Whizwheels Car Free Challenge 2007

Day Thirty Two Friday 15th June 2007

2007-06-13T11:45:00.001+09:00

Forecast for today: Friday

Fine. A mainly sunny day. Light wind tending east to southeasterly.
Precis: Fine.
City: Min 4 Max 16

Final Friday! Last day of the challenge, and what a challenge it has been, cold weather, rain, tiredness, near misses, trikes breaking, abusive motorists, and the challenge of trying to get people to participate.

TGD again today, but not as cold as yesterday. The fog is holding in some warmth. It is probably only 1 or 2 degrees difference, but the great thing about being on the bike is that you do become a whole lot more intimate with your environment and the changes in it. I leave early again today, I'll do my workout at the gym at work. It is really peaceful and beautiful riding in the fog. There doesn't seem to be much traffic, perhaps people are staying home because of the cold and fog. Ah the fog, it really turns everything into a fairy tale kind of picture, the soft focus lens on life. You can see why Doris Day required all her close ups to be shot through a soft focus lens. It gives the best possible impression. Even if the reality is about a cold, harsh, climate, not that I am saying that about Doris Day!

The sunny day forecast never eventuates and the fog hangs in the air all day.

This picture is taken shortly after my arrival at work, in the same place as yesterday's picture, just to give you an idea of how heavy the fog was. In fact strangely it seemed thicker the closer into the city centre I got?

On the way home in the fog. There seemed to be a whole lot more cars than normal. It was bumper to bumper, with the Christmas light effect looking even better in the fog. I played "how many cars can I pass". I counted 65.

Now I just have to think about how I will write the essay?

Day Thirty One Thursday 14th June 2007

2007-06-13T11:45:00.000+09:00

Forecast for today: Thursday

Fine. Sunny periods with a light to moderate southeast wind.
Precis: Fine.

City: Min 6 Max 14

It was a TGD* this morning. Very crisp and clear, I am told it is caused by the lack of cloud to hold in the heat. This can be seen in the photo from my workplace window, taken as soon as I arrived. This is how the morning went. Come to first back street round about in the half morning light. Have all my lights on, head light, front flashing light, rear flashing light, wearing bright jacket. Enter it, and nearly get cut off by driver who wasn't even looking, if I had been further into the round about he would have ended up with my chain ring in the side of his car. If I had been a car he would have ended up in a crash.

It is biting cold on my face, pedal pedal, try to stay warm. Hands are cold especially were there is a hole in one finger, pedal, pedal try to stay warm. My ears are burning , not because anyone is talking about me, but with cold.

Stop, put my collar up and seal the front of my jacket up, nose sticking out, warm breath changes what I feel on my face and nose. Ah! relief. Legs keep pumping, little toe in my right foot seems to be going numb, wiggle, wiggle, that's better. Torso feels warm.

Past the park, frost on the ground, frost on the cars. Deceptively beautiful soft cloud blanketing the park, belying the cold that has caused it to form. Looks like down, looks inviting. Past lots of cars 40 km an hour now, getting closer to the city, traffic slowing, hands feel warm. The traffic is now bumper to bumper, stop, start.

I feel the cold, chilling, uncomfortable sweat on my torso. Not far to work. My cold and sore throat starting to get to me, feel like I am drowning in my own snot! Yuck! Arrive at work 24 minutes travel time. Up to the gym to stretch out and into the shower. Feels great. Tomorrow is the last day of the challenge, looking forward to it!

*See yesterday's blog to find out what TGD means.

Casey's story- On Tuesday the 12th Casey went car free, Casey is 10.
I rode to mum's work, it was easy, it isn't very far, it wasn't very cold. I saw trees and people and cars. After, I rode with mum and her friend Ian when they went for a run around the park. I rode my bike like a coach helping them to train.

Day Thirty Wednesday 13th June 2007

2007-06-12T16:40:00.001+09:00

Forecast for today: Wednesday
Showers with possible local hail. A mostly cloudy day with fresh and gusty southerly winds.

Precis: Showers. Local hail. Gusty southerlies.

City: Min 8 Max 13

No hail today, which was great! But it as far as the thermometer went it was a TGD* cold. Which as you already know is considerably colder than DGD*, which in turn is lower than SGD*. It hasn't been a NGD* for a long time and now with the onset of winter, it feels like it will be a while before that happens. The ride to work was quick and smooth despite the cold. Again it was a wet morning, no worries about going over in the wet when on the trike.

