Researching writer rides

Writer and critic Martin Buzacott is writing a book on the ABC and in doing his research he’s travelled to all state capitals to conduct interviews. But he was wary of the costs:

With moths flying out of my wallet before even leaving Brisbane, I reviewed my first day’s schedule of meetings, which consisted of six appointments in five different Melbourne suburbs, some 15km apart.

By my frantic mental arithmetic, that amounted to an additional $150 in cab fares that day alone, and it wasn’t much less if I hired a car and paid for petrol and parking.

His solution? Hire a bike in each city and go for it. In the Courier Mail today he summarises his experiences of utility cycling in all Australia’s capital cities. I can’t resist the temptation to highlight a visitor’s observations of what Melbournians already know: the we live in “the most cycle-friendly city” in the country:

On my first 120km of tourist riding, out along the Yarra River Trail and then down the shore of Port Philip Bay from St Kilda to Sandringham and back, I virtually never left a dedicated bike lane, and in most places where I stopped there were public bike-racks available.

Melbourne is a city serious about its cycling and on fine Saturday mornings you’ll encounter thousands of cyclists on the coastal routes.

With a bike network so extensive, there’s no better city in Australia in which to do business by bike.

[emphasis added]

Yay for us – but the less said about his bike rental experience the better! In fact, I think I’m going to delve into the hire scheme that he found in Adelaide run by Bike SA – that sounds really promising.

Buzacott provides a good overview of cycling in each city – and clearly excellent cycling can be found in every capital – with a handful of tips thrown-in for the hire-and-ride touring cyclist.

More on related topics

• Thoughts on winter bike commuting
• Melbourne day trips by bike
• Man bites dog…
• Dirty Little Secrets
• Saturday at Studley Park