A few days ago, the final E-Mobility bill was passed through the Queensland parliament. It was disappointing as I suspected it would be but we did have a few wins. The blanket 10km/h shared path speed limit was watered down to affect only footpaths and whenever riding an e-device near pedestrians plus a few other small compromises via a flurry of last minute changes that were given no time for review but otherwise the core of the bill went through as is.

It’s blatantly obvious that this Queensland LNP government’s aim with this bill had nothing whatsoever to do with public safety as they claim (nothing in the bill addresses the illegal e-motorbikes) and everything to do with ideologically and purposely destroying legitimate active transport in Queensland because they don’t like it and their friends in the car and oil industries don’t like it. Hardly surprising for what is the worst Queensland government since the Joh era of the 1980’s.

Like many others, I’m still very angry that this state has been pushed backwards like this and word is that this won’t be the last we hear about this issue. For now though, I really don’t have any more energy to expend on it so I’ll be moving onto more positive bicycle subject matter but wanted to give a big thanks to everyone who was involved in advocating.

I guess you can’t win them all. Today, I did a small reconnaissance trip out of Woodford in the hope of finding an entrance into the Bellthorpe National Park without needing to ride along the D’Aguilar Highway. Alas, the entrance marked on RideWithGPS from Wright Road is no longer accessible and gated off. I scouted the general area for alternatives but without luck.

It was a good day nonetheless scampering about along Woodford’s minor roads and, of course, sampling Woodford’s finery in one of the many cafes.

If someone knows a way into Bellthorpe that I’ve missed, feel free to drop a comment in below.

If you enjoy fine quality, technical electric guitar playing with a bluesy, Western feel, People Are Machines by Skelephant may be for you.

It’s more than just that though. Chad Vickers creates an entire psychedelic landscape with his music that would be right at home in a Jim Jarmusch movie or as one of the tracks for The Lost Highway.

Lyrics are relatively scant on this album due to the guitar focus but where they exist, they’re ponderous and deep and well worth a second, third and fourth listen.

Night classes are in session once again. Time for another gravelly, off road evening jaunt. The air is finally cold as it should be. Riding after dark is always better for me in this climate. Maybe it’s the ambience, maybe I feel I need to exert less effort when the mercury dips. I’m not really sure. What I know is that it’s always a good time – an opportunity to escape for a while and exist just in this personal bubble. The noise stops, air rushes past, wheels turn, my body is a little more alive, there’s not much else. I could be riding a bike or I could be hurtling through space.

It’s a little sloshy out there after the recent rain but don’t let that stop you. Get after it while you can.

This music pick swings heavily back into the heavier, noisier territory of my range of musical tastes with British punk outfit Irked on their album, The Grievance. The searing vocals are undoubtedly the driving force delivering meaningful, no-holds-barred lyrics. The whole package is held together with razor sharp guitaring to provide an interesting, varied aural landscape that will keep you on your toes throughout the album.

A new article with a new route has dropped in the main blog. This is a nice one for the start of the colder months as the clear skies provide great views from the top of Wild Horse Mountain.

I guess The Tea Party’s Splendor Solis album would most commonly be slotted into the category of psychedelic rock. It offers a lot more though. With an array of traditional electric guitars as well as more interesting instruments from around the world combined with a vocal sound that, to me, sits somewhere between Jim Morrison and Jimmy Page, Splendor Solis is really set apart from that category.

A remnant from my own youth, this album is embedded deeply into my psyche so I speak here about it with a certain bias but I’m fairly certain of its musical value and quality for others to enjoy. Other Tea Party albums never really hit the spot for me like this one so it stands as a bit of an anomaly for me but maybe that’s also what makes it special.

Update on the state of the e-mobility bill that is currently with the Queensland state government: While the 3000+ submissions to the committee and two protests seem to have had some impact on the bill, it is still highly problematic and will leave many people disadvantaged for no good reason.

The committee has recommended that the 10km/h blanket speed limit be dropped and replaces with a lower speed limit around pedestrians and on high traffic footpaths which is good but still leaves the issues of a licensing requirement for e-mobility devices and a complete ban on under 16s using e-devices.

This bill is continually being sold as a public safety measure when, in reality, it does nothing to improve public safety, penalises everyday people doing the right thing and does nothing to address the original source of the problem – the importation and sale of illegal, overpowered e-motorbikes. The loophole remains and the e-motorbikes will remain.

This whole bill needs to be scrapped. The Qld government needs to show the guts to admit they got it wrong and start again, targeting the real source of the problem. Sad times.

Last night was the final opportunity for people to show their objection to the proposed Queensland e-mobility laws which would effectively kill active transport in the state, send many businesses broke and negatively change the lives of many people with disabilities. There was a great turnout to the protest which moved from the Valley, over the Story Bridge and into Mowbray Park.

It is now in the hands of parliament to deliver a final version of the bill which we hope reflects the 3000+ submissions made to the inquiry, most of which objected to the proposed laws. That’s the highest number of submissions made to such an inquiry for over a decade.

Over to you parliament.

Something unexpected for me today. I decided to do a little afternoon jaunt from Beerburrum and up to Wild Horse Mountain and as many of you would know, there’s track works to upgrade the Sunshine Coast railway line. That means part of the gravel trail running beside Steve Irwin Way has been closed off.

