Day Eighteen Friday 1st June 2007

Forecast for today: Friday
An early shower or two, then fine. Partly cloudy with light wind tending northerly.

Precis: Becoming fine.
City: Min 9 Max 15

Road rage

I am riding in the right hand lane, the only lane that allows you to go straight across the intersection. All other lanes must turn.

A driver comes past me and screams out "you cock head" and the expletives trail off as he overtakes. I arrive at the next set of lights, and as I pass him in the traffic queue I give him a friendly wave and smile.

I ride ahead and at the next intersection I have to stop and do one of Melbourne's famous hook turns. As I await the change in lights, Mr Happy drives across the intersection. He winds down his passenger window and screams once more, "you cock head", "what are you doing in the right lane." I reply, "having a good day are you?" A few more expletives from him. I again reply, "I have as much right to use the road as you". By now Mr Happy is holding up other traffic, because he is in the middle of the intersection. Another car doing the hook turn with me gives him a blast of the horn. I can see them laughing at him. He moves off.

I take note of the company name on the side of the car. I decide I will look it up on the internet. If you are going to behave in an antisocial manner then it isn't a good idea to do it in an identifiable vehicle.

I rang the company, the manager knew who it was immediately, "Oh god, Oh don't tell me which car, I know already". I explained that I was in the correct lane and that the abusive behaviour was not a good advertisement for them. I also told him that I had decided to ring him rather than report it to the police. He apologised and said he would have a talk with him.

Righteous indignation felt good!

I reckon it is a result of being stuck in a little box on wheels thinking that there will be no consequences for you and you aren't obligated to the normal social rules that would apply if you weren't in your little protective, isolated box.

This is in contrast to the near miss I had on the way in, but with another cyclist. She was riding on the foot path, I was on the bike path. We just didn't see each other and I stopped a few centimetres from hitting her side on. She just said "that was close" and I just smiled. It was a near miss with no one really at fault, yes I could have been looking more attentively. Yes, maybe she shouldn't have been on the foot path.

Day Seventeen Thursday 31st May 2007

Forecast for today: Thursday
Cloudy with showers. Strong to locally gale force north to northwesterly wind moderating during the afternoon then shifting west to southwesterly.

Precis: Showers.
City: Min 10 Max 15
Windy again this morning, blown to work by a great tail wind. Bit cautious. Throwing caution to the wind does not apply in these conditions. It would get blown right back at you!
Road is wet, hasn't rained for a day or two, so I take it carefully, choose a few back streets. I keep in mind that accidents can increase when it hasn't rained for few days.

Feels great riding in the tunnel of oak trees as I play the game "count how many cars you can pass".
Passed 71 cars and 1 truck in the traffic queue.
Had a brief conversation with a woman in the lift,who saw me in all my wet weather gear.
"Wow you rode in this weather?!"
"Yep, actually I hardly had to pedal at all it is coming from the north west and I live out that way".
"So you just got on the bike path and woo hoo all the way here".
"Yep!"
"Great!"
Actually, I think it was less "woo hoo" and more "zoom zoom".
3.30 pm Dark, dark clouds and pouring rain.
5.00 pm the rain has stopped. Had better hurry home.

Ride home

It's dark, it's cold the rain has stopped, but the road is still wet. Luck must be on my side the wind has dropped and there does not feel like there is any at all. I was expecting a head wind home despite what the forecast said.

There seems to be more traffic on the road because of the rainy day.It's a very traditional Christmas picture, with out a decoration in sight. The atmosphere is created by the red of the brake lights and the orange of the turning lights (indicators), the white of the on-coming headlights and the flashing white, red, green and blue of the bicycle lights.The lights appear to twinkle and have a warm halo around them. They also reflect off the wet road in soft, warm shades adding to the atmosphere.

The most nerve wracking part of the journey home and to work is the big round about. Tonight I go through in the darkness. The traffic is jammed, there are cars on the right of me and cars on the left, there are people changing lanes behind me. It is always a worry going through this round about because people do unpredictable things. The novelty of the Christmas atmosphere wears off quickly, I keep my wits about me.

I witness a near miss as a driver decides to risk going across an intersection with an on coming truck bearing down on to the crossing. I feel the cold air suck in between my gritted teeth, my chest expand and then my whole body tenses up for the expected crash. The driver is lucky, I exhale and feel my shoulders drop away from my ears, my body relaxes. People seem to take a lot of risks in cars.

I ride along the bike path, with the train line parallel. I come to a road crossing, which also has boom gates parallel to me. The traffic is queued up and once again someone has decided to take the risk of joining the queue and being in the middle of the train tracks, in between the boom gates! It seems that people are in so much of rush to get to where they are going that they are willing to take great risks.

I wonder if being in a car gives people a false sense of security. Have you ever noticed how many people will sit at traffic lights sealed in their car and do things that they wouldn't normally do in public. Like pick their nose!

Day Sixteen Wednesday 30th May 2007

As we walk down the shared path we have another car free traveller over take us. There are plenty of ways to go car free!

Forecast for today: Wednesday, showers becoming less frequent. Mostly cloudy with fresh westerly winds tending north westerly and moderating.

Precis: Showers becoming less frequent. City: Min 8 Max 15

The news this morning said that the weather on Monday night was the hottest night in quite some time, and then we have stormy weather the next morning. Does global warming exist.

Walking today, running late, very tired, sleep is difficult with a new baby. Struggle to get out of bed. Try to run, but it is difficult with work gear and dressed in work clothes. Or, may maybe it is me and it is just difficult to run.

I am a bit surprised at how difficult I find it to run. Seems like my body just want to do it. Maybe I am just tired. More likely I am just not 20 anymore. So running is not going to be the car free challenge for me.

If I was on the bike I know I could just pedal faster. Of course I don't wear work clothes on the bike, and I have a shower at work, before changing into work gear.

