YarraBUG

On this weeks program Chris chats regular Sydney guest, Sarah Imm, from Velo-a-porter and Bicycle Mayor of Sydney, about making everyday commuting more fun and enjoyable after applying different skills and tips she picked up from cargobikes, e-bikes, road, cyclocross and MTB.News includes dealing with this weeks hot weather, Dan O'Connell Hotel installing a "pit stop" @ Canning Street, Carlton North for thirsy riders, Elon Musks latest amusing edict about public transport and his petulant attempt criticising Jarrett Walker from Human Transit and the final Yarra Council Bicycle Advisory Committee Meeting for the year on Wednesday 20th December, 6.30pm, Wurundjeri Room, Collingwood Town Hall.This is our last live program for 2017, Faith & Val return on Monday 8 January 2018 and I'l have two summer special shows coming up over the silly season break.

Faith and Val are joined in the studio this morning by Jonathan Nolan of Melbourne BUG and Revitalise Sydney Road. We kick off the show by sharing our respective bicycle moments before taking a look at local news, including the sad news of another cyclist death at Macedon on the weekend. Conflicted cyclists across Australia woke to the news that the Australian Magpie has been named The Guardian's Bird of the Year, and transport drove Australia's greenhouse gas emissions to their highest point ever. Jonathan takes though some of the many projects around Melbourne that are having an impact on riders, their routes and the potential to encourage new riders to take up using their bike for transport including; the completion of the separated bike lane on Albert St, the development of separated lanes at Southbank and Moray St Sth Melbourne, and the inadequate plans for bike infrastructure around new Melbourne Metro Tunnels at CBD North, Arden and Parkville. With entire roads being redveloped this is the perfect opportunity to build sparated lanes that can cope with increased growth in cyclist nubers yet Melbourne Metro are proposing sub-standard painted lanes that don't meet current VicRoads guidelines. You can have your say on the proposed plans here before Friday December 15th.

Up first on the show, Chris reflects upon the strangeness of recent weather, especially over the weekend, with roads and trails affected by heavy rain and local flooding.This weeks interview is with Kate, Elizabeth, Elise and Stefania about Melburn Durt, their all-women Indy Pac team, who are participating in the new relay option for next years race from Fremantle, Western Australia to Sydney Opera House, NSW. They discuss how they choose to ride the IndyPac, individual stories, challenges, fundraising and IPWR planning.

Val and Faith kick off the show sharing their bike moments and introducing this week's studio guest, Thijs van der Heijden of e-astralian. In today's news we focus on the recent memorial held for the late Paul Farren, the intersections of the worlds in which he shined and the incredible impact he had on so many people over the years. You can watch a Livestream of the memorial service at the Botanic Gardens here. We move onto the topic of today's show, salary packaging of ebikes in Australia and how e-stralian have worked to make this a possibility. Ebikes open up transport options to a wide range of the community and the possibilty of salary packaging makes them even more accesible. Thijs talks about how e-stralian works with HR departments and individual employees to make this happen. You can find out more about e-stralian and salary packaging here.

Chris talks to Merie Polkamp about her Melbourne cycling experiences and what led to her writing the article: Male cyclists, what the hell is your problem? We discuss gendered perceptions about cycling, social media reactions, criticisms to her article, barriers to cycling accessibility, lack of suitable infrastructure, and differences between Melbourne and overseas cycling conditions.Local news includes Paul Farren memorial get together, 2017 Sydney-Melbourne Alpine 1200 dotwatching, Sarah Hammond on SBS Insight, with more events on our facebook and events calendar.

Some bike news with a focus on Yarra City Council's Your Say Yarra. A Local Area Place Making Study is being rolled out in three precincts of Yarra in 2017/18.The survey is your chance to have a say in your local traffic and safety on your streets: www.yoursayyarra.com.au/improving-richmondCycling poems read on the show include Mulga Bill and The Man with Rubber Pedals as well.

On this weeks program Chris interviews Roxanne DeBeaux in depth about her cycling journey, how she got started cycling in Melbourne, moving overseas and being employed by Cambridge Cycling Campaign in the UK.Roxanne shares her observations and insights on campaigning, funding, working through dockless bikeshare issues in Cambridge and what's possibly required next for Melbourne to step up with cycling participation and advocacy.Local news includes a call for witnesses and further information after a hitrun incident involving a teenage girl riding her bike at the intersection of Bell and Sussex Street, Coburg at approximately 8pm, Sunday 5th November 2017.TowardsZero Give the Space to Bike Riders campaign was launched on the weekend, which promotes vehicles giving bicycle riders 1m passing in 60kmh zones and 1.5m in zones over 60kmh, despite Victoria being the last Australian state, behind the NT, to provide minimum passing trial or legislation.

Val and Faith are joined by Nik Dow, of Melbourne BUG and Freestyle Cyclists, this morning in the studio. We share our bike moments including Nik'sexperience riding share bikes in China before moving onto news.We discuss Merie Polkamp's account of gendered abuse from male cyclists in Melbourne and the well documented Australian gender divide in cycling. The misogyny experienced by women cycling in Australia adds an extra dimension to their experience of shared spaces. We discuss how this plays out on different routes and the impact cycling infrastructure can have in determining who chooses to ride a bike in your city or suburb. Our next discussion on stalled plans for St Kilda Rd bike lanes makes the same connection and we see much of this same story played out as we move onto oBikes and share bike systems, both here and around the world. We finish up with two great opportunities coming up to enjoy some art on your bike. One with the excellent Port Phillip BUG and the second enjoying the annual MoreArt bike rides.

On this weeks program Chris chats to Amy-Nicole Peters and Tina McCarthy. Amy-Nicole is riding from Perth to Sydney by bike and estimating to cover over 6,000km, her motivation is to show that anyone can take on a great challenge and make a difference in the lives of others living with mental illness."I have personally experienced mental illness and I want to be open about my experience. I believe mental illness isn’t something to be hidden or considered a taboo topic. It can affect anyone at any time."Read more about Pushbiking for mental health - Perth to Sydney 2017 on chuffed.org fundraising page, facebook, instagram and twitterTina from Wheel Women talks about two upcoming cycling courses for older women in the City of Yarra, Amy's Bike Skills is a FREE 4-week program designed to give skills and confidence to ride your bike more often. We chat about breaking down barriers, fear factor, meeting other women, and learning more about bike skills to make riding fun. The first Amy's Bike Skills four week course starts Tuesday 24 October at Park Street Dining next Velo Cycles (815 Nicholson Street, Carlton North) and a second four-week course commences on Saturday 25 November at the same location. Contact Tina at WheelWomen if you want to know more about either of these two free bike skills courses.

Val and Faith are joined in the studio on a stunning spring morning by Evan Howard of Terra Rosa Gear. We share our respective bike moments and then run through some local news including; Neometro development to close the Upfield shared path for two years, the results from the 2017 Melbourne to Warnambool and an opportunity to say goodbye to Paul Farren. Discussion turns to bikepacking and the amazing array nof bags people use to make trips on their bikes. Evan talks us through a bikepacking set up, and the versatility different bags can deliver so that riders can take advantage of the bikes they have to enjoy all sorts of adventures. We also dicuss the DIY opportunities the bike world seems to enjoy so much as well as different businesses that have sprung up developing bags to meet different needs. You can check out the bags Evan makes at Terra Rose Gear, a list of bikebag manufacturers worldwide at Cycling About and some DIY possibilities, here. here and here. We finish the program with some upcoming events including the Cycle Chic Film Night, the Big Bike Film Night, Ride 2 Work Day and Amy's Bike Skills in the City of Yarra.