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 MULTIMEDIA MOVIES Cycle2City Bike Garage A grand tour of the hosting facility by director John Hack (8 minute movie clip) More multimedia at www.bikefriday.com/australia08 |
GUEST SPEAKERS
 ANDREW ONLEY + JOHN HACK, Designer and Directors of Cycle2City "Not an entrepreneur, just an avid cycle commuter who saw a need," says co-founder of Cyce2City, John Hack. "We have to make things comfortable for people if we want to encourage them to cycle commute." |
 ALTON TWINE, Chief of The Brisbane City's Active Transport Unit Alton had just returned from surveying bicycle commuting programs and facilities in Europe, and shared his findings. He also talked about the vast improvements and plans for cycling in and around Brisbane, right down to friendly signs on well-known routes to make sure you never get lost. |
 JERRY ZWART, www.pedbiketrans.asn.au "The aim of The Pedestrian and Bicycle Transport Institute is to provide a networking and educational association for those professionals involved in pedestrian and bicycle planning in Australasia." |
 JOHN PITTENDREIGH, Epic Cycles, Bike Friday Brisbane Dealer John and Kelly Pittendreigh are no ordinary bicycle retailers. In their own words: EPIC CYCLES was founded on the belief that long-term planetary sustainability requires a significant shift away from private motor vehicle usage and towards more active forms of transport. We see the bicycle as playing a significant role in this shift as it can provide an efficient and sustainable way of moving people and goods. At EPIC CYCLES, we believe that people want to reap the valuable health, economic, and community benefits that utilitarian and recreational cycling can bring. " Epic made it possible for me to come to Brisbane to do this event, as long as I took the train - view that journey here. |
 THE GALFROMDOWNUNDER, Bike Friday Customer Evangelist Bike Friday's digital nomad and ambassador-at-large showcased the new tikitTM and filmed a tour around Cycle2City as part of her Australia '08 visit. |
 Thanks to ... Brisbane City Urban Planner Fiona Galloway was the prime mover for this symposium - just before flying off on a 1-way ticket to collect her new Pocket Llama in Eugene and see the world! Thank you Fi. And thank you Cycle2City Admin manager Anita Robertson for expertly shepherding this event to completion. |
 BURN CARBS NOT HYDROCARBS in BRISBANE
Yup. Despite looking like you've taken the on-ramp to the cross-harbor tunnel, the impressive, green, two-lane throughway leads you to the door of Cycle2City, a dazzling new facility dedicated to the serious bicycle commuter. When we say serious, we're talking about having your freshly laundered and pressed shirts hung in your locker each day of the week, organic coffee and muffins (coming soon), hair dryers and dressing tables to spruce up, secure bike parking and a card to swipe yourself in and out … It's the life's work of Andrew Onley and John Hack, two dedicated bicycle enthusiasts who saw a need, and convinced the Brisbane City to rise to the occasion of combating global oil addiction and associated transportation problems. It was also the venue for the Brisbane edition of Burn Carbs Not Hydrocarbs, a mini-sustainability symposium initiated by myself and Bike Friday, in conjunction with the Australian promotion of the Bike Friday super commuter, the tikitTM. We had 5 speakers: Andrew and John from Cycle2City, showcasing the facility; Alton Twine from Active Transport, who impressed us with his organization's advocacy plans and achievements; Jerryn Zwart from PedBikeTrans, which works to ensure organizations in the arena of local motion are all on the same page, John Pittendreigh of Epic Cycles, our Bike Friday dealer who sponsored my trip and yours truly, demonstrating the crowdpleasing fold of the tikitTM. Unfortunately, and as if to test the mettle of the Brisbane bicycle commuter, the skies bucketed down on the event. This meant that the hardcore handful that showed up deserved extra hot milk and cookies, and it demonstrated a major challenge that bicycle commuters in some places face – the weather as well as traffic. "You have to make it comfortable for people," said John, pointing to the hotel-like facilities to make the passage from door to desk on two skinny wheels more appealing. There are two big shower/locker rooms stocked with fresh towels and hair dryers; the men's is bigger, although the facilities are apportioned with an eye to getting women cyclists on board "when they see and appreciate the facility." Fresh towels are provided, and if you desire, your clothing is placed into marked bags and magically appears back in your locker by an unseen personal assistant ready for your 9am board meeting. At present, the service costs a cyclist $5 a day, and is only open weekdays to encourage true weekday warriors. Compare this with the $99 a year for a similar facility in Chicago, largely because of the larger US population and, well, things are just getting more and more expensive downunder. This puts it in the realm of only the most dedicated of bicycle commuters, but if you compare the benefits of time spent clearing your head, not having to drive or park, the compulsory twice a day exercise, the ability to dodge traffic jams … those things are worth money in kind. Do you really need a facility like Cycle2City when you own a folding bike? Logic would say no – you simply take it up to the office with you. However, I do know that there are places you don't want to be toting it, like shopping malls and other situations where it's just easier to stash in someone's care. In this way, having the facility eventually open on weekends would seem a useful thing. Thanks must go to Bike Friday owner Fiona Galloway who brought in movers and shakers from the local bicycle and transportation industry, and Anita from Cycle2City who pulled it all together just as Fiona departed on a big, one-way ticket adventure on her Bike Friday … - LC |
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