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MELBOURNE cont'd And so to my Handlebar Film Fest ... I was expecting 20 filmfesters and apparently 68 showed. The jaffas didn't go far, the two bottles of Pikes were gargled, but fortunately a nice couple did a loaves and fishes trick with a small brie and some crackers. Thanks to all the Melbourne Bicycle Touring Clubbers for showing up, thank Buddha it didn't rain like on my Melbourne book tour in '03 ... The tikitTM was a bit of a toy, with people scooting around the office on it, under the watchful eye of a hired bouncer. Fortunately he didn't throw anyone out for not being an Assos-wearing metrosexual. We had a surprise visit from tikitTM fan Alvin Lee and his wife, popping by in their way through Singapore. And even a prospective bike shop owner, Dean from BikeLife in Hawthorn, who turned up to see if the tikitTM wasn't just another tonka toy from Mattel ... More pics at the end of my Melbourne Photo Gallery and check out the movie of me riding with the locals ... |
In stark contrast, my Canberra gig at the ANU ago drew less than a 4WDful, including a handful students and an ANU electrician (fortunately, a cyclist) who just happened to be checking the switches - and enough jaffas to make us all spew. It made for an intimate night in the Manning Clark Lecture theater. I was told that Canberra, a desolate social outpost when I was cramming my Computer Science degree aeons ago, now rivals New York City for choices IF you're in the right cliques at the right nanoseconds. Thanks to courtesy of ANU Green and BF owner Jennifer and Brian McMillan for cheerleading. Fortunately, a bigger turnout for AirGlide owner Tony McKittrick's Bike Across Canada talk for Pedal Power saved the week. I talked my way onto the end of it and so brandished the tikitTM in front of 80 or so punters (as we say Downunder). No presentation is ever for nought - I received this email shortly after from Leslie E: ... I found it particularly useful as I have been considering buying a folding bike for quite some time, and your talk has convinced me that a Friday is the right choice ... The Bike Friday Club of Canberra visited the Jan Gehl exhibition "Dreams on Wheels", comparing city livability in the World vs Copenhagen ... Sydneysiders got quite a serve from the Sustainable Danes, judging from certain plainspoken panels - don't they know that the cross-training in Sydney is crossing William St at peak hour? Canberra pics at www.galfomdownunder.com/WEB-australia08-canberra More at www.bikefriday.com/australia08 |
BRISBANE
AAAAH, Brisbane ... beautiful one day, perfect the next. And a perfect final stop for the Burn Carbs Not Hydrocarbs roadshow. Thanks to John and Kelly of Brisbane BF dealer Epic Cycles,I ventured north in true ozone friendly style - by sleeper train (view clip). Three events were organized: Burn Carbs at the flash new bicycle commuter garage, Cycle2City (view movie), a Gal Handlebar Film Fest at Epic, and a Bike Friday Club of Brisbane ride (view clip). I even got interviewed by ABC Radio's Phil Smith (view clip) on 'at what point does one stop driving and start riding a bike?' For some, it's when gas hit $100 a tank. For me, it's when I decided I could save a ton of money by not having a car, and still get from A to B ... As you can see, I'm increasingly letting my li'l digi camera do the typing - check out the Brisbane Photo Gallery. That is, until I asked a Virgin Blue employee to take a shot of the tikitTM disappearing down the gullet of their conveyor belt and he accidentally DROPPED my camera, busting the zoom. Remember, always wear that lanyard and get passing strangers to do so also ... See ya later Australia - hoping to point the handlebars towards Perth next year! |