The Australian Bicycle Council (ABC) is the national body that oversees and coordinates the implementation of the Australian National Cycling Strategy (NCS). The vision for the NCS is: More cycling, to enhance the well-being of all Australians.
The NCS aims to establish strategies for increasing cycling across portfolios including transport, planning, environment, health, sport and recreation and tourism and coordinate the efforts of the three spheres of government towards a set of common goals.
This is an exciting opportunity for someone who is interested in working with a range of agencies and stakeholders to achieve significant outcomes in sustainable transport.
The Executive Officer will work with the ABC and provide high level support to it and its Chair. The position will be located in the Austroads national office in Sydney. Austroads is the association of Australian and New Zealand road transport and traffic authorities.
More in the online job description. So if you reside in inner Sydney, like bicycles, have substantial industry and consultative experience and also like the sound of 70K pa, get to it!
The “Critical Mass” (CM) bicycle procession held in Budapest during yesterday’s Earth Day celebrations drew upwards of 50,000 participants, which organizers say made it the largest such event in the world, writes origo.hu.
And most of those 50, 000 cyclists took part in Budapest’s bloody huge mass bike lift. A slightly different flavour to the usual CMass franchises, but equal parts jaw-dropping and inspirational! More jaw-dropping videos on YouTube.
So did the Earth move for you today? Or was that dull thud you heard, the sound of Howards climate change denialism changing into top gear?
In local reportage, if you’re interested in riding in this years ATB and prefer a recumbent, it would pay to read the fine(r) print in the Terms and Conditions of Entry. (see below) Hopefully there will be a suitable resolution to this impasse, there always should be due consideration given for risk management, but as the ATB is a public event, it’s probably not actually beholden to any UCI regs?!? Disc brakes to be banned next? Pink girly bikes?
Mode of Transport 17. Only standard, two-wheeled, human-powered bicycles are permitted on the 250km, 210km and 100km Ride options. Unicycles, recumbents, scooters, motorised and power-assisted bicycles, child seats, tagalongs, trailers and animals are not permitted on the 250km, 210km and 100km Ride Options.
18. Standard, two-wheeled, human-powered bicycles plus unicycles and recumbents are permitted on the 50km Ride Option. Scooters, motorised and power-assisted bicycles, child seats, tagalongs, trailers and animals are not permitted on the 50km Ride Option.
19. Hand-powered bicycles are permitted on all Ride Options.
Todays random linkage dump
It actually rained in Melboring on Saturday. In further startling news, it may rain again this coming weekend. The cats were scared by the strange noise and fled into hiding!
LinkUp Melbourne - Sustainable Transport Campaign: Our government needs to provide viable alternatives to private car use. Cities like Vancouver, Toronto and Perth have increased their share of travel by public transport while Melbourne has not, despite the fact that these cities have fewer rail tracks, spend less per person on transport, and have a lower population density.
Via StreetsBlog - YouTube link to Dutch bicycle advocacy videos. (Running time approx 8 minutes 11 seconds) Not entirely sure about about either the Saddam or Goodfellas inspired clips, but the Europeans are known for their robust, worldly sense of humour. The “Windowlicker” one probably requires more blingbling or hot umbrella action.
YouTube: Monkey Dust - The Cyclists. All so wrong, but somehow so right. Reminds me of Kraftwerk, for obvious reasons, although I think Ralf and Florian would find it moderately amusing. Karl wouldn’t, but we know that ..
Want to curb your emissions on longhaul air travel? Go to Google Maps and peruse point 24 right here and follow the wise advice. If you dare.
Bike Month NYC is Nearly Here! Why do over 120,000 New Yorkers ride their bikes everyday? It’s fun, healthy and a great way to get around the City. Every May we salute these daily cyclists and give you over 200 opportunities to get on a bike and give it a try.
Australian Stuart O’Grady claimed the biggest win of his European racing career with a stunning victory in the legendary Paris-Roubaix one-day classic here today.
The 33-year-old CSC cyclist from Adelaide became the first Australian to win the race known as the “Hell of the North”, crossing the finish line in the Roubaix velodrome in just over six hours but nearly a minute ahead of Juan Antonio Flecha of Spain and former winner Steffen Wesemann of Switzerland.
O’Grady played his hand perfectly over the 259 kilometres, getting in with a group of 34 riders, including two of his CSC team-mates, that went on to build a maximum lead of nearly five minutes on the peloton.
April 16, 2007 at 12:40 am · Filed under Cockheads
Radio personality Steve Price has been charged with drink driving in a north Sydney suburb. Police said they arrested a 52-year-old man in Neutral Bay on Saturday night and charged him with mid-range drink driving, but would not name the man.
Who?
