling, ringing their bike bells cycling down Bourke Street in the spring sunshine is still very much with me and this really does feel like the start of something very exciting in Sydney.  How wonderful to meet so many other like-minded riders who most definitely "get" what the cycle chic movement is all about.  Bravo to everyone for getting into the spirit and joining us, it wouldn't have been a success without you!

Special thanks, of course, to City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore for showing her support and joining us at the start of the ride.  Thanks to her vision, we are slowly getting the infrastructure we need to explore this "city of villages" - and explore we will, just try to stop us.

There's only one way forward from here - and that's straight ahead, on two wheels, slowly, stylishly and smiling.....

Here is a snapshot of the day from Tokyo Bike to the Beresford Hotel via the Bourke Street cycle way to  Remy & Lees Cafe with lunch in a park and shopping at I Ran The Wrong Way.  Rather a lot of socialising and less riding than perhaps we envisaged but so nice to just let the day unfold organically.  This is after all, what Cycle Chic Sundays is all about - catching up with friends and meeting new ones while riding bikes and looking chic.  Indeed.

  

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

Special thanks go to Mike Rubbo of Sit-up Cycle Blog for documenting the ride in his inimicable way.  He's posted his colourful take on the day here.
And the completely delightful and inspirational Sue Abbott who also posted about the ride on her Freedom Cyclist blog here.
And the lovely Feather Brigade who posted here.
There are also a zillion more photographs in the Cycle Chic Sundays Sydney flickr group.  Feel free to join and add your own pics of the ride to this group - we'd love to have you.
[apologies for not naming everyone here, I will attempt to do so in flickr]

PS: plans for the next ride are underway and will be posted here soon so please follow us or like our facebook page to keep upto date with everything!

Sydney's Vision

Sydney's Cycleways Campaign has been getting much attention lately not just in Sydney but globally.  (See todays post on Copenhagenize)
The City of Sydney's Lord Mayor Clover Moore has been described as many things and yet while her campaign has been met with strong opposition from some, her vision for a more "user-friendly" city can only be applauded.
Personally I think it's visionary and these are exciting times in what has been until recently, a city fearful of change.  If Sydney is to become a truly respected citizen-friendly city then we need to embrace change not fight it.  Be informed here.

From Protest to Pinot (and everything in between)

5am Saturday morning, stumble out of bed in dark, shower, dress, throw various chargers into bag, rain in Sydney, cold in Melbourne where I am headed for a day of spontaneous Cycleiciousness.  Layer up with as much cycle chic as I can muster for this hour and out into the taxi waiting to take me to the airport.
9.05am arrive in Melbourne, Skybus it to hotel, check in and dump bags and jump in another taxi to first date of the day - the protest ride.

There's nothing I like more than standing up for what I believe in, a little political unrest does us all good and this was right up my alley.  Mike Rubbo from Sit Up Cycle had organised a ride to draw attention to the mandatory cycle helmet laws and why they will probably be detrimental to the success of the new Melbourne Bike Share scheme.  Of course it will hinder rather than help the scheme be a success, it doesn't take a genius to work that one out so the more attention this gets the better.  Will the laws be repealed as they have been in Mexico City ?
Time will tell.
It was a small but spirited turnout and snapping away in the midst of the crowd surrounded by tv crews was Mikael Colville-Andersen, in town for his much anticipated Four Goals for Promoting Urban Cycling talk as part of the State of Design festival.  He's disarmingly charming, passionate, funny, cheeky as hell and obviously loves his role as Denmark's unofficial roving Bicycle Ambassador.  Who wouldn't ?  He strongly believes in what he is doing as do I and it seems the thousands of fans of his various blogs Copenhagenize, Copenhagen Cycle Chic™ and The Slow Bicycle Movement to name but three.

So pictures were taken, the police did what they had promised to do and booked those who decided to ride helmet-less through the streets of Carlton - the horror - and news coverage was obtained from The Age and ABC.  Apparently we also made the ABC tv news in Melbourne but I've yet to get my hands on a copy of the segment.  With all the lively online commentary over the last few days it would seem the ride was a success.  Great to have been a part of it, now let's see the change hmmm ??

(more pics on flickr)

Next stop on the whirlwind bike tour of Melbourne was a quick trip to Gertrude St, spotted lots of nice stationary bikes (quite a theme of this trip) then off to Fed Square for Mikael's talk.
No doubt that it was illuminating and inspiring (and there's that screwball Danish humour again) and he really has hit the nail on the head.  His ideas so clearly point the way forward for bicycle culture - lessons to be learned whichever continent you are in.
It was however, followed by a rather dull panel discussion but I suppose that's to be expected when it consists of public service types talking about commuter cycling corridors..... WTF??!!
It left me, and I think the ragtag group of bloggers and bicycle advocates I was with a bit cold.  More action and less talk is always my view but hey, call me naive.  Is it not just simply about getting on your bike, as you are, going where you need to go in as fuss free a manner as possible ???

So conference over and off for drinks which turned into dinner and more drinks and well more drinks and stumbling back to the hotel at 2.30am quite a little tipsy.  A rather wonderful day followed by a rather seedy Sunday.  I took solace at the alter that is Rothko before heading back to Sydney, badly hungover but energized for some serious bicycle business.

Great to put faces to my fellow bloggers and tweeters too and meet the lovely Festival ladies on their beautiful bikes !
Tak Mikael for the hangover ;-)