Keep on truckstering

I see those guys over at Bike Forest have gone crazy. Again. Check out The Family Truckster.

Looks great, but will they be taking it on the next PBP?

Crappy new year to you too, Ms Kosky

Plenty of people have had plenty to say about the bloody stupid new ban on bikes being carried on peak hour trains in Melbourne. I don't really have anything salient to add except that it's a ludicrous decision of the kind we've come to expect from the Minister for Not-wanting-to-run-a-railway.

I also have nothing to say one way or the other on how Bicycle Victoria has acted and represented its actions on this issue, while pointing out that the Public Transport Users Association made a more bike-friendly response. However, commuting cyclists should probably take BV's survey on Bikes, Trains and Work.

Bike commuters, what do you want?

On a happier commuting topic, bikecommuters.com is asking what bicycle commuters would and would not like to see on a next generation commuter bicycle. Send your thoughts their way.

Maintain the lane

If a city is serious about bike lanes, it keeps 'em clean. But if a city is fanatical about bike lanes, it tests 'em for comfort! I'd like to see what that laser detector would make of any number of routes in Melbourne (the Federation Trail springs to mind…)

Read it and weep

Speaking of bike lanes, the best/worst of the Warrington Cycle Campaign's Facility of the Month has been gathered into a book: Crap Cycle Lanes. The ideal gift for your local highways engineer.

Shut the door on dooring

Seattle is trialling Look for Bikes signs. Seems like a damn fine idea to me. [via Commute by Bike]

Mudflap in minutes

It's been…oh, at least a week since I've said anything about mudguards, so I'm pleased to see that Vik over at the The Lazy Randonneur has given me the excuse to bring up the topic again. He describes a mini-project to add a mudflap to a front fender. I reckon even I could manage that mod.

Cycling in snow, for the uninitiated

Peter Chen, ex-Queenslander, recently of Melbourne, now in Edmonton gives a terrific overview of cycling on snow and other wintery surfaces.

For those interested in riding in snow, it fulfills your long-held desire to cycle in a lake of very fine Styrofoam beads, without the risk of inhaling the plastic balls and expiring of styro-suffocation.

Complete with sample photographs, it's fascinating for the uninitiated like me.

Comments

eccles

Actually... I'm not really outraged by the no bikes in peak hour thing. The trains are really stuffed at the moment, and they do take up space. I mean, I think there are better ways to sort it out - go back to having to pay for the bike during peak hour, ask riders to not get on express trains, make it free to ride with a bike before and after peak hour... other options.

But, once again Lynne "Melbournians are obsessed with punctuality" Kosky demonstrates that she's a total 'tard, and that she shouldn't be allowed her own toothbrush let alone a ministry. Trying to sneak it through is just /dumb/. And rude.

Treadly and Me

The bike ban on trains doesn't really affect me either (except on those once a year occasions where I need to get a broken-down bike or rider home). What I really object to is cyclists being put on the whipping post for a problem that they haven't caused and to which they contribute very little—the overcrowding of Melbourne's peak trains. Getting maybe a few dozen bikes off the system is not going to make the slightest difference.

The Minister was quoted as saying that it's a common sense approach; well if it's so bloody common sense, why the need for a rule? Just leave it to people's common sense to sort it out. Sheesh.

Damn, I promised myself I wasn't going to get dragged into this topic…

eccles

Hmm, I think they are an obvious problem - i do ride trains, and bikes in peak hour take up about 2 or 3 spaces and, more importantly, block the doorways (there's nowhere else to put them). I don't think its bashing particularly - other solutions like more trains require longer lead times to put them in place.

but I'll change the subject :) How about those bumpy tracks, eh? I got to experience the Scotchman's creek from Oakleigh to Mount Waverley recently, and its almost useless with all of the cracks, lumps and crumbling. Especially around the otherwise pretty ponds at Huntingdale road...

Treadly and Me

Yeah, I know what you mean about the Scotchmans Creek Trail. Bumpy, and quite narrow in places, as I recall. It's actually quite a pretty trail and OK for a gentle trundle, but not really conducive to whizzing along for commuting. Although I believe Doc Homebrew rides part of that trail to get to work, so it's possible.

Jonathon Troy

I am wondering when the same will happen here in NSW. City rail charges a child fare for a bicycle during it's peak period. There was a campaign by the Greens Member of the Legislative Council Lee Rhiannon regarding this. She put 3 suit cases in front of journalists 1 of which contained a Dahon and asked which one would have to pay a child fare?

I am wondering if there is going to be a similar thing to Bicycle NSW's bike lockers - where for " 0.00 including GST, plus a refundable key deposit of 0" a bike locker is all yours (I am unsure if it is or if it is shared but I would not put a 000 Bianchi in one). I suspect that the bike parking cage will be used an income making scheme which may mean that people in Victoria may resort to finding a rusty old repco to chain to a fence or something outside the railway station.

On the issue of bike paths at least you get them in Victoria here in NSW we still have to fight for them.

eccles

Argh. Sorry, but the train thing gets stupider.

Treadly and Me

I think that clearly demonstrates how ludicrous the ban is, particularly on the V/Line V'Locity trains.