I meet my workmate and we start our walk. I am disappointed as the realization dawns that we will have to take the tram if we are going to make it to work on time. We won't be able to walk all the way, bugger. Oh well we will still be going to work car free, and having the option to jump on a tram just doesn't happen in many places in the world.

We make it to work.

On the surface the walk to work is uneventful. However, a little look under the surface and you notice a whole lot of human interaction that I don't think is there if I am travelling in a box on wheels.

First is my work mate, we talk most of the time. Yes, I know that could happen in a car, but it is so much better when it is car free, and we talk about all the things occurring around us. And she is a great listener.

Second there is the brief interaction with the friendly shop owner, where we buy the daily tram ticket for the princely sum of $6.20. Melbourne is a very multicultural city and this shop owner is an elderly Asian man, maybe Chinese.

As I fumble for my change to pay, he makes a few statements. I am surprised to hear some typically Australian statements, with a strong Australian English accent. He conveys a warmth, an immediate and intimate understating of my situation.

The incongruity of what I expect to hear makes me laugh at myself and the stereo types I have. They are challenged in a very positive way. Melbourne is great city to live in. I don't think this would have happened if I was in a car.

Third there is the tram journey. I tell my work mate the story of the last time I had to catch a tram to work when I was running late. I had an appointment at 9 am. I had to get the tram and I had no change. I only had a $20 note. A few years ago the trams had conductors who would give you change. Now days they have an automatic ticket machine that only takes coins.


So I get on the tram hoping that there are no ticket inspectors and that none get on for the journey into the city. The first thing I see when I get on the tram is a huge poster that has pictures of police in uniform, then the same person in plain clothes. The caption on the poster is "Plain clothes police travel on trams". I remembered that the fines for traveling without a ticket were over $100. The trip in to work was anxious, especially at every stop! However, I make it in without a ticket inspector in sight.

As I tell this story there is another interaction going on. Out of the corner of my eye I notice a young woman who is looking over at me. She does this five or six times and appears to be looking me up and down, slowly. I wonder what she is thinking, maybe she thinks I am 20! Any way it is yet another positive car free interaction.

The shared paths into work are picturesque in the cool, clear, morning air. The old oak trees lining each side of the apt create an inviting, protective umbrella to walk, or ride under. There are no showers on us as we walk. We also get the time to notice and talk about our surrounds more. We notice the Australian Aboriginal flag is on the flag pole in the round about on the main road in to the city.


Incidentally, one of the scariest parts of the journey because of the level of traffic. Even people in cars find this intersection scary. In addition, to all the traffic going around the roundabout there are trams going through the center of the roundabout. Imagine the Arc de Triomphe, on a slightly smaller scale, but just as scary when you are in it. Any way I digress.



The Aboriginal flag is up to mark National Reconciliation Week. On the 27th May 1967 a referendum was held to remove clauses in the Australian Constitution which discriminated against Indigenous Australians. Before this Indigenous Australians were not allowed to vote! They were allowed to fight in wars and die for the country! The flag is quite symbolic, the red of the earth, the black of the Indigenous Australians skin and the yellow of the sun. Estimates are that Indigenous Australians have been here 35,000 years. The ultimate in car free culture!

Day Fifteeen Tuesday 29th May 2007

Forecast for today: Tuesday A morning shower or two, then rain periods developing in the afternoon. Fresh north to northwesterly winds, strengthening during the day and reaching gale force at times.
Precis: Rain periods developing. Windy City: Min 14 Max 19

5 am start out into the dark, awoke to hear the wind, sounded pretty ominous, wasn't looking forward to the ride. Ride can only be described as 1. exciting, 2. scary, 3. slow, 4. wobbly and 5. fun.

The news has just said that the wind speeds in the city were measured at 110 km!

1.Exciting -I think the wind was close to gale force as I started and fortunately we live in the north west of the city. I think I said something about you never get the reward of a tail wind after a head wind. Today, I was wrong. I was in top gear after a few turns of the pedals, and pedaling was effortless. The wind wasn't even cold. In fact I would go as far as to say it was warm.

2. Scary- As I rode into the city and the wind direction changed as it was funneled around by the various canyons that the tall buildings form, I notice a pedestrian standing at an intersection leaning at 45 degrees. The wind hits me as I cross the intersection, I am being blown across the lane into the traffic. I have to lean at about 45 degrees to stay upright. I go slowly and make it across the intersection with out going sideways int the tram coming up beside me.

3. Slow- In the city again blustery wind hits straight on and my pedaling is taking me no where fast, the maple leaves swirl around me as if calling the wind to come and play and the wind disappears, chasing the maple leaves up the street behind me.

4. Wobbly- blustery wind it here, its there, it isn't here. Lean, stop leaning, don't fall over!

5. Fun - I have made it to work in no time at all and it has been great fun.

Have taken my little LED light off my trike and put it on the hybrid to help add a bit of light along the way, both to be seen and to see. I am lucky enough that the box that holds the batteries fits into the bottle cage. I am quite proud of this little light which I assembled myself with only year 10 high school electronics.

Lights up the back lane very well, compare these to the other LED light (a commercial light) I was using (picture in previous day). Was really good in the windy conditions, added an extra level of anxiety reduction because I could see well ahead.

Easily seen from the front, which was also good in the dark, windy morning.


This LED light throws a fantastic amount of light from a rechargeable 9 volt battery pack.

The trip home was a little slower because it had been raining for a lot of the afternoon and the warm wind of the morning had changed to a cold and wet wind. It really feels like winter, cold, dark and wet, miserable really. These were the conditions of the night when I nearly got run over turning across the traffic in the dark. So I ride with caution. Traffic is always heavier when the weather is wet, and anecdotally it seems people have more accidents in the wet. Although the research says differently about fatal accidents and rain. Fatal accidents generally go down as precipitation increases. However, it does say that there are more accidents in the wet when there has been a long time between the last bit of rain, and we have been in drought for a long time. I am tired also, time for sleep soon, important to take it easy.