*TGD = Triple Glove Day, other wise known as jeez it's bloody freezing
*DGD = Double Glove Day, also known as, jeez its a bit cold
*SGD = Single Glove Day, oft described as, It's a bit of a cool today
*NGD = No Glove Day, other wise known as a bloody hot day

Today was a try a trike day at work and I had a couple of people who had a go in our car park.
They seem to like it.

This was what Matt said - Too much fun for words, sign me up!

This is what Lois said - Surprisingly easy. Even for a non bike rider!

Another car free day experience.

Matt's story

Started with a 10 minute work to the train station (a bit chilly but that just got me walking faster to get to the station). Arrived and waited 2-4 minutes and hoped aboard the stopping all stations towards Flinders Street Station. (no dramas - can't believe the train ran to schedule). A quick change and onto Glenferrie Station (on an express train to boot). Getting there was easier than the usual stop start of the traffic. Coming home at 6 pm via reverse trip was thankfully uneventful (did have a 12 minute wait at Flinders Street Station for a train but it happens). Home to the heater to warm up. Overall- surprisingly quick and not to crowded.

Day Twenty Nine Tuesday 12th June 2007

2007-06-11T15:52:00.000+09:00

Forecast for today: Tuesday
Showers during the morning, most frequent in eastern suburbs. A few showers during the afternoon and evening. Mostly cloudy with moderate to fresh southwesterly wind.

Precis: Showers, mainly in the east.
City: Min 8 Max 14

5 am start. Dark cold has been raining during the night. The good thing about riding in the rain on the trike is that you know you won't fall over.

The strange thing about riding the trike in the cold, and it is that biting winter cold, your hands don't really get that cold, but your bum does! Not everything is perfect about riding recumbent. I also note a bit of numbness in the toes of my right foot, sometimes the position of your feet means that the blood can get pushed out of your feet. This doesn't happen on an upright because of the influence of gravity.

I am still marvelling with welding on my trike and the fact that it doesn't make any noise and everything seems to run very smoothly.

Em has a totally different car free day with Tom...She walked to the local shops, with the pram and bought fruit, vegetables and bread for the week. Then she walked 5 km to and 5 km back from some shops looking for bedding. She did all this in the rain, and she sings the praises of his pram, as great car free transport for him. Car free and human powered!

Have been encouraging my work mates to take a test ride and hopefully they will tomorrow!

Have got a few stories from my workmates about what happened on their car free day...

Julie's story - On the tram trip in, it is packed with people, they
should put more trams on really, but in order to mange the situation I
play the game, "spot the person who is not going to work in the city".
The game involves a couple of parts, first I have to work out who isn't
going to work, usually the person who is not in a suit! Second, I have
to squeeze my way through the crowd to get as close as possible to them.
Finally, as soon as they get off the tram (before the city) I get to
jump into their seat, and I have won the game!

TSI (Tram Squash Indicator) is 6 this morning - squashy but not to the
max. of 10 which it is on most mornings. So I get the seat (yippee) but
in retrospect think I would have been better standing. I have to climb
over a strange male to wedge myself in next to the window and to squeeze
myself down next to him. Oh my god - why does he not move over? I can
feel my thighs sliding down his. Why is he sitting with his legs wide
open? We sit thighs pressed together all the way into the city. I look
at him staring but say nothing. It is too awkward. I am trapped again on
public transport.
Ed - Sounds like Julie is an advocate for biking it!

Ros' story - on my train trip home there was a saxophonist playing jazz
on the train.
Ed- The benefits of car free - wouldn't have happened in a car!

Stella's story - I was cold at the bus stop and then my train ran late
despite me trying to get here early. I was tempted to walk home in the
evening they were so late, but it was too dark. A reunion of sorts was
had when I travelled on the bus I used to travel on 3 years ago...Met
the same people travelling on it...
Ed- Sounds like a bike would have been a good option.

Marc - Walked to train station, nothing happened (but I didn't drive the
car). Train trip was same old same old.
Ed - Sounds like a bike would have been good variety.

Simone's story car free today (she forgot on the day) - got up it was
cold, thought it was snowing, got my met card at the seven eleven ( I
walked there). Train trip was same old same old.
Ed - Well it was cold, wonder how it would have felt on a bike!? Maybe it
would have been invigorating and a little less same old same old!

One of my sisters had a car free day today also...

