Operation Phoenix

A while ago I put it the question of resurecting Iggy the Giant Iguana MTB I crashed before beginning this blog to the people at Sydney Cyclist. I got an overwhelming response – the Iguana should be resurected. To this end I dug the frame and a wheelset out of Mum and Dad’s shed. I have begun the rebuilding project with the purchase of a A-head converter. This will enable me to replace the handlebar stem with amore moden stem used on more uptodate bikes. I will buy a new stem on thursday. I may even get a set of mudguards for $20 from a local bike shop.

Rebuillding Iggy will be a really interesting experiance. I have seen a guy with a touring bike of a similar vintage to Iggy, which has 26 inch wheels. The bike is a Thorn brand tourer. It has drop bars and uses bar end shifters. I am thinking carefully about upgrading Iggy to a simiar set up. The only issue is getting Iggy back to life. The componants will come in at or even under budget. The only issue is the service, which will include a new chain and a good test of the brake and gear cables.

Sofar I have bought the forementioned A-head converter I have a set of Schwabler tyres which I will dig up these have been kept in the shed but have been pretty much in ther original condition. I have also bought a box of 5 26 inch inner tubes from Kathmandu for $9.00. I aim to begin the actual rebuuilding within a week.

But what about Iggy? Iggy is as I said a rigid forked MTB – probably 1990s or even 1980s vintage. It was a really good commuter and I once even used it for a trip out to Sofala. I have to say that it is a shame to have pranged it and have left it in the shed for so long. However it did have a suspension stem – probably a forunner of suspension forks, which may have conntributed to the crash.She has a threaded head set which means that the A-head conversion will be essential to the rebuilding. Iggy is like a brindle staffordshire terrier – it is not only loyal but it also has brindle paint. The frame appears to be in good shape.  It should be able to take the new parts that I intend on adding to it.

This job will be a labour of love. I do not need another bike. I am sure that this bike will be a good test of imagination and mechanical skill. The imagination will come out in how the bike is reconstructed. If it becomes the bike I have in mind then it is likely I will have suceeded in building something that I promised after coming off – see the first post on this blog for the details of what happened. Even if it doesn’t then it is likely that I will have learned something about how bikes should be maintained and the limits of my design and mechanical knowlledge.  I get the feeling I will have fun with this bike and may even use it for some rides which I have in mind.

The politics of Bicycle NSW.

The peak body for cyclists in New South Wales is bicycle NSW, it used to be The Bicycle Institute of NSW but over time like most other state based cycling organisations it adopted the brand Bicycle NSW in 1994.

In it’s role as a “member-funded and -owned, not-for-profit peak community organisation” it is supposed to provide the advocacy for cyclists that NRMA provides for motorists. This year there has been more than enough evidence that the organisation is departing from that aim. In the first instance is Bicycle NSW’s response to the Pat Farmer’s press release claiming cyclists “should pay registration fees to help legitimise their place on the roads and pay for infrastructure and safety campaigns”.

The press release seen below is best described as short on detail (despite the tons of evidence provided by the Cycling Promotion Fund and other groups). Bicycle NSW said “A form of bike registration or levy may help legitimise cycling, however Bicycle NSW does not at this time have a policy position in this area. We have a clear purpose, which is focused on getting more people riding bikes more often, because life is better on a bike”.

Instead of pointing out the screaming obvious that Pat Farmer who is a member of a party which had lost government by a thumping big landslide and had only just held on to the seat of Macarthur by 1000 votes. Instead of getting down to the task of representing the people who had just elected him, Pat Farmer had “moved more than 60 kilometres away from his western Sydney seat to live in one of the city’s most expensive suburbs.” The Mosman Farmer needed something to take this issue off the front pages of the newspapers and so decided to use cyclists to take the heat. Bicycle NSW decided to issue a poorly worded press release. I even heard that when the television media asked a spokesperson for Bicycle NSW for a response to The Mosman Farmer’s comments the spokesperson repeatedly said “life’s better on a bike” and the walked off.

The other issue is the relationship between Bicycle Users Groups and Bicycle NSW and the need for joint efforts in advocacy. I received an email from someone who commented on a post on this Blog and has provided an insight into what is happening with Bicycle NSW and BUGS council. My informant met with a member of the Bicycle NSW board and was told ”

“BNSW will not put any resources (by which I mean funds or paid staff) into supporting BUGs – Andrew Dodds, who runs the BUGs Council does so as a volunteer and if I wish to support Andrew, I would be welcome, but also as a volunteer.

1. Any improvements that BUG members would like to see must be implemented by the BUGs themselves through Andrew Dodds or amongst the volunteer BUG members themselves.
2. BNSW wishes to restrict its dealings to implementing the 2007-2010 Strategic Plan, as presented at the 2007 AGM.
3. BNSW sees itself as operating at the Federal and State levels and will not put any resources into local or regional projects.
4. The only events that BNSW are interested in allocating resources to are the Spring Cycle, Gear-up Girl and as co-hosts of the Ride to work and Ride to School programs with Bike Victoria.
5. The stated policy of BNSW is to get “more people cycling more often”, which does not mean they will place resources into building the membership numbers of BNSW as people can ride bikes without being members.
6. BNSW employ a “Volunteer and Operations Coordinator” (currently Michelle Herbert), who is the contact person for allVolunteers who wish to communicate with BNSW.
7. BNSW have no intention of running a NSW Big Ride in the future, but both Alex and Jenny said if I was interested in doing so, then that would be great. However, BNSW will not provide any resources (as above – funds or paid staff). All Big Ride equipment has been sold.“

Bicycle Users Groups are local cycling organisations, they put a lot of effort into advocacy at a local level and know their local area better than anyone from Bicycle NSW. Roads in NSW are the responsibility of either the local council or the Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW (RTA), the RTA is responsible for major roads (highways, arterial and subarterial roads).  Given the different levels of responsibility for roads, bicycle advocacy would be better delivered by a common approach from Bicycle NSW and BUGS (BUGS are more effective with local government than with the RTA). By abandoning BUGS, Bicycle NSW is abandoning local advocacy.

