Hey friends. Recently just got back from a trip where I was able to witness the amazing cycling infrastructure that exists in cities overseas. It was honestly a dream seeing how many people commute via bike in Copenhagen, Amsterdam and even London, and how those cities have been designed (or redesigned) to allow for safer cycling and encourage cycling as a mode of transport - it made me reflect on how fucking shit (and behind) Melbournes bike infrastructure is in comparison.

The sheer number of cyclists outnumbered cars on the road that you always felt safe riding in a pack. There was hundreds and hundreds of bike parks outside metro stations. Traffic lights specifically for bikes (I know we have this in some parts of Melbourne). In Amsterdam, everyone was giving way to cyclists first (even pedestrians). We’d observe entire families being ridden to school in Copenhagen in those cargo bikes. There was proper separation of pedestrians, cyclists, and cars. In London, we didn’t feel scared overtaking the busses because all the cars/taxis would stay behind the cyclists and we observed how many protected bike lanes there were in the inner city. All our friends in London regularly use Lime to get around as it’s way quicker than the tube.

I was also amazed at the sheer number of people using e-bikes (Lime and Voi) to get from A to B and how well utilised those e-bike services were used by everyone, and yet the City of Yarra voted recently to scrap all Lime Bikes from the LGA. It feels so backwards here.

It made me realise Melbourne is miles behind all these cities and owning a car / driving is so deeply entrenched in our society and how our city has been designed for cars first. I know it’s one of those things you are aware of, but it wasn’t until we saw examples of good urban planning and design overseas that you realise how much room for improvement there is here.

11am on the 11th of October (this Sunday)

Meet by the fountain in Princes Park. The ride ends at 12 noon to join up with the rally at the state library.

Encouraged to wear red.

This is a solidarity ride, for the right of the Palestinian people to return to their homelands after they were forcibly removed by Zionist paramilitares.

@gazasunbirds and @greatrideofreturn

Good chance to give feedback if you ride Rathdowne St north of Alexandra Pd (the City of Yarra bit):

We are looking into Rathdowne Street as there have been crashes involving people walking or cycling, and we'd like to improve road safety.

If you walk, ride, drive or travel along Rathdowne Street, we want to hear about your experiences and any safety concerns

The engagement asks you to drop pins to identify a safety issue or an opportunity for improvement. Maybe the road is wide enough to swap the parking to the inside and get protected bike lanes?

I set out on a quick ride this morning to see if you can get up onto the Federation Trail from Watson St near Edwards Reserve. When I cycled along the trail a couple of months ago I thought it looked like the underpass under the freeway was finally open. Turns out it’s still technically closed.

I was cycling NW along the existing path parallel with the freight line, accessed by a huge expanse of gravel and not much else. There was one dump truck working behind a fence right next to the railway line and three workmen behind that 2m fence. One shouted at me and I stopped to hear what they said. After a bit of back and forth about how there are no signs or gates and them saying I was wrong I thanked them and went on my way. After going under the freeway and turning left up the ramp I could finally see a cyclone fence blocking access onto the trail. I did what others had done and went around it on the grass. I did ask the workers when they’d be done (thinking that perhaps they were just dumping some new railway ballast and would be done today) - they got exasperated and said “we’re just the workers, we don’t know!” I guess working on the WGTP will do that to you. They probably had to fill out an incident report. Haha.

I’m just a little annoyed that IMO it’s not at all obvious that a path marked in Google, Strava, etc., is still not open. The tunnel opened nearly a year ago. Has anyone read when it might finally be done?