When life is simple – sleep and work basically – it’s easy to have a car free day. I set off for my walk to the station this morning later than usual and forgot the new hat I bought on the weekend at Daylesford Market. It wasn’t too cold but the promise of winter is in the air. Different people on the streets, shoppers on the way home from market rather than on the way there, and seats on the train! And time to read on the train – I could cope with this every day. By the time I left work it was almost dark, colder than the morning but not raining. A brisk walk home, the car still in the driveway and a promise to myself not to forget my hat tomorrow!

Day Twenty Eight Monday 11th June 2007

2007-06-11T10:56:00.000+09:00

Forecast for today: Monday
Partly cloudy with a few showers and the chance of hail. Moderate to fresh southwest to southerly wind.

Precis: Few showers.
City: Max 14

Last day of the long weekend of relaxation and only a few days to go with the challenge. No riding today, no car driving so far either. My brother has just told me that he has bought a couple of hybrid bikes and will be riding them around town. Is the challenge having an influence on others besides me?

Day Twenty Seven Sunday 10th June 2007

2007-06-09T18:56:00.000+09:00

Forecast for today: Sunday
Morning fog patches then fine and mainly sunny. Light northerly wind tending
northwest to westerly.

Precis: Fine.
City: Min 6 Max 16

No riding today, part of a long weekend with lots of "relaxation". Made one short car trip with the family. The challenge certainly helps heightens my awareness every time I choose to use the car. It also, makes me aware of how much of our infrastructure is built around car use, rather than giving people the capacity to make car free choices.

I have had some response from my attempt at seeing if I could involve people in going car free. John, one of the members of OzHPV is already regularly going car free. His blog about a variety of things bike and otherwise is an interesting read.

Day Twenty Six Saturday 9th June 2007

2007-06-08T21:37:00.001+09:00

Forecast for today: Saturday
Fine apart from a little early drizzle in the southern and western suburbs.
Cloudy periods with moderate southeasterly wind.

Precis: Becoming fine.
City: Min 9 Max 15

Once again little riding today, actually no riding today. Had to drive a bit, we an have overseas student staying with us and only way to get him was in the car. Our airport does not have any substantial public transport links. There is one bus that travels to it and it is a private enterprise as far as I know, which means it is a separate ticket to get out to the airport and back. There is no train, no tram. Infrastructure is built around the car, with a toll way connecting the airport to the city.

We managed a family outing by public transport and walking. The weekend seems to be the time when it is hardest to be car free. This is only in so much as taking the whole family places or running errands. Maybe that trailer would make a difference? Or maybe I need a velomobile with plenty of room for shopping and a small passenger!

More exciting updates to come soon.

Day Twenty Five Friday 8th June 2007

2007-06-07T16:03:00.000+09:00

Forecast for today: Friday Fine. A partly cloudy day with a moderate to locally fresh south to south easterly wind.

Precis: Fine.

City: Min 9 Max 16

Day off work today. So no bike use. Had to drive about 10 km to take Tom to my sisters. Could have done it by Train and walking, but just wasn't organized and disciplined enough with time. That seems to be the real challenge when it comes to doing things with a small baby and car free. If only there were a safe trailer for young babies on the market it would offer a level of flexibility that would mean that my family would own one!

Stay tuned for more exciting adventures in the next seven days, before the end of the challenge!

Day Twenty Four Thursday 7th June 2007

2007-06-06T17:30:00.000+09:00

Forecast for today: Thursday
Mostly cloudy with a few showers mostly in the morning. Moderate southerly wind.

Precis: Few showers.
City: Min 9 Max 14

The Green Team - My work participating in a car free day.

Today was the car free day at work. It was also a test day. The test was to see if my welding would hold up to the journey into the city and home. The trike passed the test on both the journey in and out. What a relief.

Surprisingly, I didn't have a single intrusive images of the trike falling to pieces and me spread eagle over the road. I did notice that the funny click sound that I had attributed to steering mechanism, and was actually the frame breaking apart had gone! As my mum would say, "that's nice dear".

It was amazing how quiet the trike was, and I felt as though the power of my legs was getting through to the road much more effectively. That is, instead of twisting and pulling the frame apart! The gears even seemed to change more effectively, probably meant the frame was now in alignment again. I inspected the welds carefully when I arrived home, everything was intact, no cracks!

I also enjoyed free parking in the car park!

I noticed when I rode home how much I rolled on the trike compared to the bike, that wind resistance, or lack of was really quite noticeable. I also noticed the difference in pressure on my wrists and back side. Now I remember all those reasons for riding a recumbent.

I had some car free snacks travel in on the trike and they traveled well. Everyone at work wore some green, even the person who forgot about the car free side of the day. We even went out to lunch at a vegetarian restaurant for minimal environmental impact.