Recently Bicycle NSW has begun to cherry pick it’s campaigns. It campaigned on the Harbour Link proposal that would see a shareed path way that would cut out some of the hills near the harbour bridge and link the harbour bridge cycleway to North Sydney. They have now published a statement from the North Sydney council regarding the harbour link project on their website (http://www.bicyclensw.org.au/E-news.asp#128)  This while at the same time a major commuter route is under threat from the V8 supercar race at Homebush bay. The total silence on the Homebush Bay issue is worrying.

Yesterday my heart was broken when I heard a long time volunteer with Bicycle NSW, who is a member of DHBC expressing his disgust at what the organisation was doing for the Sydney Spring Cycle. Spring cycle has 2 new starting points this year. It includes Blacktown and Liverpool. The Liverpool riders have been charged the same rate for riding on bicycle paths (the Liverpool to Parramatta Rail Trail and the M4 path to SOP), that the riders from North Sydney who will ride over the Harbour Bridge and along partially closed roads. I have no doubt that the riders from Blacktown will be riding along similar bike paths (they may even have the chance to find the alternative path along the Prospect Creek Cycle path which was partially destroyed by road expansion by Boral!). The rip off is added to by the fact that Bicycle NSW was ignoring the work of most of the BUGs in Liverpool.

I find that there are many people disillusioned with Bicycle NSW. The disillusionment is now fueling an alternative movement. Some are joining interstate bicycle organisations, such as Bicycle QLD and Pedal Power (the ACT organisation). There are also moves to get insurance through BUGs and organise an alternative advocacy organisation for NSW.

Personally I do not want to destroy Bicycle NSW. It was and is the peak advocacy body for recreational and commuting cyclists in NSW. It has done some good work in advocacy and it has had some success, but the direction it’s board is taking it is alienating a lot of it’s membership including myself. Issues like the silence on Sydney Olympic Park are linked by many to pandering to the NSW government. The failure to criticise the government is based on the dependency on government money for financial viability. This means that advocacy is compromised seriously.

How do you price your commute?

Budget bicycling gives a ride log which prices each ride at $6.00 the cost of a bus ticket in Canberra (I can’t remember if it is a return ticket). I have wanted to do something similar but the problem is I live close enough to work to make the $21.00 return ($1664.00 yearly) ticket to the International Airport railway station an outragous waste of money.

In previous years I would have been able to drive into the airport carpark and base it on a tank of fuel or something like that. The problem with this is fuel fluctuates and now there is a limit on the number of car places.  On thursday my conunderum was solved. Customs has now adopted a pay for parking policy which will set the price of car parking at Customs House Sydney International Airport.

Starting on the first of April (probably very fitting for anyone who wants to drive to work) parking will cost $4 a day. In October it will rise to $8 – which is the full cost. Some bright sparkes have done their sums and found that this will cost them something over $2000 at year.

This is the equivilant of a reasonably priced road bike and a crumpler messenger bag or a hybrid or  MTB with rack, panniers, lights, cycling gear (including a helmet) and Bicycle NSW membership. Being a doubter I feel that there is not going to be many people taking up cycling.

I gather the meetings where the policy was unveiled were quite Jerry Springer. The presenter from Canberra was not prepared and did not have any answers to questions, and to make things even more problematic the Regional Director said “I worked hard for my position, don’t question me” when asked about if he paid for parking his car in the garrage at Customs House. I related the story to my supervisor who said that the parking spot came with the car which is part of their salary package so if he had his wits about him he could have said yes. Instead from what I have been told the meeting became quite hostile after that. There were some who asked me “What are you going to do when you get artheritis or if you have an accident and cannot make it to the train station” (I felt like saying if that is the case I will be an old man and retired in relation to the artheritis and have enough sick leave owing to cover any accidents) when I mentioned bicycle parking is free

I have mixed feelings about the changes to the carparking arrangments. There are some people who live in the outer suburbs who have next to no public transport and who may be working difficult hours, shift workers for example who will need some form of car parking. On the other hand there are some people who will snub public transport, cycling and or walking because it just does not suit them. They will complain about the policy and there will be some interesting out comes.

I noticed some people looking at changing jobs. They claim that there are other government departments that are not forcing their staff to pay for parking. An example is the co-tennant of Customs House, the Australian Federal Police Protective Service. The AFPPS has said it won’t pass the parking on to it’s people. I doubt if they will continue to absorb the price of parking for too long though.

There are others who will be eying up the parking in the near by Tempe Reserve, this may become timed parking sometime in the near future but we will have to wait and see about that. There is likely to be some grumbling to the union. The CPSU rep told me we weren’t the worst affected, apparently our staff in Brisbane are moving to a building 2 kilometers from the nearest train station and are now copping quite a hammering. The policy is supposed to be a national policy but it is full of holes. For example staff at Customs House will pay for parking but staff working at the international airport proper will not. The staff at Sydney International Airport will continue to received Isolated Establishment Allowance etc which will make them well paid compaired to those at Customs House. However the union has some doubts about what legal standing any challenge to the carparking charges would have as Customs doesn’t have to provide free parking – it just has to provide parking.

The motorcyclists and motorscooter riders will probably continue to find new and interesting ways of getting in and out of the carpark without paying and will probably become a growth group as regards the commuters at Customs House.

I have done my best to promote cycling in the building. It may take off with a bit of luck. I have organised ride to work day and will wait and see how many people turn up to that. I am cautious about biting management for some money to put on a breakfast or get some freebies like water bottles to give away due to the strength of the hostility shown towards the plan but will probably ask management for something next year.

In the mean time I will try to get myself organised for a possible move to Port Botany (management apparently want to put more executive cars in the garrage and are eying up the parking spots occupied by work cars used by my section to do examinations at bonds etc. They are proposing to move us to the CEF this would make life commuting to the CEF difficult for me but you never know. I have heard from various sources that a commute could be possible. The thing is this again puts me in the position of not being able to price the commute accuratly. I am on the redeployment list so I may still find myself working at Customs House although I doubt it seriously.