Day Fourteen Monday 28th May 2007

The view from the work window, it is a grey day on the construction site 12 floors up!

Forecast for today: Monday
Cloudy with a shower or two developing. Fresh northerly winds.

Precis: Shower or two.
City: Min 13 Max 17

Wow two weeks. Nearly got run over this morning. Got cut off by a car. It is amazing how cars just don't percieve bikes as traffic. Two of us across the intersection, with right of way against the driver attempting to turn across our path. He did see us eventually, and stopped. All I said was we have right of way! I notice that don't really have road rage much on the bike!

Weather has been grey and cloudy for the whole day. In our drought focussed climate this is a good thing. The wind is refreshing, despite looking ominous the first time I looked out the window at home. The ride home is a bit windy. This really is the car free challenge. At least when you ride up a hill, you get the reward of the down hill. In my experience there isn't a reward of a tailwind after a head wind.

I choose to ride a slightly different route home. It is enjoyable having this flexibility and being able to choose different scenery. I wonder how may people choose to do a different route home in a car?! Usually the choice is not about the scenery, but about trying to avoid traffic. Riding home, going car free, really is a different experince that is a whole lot more about enjoying the journey rather than rushing to the destination in a stressed state. Even though I have choosen a different route home it does not take any longer than the "normal" route home. As they say a change is as good as a holiday.

Day Thirteen Sunday 27th May 2007

No it is not a scene from Star Wars. It is me and my sister Chris helping me to remain car free by begining repars on the broken trike. Remained car free today, spent the whole day trying to master the "dark art" of welding. Managed to make lots of holes in the trike, which I then had to re-weld.


The trike is slowly "taking shape", but the welding is far more difficult than I could have imagined and it will take me some time before I have the cracks welded to a level that reduces my "trike breaking, crash and burn" anxiety when riding.


Forecast for today, Sunday
Fine. A mainly sunny day. Fresh northerly winds.

Precis: Fine.
City: Min 12 Max 20
And it was.

Day Twelve Saturday 26th May 2007

Forecast for today Saturday Fine. A mainly sunny day with a moderate northerly wind.

Precis: Fine. City: Min 11 Max 21

No riding today, whole day was car free! Spent time preparing the trike for welding!

Here is a bit of the urban landscape of my journey to work. A photo essay if you like!

The journey starts down the cobble stones of my back lane. Yes I know it looks out of focus, but that is what it really looks like when you ride on it!

We are fortunate enough to have a number of on road bike lanes in the back streets of Melbourne. These are great to travel on because of the low level of other traffic.

Then I am on bike path. While the scenery is not always what one might call "scenic" the urban landscape does offer a certain je ne sais quoi, that one can enjoy.

The journey on the main road in is also on bike lanes, with the thrill of passing many cars!

A gallery of some of the "landscape", Including the all important final words on life!

Day Eleven Friday 25th May 2007

Forecast for today Friday: Fine after a light early morning shower or two. A partly cloudy day with a moderate north to northwesterly wind.
Precis: Becoming fine. City: Min 13 Max 20

Walking today, weather is fine, no showers for me! Have a date with Em tonight - first for a long time since Tom's arrival. Doing it car free is a challenge with a very small baby. All the bike trailers are designed for kids who can sit upright. There does not seem to be anything on the market to safely carry a baby in. So to do it without a car we have to use a mix of walking (pushing the pram) and public transport. Of course in the spirit of the challenge I have previously attempted to co-opt Tom into the trike experience. He did seem happy with it, even though he couldn't reach the pedals.

So to "go out" with a small baby and do it car free is a bit of a logistical challenge that goes like this. I walk to work in the morning. In the late afternoon Em walks with Tom in Pram for about 6-7 km to my sisters place, who will baby sit for us. Em feeds Tom and leaves some expressed milk in case we do not make the 3 hour in between feeds window. I meet Em at movies. See movie. Tram to sisters. Tom in Pram. Pram to tram and then home!

There was only one bit of this that didn't go to plan. The line into the movies was so long that by the time we would have got our ticket the movie would have started, and of course the next start time for the movie would have been outside out in between feed window. So we went out for food!

It was a little windy as per the forcast as we waited for the tram, but it would have been a pleasant cooling breeze if we were riding putting a trailer. Getting the pram into the tram was a bit of a tight fit. I conclude a bike trailer safe for babies would be good.

10.00pm We all arrive home we are all exhausted, but it was a good night out! Would have been easy to do with a trailer for Tom, if there was anything on the market.

Day Ten Thursday 24th May 2007

Forecast for today, Thursday
A fine and partly cloudy day with a fresh, gusty northerly wind. A shower or two to follow overnight.

Precis: Windy. Fine day.
City: Min 12 Max 19

Normally I leave for work at 8 am for a reasonably comfortable ride to arrive at work at about 8.40 am for a shower before any appointments I have that start at 9 am. Today was different.

Tom didn't settle for a long time last night. I slept heavily.

8.24 am oh sh!@ Iam late. I have a 9 am appointment. I ring work, tell the answerign machine I am going to be late. Don't bother putting the jacket on, put it in the panniers - I will be warm enough, I am going to have to work hard. On to the bike and pedalling hard. Oh I hate that taste of lactic acid in my mouth. Up and down through the gears, this makes things so much easier, concentrating on traffic, still no rain, road is dry. 8.52 am arrive in the office. Off to the shower, hope I make it back before the client. 9.05 am back in office, cleint hasn't arrived yet. 9.12 am Client rings, sorry running late, Stuck in traffic! Talk about ironic!