Oh sorry, yes, we do remember this rather angry little man when he used to announce on 3yAWn. Obviously the TAC’s long-running “Drink, Drive, Bloody Idiot” campaigns in the 1980’s and 1990’s didn’t hit the mark with Mr Price. As neither did “Only a little bit over?” but he was in Sydney by this point. Rather unrelated, but timely, click here to read The Age Letters page from November 2004. Now scroll down and read the two letters, the first one (no. 13) concerned with the CM Nov 2004 ride and the one *just* (no.14) below it.
Just what is it with Sydney shriekback announcers? Maybe what happened to Don Imus in the US of A could make them tidy up their moral compass. Not holding my breath though. Back to Stevie-baby, seeing he’s now in the market for alternative wheels, would anyone care to set him up with a LBS in North Sydney?
The Kona Dew series, Giant CRX City or the Trek SU300, S500 or S300 are nicely kitted out rigs for urban commuting …
This is bike gadget is seriously Hot. I rediscovered it while cleaning out the shed last weekend. It’s actually designed to be a bicycle AM-FM radio, front light, small LCD clock with bonus sub-woofer speaker, headphone jack and stylish black carry strap. Now seriously, doesn’t this tidy unit lay waste on any fancypants MP3 player on the market?
Although I have to quietly admit, the doppler effect at speeds over 20kph makes listening to the footy slightly difficult. Currently I’m toying with the idea of retrofitting it with a luxeon. Which would make the plastic housing really seriously Hot and probably completely fk everything without a adequate heatsink.
The administrative structure reflects this. After the last election, the transport portfolio was split into separate portfolios, with roads given to a strong minister, Tim Pallas, who was formerly Bracks’ chief of staff, and public transport to a weak minister, Lynne Kosky.
Pallas showed his contempt for non-car users and the Melbourne City Council when, within 24 hours of the public announcement, he vetoed a well-thought-out plan by the council to introduce dedicated lanes for bicycles along St Kilda Road. His decision ignores research that shows that both modes of transport benefit from being separated.
Pallas probably doesn’t ride a bike. Or maybe he does now, since Jon Faine strongly suggested he do so during a recent interview on ABC 774.
Bicycle usage is inhibited by cyclists’ justifiable fear of being struck by a speeding car or colliding with opening doors of stationary cars.
Each bicycle carries as many commuters as the overwhelming proportion of cars that enter and exit the city each day. The decision is not even good politics, as increased road space devoted to bicycles will reduce congestion in the central business district, and postpone the need for congestion taxes, as bicycles have outsold cars in the past seven years.
Bracks rides a bike but needs a bigger frame or more suitable fitting. From memory Thwaites and Batchelor ride clunkers, but at least that’s a start. On the subject of mode separation I’m not entirely convinced that either strictly aligning discussions, or indeed, bicycle advocates, into pro or anti separate facilities camps really assists in trying to get utility cycling gently accepted in the public consciousness.
Taking sides sounds too much like toeing the (political) party line, and that’s something I really don’t have the time of day for. Any decisions regarding planning for transport infrastructure should be taken on a pragmatic needs basis, taking into consideration road architecture, existing conditions and shared user requirments. In short, the slightly fluffy term Sustainable Transport would be better served by referring to more accurately as Integrated Transport. That’s probably the subject of a lengthly discourse if anyone is suitably interested. I need a coffee.
Both were expressing in their respective rights in the media to freedom of speech. Although the outcomes couldn’t of been more different. In Australia, the end result was violence and property damage. In the USA, Imus uttered hateful, poisonous words.
CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves said in a statement today: “From the outset, I believe all of us have been deeply upset and repulsed by the statements that were made on our air about the young women who represented Rutgers University in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship with such class, energy and talent. Those who have spoken with us the last few days represent people of goodwill from all segments of our society – all races, economic groups, men and women alike.
In our meetings with concerned groups, there has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society. That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision, as have the many emails, phone calls and personal discussions we have had with our colleagues across the CBS Corporation and our many other constituencies.”
Don’t hold your breath expecting either John Howard or Phillip Rudd to articulate comparable integrity to Leslie Moonves. Jones shot his mouth off over existing community tension in Sydney and and in all probability contributed to the shocking incidents at Cronulla in 2005. But I suppose we really shouldn’t be surprised at all at the low level of critical debate in this country. It’s probably festering in a rapidly drying water catchment, waiting for El Nino to dissipate.
Well we’ve finally gotten over to WP, although there seems to be a unresolved issue with importing stuff over from new blogger.
There’s probably a nifty work around or known solution to this, but at the mo, the sun is shining, tomatoes need picking and saucing & I certainly prefer to use my google-fu to track down a moussaka recipe for all the yummy eggplants we’ve grown this season up on Beer Can Hill.
Figure 1. Love that streamlined retro stylin’
From The Age: 
Compare and contrast these two issues.
Pink Oury’s