Should it happen though I would score myself a new bike probably from cell and rig it for commuting/general touring and then start a log book for rides. I would go from the red to break even and then to profit relatively quickly. This will bring out the hard headed economic rationalist in just about everybody. However it will illustrate the value of cycling in an increasingly expensive city.

I survived the NRMA Careflight Woodford to Glenbrook cycle classic

About this time last week I was on the starting line for the Woodford to Glenbrook Cycle Classic. It is a ride held to support the NRMA Careflight Helicopter Rescue service. I am always willing to support a good cause so I put my registration in and got the Single Speed which shall hence forth be known as the fearless gearless done.

Having said that I am not a mountain biker. I have never ridden the Oaks firetrail on which the ride was being held. But there is a first time for everything and Lindsay from Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club did a dirt works 100 km ride on a rigid single speed MTB. So 25 km would be easier – right?

Well yours truly was in for an interesting time from the begining. I got to Woodford by train. The railway station was right next to the starting line. There were plenty of Grey Ghosts on the platform and but the fearless gearless and I got through without issues. I got to the registration table and got my number. Earlier in the week when I got a 21 tooth cog fitted to the fearless gearless I had a suspicion that I would be the only loon on a single speed and I told this to the guys at Cheeky Monkey. They were right in saying I was giving myself too much credit.

I got talking to some guys on single speeds with 31-16 ratio (still 2-1). There was a race with in a race with some guys using cyclocross bikes to do the ride – some of these were basically road bikes with Hybrid bike tyres. There were some single speeds in this group as well. There were people with bikes that would cost more than all of my bikes put together and there were some bikes that made the fearless gearless look like a the Colnago of MTBs!

I wound up riding with the social riders where I got talking to a couple of girls in tutus, one was a lawyer from a community legal centre and the other was a radio announcer who did traffic for the Sydney radio stations. I sorted out a chain that got tangled up – it was sticky with grease and I urged the rider to get it lubed once the ride was over. Sue the lawyer in the tutu was quite interesting to talk she and her friend had never riden the trail before and had not done much riding. I assured them things would be ok.

When we registered we were given an electronic device that was to be strapped on the rider/walker/runners ankle. This was like an e-tag used on cars. We were started in waves much like runners in a race. Like the runners there was a starting gun. When it came our turn to take off we had the gun and a whole cacophany of trilling from the electronic tags.

The early stage of the ride was reasonable we went down a residential street and then rolled through to the fire trail. There were some hills on this section but I got up those with out trouble.  We were told that the first 12 kilometers were newly graded. This meant that there were soft spots and quite a bit of loose dirt. The report of the changes were right on the money there was quite a bit of loose dirt and I took things slowly. It was ok to start off with. However the further I got the more problematic it was. I became aware that I really should have fitted knobbies (MTB tyres that have knobs that grip the ground) instead of the city country tyres that I was riding with.

The first rough stage came up at about the 4 Kilometer mark and I found myself looking for an easy way to ride down. There was an official photographer on this stage and he must have known how others got down because he pointed out the easy way down and asked for a smile as I rode down. Riders with suspension had an easier time on the rough sections, of which there were many. I got a case of shaken baby syndrome going down some of the easier rough sections. There were a couple of stages where I had to dismount and walk the fearless gearless down because the terrain was so rough.

Just before the halfway mark the back markers of the riders of which I was one were overtaken by the first runners. From then on I knew I would have to ride carefully because we were now joined by pedestrians. Eventually I got to some parts of the trail that were rough and hilly where I dismounted and either ran or pushed the bike to the top. By these sections we were joined by more runners.

I copped some flak from runners because I was wearing the polkadot jersey (Tour De France King of the Mountains). I probably should have worn something else but given the weather I was expecting I felt I needed something warm. The jersey was bought from ebay and I gather was a souvenier from a touring holiday in France or Switzerland. It is warm and keeps me warm in freezing weather. The Blue Mountains where the ride was held is particulary cold in winter (Southern Hemisphere winter is from June to August or there abouts). I wore a pair of long overnicks and had my yellow gillet over my jersey.

Unfortunatly I was wrong about the weather. It was an unseasonally sunny day and quite warm when we started I got stonkered as we went along and by the time I made the final rough stage, where I had to dismount my riding gear was soaked by sweat. If I do the ride again I will wear some arm and leg warmers which can be taken off as things get hot and put on again after the race.

I met Ray my brother in law at the end of final rough stage. He told me something I already knew – next time I do this ride or even ride this trail I should get suspension. I whole heartedly agreed although I will have retro fit a suspension fork to the Iguana (the fearless gearless has a 1inch headset and most modern bikes have a 1 and 1/4 inch headset – the Iguana may take it although I don’t know). As I left the drink station on that stage some one crashed. The St John member in me came out and I went to render assistance. Ray’s RFS crew got in and did the job. I got my bidon filled and got on my way.

Eventually toward the end the terrain got fairly good for riding with city country tread and I got moving. I had to be careful of the runners and I had to ride slowly. In some cases this was not a problem with a number of young female runners in their 20s wearing figure hugging lycra that highlighted all the right curves in all the right places! It wasn’t all a perv though. I had to get past idiots running with Ipods. I often wonder what would have happened if they had been running on the road and in the path of 4wds?

I got to the finish and got accross the finish just although I had to dismount and run/walk up an incline and then remount and ride accross the finish. When I got there I handed over the electronic tag and went and got a sausage sandwich from the Lions Club barbecue. I myself ready to get on my way when I ran into a friend of mine from Clyde days, who bought a house in Hazelbrook/Woodford. When he bought the house he bought a $3500 dual suspension Raceline MTB. He is still at Clyde and is doing well.

I found my placing from an officials desk. I came 470 out of 479, 4 of the riders behind me were unicyclists with huge knobby tyres. I don’t know weather I should be happy or cry. I informed people on the DHBC website and found some support there although someone did back up the point that I need suspension for the next time I do that ride.

