Cycling Cultures blog

While I was in Adelaide for the Australian Cycling Conference I signed up for the annual Community Challenge ride that precedes one of the stages of the Tour Down Under. This year it started at Norwood and ended in Strathalbyn. The full route was 135km and included a number of significant hills, however there were several other entry points along the way to enable riders of differing abilities to get involved.

7500 riders joined this years event. From 6am, the route through the city and up into the hills was flooded with light green jerseys provided as part of the registration. The fastest riders formed tight pelotons while the middle and end of the ride were a little more straggly and fluid. The majority of cyclists were men on carbon fibre road bikes. About 10% of the riders were women. Riders ranged in age from teenagers to 60/70 year olds. I did note a few other kinds of bikes (including tandems, some tourers and a few mountain bikes). Everyone was pretty much dressed in lycra, wearing matching cycle jerseys and padded shorts. Although lycra is often criticised as representing a particularly exclusive and narrow subculture of cycling, what was interesting was the inclusive feeling of the ride. Lycra’d cycling bodies came in all shapes and sizes, giving rise to the idea that this material is not just for the conventional sleekly muscled cyclist but for anyone who rides a bike.

The route passed through many small towns such as Stirling, Mount Barker and Macclesfield where local residents had decorated the streets, houses and local shops with bicycle themed paraphernalia. Many were sitting by the side of the road, equipped with balloons and whistles to cheer and encourage passing cyclists. No doubt many were set up for the Tour Down Under racers who would be speeding past later in the afternoon, but it was nevertheless a lovely warm welcome.

Given the phenomenal amount of cyclists the organisation of the event was impressive, both in terms of marking out the route and quality of the refreshments. Fortunately, the weather was nowhere near last years 40c+ temperatures but water and food stops were nevertheless essential in a 135km ride. It was therefore great to find regular parks and school grounds well indicated along the route providing water, boxes of bananas, fruitcake, energy drinks and chewy things as well as toilets and shadey spots to sit and relax.

At the end of the ride in Strathalbyn riders were swiftly escorted through town and into a large playing field equipped with more food, entertainment, free hats, sunscreen and medical assistance if needed. Overall it was a terrific ride, well supported by organisers and the local community.

The conference featured 22 speakers from local council, engineering and transport planning groups, consultancies, academia, not-for-profit organisations and specialised cycle practitioners over two days and was held in a central city hotel. I took a lot of notes and met some very interesting people. Here I attempt a brief review of key talks and insights:

The Australian Cycling Conference was opened by the Stephen Yarwood, the Mayor of Adelaide who set the context for the event. He listed an exciting array of cycling investment in the city that has resulted in 33km of new cycle lanes, 140 new bike parking rails (8 of which have replaced conventional on-road car parking), 180 hire bikes (up from 80) and 9 hire places (up from 4) which has resulted in a 30% annual increase in use (16000 hires/yr). He acknowledged he was talking ‘to the converted’ by telling us these facts and challenged us to ‘talk to strangers’ about cycling. One of his biggest challenges in promoting cycling in the city has been with small businesses who are not always open to the idea of offsetting immediate car parking with bike paths and racks. He was also concerned that being pro-bike does not mean being anti-car. He advocates what he calls a ‘spectrum of transport’ that simply gets people into the city. I was already aware of Adelaide’s network of cycle paths that cut through the parklands, along the river and encircled the city. On this trip, I noticed a series of new connections that made cycling through and around the city even easier.

Several core themes emerged during the conference that I found interesting from a UK perspective:

- Shared paths: re-scripting relationships between walkers and cyclists
- Signage: new ways of communicating cycle ways and shared paths
- Lighting: environmental and economical designs that enable safe off-road cycling
- Tackling behaviour change: examining alternatives to fines
- Australian cycling currently dominated by ‘road bikes’ and ‘lycra’
- Need for broader, more eclectic types of cycling beyond this particular subculture
- Emphasis on ‘bicyclists’ and ‘people who ride bikes’ rather than ‘cyclists’
- Getting people on bikes and ways of counteracting the fear of cycling
- Addressing fragmented cycle paths (esp in Sydney)
- The efficacy of helmets and current debates in Australian media
- Best practice: looking outside to UK, Holland and Denmark
- Cycle maps: innovative new map websites/technologies

Speakers presented a range of interesting cycling scheme examples:

Bike Direct

“Bikedirect is a network of bicycle routes across the Adelaide metropolitan area that was developed to encourage cycling. They provide options for people with different needs and abilities. The Bikedirect maps show main roads, bicycle lanes, local streets and off-road paths.”

Cycle Instead

“The Cycle Instead Journey Planner generates cycling routes using Adelaide’s Bikedirect network of main roads, bike lanes, local streets, off-road paths and some unsealed paths. This interactive tool allows you to choose a variety of options that take into consideration fitness and confidence levels, road conditions and speed of travel.”

Wayfinding Systems by Spackman Mossop Michaels/Langue Design

“This is one element of a new wayfinding system being developed by us in conjunction with Spackman Mossop Michaels. It is for a network of shared paths for pedestrians and cyclists. While existing symbols exist and are used for shared roads (motor vehicles and bicycles) it was felt that a different set of symbols would better indicate the unique set of conditions and priorities that users of these shared paths would encounter.”