Something I have noticed many times was in action again today. Many people don't use their gears much. Every time I stop at an intersection, I change down through my gears to be in a low gear ready to start on the green light. Many times I end up at the start of the queue of bikes after the light turns green. The simple fact that all those people in their very high gears have to stand on their pedals and heave the bike into motion when the light turns green, takes a great deal of time and wastes a lot of their energy. Also puts a lot of pressure on their knee joints. I think the change down of gears might have helped me keep up the momentum to get to work.
Gears are good we just have to rember to use them!

Day Nine Wednesday 23rd May 2007

Forecast for today,Wednesday
Partly cloudy with a few showers, mainly during the morning. Moderate to fresh
west to northwesterly wind.

Precis: Few showers, mainly morning.
City: Min 10 Max 17

My experince, didn't notice much of a wind on the way to work. Traffic jam on the way to work, heard on the news before I left to stay away from Royal Parade ( my route to work) becuase of a power poll that had fallen down and was delaying traffic. There were traffic controllers everywhere, but all the people cycling went through on the bike lane!

Work mate told others what I was doing during the staff meeting today... They laughed and the comment came back, "yeah riding in the traffic and all the pollution". I remembered being told about a study that said that people in cars were exposed to more pollution than cyclists, I recall that the reasoning was because cyclist weren't sitting in the polluted air, like in traffic jams. They were moving through the air.

Well I thought I better check and it seems there is a lots of info out there, this report said that "pollution levels inside cars can be up to eighteen times higher than those in "ambient" air outside."

This web site concluded that "But all is not doom and gloom. Of all those passive chokers sucking up air-borne poisons, cyclists are the least affected and best equipped to the counter their impact."

This url sighted The Institute for European Environmental Policy, stating that they had published a report showing that car drivers breathe in up to three times more toxic exhaust fumes than pedestrians or cyclists.

In this chapter of Air Quality Guidelines - Second Edition, commisioned by the WHO Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2000, they state " The carbon monoxide levels are highest in personal cars, the mean concentrations being 2–5 times the levels measured in streets or inside subway trains (6, 8, 9). Traffic patterns, car model and maintenance, vehicle ventilation conditions and season are factors that affect the carbon monoxide levels inside the cars (10–12). In Southampton in the United Kingdom, commuters using bicycles have been shown to be exposed to mean concentrations of 6.1–20.5 mg/m3 (5.3–17.9 ppm) with short peak values as high as 71 mg/m3 (62 ppm) (13). In the inner city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, the corresponding mean concentrations in bicycle trips have been much lower: 0.6–4.1 mg/m3 (0.5–3.6 ppm) (14)."

Interesting to note the lower levels in a bike domintant city like Amsterdam.
This site had a wealth of different studies about pollution in a car vs outside of in and on a bike. With comments like "Therefore, even after taking the increased respiration rate of cyclists into consideration, car drivers seem to be more exposed to airborne pollution than cyclists." certainly help to firm my belief that riding is a good health option.

So I might be riding through the pollution, but this sure beats sitting in it in a car! Yet another reason to go car free! Well I didn't think I'd be learning this kind of stuff on a car free challenge, but I am really happy that I am. I just hope it helps to sway a few more people to car free...Just got to get some people to read it!

Ride home was uneventful - really noticing that the ride is a bit slower than the morning ride, but it isn't significant. I have also noticed that it is signifcantly less stressful bothdirectons on the biek than I think it could possibly be in a car. Saw somone get pulled over by an unmarked police car, for what looked like aggressive kind of driving...Nothing I have to worry about...

Day Eight Tuesday 22nd May 2007

Riding in the dark...

Wow one week done already! Or should I be saying Wow survived one week! I am not sure.

Forecast for today, Tuesday:
Cloudy periods with a few showers. Fresh west to northwesterly wind.
Precis: Few showers. City: Min 9 Max 16



5 am start again, Not windy , a little bit cold. No rain. Feeling really good today. Only had about seven and a half hours sleep, so can't quite work out why. However, with Tom's sleeping pattern 7.5 hours is a very long sleep! There is something primal about a baby's cry that can wake you from the deepest sleep. It is just impossible to ignore it! I do recall hearing it in the night, but he settled very quickly, and so did I.

The ride to Yoga is fairly quick. Very minimal traffic at this time of the morning in the soft darkness before dawn. Traffic is really a major factor in travel time, even on a bike. Maybe I caught all the traffic lights on the way as well. Then a ride to work, the day has broken and the calm of the earlier ride is taken up with they business of cars queuing up 3 lanes wide as they crawl towards the city. Like ants marching towards a sugary food source. Mmm food... stop for breakfast. Great thing about the bike compared to a car, very rarely are their any parking hassles. So it was easy to stop and grab something to eat.

Ride home late tonight after appointment across other side of town. Don't want to wear myself out so decide that I will ride to the closest train station and get the train the rest of the way home. Get home at 10 pm, which beats getting home at 11 pm if I rode. I think this is still keeping in the spirit of car free challenge, well that is what I am going to say! There are quite a few people on the train with bikes.

Cycling makes you realize how important sleep and rest are. I really notice the difference between my ride to work and the ride home.

I re-think my lighting after last night. Is it bright enough. The front light has a pattern that throws light out in a range of directions. I presume this is good for being seen. Still the light are nothing like car head lights or tail lights.

The rear lights flash and the front light can be set to either flash or constant. I think that perhaps I could find brighter rear lights. Or maybe this is because of the "near miss" last night. I guess new lights wouldn't hurt though.

Riding in the dark is quite pleasant experience.
Maybe it is a sensory deprivation experience, being surrounded and enveloped in the darkness. The calmness of the quiet night. The sense of being cocooned in the space that is defined by the boundaries of the light surrounding you. Watching the traffic come towards you, within its cocoon of white light, head lights appearing as one luminescent source, then the slow, apparently organic separating as they become closer. It is as if you are watching one cell divide and grow.