Here is the breakdown of the day:

12 out of 13 at work didn't use a car.

2 walked
1 used a trike
1 used a tram
6 came by train
2 used both train and bus.
The one person who did use a car, because they forgot about the day, got a lift with someone

The last comment of the day, when I said that I had my trike in and explained what a recumbent was. That's hilarious?! Sounds like I might have to do a try the trike day, see if I can get any converts?!

Day Twenty Three Wednesday 6th June 2007

2007-06-05T16:03:00.000+09:00

Forecast for today: Wednesday

A local morning shower or two and early fog patches, otherwise fine. A partly cloudy afternoon with light wind tending southerly.
Precis: Becoming fine.

City: Min 6 Max 16

Part of participating in the challenge is to co-opt people in to becoming car free. My work mates have agreed to a car free day. In order to encourage and inspire them I thought I would provide some car free food. The challenge was bringing in a cake in one piece, without a car. Trying to bring it in on the bike all I could imagine was disaster. Crumbling and mashed cake as I arrive at work, which would be the same way that I would feel after spending the night cooking the cake and carefully melting the chocolate over it instead of "ordinary" icing. Anyway today was a walking day, the perfect day to bring a cake to work. So with my workmate Lois acting as body, sorry cake guard and me carrying the cake, we walked in to the city with cake carefully packaged. I felt like I should have had the package hand cuffed to me! Anyway the cake made it in to work in one piece.

When I made the cake I planned carefully. What would inspire people to participate? Clearly the answer was chocolate! But what shape? As you can see I think most influential shape to choose car free (read a bike of some sort) transport was clearly a wheel shape. I hope people don't try to choose a donut for transport!

The walk in was relatively smooth, no bumps that were not absorbed by the shock absorbers in my legs! Anyway, lots of my workmates sampled the cake and said it was great. In return I have asked my work mates to write about there experience of being car free and I will endeavor to publish it here. My next step is to co-opt some more people and see if I can achieve greater participation. I have always thought the idea of six degrees of separation is really interesting. Perhaps this could be a good test of it. How many people could participate in this idea if I ask the people that I know to have a go and then ask someone else to have a go. I will see what happens tomorrow at work, how many will participate? We are also going to wear something green since it is the week of world environment day.

Day Twenty Two Tuesday 5th June 2007

2007-06-03T21:03:00.000+09:00

Forecast for today: Tuesday
Partly cloudy with a shower or two. Light southerly wind.

Precis: Shower or two.
City: Min 8 Max 15

World Environment Day today

According to the World Environment Day Web Site .

The Earth has warmed by approximately 0.75 °C since pre-industrial times. Eleven of the warmest years in the past 125 years occurred since 1990, with 2005 the warmest on record. There is overwhelming consensus that this is due to emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), from burning fossil fuels.

Examination of ice cores shows that there is more CO2 in the atmosphere than at any time in the past 600,000 years. Between 1960 and 2002, annual anthropogenic global emissions of CO2 approximately tripled. They rose by about 33 per cent since 1987 alone. This information and more can be found in fact sheets on the site. Reading this gives me plenty of motivation to go car free.

The morning is crisp and clear, the sky is blue and the sun is shining. I tentaively choose the bike over the trike today. I want to do the once over, again on the trike before I go out in traffic. Still have that "crash and burn" image going through my head. I am tentative because I think the trike will be better for my back, and the bike might pick up the bumps and be a bit rougher on my tender back.

The bike is okay, my back feels okay, I remind myself to take it easy, so I can live to ride another day! I can really feel the cold today, my normal double glove protection is not keeping the biting cold out. There is a feel about the air on a cold crisp morning that is enlivening, it is not the cold, but something else.

The crispness brings a focus to the air moving in and out of me. The feeling of it at the tip of my nose, cool, clear, pure. Then the clearing of the sinuses, a change from external to internal, as I feel the air move inside my upper cheeks and under my eyes. Then it moves up into my forehead. Next is the cloud that forms as I breath out through my mouth. Then the light fog against my face, warm and moist, clinging to me for a brief moment as I ride through my own breath. I imagine the little cloud behind me forming once again into one mass as it then whisps away, upwards, never to be seen again.

So despite the clear sign of winter the start of the start of the day feels good, appropriate for world environement day! Perhaps the blue sky and sun shining have more to do with lifting the mood than anything else?