I loaded the bike onto the trailer befor I found I had left my commorative shirt at the merch stand. I went and collected it and got back in time to get myself on to the line for the bus to Glenbrook. The bus took us from the finish at Euroka Clearing to Glenbrook Railway station. I had a return ticket from Lithgow to Glenbrook but I decided to ride to Ruth’s place in Warrimoo. After a bit of bungling around I found my way to the highway and rode up the highway and made it all the way to Ruth’s earlier than what I though I would when I rang her. I had some food there because I was famished. I went to Sarah and Ray’s place for dinner and caught up with Sarah and Ray and their former housemate Peter. As I missed the last train that would have got me home at a reasonable time, I got a lift home with Ray and Sarah. 

In short a good day with some lessons namely should I do the ride again (and I will) I will need a bike with suspension forks and equip the bike with knobby tires. I will need to do some training and wear appropriate clothing to get through the ride. In short the fearless gearless will be a good commuter but we will see how it goes.

The good the bad and the ugly

I will start from in reverse order as the ugly became the issue of the week, last week and will be the issue of the week at Sydney Cyclist and other blogs and discussion groups.

The ugly is www.smh.com.au/news/beijing2008/furious-driver-takes-out-50strong-cycle-pack/2008/05/08/1210131112608.html I found out about the attack on thursday while I was working. I have to say I am surprised anyone would be out training on Southern Cross Drive at that time, but when I heard it was the Bar Coluzzi group the surprise disappeared. The initial report was quite crappy and it became news on Sydney Cyclist pretty quickly under the title Herald Journalism at it’s best. The initial report focused on Ben Kersten and Kate Nichols. Nichols had only recently returned to training after recovering from her injuries in the incident that claimed the life of her teammate Amy Gillett. It didn’t take long for the Terror to pick up the story in a way only it can. It put it’s version out complete with a comments section where and a poll with a question “Are cyclists a problem on Sydney roads? “. Of course the call went out through Sydney Cyclist and other websites and right royal ding dong battle was waged through the comments section and the poll. The thing that really stood out in my mind was the ignorance of road rules as they apply to cyclists demonstrated by motorists claiming that the cyclists should have been riding single file (we are allowed to ride two abreast and a 3rd cyclist is allowed to overtake). With the comments it got to the stage where if the word “cyclists” could be substituted for “poofs”, “fags”, “dykes”, “wogs”, “lebs”, “gooks”, “curry munchers”, “coons”, “boongs” or “abos” and the phrase “get off the road” replaced with “go back to where they came from” or “get out of the country”, well you know what I am getting at. The driver then made things worse by ringing talkback radio announcer Ray Hadley to give his “version” of events (to hear the lies just go to www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23674175-5001021,00.html and click on the hyperlink). Ben Kersten was listening and the two faced off on live radio. This was then used to begin another comments section with many moronists claiming that Kersten was aggressive, while anyone with a brain saw through “Jason’s” lies.

The long and the short of it is “Jason” was interviewed by the cops but it was a long time between drinks between him getting interviewed and charged. I was getting pessimistic about  the prospects of him being charged and no doubt the cyclists involved were as well. Many of them are reported to be considering a class action against him for the damage to their bikes and medical costs to themselves. I hope they do it through their insurer if they have (most of them being CA members would have cyclecover) The insurer would compensate them but chase “Jason” or as his nick name has been revealed “Huss” (www.smh.com.au/news/national/cyclists-dispute-drivers-account/2008/05/09/1210131264145.html). They would then testify in court and while Huss goes through the motions of defending himself. The long and the short of it is I am not expecting the cops to do anything, I only know of one situation were they have (it was similar to this one) and the driver was prosecuted but that was only because there were independent witnesses to the event. There were with this one but I would say it could get political. The NSW police are best described as the most politicised police unit in the country. When pedestrians throwing rocks at cars became an issue in NSW the media reacted with anger at the danger that rock throwers posed. A couple of car passengers were badly injured and the issue got to parliament where tougher laws were passed. Now if you throw or drop rocks at vehicles the prosecution doesn’t need to show that you meant to do any harm with it to get you thrown in the big house. I get the feeling that there will be more cyclists who will join Critical Mass because of this, which may revive the Sydney Mass because the numbers were dropping off. Now I would say it is likely to get stronger and if the cops do nothing on this issue more militant. After all if the cops won’t do anything to a motorist who attacks the countrys elite cyclists then what are they going to do for a commuter?

The good news is that Huss/Jason has been charged at present it is only with not supplying details but that may be upgraded or include more later on.

The Bad is people are getting paranoid because of this issue. I am – on Saturday when I went out for the Saturday Slowies ride I wound up being the sweep for the lead group. I made sure my calls of “Car Back” etc were loud and was complimented on it. The problem was I admitted to my nerves – I get the feeling that this went down like a lead balloon. But I am not the only one. It is likely to be an issue for everyone riding in Sydney. 

The good is I have had a minor win for cycling in Sydney – that’s right I did something that has helped. As I reported last the desalination plant is being built and it’s infastructure is spreading all over Sydney like one great big spiders web. It has affected the Cooks River cyclewy and looked like it would kill a lot of the cyclepath off for at least 18 months. It is amazing what some quite persistance and some strategic emails can achieve. The only issue is that they have made an alternative path and closed the gates. Still some access is better than none!

I have also done my century – official first although the first real ones were on the Great Escapade but that was a tour. I went to the Mt Penang Gardens in Kariong on the Central Coast on Sunday and completed the century challenge. It was a long ride that left Mt Penang Gardens down to the Mooney Mooney Bridge and then back to the gardens – it was hilly and used the old Pacific Highway. It is a nice area and mostly used by motorcyclists – I saw no Trucks. There was not much in the way of cars (which was a good thing given the Central Coast’s reputation as Penrith on Sea) and so there was little in the way of trouble. I did get one idiot in a hire car reving his engine as he passed but that was it. If I hadn’t got lost and had to fix a pinch flat I would have made one of the controls on time but luckily they weren’t rigidly enforcing the control closure so I got to ride back.

