It’s not about the bike, it’s about the big four-legged things and the little guys with squeaky voices

The race that stops a nation has stopped us, and tomorrow I need the time off more than I need the money, so BAC Bikes will succumb to the pressure of the venality of the track and not be open. Be closed, in fact. We’ll be back on Friday arvo for bikes – that urban-friendly [...]

So, cycling season commences . . .

. . . for those of us who haven’t been riding through winter (for whatever reason – just to get around, to keep on with the racing thing, et c.). There’s been Ride to Work day, Round the Bay in a Day (both BV efforts) some interesting races (Herald Sun Tour and its finale in [...]

Beach Rd.: 4 lane gym or nursery of champions?

So, this Cadel Evans guy. Is he finally glad that he’s won something? Will he stop complaining about the bad luck and ‘not quite thereness’  that seems to have dogged him throughout his professional road racing career? He’s come close quite a few times, and now he can put the silverware in the case. Good [...]

The little old ladies with their poodles in the gardens are pollie’s aunts

This is the only reason I can think of for the nonsensical ban on cycling in the gardens, and its current reinforcement by heavy-handed policing – Carlton, Treasury, Flagstaff and Fitzroy. Easily spooked and prone to fits of the vapours, I suspect that they may have only recently stopped referring to these naughty two-wheelers as [...]

I wonder how we’d fare in SouthEnd . . .

Interesting take on the problem of waste by local UK authorities . . .
We’d fare badly.
We get our scrap steel and aluminium alloy recycled;
We compost our lunch waste
We recycle our paper, plastic and cardboard
Of course, we get dead bikes from the landfill queue and put them out on the streets again, under people.
And we [...]

“Cyclists and Vehicles Share the Road” – am I missing something here?

Vicroads think that it is a good idea to warn road users that they may encounter one another, after doing its level best to ensure that they never meet, and that cycling gets the Cinderella portion of the deal: bad and fissured cement path, for the main. This sign was encountered at the start of [...]

The End, until next time

So, that was Le Tour. Someone won, that Spanish guy, the accountant. Glad it wasn’t the arrogant Yank with the famous mates.
Seriously, now that we have much improved internet and local network access at the BAC shed, we can answer emails in a timely fashion.
So, bac.bikes@southportuniting.org.au is able to be checked and replied to [...]

Reasons to be cheerful, pts.1,2,3

Hello. Yes, I am awake, despite sitting up to watch the finish of the 2nd stage of the Tour De France, Wimbledon for cyclists. Aargh, 2am.
So that’s reason to be cheerful #1. Good on you Mr Cavendish:

Pt.2:  Laughing at the cheesy ad attempts to get ‘into the Tour groove’. The most laughable is the fake [...]

Info for latest CAE class, read on . . .

Sorry this has taken a while to get here, but now you’re here, take a look at some of the links on the right, particularly Sheldon Brown’s website, hosted by Harris Cyclery, and Park Tools, for very useful and practical help on bike repair. Also, have a look at our Flickr page for scans of [...]

Tim Pallas doesn’t hate cyclists. Not really.

‘”Cycling is becoming a legitimate form of transport,” Mr Pallas said.’
Well, thanks Tim Pallas for alerting us to this salient point.  The Age reports on the Victorian Government’s latest scapegoating of cyclists for the dangerous state of roads occupied in the main by overlarge, unnecessary and dangerously driven motor vehicles.
Tim Pallas is the minister that [...]