Then their is the brief moment where you pass and the silence of your space is merged with another, as your light merges with theirs. Then it is quiet again you watch their boundary, this time in red, fade away into the distance. You are back in your space, your cocoon, no distractions just the feel of the pedals going around and the wheels on the road. It is very calming riding in the dark...

Day Seven Monday 21st May 2007

Attention seeking behaviour.

Forecast for today, Monday
Showers increasing later in the morning. The chance of a thunderstorm and hail,
most likely later in the day and at night. Mostly cloudy with fresh to strong
north to northwesterly wind shifting southwesterly at night.

Precis: Showers, possible thunderstorm. Windy.
City: Min 11 Max 16


If you have read my other blogs you will notice that I tend to use stream of consciousness as a form of writing...here is some more...

Had an 8.30 am appointment before work, it was starting to rain, fortunately only had a short distance to travel. Trip in to work was very fast. Had a late start due to the appointment and there was no traffic on the bike path or road at 9.30 am when I was on my way to work. Made it to work in about 30 mins. It was cold, but there was no wind, and no rain.

Raining on the way home. Lots of traffic banked up as I leave the centre of the city. Love that feeling of being on the bike and weaving through the traffic. There is something about the leaning of the bike as you weave through the traffic that is intrinsically rewarding. I know the physics of it, but it feels like you are defying gravity as you shift the bike from one side to the other by leaning your weight. Then there is the satisfaction of being at the front of the traffic queue!

Forgot to take my green reflective jacket today... Almost home and I have to cross a busy road and turn in front of traffic. The road is wet. It is very busy and I have to stop in the middle of the road to turn into my street. It is dark and I hope the cars can see my lights. I think about the panniers with their reflective covers and my rear flashing light and hope they are prominent. I hope my front light is bright enough as I think about how much a dark grey jacket and navy blue pants don't really stand out in the early evening. Suddenly I hear skidding behind me. I tense up and hope they can stop in time. They do and then they slowly go past...I think !@#$%^ should be driving much slower. I decide to charge up the batteries in my lights and make sure I remember the green jacket for tomorrow. Attention seeking sometimes is a good thing when you are on a bike!

Day Six Sunday 20th May 2007

Trouble at the Farm!

Rode to Yoga today about 9 km each way.
Beautiful sunny morning, warm, great weather for riding. Jumped on the trike, first time I was using it this week. For the month of the challenge I was going to mix using different bikes and trikes, and for this week I had been using Em's hybrid bike. Trip to yoga felt fairly quick. We have some good shared paths in Melbourne and I am lucky enough to be able to travel most of the way on a shared path. Feel stretched out and relaxed after class.

Made a terrible discovery! Came out of yoga and for the first time noticed something that I had never seen before. A crack in the paint. Had a closer look and got quite a shock! It wasn't just a crack in the paint, it was several cracks right through the frame that had, by the amount of rust on them, been there for quite some time.

This is what I saw when I looked down at the cross member of the trike.


One of them was a few millimeters wide! I wondered how come I had never noticed them before? Perhaps because I am often riding when it is dark? I was now worried if I would make it home, my trike is a home built trike, made from Greenspeed plans and it is quite large. This means that I can't just ring someone to come and pick me up while we take the trike home in the car.

The damage was greater than I first thought, as can be seen by this picture taken directly under neath the cross member.


I tentatively sit on the trike and begin to pedal trying to avoid every bump, crack and pot hole in the road and path. I feel every slight little, bump and crack. I keep a watchful eye on the frame. It only took me 25 minutes to get to Yoga and it took me about and hour and a quarter to get home. One of the few times I have ridden the trike and it has been an anxious experience rather than a relaxing one!

I have lots of intrusive images of the trike breaking as I cross major intersections and bump over tram lines. I see the left cross member bending down and snapping off as the wheel takes off at a weird angle to the trike. I see myself sitting on the trike leaning back trying not to fall over as the trike frame scrapes along the ground with sparks flying everywhere before it comes to a stop in the middle of the intersection. I think about how embarrassing this will look, and if I will get run over by drivers who just don't care. But none of this happens.

I finally realize what that clicking sound is that seemed to be intermittent, which I had put down to the chain either hitting the frame at the rear when in low gear or one of the ball joints on the steering arms. It was the frame cracking!

I guess I have been very lucky, here is the count of my lucky stars.

1. Lucky the frame hasn't broken on me
2. Lucky that I discovered it on a day where I didn't have to be at work
3. Lucky I wasn't riding on the road and it broke
   
4. Lucky it wasn't in the middle of the night
5. Lucky it wasn't in the pitch black of the early morning
6. Lucky it didn't break while I was riding in traffic
7. Lucky it didn't break on me when I was 50 km from home
8. Luck it wasn't pouring with rain
9. Lucky I have just recently bought a welder

Looks like I'll have to change over to the upright for the rest of the challenge! Looks like I'll have to start to practice using my welder.

Even though I did build some of the trike myself the particular welds that cracked were the ones I had done by professionals! Oh well part of the learning curve I guess!

As I think about it a lot of things that I have found to be difficult about the trike over the past few months suddenly make a lot more sense. The slight change in the feel of the steering that I attributed to the change to cheaper tyres. The slightly odd looking wear pattern on the old tyres that I thought was due to them being a different brand than the previous set. That clicking noise that I could not trace to any of the parts, and concluded was the one of the rod ends on the steering, that I would have to get around to replacing.


Forecast for today, Sunday
Partly cloudy with a light shower or two about but fine for most of the day.
Moderate north to northwest winds, freshening later.

Precis: Mainly fine.
City: Max 18

Day Five Saturday 19th May 2007

No riding today, and no car driving for me. Total driving for our family for the week, about a 1.5 km or one mile, when Em had to go to the supermarket for extra things in the rain.