The end of the Hiatus – the return from the Great Escapade

Coming back to work after a holiday can be a good experience and it can also be a bad experience depending on what happened in your absence. Everyone got the postcards and were interested in how things went. I enjoyed telling them about it although boasting is not the reason for going on the ride. In a way I miss being on the move. It was enjoyable. The challenge now appears to be what to do next? This has come up because of the announcement by Bicycle NSW (http://www.pushon.com.au/news/news_Detail.asp?newsID=415) that because it is ” planning build on the success of this year’s Great Escapade and work in partnership with Bicycle Victoria and our other Bicycle Coalition partners on a range of events, including the March/April 2009 Great Escapade in Western Australia”, Bicycle NSW does “not expect to organise a multiday ride in NSW during 2009, but do we expect the Great Escapade to return to NSW in coming years.” My response to this is yeah right! The Great Escapade was good and those who participated in it enjoyed it. However the major issues that emerged was the refusal by the RTA to allow the ride to use the Great Western Highway. This meant that the ride could not start at it’s intended start point – Katoomba. There was also another issue that reared it’s ugly head and that was the great confusion. As I have said in my original piece on the Great Confusion between Denman and Singo, the cops decided a 1.5 km cutting was not safe for the ride to proceed through. Accordingly they decided to close the route but ended up closing the road to motor vehicles and allowing cyclists to proceed in half hourly intervals after it dawned on them that their original plan to sag bus people across the cutting would take forever and a day. This was inspire of approval from the RTA.

The axing of the Bicycle NSW Big Ride has created a heap of discusion in Sydney Cyclist and may even lead to some butt kicking when the AGM comes around. Not that I am expecting anything with as the president or someone on the board actually held 40% of the proxies and there was no provision for the member to direct their proxies. In other words there is so much politics in Bicycle NSW there is likely to be a debate and possibly some changes to the board but the long and the short is I don’t expect much to change.

The ride back to work on Tuesday was not all I had wanted it to be. The rear tyre tube which had given me no problems what so ever on The Great Escapade had a puncture on the way in. I decided I would fix it when I got to work because of the rain which was coming down heavily. I pushed the bike into the bike room and began working on it. I found I had buggered the spare tube and was not able to locate the puncture. I decided I would walk the bike to the nearest bike shop and buy a new tube. I left work at 4:30 and wound up walking to Cheeky Transport where I bought a couple of new tubes. When I went out and went to install the new tube I found that I had left my pump at work (ARRRGH!). The guys in the shop were more than willing to install the tube. After the inserted the first tube I went to put the wheel back on the bike, but the tube exploded with a loud BANG that could have been heard as far a field as Broken Hill. The guys were surprised and apologised and inserted a new tube. As I went home on Wilson Street something strange happened. The bike became harder to ride and then – BANG the tube went again leaving me with out a pump and with the shop closed I was left to curse the cycling gods as I walked home.

Fortunately as Scarlet O’Hara said “tomorrow is another day” and when that day came I walked to work and collected my pump and tools. When I got home I set about installing the one remaining spare with the determination of a man possessed. It has given me not trouble thus far. I also found the punctures in the two tubes and have fixed them. So now I have 2 spares (patched) but ready to go. Having lost my copy of Australian Cyclist I have had a bone to pick with the previously mentioned cycling gods.

 

The Great Escapade

The Great Escapade Begins!Prologue (part 1) 27^th March 2008

I got up and made sure I have everything I needed for the trip packed in the panniers. I rode to work and took the panniers in with the intention of doing some washing. It turns out it was all in vain as the washing machine at work had broken down. I took the panniers down to the desk after I got changed and ready and went about my routine. At the end of the day I got changed back into my cycling gear and collected the panniers on the way out.

I then went and rode up the Cooks River Cycleway to Olympic Park. On the way to Olympic Park I passed Lindsay from Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club and all the other commuters. I told Lindsay that I would see him when I came back from The Great Escapade. He wished me the best of luck. When I arrived at Olympic Park I found that there were roads closed. Probably because of the Easter Show and the Olympic swimming trials. I did intend on getting dinner there but wound up going to Newington and getting some food there.

I then road through to the bike path that runs along Adderly Street and joins the Duck River Cycleway at Auburn. I then rode through Harris Park to Parramatta. At Parramatta, I caught a train to Mt Victoria. I took a bit of a look around in Mt Victoria before going on to Lithgow. I got there by 1am.

The next day I had to get some last minute stuff for the ride. I got a head torch, a knife for the camp cutlery set and sleeping bag liner. I got these things in Katoomba because I had to get the car serviced . I noticed some cycle tourists in Katoomba. Obviously they were on their way to Lithgow. I went to the campsite at Glanmire oval and collected my ride passport and bag and bike tags. I met some of the volunteers and who were quite friendly. I got myself a massage and got talking to the masseuse who made the observation that I probably will need a massage when I get back.

I then went home and got myself into order. I mounted my handlebar bag on to the bike and moved some of the stuff from the rack pack to the handle bar bag. I began packing and had some last minute stuff to wash I went to Ian a friend of mine who still lives in Lithgow and watched the first half of the Newcastle v Parramatta game. I then went and caught up with Ruth back at my place and we went to the Club for dinner. The club was busy with some more of the volunteers and riders and I spoke to one of the people in the club who also works at the tourist information centre and was told that they were happy that a local was on the ride. I used to live here and still come back when I have nothing else going on in Sydney. After Ruth left I had a wash and went to sleep

Day 1 Lithgow Loop ride. 29^th March 2008

I got up at 7 am this morning and got myself ready for the ride. I rode to Glanmire oval for the start. I got a phone call from John about the state of the room. He wants to charge me $60 for the cleaning. I will pay but am not happy about it. I got to the start and was among the first riders to go. We were set off by Sarah Greenwood-Smith who is the ride organiser. We rode under a big blow up gantry. The rode on to the road outside the oval. We followed a loop that took us to the Great Western Highway and on to Rabaul Street. We rode through town , past a number of land marks including the Small Arms Factory Museum and some personal landmarks – the schools I went to and some of the roads I know like the back of my hand. I did the loop twice. On the second loop I had lunch at Blast Furnace Park. I got talking to some guys. One came from Finley near the border another came from Bendigo. We got talking about health insurance and all the little things you wind up finding out (stuff that you thought you were covered for but later found you aren’t ) I gave an impromptu history lesson to some people about the old steelworks and discussed old memories of Lithgow with a guy who came here for sport every so often.

