YarraBUG

Faith and Val are joined in the studio by Tour Divide 2018 winner Lewis Ciddor. We kick off the show with our bike moments and a brief look at news including the new home for FOJCX at Broadford State Motorcycle Venue and the 2019 Women's World CX Championships. Lewis takes us through the inspiration behind the new bikepacking route he has designed, the Victioria Divide 550, and some of the country it will travel through. We chat about the importance of grounding the route within an indigenous Australian landscape, the details of the first Grande Depart on Saturday February 16th, and the accessibility of the route to a range of riders range of riders.

On this weeks program Chris talks to fellow YarraBUG Radio presenter Steve Barnett about bike packing 300km+ from home to North East Victoria and then riding the 200km Alpine Classic. He discusses his inspiration starting with the short film, From the Doorstep, using Maprogress for personal rides, using a spot tracker, becoming your own dot watcher, building confidence, Curve Cycling flash packing, using rail trails to base a adventure on, basic equipment like frame bags, handle bar rolls, planning a itinerary vs. wandering, riding to conditions and letting people know where you're going & duration. Useful apps include MapOut (apple), Strava and Ride With GPSLocal news includes City of Yarra announcing Wellington Street Bike Lanes Stage 2, 2019 Bike Rave and World Naked Bike Ride returning to Melbourne on 16 March 2019.

Val and Faith are back in the studio after the summer break and kick things off sharing their bicycle moments. We move on to news, including Denali's local commute, the MACSA's discouraging 'safety' messages addressing cyclists and the Queen's Parade detour. Val shares an update on helmet techologies that can reduce the injuries to cyclists wearing helmets that are becoming more accessible, before we move on to some upcoming events. Commuter Cycles are hosting a Summer Solstice Camp Out, the 2019 Bike Rave date has been anounced and Bike West are hosting their AGM in February.

Val and Faith celebrate the end of 2018 with some of their favourite bits about bikes discovered in books over the past year. Val has a diverse selection of readings while Faith focuses on bikepacking tips from the 1890s.

On this weeks program: Chris talks to Cory Boardman from the new Brompton Junction Melbourne in Carlton North and all things Brompton, including the Brompton Hotlap at Shimano Super Crit and the flexible multi-modal uses of folding bikes. Cory also talks about an recent Coroners report about illegal hi-powered and over-powered e-bikes.Local news includes a recap about City of Greater Dandenong decision to demolish Maurice Kirby Velodrome in Noble Park and a call out to Melbourne's cycling community to ride the facility before any further work is done, including joining the new formed Noble Park Dandenong Cycling Club.Steve talks to Kaydee Raths and Pepper Cook at the Hunt 1000 afterparty at Commuter Cycles back in November about blizzards, sandles, snow and their bikepacking adventures through Australias alpine country.

The show is off to a much more prosaic start this morning than usual as a last minute hitch means that we are forced to carry on without Val and his dulcet tones are sorely missed! Faith is joined in the studio by guest Charlie Farren and we each share a bicycle moment. We also take a quick look at this year's Hunt 1000 which has been an adventure packed ride, even before the Grand Depart, with snowfalls and blizzards. You can follow the riders progress here. Talk turns to the Farren Collection and Charlie explains the history and development of this world-renowned bicycle collection, the late Paul Farren's passion and commitment in developing the collection, and the era of the bicycle that is the focus of the collection. While the collection, housed in Melbourne in a private museum, encompasses over 200 bicycles a new home has been found for forty of those bicycles at the Shepparton Motor Museum (Soon to be MOVE), making these amazing machines and the history embodied within them accessible to many more people. Make sure you get to Shepparton to check it out and if you would like to arrange a group tour of the private collection in Melbourne then leave a message for the Yarra BUG Radio peeps with 3CR and we'll pass on your details. Discussion turns to the Victorian Penny Farthing Championships this weekend in Geelong with a full day of activities for the whole family at Geelong West Oval and velodrome. You'll find all the details here. Also coming up this weekend for those living and riding in Maribyrnong is a drop in session towards building the new City of Maribyrnong Bicycling Stategy. Later in the week on Thursday is the last of the fabulous MoreArt Projector Bike rides, its free but reserve your space now!