Found this great site for bikeability of bike routes. If you are into lobbying your local council to improve facilities for riding then this is a great resource. http://www.travelsmart.gov.au/bikeability/index.html

Check out the various checklist that will help you to lobby for improved facilities. I feel like there should be a bit more to read. So here is an article I wrote in the May /June 2006 issue of HUFF magazine.

Why I Ride My Recumbent

Next time you are out riding and someone asks why do you ride one of those weird looking things? Here are some possible responses.

Numb nuts, limp wrists, going weak at the knees and other problems solved, simply by choosing to ride recumbent.

NUMB NUTS
Perhaps there are not many recumbent riding people out there who know of the first problem I will discuss, but it is obviously a topic of much debate judging by the 160,000+ entries Google (17) shows for the topic of genital numbness and cycling.

Genital numbness colloquially known as "numb nuts" is numbness in the genital area believed to be associated with pressure on perineal region due to the design of bicycle seats. There are many new designs that attempt to manage this problem. However interestingly, this doesn't seem to be something that the recumbent riding community report.

This issue was only recently bought to my attention when a mountain biking friend showed me the new saddle he bought that increased penile blood flow by 60%!
Of course my interest was sparked and surprisingly I found research on this topic in relation to recumbents. The Department of Urology, University Medical Centre of Cologne in Germany found that there is a difference in penile blood flow during cycling in an upright versus a reclining position. They concluded;

"The results of the present study demonstrated that there is a deficiency in penile perfusion caused by perineal arterial compression. Cycling in a reclining position - in which no perineal compression was seen - caused no alteration in penile blood flow during exercising. Therefore, we suggest cycling in a reclining position to avoid health hazards - such as penile numbness and hypoxygenation of the corpora cavernosa, which can result in impotency." (2)

Another study of 1,100 male cyclists in Germany found a rate of between 58.3 % to 70.3 % occurrence of genital numbness (12). Similarly, in a survey of 333 female members of a cycling club, 44 percent reported perineal swelling or bruising, 34 percent experienced perineal numbness, 19 percent reported painful and/or bloody urination (12).

There is a wealth of research around the bottom of upright cyclists and some researchers (5) have described problems such as nerve entrapment syndromes presenting as genitalia numbness, being reported in 50-91% of cyclists, followed by erectile dysfunction reported in 13-24%. Others (6) have reported the aptly named Alcock syndrome, a temporary penile insensitivity, due to compression of nerves within lower region of cyclists.

And just to keep your medical dictionary off the shelf, other less common symptoms reported include priapism, penile thrombosis, infertility, hematuria, torsion of spermatic cord, prostatitis, perineal nodular induration and elevated serum PSA (5), perineal folliculitis and furuncles, subcutaneous perineal nodules, pudendal neuropathy, male impotence, traumatic urethritis and a variety of vulva trauma (4).

You may notice that I haven't even mentioned things like skin problems, such as chafing, ischial tuberosity pain, folliculitis, and ulceration which are reported as particularly common (3) and in common with all the above disorders are attributed to seat position, seat construction, and riding position.

LIMP WRISTS
Ulnar neuropathy (inflammation of the ulnar nerve), or handlebar palsy occurs due to shock and vibration that is transmitted directly from the handlebars to the arms and can also occur when the hand and arm are in a fixed position for a long time (10). Its symptoms include tingling, numbness, or pain on the outside or middle of the forearm; this sensation of discomfort may run all the way to the little finger. If ignored, the tingling can rapidly progress to numbness and intense pain sufficient to prevent cycling with hands on the handlebars (10).

Picture and more information from http://www.hughston.com/hha/a_15_3_2.htm

Carpal tunnel syndrome (compression of the median nerve at the wrist) is another overuse injury that cyclists often experience. This often occurs when a cyclist holds the handlebars on top and applies pressure directly on the median nerve. Symptoms include numbness and tingling in the thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers and weakness of the hand (11).


WEAK AT THE KNEES
Knee Pain was highlighted recently in an article by Catherine McLean, in Ride On Magazine October-November 2005 (16) She wrote,

"Gear choice: one of the most frequent causes of overuse knee injuries, including ITB friction syndrome, is riding in too high a gear. The optimal cadence (pedalling rate) for cycling is about 85 revolutions per minute. Adjust your gears accordingly to maintain this cadence throughout your ride. On hills, choose a gear that will get you to the top with the least effort to minimise stress on the knees." page 32.

Once again, by virtue of the recumbent position, one has to practice riding with the correct cadence to get up hills. While it is possible to use the wrong gear on a recumbent, the amount of work done and the difficulty in maintaining balance while trying to get up a hill by sheer "grunt" discourages the rider from choosing gears that don't maintain a high cadence up a hill. Similarly, other research published in Biomedical Sciences Instrumentation (1) has shown that the recumbent position, all be it on an exercise bike, places less stress on the anterior cruciate ligament of the knee joint.


A PAIN IN THE BACK
Mellion (4) reported that neck and back pain are extremely common in cyclists, occurring in up to 60% of riders.

The prestigious British Journal of Sports Medicine quoted in a 1999 article that "According to the literature, 30-70% of cyclists suffer from cervical, dorsal, or lumbar back pain." (14)

The University of Maryland Spine Program recommends using a recumbent bicycle for at least 20-30 minutes per session (7) for rehabilitation of back problems. Similarly, George J. Kolettis, M.D. stated that "Cycling on a recumbent stationary bike can relieve stress on the back" (8). Furthermore, the website "lowback-pain.com" states “cardiovascular exercise is safest on a recumbent bike 2-3 times per week" (9).