I went home and finished my packing and found out that Dad will be in Sydney for the rest of the weekend. He is at my auntie’s for the 200^th anniversary of the family’s claim to the best part of Campsie. I took my stuff to the camp intending to weigh it there and take back anything that could be described as excess. Apparently the weigh ins will happen as spot checks so things will be interesting I weighed the bags at home I think they are under but I cannot be sure. I set up my tent and put my stuff inside. I came back and wrote this post. I will try to write another but the rest of the blog entries regarding The Great Escapade will be written from journal notes. I hope everyone likes it.

I will head back to the campsite shortly and will settle in. I hope everything goes well because the hardest day for me will be tomorrow in the hills on the way to Oberon. I have done as much training as I could but you can never do enough for these things in some respects. I have enough stamps to send quite a few post cards and will draw up a list for who gets what soon. That’s if for me for at least a few days. As I said I will try to write some more as soon as I can otherwise I will rely on journal entries.

The druther day

There is a similarity between cycling and motoring that goes largely unnoticed – it is the druther mechanic. These are people who you’d rather (druther) not to work on your car or bicycle but wind up doing so because there is little other choice. These people may range from dodgy mechanics with licences and workshops to your brother, uncle, brother in-law or even yourself working out of your/their backyard or spare room. Today I wound up having to use my local druther mechanic. I ended up having to do so because I snapped the front brake cable on a training run around Centennial park last night. I was coming back from through Redfern when I came to an intersection where I had to stop to check the traffic. As I stopped I noticed the bike kept going for a while and I had to squeeze hard on the rear brake while uncleating. I was able to stop the bike and survey the damage. I initially thought something had happened that lead to the brake being released but on further inspection the cable was snapped. Had it been the rear brake and not the front brake I conceivably could have made it home and got the damage fixed at a time more convenient but as the bike is my main form of transport(I left the car in Lithgow and have decided to try biking it more) for this week at least, I had to get the brake fixed today. If I had waited until Thursday I may not have had much luck in getting it fixed because most bike shop repairs are booked in advance. So it had to be today.

The problem with today is that it is a working day and bike shops seem to have different hours from other businesses. Cheeky Transport – my favourite is open from 10:00-6:30, Bikerepairs.com.au (expensive but trustworthy to a point & doesn’t do repairs on the spot) is open from 09:30 -6:30, Innercity cycles in Glebe (haven’t had cause to use them yet but can be expensive for parts) is open from 09:30-6:00, Woolys wheels (I have used them for servicing and would recommend them but they are out of the way!) are open from 09:00-6:00 but they are in Paddington and I would have had to take a train & pay a child fare for the bike and not to mention using a peak hour ticket for myself, Clarence Street Cyclery (if I had a lot of money and wanted to spend it with reckless abandon on servicing etc that I could ge done cheaper and possibly better else where) is open from 08:30-5:30 and would again have incurred the transport costs, Finally CBD Bike Depot (haven’t used them for service but judging by their pricing they are even more expensive than Clarence Street!) are open 8.30 – 6:00 and again the transport costs would apply.

There had to be someone near by who could do the work? And there was, Mick Mazza Cycles is one of those bike shops that is best described as old fashioned. Mick I gather used to be a fixture in the Sydney cycle racing scene. He still is in a way, his shop is the meeting point for the Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club training rides. He still sells bikes including some that are clearly second hand, these have been spray painted and have stickers with Mick Mazza Cycles stuck over anything that could give away the original brand. He also sells the bikes from Gitane and Apollo – these are regarded as reasonable training bikes for roadies but not racing material. He also sells the MTBs and a folding bike. His work is best described as fair to middling. It can be a bit hit and miss at times mostly it passes inspection but you have to be careful. He definitely is good with older bikes but with anything new there is always the issue of unfamiliarity. The thing that tipped the balance in his favour was his hours and the fact that he is close. I got the bike to his shop after I rang work and told them I would be late. I walked the bike slowly to the shop and got there about 09:00. Mick was sitting outside and went inside as soon as he saw me walk up to the traffic lights at the crossing down the road from his shop. I told him what happened and he told me to he would have the job done in 20 minutes. I went and paid my phone bill and did some browsing in some of the local shops. When the time appointed rolled around I went back and the bike was ready. The even better thing was the cost was just $10.00. I took the bike back home and got changed and rode to work. The brake is a bit hard, this is not necessarily a bad thing but it does mean it may need further adjusting later on.

Despite my reservations about the quality of repairs I respect Mick, he got the bike working and was open at an hour that no one else was (the only other option – Bikerepairs.com.au was open at . I have to say that I enjoy listening to his stories of long range cycling. He has been to places far afield as Bathurst and beyond on the bike. His recommendation that baggage be limited to that which can be carried in a musette is quaint, but interesting enough to make me think about trying it. I have to say it will be a sad day when he closes shop because even though I trust the guys from Cheeky Monkey with the Green Trek and other bike , there are times (early in the morning for example) when the bike needs to be fixed. It will also be the end of some of Sydney’s cycling heritage. He has some photos and other memorabilia from a time when Sydney cycling was mostly sports cycling (road and track) and limited commuting. There are 2 other shops like Mick’s that I know of throughout Sydney, one is close to Centennial Park and sells the Europa brand bike along with Colnagos and recenly KHS brand bikes.  It has a website and is linked to the Randwick Botany Cycling Club. The other Kingswood Cycles is in Sydney’s west, near Penrith. They sell similar bikes to Mick and like Mick & just about every other bike shop they thrive mostly on servicing. This has been drying up though and they blame the razor scooter. They do have a trade with the locals who occasionally get done for DUI and need a bike just to get around.