So a short while after leaving Beerburrum, I made this discovery approximately here thinking I would have to re-route my ride via some sort of makeshift bush bash. But to my surprise, a worker on duty signalling the road approached me and informed me that there’s a bus with a trailer available to get people riding bikes past the track works without needing to mix with traffic along Steve Irwin Way. So, I thought why not and got dropped off at the Caltex about 0.5km on and resumed my ride. The driver did inform me, though, that this would be the last day the service would be available after two weeks of running. Not sure what else they’ll have going forward.

Also, stay tuned for a longer write-up and a new route from this afternoon’s ride…

Coming down the Kedron Brook Bikeway today, I happened upon this home made obstruction across the width of the bikeway. Not sure if whoever did this thought it was funny or if they were being purposely malicious but I definitely wouldn’t have wanted to be coming along here are at speed. Pretty dangerous.

Anyway, with the help of a passer-by, we had this cleared in about five minutes. Maybe keep your eyes peeled for any other similar ones.

Honestly, I’ve been like a two-headed cat in a fish shop over the last few months leaving this site a little bit derelict again but I’ve now found the time to add a couple of pieces of interest for those interested.

One more downbeat about the current battle for the very survival of active transport in Queensland and, to counterbalance, also a great new route through the Sunshine Coast hinterland that I’ve added. Enjoy.

It seems that my nightmares are coming true. As at the writing of this update to my previous article on the Queensland E-Mobility Inquiry, it is not yet substantiated but a leaked piece of information suggests that the E-Mobility Inquiry may recommend that all e-mobility devices (yes, including the currently legal, EN15194 e-bikes and e-scooters limited to 25km/h) would require a driver’s licence or learners permit. It may also recommend that nobody under the age of 16 can ride an e-mobility device across the board. So, if you more or less substitute where I have written “registration” with “licensing” in the previous article, you’ll get an idea of what the supposed recommendation is.

Effectively, what this would mean is that young people who have gained independence through the use of, say, a cheap little Ninebot scooter or legal pedal assisted e-bike (ie one with no throttle) will lose their independence. It would mean that an older person who cannot or does not want to drive anymore and has relinquished their licence cannot use their complaint e-bike or e-trike to pick up groceries. There would be other scenarios.

Once the Inquiry hands down its recommendation, the government has three months to respond so there is time to, say, contact your local MP and voice your concerns if you feel so inclined (I managed to say that very politely and calmly, didn’t I).

Also, it’s worth highlighting that, as mentioned in the linked Brisbane Times article above, the only other jurisdiction in the world that has licensing requirement for bicycles is North Korea. Think about that for a moment.

Now would be a really good time to object to this lazy, ill-considered, apathetic and possibly malicious proposition before it becomes law. It’d be really hard to wind back and could serve as the thin end of the wedge to destroy active transport even more.

As I said previously, I’m 100% behind getting rid of the illegal, dangerous e-devices but this is not the way to do it.

I haven’t been here much again lately. On a hiatus of sorts. Something infinitely more important than this cluster of pixels in the corner of the internet has temporarily drawn all of my attention. It’s all temporary though, isn’t it? Anyway, I have a few pieces of two wheeled content sitting in my back pocket and will be back before long to share for those interested. See you soon.

It’s taken about five years but the Viola Place bikeway is finally open. Yesterday in the late afternoon when the 37 degree heat subsided somewhat I headed out towards the airport and turned right into Viola Place to be able to complete a full loop back through Ascot and over to the Kedron Brook bikeway. Massive thank you to Space4Cycling for you advocacy over the years and to BCC for finally getting the work done.

Ready for another long read? I’ve dropped another new article in the main blog. This time it’s about the current Queensland Government inquiry into e-mobility and how it’s upcoming outcome might affect the state of active transport in Queensland. Read it here.

Apparently taking fewer photos makes you more human so that’s what I’ve been doing over my last few rides. Not because I’ve been too lazy to take, crop, optimise and upload them…

Still, despite the heat I’ve been getting out there. The drink stops and mid-ride swims have been more frequent and my DaBrim has made many appearances. On-road, off-road, whatever – gotta get after it while you still can.

Tropical, humid, sweltering. That’s how it’s been in Brisbane for the last little while. Some prefer more colloquial expressions like “hot as balls”. However you phrase it, the heart of summer is here. Somehow it doesn’t seem as much fun as I remember it growing up in these parts. Maybe because as age catches up with me, my ability to tolerate extremes diminishes or maybe it’s just because it’s actually getting hotter each year or maybe it’s both.

Still, I prefer that weather events don’t prevent me from riding where possible but I’ve had to make adaptations. For one, because I’m not really a morning person, I’ve been saving my rides for the end of the day, packing lights and riding into the evening. Also, I’m not racing so I don’t need to set records. Slow and steady is the way to go. Gravity provides thrills when the opportunity arises. And I ensure that the extra drink bottles get put to good use.

Mostly though, I’m thankful that the heat only provides me some minor discomfort when I’m riding my bike because things could sure be a lot worse. I can’t even imagine.

My music picks tend to sway heavily from the extremes of one genre to another so today I’ve selected something referred to by some as “improvisational jazz”. Pink Dolphins by Anteloper is instrumentally complex in the most fantastic way and varies in style throughout the album such that it takes the listener on a journey of a broad gammit of ambience and mood. It’s almost like a jazz flavoured prog album and worth every blow of their saxophones.

If you’re up for a long read, I’ve just published a new article in the main blog on the subject of ebikes. It’s all about separating the illegal, overpowered, cheaply made ones from the legitimate, legal, high quality ones and why it’s a better time than ever to get an ebike into your life. Check it out.