The intersection

l saw a woman get hit by a car on an intersection hear my house last week. A car ran a red light and the woman was thrown from her bike. She was hurt, but survived. I approach this intersection with extreme caution now, and I certainly never cross against the lights, especially when I have my infant son with me.

Earlier this week I saw a man on a bike with a child in a seat on the back cross against a red light at the same intersection, and in the same 5 minutes a woman on a bike tried to cross when an ambulance was speeding through the intersection with lights and sirens blaring. The ambulance driver had to brake to avoid her and use the horn to get her to move.

l just don't know what is wrong with people.

look ma, no hands, no helmet, no lights...... and no consideration for anyone or anything

In my part of Melbourne bikes have been cool for a long time. It's close to the city, it gets clogged up with car and public transport traffic, and there are lots of parks, so riding is mostly a pleasure.

Unfortunately recent years has seen the bike go beyond a useful cheap mechanical form of transport, to being a fashion statement. The funny side is, a lot of people walk their bikes around on the footpaths and never seem to ride them, particularly up and down the busy shopping strips where all of the bars and cafes are.

i used to read on the tram, but now i am so crammed in i can hardly reach my phone in my pocket

I was reading this article in The Age about public transport in Melbourne over the weekend as I thought about alternative ways to get to and from work. The public transport system is at bursting point around peak times every day. I stand at tram stops and have to let one, and sometimes up to three trams go by before there is one with room for anyone else.

I've tried cycling, but drivers in Melbourne seem to feel like they are competing with cyclists and behave very aggressively.

abandoned bikes etc

I think that most people would agree that there has been a big shift in the last few years with more and more people turning to the bicycle as their main form of daily transport, particularly in capital cities.

For the most part, this trend is due to one or all of the following: petrol prices, parking shortages, fitness fads, public transport woes and last but certainly not least pure fashion.
For me and a few people I know, it is cheaper and quicker to ride than to drive or catch public transport to work. It is also healthier and more relaxing, as not only do you get some exercise, but you don't have people sneezing and coughing in your face, and nutters screaming at the top of their lungs.

chop and flop

Now I have chopped and flopped the handlebars.

my new old bike

I found this 1985 Miyata 310 in a shed where it had been for nearly 15 years, covered in a tarpaulin. I decided to turn it into a fixed or single speed, as I have been getting back in to cycling now that I live in Fitzroy and needed a challenge.