I will do some light training tonight in Centennial Park and will get myself to head off to Lithgow tomorrow,

The count down begins – easter riding

I had an interesting time riding over Easter. As I said previously I went on a ride to Centennial park with the Red Hybrid. I got about 6 laps in. While I had a rest between the 3rd and 4th lap I saw a cyclist being abused by a cop in a police van. The exchange went cop: “Sorry mate I had a job fuck wit (the last two words were said at a lower volume)! The cyclist rode away. It has to be the first time I have seen the cops in Centennial Park. An off duty cop was shot there a while ago and they closed off the park to look for the gunman and hold the witnesses. The ride back was even more memorable. I rode through Moore Park and was waiting to cross Cleveland St when a car waiting at red lights sounded his horn twice and drove towards the turning traffic which stopped. He stopped when he realised he went through a red light and then drove around the turning cars and sped off.
Yesterday I went on a reconnaissance ride over the new 18km route (or what I suspect is the 18Km route) for the first day of the Great Escapade. I brought the Red Hybrid back to Lithgow for some training over Easter of which not much got done for 2 days. I had a reasonable ride although I think the 18 Km is going to be the most easy and least challenging part of the ride.
After I finished I decided I would go to a small village outside Lithgow – Portland which is also on the route but I used the main roads and got there despite some heart stopping moments. I rode to Wallerawang and then to Portland. It was quick and I was able to put the bike through it’s paces. I did have an issue with chain drop which as always is a pain. I will need to get the bike serviced and make sure that the shifters are working properly. I am thinking about using the Red Hybrid for the Blaney to Bathurst ride on the Sunday after I return from the Great Escapade.
I used some of those liquid gel sachets as food and was able to get a bit of mileage in. It probably didn’t burn off the Easter Eggs though. I stopped off at the Lithgow tourist information office. The Great Escapade is to leave from Glanmire Oval and they have said the oval is located in “Glanmire Street” It isn’t. I road the streets around the oval and found it is bordered by Sanford Avenue to the East, James Street to the South and Albert Street to the West – there is no North access. The ride back from Portland became a battle with the weather. I was caught in a thunderstorm in Marrangaroo and got soaked through. It was good that it happened after I rode up tunnel hill. In short it was a good ride to start off but finishing it was a battle. I got home and mum took one look at me and said that she had told dad when it started raining that she hoped that I had took a poncho. I didn’t have one and so got wet. At her suggestion and my insistence I took a hot shower and got changed into some dry clothes. I dried off the bike and the floor and moved it into my room. I got changed and had a relaxing day.
I have thought about using the route I used to Portland to go onto Mudgee and even complet what I set out to do last year – do a loop from Lithgow to Mudgee to Hill End and Sofala and Bathurst to Lithgow. It would be self supported tour so food would be bought at local shops and local accomodation used to keep costs down and support local business. This is something I am thinkng about doing around my birthday when I will take a week off.
Today I did some research into the Blue Mountains rides from Katoomba to Mt Victoria. As the Great Escapade has been denied permission to ride the Great Western Highway. I decided to findout if anyone had rode between Katoomba and Mt Vic. I put the question on Sydney Cyclist and got a couple of replies. One claims as I do that the road is safe but there should be care taken (which one would do as a matter of course). I get the feeling that it is the RTA which has denied permission to ride the highway because it doesn’t want to deal with whinging motorists claiming they had been put out by a cycling event.

I have begun collecting things for the camping side of the Great Escapade. I need to dig up an air bed to make things comfortable and will try to get a treking bag. The idea is I will put two panniers into the treking bag along with all the other gear I will be taking as the luggage will be carried on a separate vehicle. When the ride finishes at Stockton I will hang about a bit in Stockton and then pack the gear into the two panniers and strap the tent and other stuff to the rack. I will then catch the ferry across the Hunter and then catch the train from Newcastle to Central then take another train to Lithgow. The plan is to make the ride a journey not a race – something they have said in the information DVD. I feel that the training has been reasonable although like all other events there could always have been more.
It isn’t just me who is organising themselves for the ride. I stopped into the Western Autoquip which is a car parts shop that sells bicycle equipment and bicycles as well as car stuff. While I was there a couple was shopping for cycling gear and I overheard the conversation between the man and his partner. She said she was going to buy a cheap pair of cycling gloves from Kmart and he said that was fine but she wasn’t to buy a helmet from there. I get the feeling there will be some first time cycle tourists (technically I am one but I did have a crack at riding to Mudgee through Sofala and Hill End but got as far as Sofala before saddle sores and exhaustion made me ride back to Lithgow).

Bike snobbery: It is about the bike

I began to notice there were divisions between cyclists along similar lines to the divisions that exist between motorists long before the latest encounter with bike snobbery. The latest encounter happened when I had to ride the Red Hybrid to work one morning after one of the tyres on the Green Trek died. The Red Hybrid is a Holstar Peleton flat bar road/Hybrid bike. Holstar are known for making low end MTBs which I remember being sold in one of the department stores. When I bought it second hand I did not know they made hybrids and was curious about it’s quality. It does have a set of Alex Araya wheels and it does go well. I got lucky when one of the guys I work with decided he would hang back and gave me an early mark. This was all I needed to take the Red Hybrid on it’s maiden loop of Centennial Park and visit bike shop for replacement tubes for the Green Trek. I went to the bike shop and as I had not brought a bike lock I took the Red Hybrid in with me. I got the tubes and before I left one of the mechanics asked “Is that yours?” I paused for a while and said “no I just borrowed it” to which the reply was “I knew it wasn’t you wouldn’t ride anything that bad!”. It wasn’t the first time I copped some flak over the Red Hybrid’s pedigree. The bike mechanics at another bike shop claimed that the frame was bent and later said that it had dodgy welding. However I was assured that the Red Hybrid was safe to ride.  It was interesting to read a letter in the Australian Cyclist in which Jackko of Muswellbrook said he had “found that the only people that get good service are other business owners. Working-class people get stuffed around and coloured people get accuse of stealing before even walking in the door. I have found some bike shop owners/workers don’t have qualifications for the repairing of bikes and very little knowledge of parts and accessories. If they see someone who does a lot of riding walk in the door they know they can’t get you bike running correctly so instead give you 100 and one excuses and bad attitude”