In an article regarding triathletes, (very fit and strong people one would imagine) published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine the Authors reported that over one third of study participants reported back pain and they further suggested that cycling was a major risk factor for low back pain in triathletes (15). So it seems that even for the elite some times the upright bike might be a cause of pain.


A PAIN IN THE NECK
Researchers from The Department of Kinesiology, California State University reported that of the 85% of their sample that had overuse injuries or complaints the most common anatomical site for overuse injury/complaints reported by male and female cyclists was the neck with almost half (48.8%) reporting a problem (13). Interestingly, their research also found that women had 1.5 times chance of developing neck overuse injury or complaint than males in their sample.

A quick check of some of the sites on recumbent cycling come up with much the same conclusion (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25) Summed up in this statement:

“To recumbent riders, neck, back, wrist and seat pain are virtually unknown” (18) .

So there you have it, some answers to the question, why do you ride one of those weird looking things, because it avoids some of the pain of cycling and some of the research says it’s good for your body!



REFERENCES

1 Reiser RF 2nd, Broker JP, Peterson ML. Knee loads in the standard and recumbent cycling positions. Biomed Sci Instrum. 2004;40:36-42.


2 Sommer F, Schwarzer U, Klotz T, Caspers HP, Haupt G, Engelmann U. Erectile dysfunction in cyclists. Is there any difference in penile blood flow during cycling in an upright versus a reclining position? European Urology. 2001 Jun;39(6):720-3.

3 Weiss BD. Clinical syndromes associated with bicycle seats. Clin Sports Med. Jan 1994;13(1):175-86.


4 Mellion MB. Common cycling injuries. Management and prevention. Sports Med. Jan 1991;11(1):52-70. [Medline].

5 I. Leibovitch, Y. Mor. The Vicious Cycling: Bicycling Related Urogenital Disorders. European Urology, Volume 47, Issue 3, Pages 277-287


6 Oberpenning F, Roth S, Leusmann DB, van Ahlen H, Hertle L. The Alcock syndrome: temporary penile insensitivity due to compression of the pudendal nerve within the Alcock canal. J Urol. Feb 1994;151(2):423-5. [Medline].

7 http://www.umm.edu/spinecenter/treatment/index.html
world wide web accessed 29/03/2003

8 http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarticle.php/article605.html
world wide web accessed 29/03/2003


9 http://www.lowback-pain.com/exercise.strength.htm
world wide web accessed 29/03/2003


10 http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/cycling-injuries.html
world wide web accessed 02/04/2003


11 http://www.hughston.com/hha/a_15_3_2.htm
world wide web accessed 02/04/2003

12 http://occawlonline.pearsoned.com/bookbind/pubbooks/bc_johnson_humanbio_2/medialib/news/article11.html

world wide web accessed 02/04/2003

13 Wilber CA, Holland GJ, Madison RE, Loy SF. An epidemiological analysis of overuse injuries among recreational cyclists. International Jouronal of Sports Medicine. 1995 Apr;16(3):201-6.

14 Salai M, Brosh T, Blankstein A, Oran A, Chechik A. Effect of changing the saddle angle on the incidence of low back pain in recreational bicyclists. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 1999 Dec;33(6):398-400.

15 Manninen JS, Kallinen M. Low back pain and other overuse injuries in a group of Japanese triathletes. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 1996 Jun;30(2):134-9.


16 Catherine McLean. Ride On Magazine the bicycle victoria magazine. Vol 23 No 5 October-November 2005
Bicycle Victoria.

17 Results 1 - 10 of about 166,000 for gential numbness cycling. (0.39 seconds).
http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=gential+numbness+cycling&btnG=Search&meta=
world wide web accessed 02/04/2003

18 http://www.lmb.org/wolverbents/
world wide web accessed 02/04/2003

19 http://www.angletechcycles.com/why_a_recumbent.htm
world wide web accessed 02/04/2003

20 http://www.ihpva.org/FAQ/
world wide web accessed 02/04/2003

21 http://www.ihpva.org/people/beckstev/howWC.html
world wide web accessed 02/04/2003

22 http://www.oraclecycleworks.com/tv1.htm
world wide web accessed 02/04/2003

23 http://www.asisna.com/hppbikes/
world wide web accessed 02/04/2003

24 http://wazabike.itgo.com/
world wide web accessed 02/04/2003

25 http://www.bikeroute.com/WhyBent.html
world wide web accessed 02/04/2003

Day Four Friday 18th May 2007

Forecast for Friday

Rain periods easing to a few showers during the morning.
A mostly cloudy day with light winds tending west to southwesterly.
Precis: Rain easing. City: Min 15 Max 19

Has been raining all last night, got up at 6 am and still raining. Well I had better ride?! Tom's been up most of the night, I feel very tired. Em says, why don't you just take the train, you can always write that you rode your bike! No that just wouldn't be in the spirit of the event! So I pack my bags and put their little rain coats on and head out to the shed. on goes my coat and safety vest. Resplendent in green I head to work.

Ride to work, choose to ride in shorts so that I don't have soaking wet pants at work. Love the little green rain coats that my panniers have. I am sure the fashion gurus of this world would have something positive to say about matching accessories and clothing! It is a bit cold on my legs, but after a few minutes it is quite okay. I get to the halfway point and while stopped at lights another cyclist pulls up beside me and says "It's great riding in the rain isn't it", I agree. It actually isn't that bad, the only thing on my mind is, slipping over.

I get to work and the shower is great. I hear that their has been 30 mm or just over an inch of rain in the catchment areas over the past 24 hours. What great news. I later hear that is has only been around 20mm, still better than no rain!

The ride home is uneventful. I look forward to sleeping in tomorrow! After about 45 mins I am home. It rained as I rode, but it really didn't seem to make any difference. I was riding parallel to the train track on a shared foot and bicycle path. At each intersection where the path crosses the road, the road also crosses train track and their are boom gates so all the cars have to stop. This allows all the cyclist to cross with out having to watch for traffic. The only challenge is keeping up with the train! However it is possible, because the train stops at stations and then passes you and switches on the boom gates. I manage to keep up with the train for a few road/ boom gate crossings. Only about 20 km today...but no car...No CO2 emissions...