The ride in is easy. It seems that there is little traffic at this time on a Tuesday morning. I wonder if the cold has put people off, or is it that usually I am riding the path at 5 am on a Tuesday. It is amazing how mood impacts on what an activity feels like. However, as I am discovering riding also impacts on mood.

Day Twenty One Monday 4th June 2007

2007-06-03T20:40:00.000+09:00

Forecast for today: Monday
Becoming cloudy with a shower or two later in the day. Light winds tending moderate southerly.

Precis: Late shower.
City: Min 8 Max 15

Today was supposed to be the test day for my welding on the trike. However, it was not to be. I awoke this morning with a very sore back. I guess that's what can happen when you spend the weekend lifting 20 and 40 kg bags of concrete. Best to take it easy and let my back rest. It's not as easy as it might sound when the kind of person who has to rest is really eager to keep going with the challenge. So I watch the weather from the window. It starts out to be a quite morning as far as wind goes. There is a shower before lunch.

I think about the culture we live in that tells me that I "should" be pushing through the pain in my back to get on with achieving the "goal". This is very unlike what happens when I ride. I am just involved in the process of the activity, the goal takes care of itself. I have, so far at least, always ended up at my destination! I need to remind myself that the goal is participation and the challenge for me today is to care for myself so I can go back to participation. It is interesting, that in all this thinking, I have only just noticed that I have been car free all day!

Day Twenty Sunday 3rd June 2007

2007-06-02T13:32:00.000+09:00

Forecast for Sunday
Partly cloudy with just a shower or two in the south. Light winds.

Precis: Shower or two.
City: Min 9 Max 15

Did a lot of driving today, had to pick up nine bags of concrete, weighing 20 kg each and two bags of potting mix. I guess the alternative would have been to ask for home delivery. However, that would have been more expensive than the fuel and wear and tear on the car! I guess economics is still one of the big factors in choosing the option of the car.

Did a lot of mig welding last night using gas. The results are better than before, but still not that pretty. However, I believe they will be strong enough. I have discovered that it is much easier to weld using gas than gas-less mig. The test will come tomorrow when I ride! I hope I make it to work!

Day Nineteen Saturday 2nd June 2007

2007-06-01T15:41:00.000+09:00

Forecast for today: Saturday
A few showers, mostly in the morning. Cloudy periods with moderate to fresh northerly wind easing in the afternoon.
Precis: Few showers.
City: Min 9 Max 15

Up at 7 am and off to yoga class. Going to class in a different place to where I normally go. Before May the 15th I would have elected to drive this route on a Saturday morning. Just to be quick about it, and for the convenience factor. Today I do it car free, and there isn't really much time difference. Minimal traffic at this time on a Saturday morning. This yoga class is on a hilly route. The great thing about this route is that the momentum from one hill carries me most of the way to the top of the next.

The way home is actually quicker than in the car. The traffic has increased and in the car I would be stuck in it, on the bike I just ride past. Mmmm convenience factor???

I drove the car last night, first time in a couple of weeks only went 12 km and had five people in the car, so feel like I am doing okay as far as keeping up with the spirit of the challenge. I wonder how difficult it would have been to do on public transport??? The mental shift is pretty big...Perceived convenience I guess I might call it...

Day Eighteen Friday 1st June 2007

2007-05-31T21:15:00.000+09:00

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

2007-05-30T21:29:00.000+09:00

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

2007-05-29T14:38:00.000+09:00

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

2007-05-28T16:34:00.000+09:00

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

2007-05-27T22:03:00.000+09:00

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

2007-05-26T20:55:00.001+09:00

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

2007-05-25T16:03:00.001+09:00

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

2007-05-24T17:33:00.001+09:00

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

2007-05-23T20:04:00.000+09:00

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

2007-05-22T22:24:00.000+09:00

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

2007-05-21T12:34:00.000+09:00

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

2007-05-20T16:28:00.000+09:00

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

2007-05-20T14:46:00.000+09:00

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.

Lucky the frame hasn't broken on me
Lucky that I discovered it on a day where I didn't have to be at work
Lucky I wasn't riding on the road and it broke
Lucky it wasn't in the middle of the night
Lucky it wasn't in the pitch black of the early morning
Lucky it didn't break while I was riding in traffic
Lucky it didn't break on me when I was 50 km from home
Luck it wasn't pouring with rain
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

2007-05-18T08:09:00.000+09:00

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

2007-05-17T15:07:00.000+09:00

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

2007-05-16T19:06:00.000+09:00

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

2007-05-16T12:30:00.000+09:00

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

2007-05-16T10:52:00.000+09:00

"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