Cycling has been described in some quarters as the new golf with those working in high paying professions such as Lawyers, Doctors and Accountants (the cyclist involved in a fatal collision with a pedestrian during Melbourne’s Hell Ride was described as an “marketing professional” www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22232598-661,00.html). Bicycles like cars can be used by some to indicate their social status and amount of income they earn. This extends to both the bikes they ride an those they throw away.  After all like all technology bicycles that were once prized possessions are soon abandoned when the owner buys a newer model. According to Bicycle Victoria’s Ride On magazine “Spending on bikes varies wildly, from the cost of a small family car to the price of a dinner for two. For example, the average road bike sells for over $2200 and there are some models in shops for as much as $15,000.” The article goes on to point out that recycled bikes can be picked up for a song “it’s possible to gather together a decent bike from bits found at hard waste collection time. I heard a story that someone got a perfectly good carbon-framed road bike this way that was simply last year’s model.” (www.bv.com.au/join-in/30313/). I put the question out on Sydney Cyclist and found that Sydneysiders have the found “high quality steel road frames, tandems etc etc. It’s a case of right place at the right time” One person commenting on the post said  “Best bike I ever picked up was an Alan alloy road frame covered in campag components. All it needed was a clean and a some wheels.”

Cycling culture appears to have approached the issue of cheap bikes, as the car culture has to cheap cars. A case in point has been the presence of Cell bikes. This company sells road, mountain and hybrid bikes in most cases with high quality Shimano components but with cheap Chinese made frames. Their targeting of the road bike market has lead to some debate on the merits of cheap bikes on http://www.sydneycyclist.com I have the feeling that with all the brand consciousness the important issue is being ignored. This issue being that any bike is better than no bike at all or indeed a car. On my daily commute I have seen people riding to work on bikes ranging from Colnago road bikes to worn out Repco MTBs. I am not the only one who has noticed the brand consciousness. Steve George the writer of www.bikeofdoom.com said “The general feeling I get from discussion forms and comments to my blog is that some people are actually upset that I’m writing about a department store bike, because they’re afraid it might encourage somebody else to buy one”. The explanation for the dislike of cheap department store bikes is the quality of workmanship and components. I begun to wonder if this was code for “Cannondale, Colnago and Bianchi are made in the US and Italy where people are paid real wages,  Giant and Trek are made in Taiwan where the exchange rates are good but the wages are decent, while Repco, Schwinn, Cell, Cyclops, Kend, Greenwood etc are made in China and are made by workers who are exploited and badly paid. As Steve Points out “many of the low-end bikes by Giant and Trek are made by those same laborers”.

It seems that the snobbery goes beyond bike brand and into use as one letter to Australian Cyclist by Dennis Cox of Brighton SA states”Gary Liddle (AC Nov/Dec) states that one of the things he enjoys about cycling is that camaraderie on the road. I am afraid I don’t see much of that these days when I am plodding along at 15km/hr on my hybrid complete with panniers and mudguards. The Lycra-clad boys on their super machines whiz by me with not so much as a “g’day”. I often call out to them as they go by and one of the group might look round in surprise only to carry on as if I don’t exist. I find this a bit disappointing; when I first joined a club 70 odd years ago there was indeed camaraderie among cyclists, always greeting each other with a wave and a cheerio. Nowadays if you are on a touring bike they don’t want to know you.” (Australian Cyclist March April 2008). I have to say that there have been times when riding in Centennial and along some of the bike paths, the only greetings I have had from racing cyclists have been “Riiiidaaar” or “Paaasing you on the Riiight” or just “Riiiight! Riiiight! Riiight!”, followed by a flash of colour as they shoot past and the rush of the slipstream. On another occasion I got discusing recumbent bikes with a guy at work from Canberra who is a triathlete. He surprised me when he expressed his contempt for recumbent riders, especially when he claimed that many had not started riding “normal bikes”.

It is not all problematic. I am looking at joining the Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club which is a racing club. They hold a Saturday morning ride called Saturday Slowies. This is a ride for beginner riders and many of the club turn up on their training bikes which can include fixies (fixed gear bikes – both purpose made and converted from road bikes), MTBs, hybrids and of course road bikes with varying make and vintage. I have also found myself chatting with racing cyclists as I have done laps of Centennial on a week day evening and while commuting. As the author of the Ride On article said “It’s interesting that we often attach notions of right or wrong to typical consumer habits – we all have quite a fixed image of what a ‘proper cyclist’ looks like”.  I feel that it is important to remember that cycling for most of us will take it’s place alongside everything else going on in our lives, eg working, raising a family, earning you place in society. In most cases like cars and everything else people purchase  one of the things Steve pointed out is true “some people don’t have a choice, or they have bought a Department Store Bike for a specific purpose”.  I know one guy at work who is also a musician who uses a Cyclops MTB to commute to work, the band added on to normal living expenses didn’t leave much money for buying a low end Trek or Giant so he keeps the Cyclops in good order and has had no trouble with it. This proves another of Steve’s points regarding department store bikes which he described as “a serviceable piece of machinery if you look after it, and that it will deliver a lot of kilometers for the dollars you put into it. ”  In the past 3 years since I returned to cycling I have found that a well maintained bike will always work better than one that isn’t no matter what the brand. Despite the differences in equipment all cyclists face the same issues, most of us recognise this. As the author of  the Ride On article proved when he asked all the people quoted in his article “this same question: ‘Do you have something in common with someone just because they ride a bike?’And all of them gave the same answer: Absolutely.” Bike snobbery reflects tribalism in cycling and mostly is good natured. However it does have the potential to divide cycling at a time when cyclists need to push for more cycling facilities to be retrofitted in cities such as Sydney where the car has been king for so long. In this respect it can do more damage than the rantings of the usual car editors and rev-heads who vent their spleen over issues such as registration and observance of the road rules.