Day Three Thursday 17th May 2007

Forecast for Thursday Partly cloudy with a few showers and the chance of a thunderstorm, mainly afternoon and evening. Light to moderate northerly winds.Precis: Few showers. Possible thunderstorm City: Min 15 Max 20

Shopping day - this might be a challenge! Fortunately living in one of the most livable cities in the world I head to the market on the way to work. It has been raining through out the night, but the morning is sunny and the air temperature is warm. I guess this is the impact of global warming. Melbourne recently set a record for the most number of days over 20 degrees Celsius in a row during Autumn. It is amazing how much you can balance on a bag on a bike! Amazing how many groceries you can fit in panniers. A whole weeks worth was not a problem.

It has been raining on and off during the day and the whole city is shrouded in dark grey/black clouds. Is this the drought breaking? So far I have been very lucky and every time I go to ride the rain has stopped.

Whoosh, Whoosh; what's that the sound of; it's me passing the line of 20 plus cars waiting at the traffic lights. Great thing about bike lanes on the road! Love the sense of satisfaction of passing these people in their high powered, high tech, high priced machines. Nothing like being able to say, "I told you so"!! (hope it doesn't come back to bite me!)

Ride home was dry - road wet, but virtually no rain. As I ride through some of the backstreets close to home I notice the smell of people's dinner, someone is having roast, I turn the corner and someone in the next street is having dessert, smells sweet, maybe cake, maybe baked cheese cake. Surprisingly I am not hungry, just enjoying the trip home.

The thing that I am beginning to notice about being on the bike is that I am much more connected to my immediate environment. I actually notice more about my journey rather than constantly focusing on the destination, which is what happens in the car. I wonder if the invention of the car with its sealed and controlled environment contributes to a decrease in the awareness of what is happening in our world.

Day Two Wednesday 16th May 2007

Part of the challenge is to be a good "car-free ambassador" so this means that I agree to walking to work with a work mate, who never learn't to ride a bike as a kid. So for various reasons both environmental, health and financial we walk to work. Rained a lot last night. Our street outside is wet, which I haven't seen for over a year. It doesn't rain while we are walking. Must be divine providence, or climate change! Walked 10 km (6 miles) into work. Temperature was warm for winter.

Did something I never would have done if I was in a car! Actually noticed things in shops on the way to work! Thought about buying that groovy little toy couch that was in one of the shop windows, so that we could put our remote controllers for TV, DVD, video, etc on it. Then when some one asks where is the remote? You can say it is on the couch! I have to make these kinds of jokes now, because I am a father; dad jokes are mandatory! I guess what I really noticed about today was that it was much more relaxed than the journey in a car.

Got the train home at the end of the day...

Forecast for Today was, Wednesday
Fine at first but a shower or two developing later this afternoon with the chance of a thunderstorm. Light to moderate northerly winds.
Precis: Shower or two developing. Possible thunderstorm.
City: Max 21

For those in to statistics

• Saved 5kg in CO₂ emissions today by not driving (not sure about methane).
• At current price of petrol would have saved $2 AUD according to published fuel consumption for our car - but probably saved more because car is very old.
  
• Saved $10.50 the hidden cost for car parking.
• Used roughly 360 calories to walk to work.
• Train ticket cost $3.20
  

Day One Tuesday 15th of May 2007

"Now is the winter of our discontent" were the words that went through my mind as I thought about riding for the Whizwheels and Bentrider online competition. While in the Northern Hemisphere the 15th of May might herald the beginnings of Summer, down here in the Southern Hemisphere it heralds the onset of winter.

It seemed like Murphy's Law was also in action. The forecast for the first week was for rain all week after 7 years of drought! Just to give you a picture of how dry it has been, Melbourne's water supply has dropped down to less than 30% capacity. So you have a city of over 3.5 million that has been very dry for a long time.

I wonder if I will be able to manage this challenge with a major change having just happened in my life. We have had our newborn, Tom home from hospital for 6 weeks now and I have never experienced the current level of sleep deprivation that I am experiencing. To add to this I am worried about leaving him home and not being their to help Em with him. Should I just take the train or drive and be home earlier? I don't even know that the car would be any earlier, traffic jams are so bad at peak hour. Em says that she thinks the car would actually take me longer.

So it was with some foreboding that I contemplating setting my course to ride as much as possible over the next month.

However, there is an alternative perspective. I will save about six dollars a day if I don't take the train and the travel time is only about 15-20 minutes difference compared to the bike. It might be nice to have an extra $30 dollars at the end of the week. I will be doing something health for myself. I will be caring for the environment and Tom's future.

Well here we go!

Its a 5 am start, off to yoga, It is pitch black outside as I find my way to the shed but there is no rain. Actually, it is not cold. I ride to yoga and feel the pleasant warmth generated by my own body. The LED lights I have on my bike are great for being seen.

While in the yoga class I hear the rain begin. I wonder how I will go riding in the rain. The yoga class finishes and I go outside to discover only very light drizzle on the way to work. The ride is easy...So far it seems like there isn't going to be much about! End of work and I head off to a different yoga class, outside it is drizzly, not really rainy.

Ride home from yoga, the rain has stopped for the day... There are lost of shared paths that I take so this means I have few traffic worries. I hope I have some exciting adventures in the days to come, otherwise I won't have anything to write about!

Forecast for tomorrow, Wednesday
Fine at first but a shower or two developing later this afternoon with the chance of a thunderstorm. Light to moderate northerly winds.Precis: Shower or two developing. Possible thunderstorm.City: Max 21