Brisbane Cycling Culture And News

Posted on 5:43 pmComments on Shores Of The Ewen Maddock Dam

It was time once again for me to take a roll along the shores of the Ewen Maddock Dam starting near Mooloolah Valley on the Sunshine Coast. It’s a real gem of a trail making for an excellent slow, off-road roll along the western shore of the dam and into Landsborough for coffee and a snack. Although the events of my day caused me to drive there today, the trail is also accessible by train from Landsborough Station or, if you fancy a longer ride, from Mooloolah Station.

Posted on 8:02 pmComments on Commuting Again

Bike commuting on the North Brisbane Bikeway

With a new work schedule comes a new bike commuting route and you know what they say – a change is as good as a holiday. And I love a good holiday, especially when there’s bikes involved.

Seriously though, this time of year is especially great for commuting to work by bike. It’s not too hot or cold and the sun is up early enough to get you up and have you at your office at a very respectable time.

Posted on 11:52 amComments on Music Pick – Siu Mata, Speed Dembow Vol 1

For those in the mood for something electronic and high octane, Siu Mata‘s album Speed Dembow Vol 1 may be just what you seek. The mixture of an electronic core with skilfully executed percussion and vocals makes this like few electronic dance music styles which can sometimes be overly reliant on repetition. Speed Dembow Vol 1 is anything but repetitious offering a flowing but continually interesting river of high energy. If you like Speed Dembow Vol 1, volumes 2 and 3 are also available amongst various others.

Posted on 6:15 pmComments on The Birds

I suspect it might be Bush Turkey nesting season once again unless there’s another explanation for these messes strewn across the bikeways in various places. I’m hoping BCC runs a sweeper or something similar to clean them up soon otherwise I wonder how silly I’d look with a garden rake strapped to my bike. 

Posted on 7:09 pmComments on Perfectly Winter

Ebike ride along Margate Beach

After a long mountain bike ride yesterday, today it was time for something a little more downtempo. With winter weather being about as good as it gets, a slow ramble on the e-cargo bike along the Redcliffe and Sandgate foreshore seemed like just the ticket.

No car required. The ebike covered the ~40km round trip right from my front door with very little effort from me and with well and truly enough battery power left over to do the loop a second time.

There were stops for lunch and ice cream and a whole lot of postcard worthy vistas to take in.

Posted on 8:31 pmComments on Who’s Wearing The Pants?

I found these shorts at BigW for $20 per pair recently and they work extremely well on the bike. In fact, they’re my new go-to shorts.

Supporting the smaller brands for bike specific clothing is great and usually provides a superior fit but economically there are limits as to how much of that clothing most people can afford.

So, when I stumble upon non-bike specific clothing like this that also happens to work well on the bike, I stock up. There’s also a satisfaction to adapting non-bike clothing (or non-bike anything, really) for use on the bike similar to the satisfaction I get from creating a good bike kludge.

They’re made of a synthetic stretch material and easily accommodate a pair of padded bike shorts underneath plus they feature a really handy little zippered pocket on the front for keys or other small items.

So far, I’ve used them for mountain biking, various other casual rides and non-cycling occasions. Wear is proving really good so far most likely due to the synthetic fabric so I should be able to get around in them for quite a few more years.

Posted on 8:41 pmComments on Rainy Winter Sunday On Brisbane’s Bikeways

My original plan to go mountain biking this weekend was well and truly sidelined as an unexpected downpour of winter rain came over. Unperturbed, this morning I prepared a bike with fenders and dangled a pannier bag off one side of its’ rack to accommodate a few items of wet weather gear then proceeded to hit the bikeways.

The moody sky and wet surfaces made for a surprising tranquility and a few nice photos while tunnels and park shelters provided hiding spots from the intermittent showers.

Around three score of kilometres through the northside plus lunch and a couple of stops to gawk at the bay from various vantage points seemed a better way to spend a wet Sunday than being glued to yet another screen, I thought.

Posted on 7:07 amComments on Video Pick – Cargo Bikes Make Great Financial Sense

I came across this video from GCN recently and thought it was a really good take on converting at least some of your life to cargo bike life. Even if you don’t think too much about the environment or urban traffic congestion (though I hope you do), this video shows why cargo bikes are fantastic from a financial perspective if nothing else. Though, of course they are fantastic for a lot of other reasons as well and are just out of this world fun to get around on.

Some places I know of around Brisbane to start looking for your cargo bike:

Posted on 9:11 amComments on New Bikeway Section – Schneider Road to Viola Place Eagle Farm

DFO Viola Place to Eagle Farm bikeway link construction

The Schneider Road to Viola Place bikeway link is something that I know Space For Cycling have been campaigning about for a really long time and looks like it’s actually about to happen according to BCC’s own website.

I couldn’t resist rolling past there the other day when I was out and about on Brisbane’s northside and, indeed, there are already signs that things about to start happening.

For those unfamiliar, the Schneider Road to Viola Place bikeway link will mean we can ride out along the Kedron Brook all the way past DFO and then end up at the back of Eagle Farm where we can ride over the Gateway Bridge Bikeway or along the Terminal Dve Bikeway to Ascot.

Posted on 10:17 amComments on Northern Inner City Ride

With winter weather too good to ignore, yesterday morning I decided to hit the bikeways and roads of Brisbane’s inner north. Going mostly west to east through Newmarket, Paddington, Milton to the CBD then on to Norman Park and Bulimba. I then took a short CityCat ride to Brett’s Wharf before making my way back to Kalinga and the Kedron Brook Bikeway. Sadly however, I wasn’t able to incorporate a Story Bridge crossing into my ride.

Posted on 8:26 pmComments on Westfield Chermside By Bicycle

Shopping at Westfield Chermside by bicycle with the Downfall Creek Bikeway right across the road Shopping by bicycle at Westfield Chermside is easy with bike racks at the entrace in the underground carpark.

Shopping at Westfield Chermside by bicycle. A birthday present for someone close is what I needed to get today. There’s probably several other centres I could have gone to get just the right thing but since Westfield Chermside provide bike racks right at the shopping centre entrance in the underground carpark, why would I go anywhere else? And as a bonus the carpark entrance links straight up to the Downfall Creek Bikeway. Nice one Westfield Chermside.

Of course, the Yuba e-cargo bike meant that my gift-giving generosity would not be too limited by size either. I reckon just about any gift I could think of short of a new fridge would be no problem to get home on the Yuba. And even then, there’s always home delivery.

No looking for a carpark, no walking to the entrance, no worrying about the cost of parking if you’ve stayed too long and no traffic jams on the way in or out. Shopping at Westfield Chermside by bicycle is super easy.

The producer of the Velo Moda website acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land where I create and publish content from, the Turrbal and Jagera people, and pay my respect to Elders past, present and emerging. I recognise their continued connection to the land and waters of this beautiful place.
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