On the bike trails of Sydney
It takes a small dose of courage to hop on a bike and brave the mean streets of Sydney. In streets scant of bike-lanes, cyclists are left with no choice but to contend with zooming cars for a share of the road. If a push-bike rider dares to take a breather on the footpath, the glares and snipes of wheel-envious walkers will soon be enough to scare them back into heaving traffic. Many are loathe to wear the compulsory helmet, but know flaunting the law to ride bare-headed means being pulled over by police and facing a fine.
Yet, every rider knows the smug thrill of pedaling past stalled traffic. Cycling is arguably the fastest way to travel in the city. There’s not circling round the block three times looking for that elusive park, then forking out a stack of gold cones, or returning 15 minutes late to discover the parking range has left a dreaded yellow envelope on the windscreen.
Journalist Emma Jane (formerly known as Emma Tom) is a pushie rider from way back.
“I love the feeling; it wakes me up. I love that the environment is unmediated; it’s very direct. I love the smell of riding up King Street, the smells of the restaurants, the smells that gather over pedestrian crossings; it’s always this big clouds of perfume and aftershaves. It’s a really sensory feeling riding a bike,” Emma says.
Starting a new job lecturing at UNSW this year, Emma was reluctant to start driving, but found the distance “a little bit daunting and a bit perspiration inspiring” for cycling.
She decided an electric bike was an excellent compromise.
“It’s a Nanna version of motor bike riding,” Emma says.
“It’s a very gentle way to approach commuting because if you feel like a work out you can cut the engine back.”
In an underground carpark in Waterloo, on any given Monday or Wednesday night up to 80 people drop by the Bike Club to find a spare part or make repairs to their machine.
A group of volunteers cheerfully pass on skills to newcomers – only hoping to keep the cycle of bike love going. They rely on donations of bikes and parts from shops and individuals to keep the club going.
Ellen Antico is eagerly making repairs to hasten her pushie back onto the streets. “The bike paths around here are making it so much easier,” Ellen says.
“I wouldn’t want to ride on the roads and no one really appreciates bikes on the footpaths either.”
She’s getting a hand from volunteer Cameron Wood, who worked as a bike mechanic for five years and now comes along to the Bike Club for the love of it.
“I get a good vibe from here; it’s a lot of fun,” Cameron says.
Bike Club was born seven years ago in the Newtown backyard of a house known as the Nunnery. It retains its community, not-for profit and DIY ethos.
Sam Chrisp first visited the group a year and a half ago and has kept coming back.
“I thought I needed a whole new wheel, but they just told me how I could fix it,” Sam said.
“I didn’t know anything then and now I can do a whole lot of things fairly easily.”
Some inspirational Sydney cycling websites:
www.situp-cycle.com
bikeclub.wordpress.com
www.sydneycyclechic.org
www.artcyclesydney.com
glowwormbicycles.com.au
bikesydney.org
