The fuel for these two vehicles was about 6 bananas and a handful of dates.

Bikes ready to take 4 panniers worth of fruit and vege across town

The fruits of our labour…

Consisting of:
-a whole tray of mangos
-some butternut pumpkins
-a watermelon
-a bag of capsicums
-aubergines
-LOTS of bananas
-a bag of ginger
-a bag of mushrooms
-pineapples
-huge sweet potatoes
-a bag of yellow squash
-a bag of onions
-a huge cauliflower
-a bag of potatoes
-a bag of snowpeas
-a bag of zuchinni
-a bag of apples
-a bag of green beans
-and two packets of pitted dates, YUM!

Back in the 70′s, the Netherlands’ transport policy was similar to many Australian cities today, especially Brisbane in Queensland where the car is king and traffic systems are geared for this at the expense of all other city users. So just how did the Dutch become one of the highest populations of cyclists in the world? What was the turning point? What do Australians need to do to drag their government transport polcies out of the 1970s and into the present day?

I got my Mongoose Switchback around 1994. It’s been a tough bastard and has help up quite well over the years. Anything plastic is deteriorating though and some bits probably need replacing.

Today I was putting my regular commuter bike/touring bike in for a service and I decided to impulse buy some Michelin fattie knobble tread tyres for the old Mongoose dirt devil. After I switched out my road slicks, gave the breaks a tune, oiled the chain and polished some of the grime off the frame and wheels, the old Mongoose showed me that it was ready for any mountain anytime. I think it was even daring me to find a huge hill and thrash down it…

Sydney Morning Herald “article” about containing the cycling epidemic
by disgraced former NSW minister is torn to shreds by
Copenhagenize.com:
http://www.copenhagenize.com/2009/11/meet-carl-scully-mr-headwind.html

The SMH “article” in question:
Carl Scully (former NSW minister who was ejected from parliment for
lying to the Australian people…TWICE!) talks about his crusade to
ban bicycles and keep them out of cities:
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/cyclists-do-not-have-the-same-rights-as-motorists-on-roads-20091111-i7wf.html

How citizens on twitter have reacted to the anti-cycling holy war of this ex-transport minister:
http://twitter.com/#search?q=Carl%20Scully

A refresher on the amazing “achievements” of Carl Scully on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Scully

Although Scully publicly blamed the party machine for working against
him, it was reported that some Labor MPs feared his record as
Transport Minister during the Waterfall train disaster and other
problems would have worked against the Labor Party at the next State
election if he was Leader. Carl Scully was sacked as NSW Police
minister on 25 October 2006 by Morris Iemma, after having misled
parliament twice in two weeks[3] over the consequences of the 2005
Cronulla riots in December 2005. He had misled parliament when he had
said he had not seen a report on the incident. Then-Opposition Leader
Peter Debnam had repeatedly called for Scully’s resignation.

and

“Carl Scully was the NSW State Minister for Roads during the 2008-09
widely unpopular implementation of a cashless tollway system of Sydney
roads dubbed the “$100m e-tag swindle”. It initially included a $24
administration fee for Interlink accounts not used more than 24 times
per quarter – which he said the Government would not prevent – and a
$40 bond to purchase the essentially compulsory tags. Due to
widespread complaints these decisions were reversed however, the final
cost to commuters is currently unknown.”

It’s like somehow Carl Scully has never travelled or learned about any
other country in the world. Or is it something more sinister…?

Follow the money.

What we can work out about him is that he’s very friendly with the right corporations (motoring companies and also engineering/infrastructure companies who’ve “won” tenders while he was in office) to make any Australian citizen wonder if his real motivations have anything to do with the people of Australia:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1897261.htm

—

Cities that are well designed for cycling, pedestrians and motor vehicles to
perfectly co-exist have been quite successfully created and improved
by many countries all around the world for decades.

The technology is available.
The design is available.
It’s sustainable.

What we are sorely missing in Australia is the right leadership.

-GeekPete