Val and Faith are joined in the studio this week by Melissa and Chris Buntlett of Canadian agency Modacity. We share our bike moments before taking a brief look at some local news including; last chance to have your say on the shape of the Shrine to Sea boulevard for pedestrians and cyclists and Skyrail for Upfield and the chance to make sure this ensures a badly needed upgrade for the Upfield bike path. Melissa and Chris describe how they first came to give up the use of their car ten years ago in Vancouver and the journey they've been on since then, with their two children, sharing stories about urban mobility and the ways in which multi-modal transport which embraces the bicycle can create more open and welcoming environments for everyone. Their book Building the Cycling City: The Dutch Blueprint for Urban Vitality is being launched in Melbourne Tuesday November 20th at Bicycle Network

On this weeks program, it's been a painful couple of days in Melbourne, including the deaths of cycling advocate Cameron Frewer (Drive Safe, Pass Wide) and professional rider Jonathan Cantwell.A donation page has been set up to help Cameron Frewer’s familyDonate to the Jonathan Cantwell Family FundWhere to seek help for mental illnessLast Tuesday saw Cup Day k's at Maurice Kirby Velodrome in Noble Park, refer to previous program: Saving Melbourne's cycling history: talking about Maurice Kirby Velodrome (27 August 2018) Despite torrential rain over 40-50 people visited over the day to ride, walk and enjoy this beautiful little gem that is under threat of demolition by Greater Dandenong Council.Miranda, Tony, David, Marcel, Gisella, Gaye, Abbey, John, Skippy, Robert, Kim, Jeff and Shamsher spoke about their appreciation for the velodrome and reasons why it should be saved, refreshed and retained as part of a reinvigorated Parkfield Reserve Masterplan.Find out more about the Save Noble Park Velodrome campaign on facebook, twitter, instagram and wordpress and donate to the Chuffed campaign to help start Noble Park Dandenong Cycling Club and retain a local velodrome.

Chris catches up with David Blom from Melbourne Metro East Bicycle Users Group and Lachlan Cook from Collingwood Childrens Farm.Local news includes The Greens announcement of a 17km multi-lane, separated bike route from Elsternwick Station to Bell Street, Coburg, then a quick recap of last Saturdays Community Action: We need More Trains on the Upfield Line and Extend the Upfield Bike Path, Duplicate the Upfield Line, with over one hundred people attending the first rally.Lachlan talks about Ride to the Farm Day on Saturday 10 November, a fun and healthy day-out by cycling or walking, instead of driving the car, to the Farmers Market at Collingwood Children’s Farm. Melbourne Poly Tech in Fairfield is the muster point between 7.30am to 3pm for a 3km ride to the farm, with free Market and Farm entry until 1pm with wristband.David chats about progress and updates for cycling infrastructure for south-east Melbourne, including Box Hill - Ringwood Rail Trail, Sydnal - Heatherton Trail, Dandenong Creek Bridge, Level Crossing removals for Mont Albert and Surrey Hills, promoting MBUGs campaign for the Hawthorn to Box Hill trail and talking about the dream of one day being able to ride all the way to Warburton along the railway line and never seeing a car.Local news includes two additional rides to local Farmers Markets this weekend with Pedal to Produce Elwood Farmers Market with Melbourne Bicycle Touring Club and Shop-by-Bike Day at South Melbourne market.Not interested in horse racing? Come along to Cup day k’s at the Noble Park Velodrome to help Save Noble Park Velodrome and crowdfund to restart Noble Park Dandenong Cycling Club. Ride starts at 9am, with several riders planning to ride 100kms (250 laps) Riders can come and go as they please, come at the start and ride as many k’s as you like, or drop in on your training ride and come for a few laps with the bunch. Bring your kids, parents, partners, friends or anyone else who wants to come for a pedal or even walk laps of the infield.

Val and Faith are joined in the studio today by Aroha Yates and we all share our bike moments to kick things off. We then take a look at cycling news including where you'll find Melbourne's most active commuters, St Kilda bike lanes a vote winner, the Walking and Cycling Conference underway in Bendigo and a cost benefit analysis of bicycle helmets in Germany. We also run through some upcoming events including; Extend the Upfield Bike Path, DDCX Cox Plate, Will Climb for Views, a campaign to save space for bicycles on regional trains and Cup Day Ks to save the Maurice Kirby velodrome in Noble Park. Talk turns to New Zealand's Old Ghost Road and Ari's recent bikepacking trip there with friends. New Zealand has the tourism infrastructure to support bike tourists getting to and from their amazing cycle trails and the Old Ghost Road is no exception. A spectacular MTB trail with an amazing history and huts you can book for each night along the way that proves to be accesible to many riders.