Hannah Law

My friend Yvette just got herself a fashion bike for her birthday! It’s pink with white tyres and a pretty basket – the perfect friend for my fashion bike so we’re  planning a chic ride so our bikes can meet and be friends!

The folks at WheretoRide gave me a handy little book full of fun rides around Sydney (thanks guys!) so I’ve been reading up on some options:

- Manly, North Steyne: it’s about 2.6km ride that is relatively flat (yay! my bike only has 3 gears!) and let’s be honest, we’ll be checking the Manly fashion out more than riding anyway so it’s a realistic option.

- Balmoral Beach: a whopping 600m. Phew! I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

- The Domain: can’t really beat that view but we won’t actually be allowed to ride through the Botanical Gardens (we’d  have to walk our bikes through there).

- Centennial Park: a short but pretty ride with ducks to watch and horses to race!

- Glebe: maybe the Blackwattle Bay ride around Glebe Point or the Wentworth Park ride (probably not very exciting?).

Where do you think we should take our fashion bikes for a spin?

Just found out there will be a bicycle made out of bicycles (yes, you read that correctly!) in Martin Place, Sydney over the next month.

The Bike Bike is part of Art and About,  a Sydney-centric celebration of creativity that is designed to make us contemplate our environment and sustainable modes of transport in Sydney. At the very least, the installation represents how cycling is a growing trend that is no longer for men in lycra … it is now increasingly popular with Sydney’s chic.

Helmets off to installation artist, Alastair Nicol, for his clever work – I can’t wait to check it out.

Have you seen the giant bike bike? Did it get you thinking about sustainability and alternative modes of transport?

I recently discovered Jelly Bean Bikes, thanks to Daily Addict. Jelly Bean Bikes is a wicked service that lets you totally customize the design of your bike … from colour to size to fixie or free wheels! You can go all minimalist or take your inspiration from an acid trip.

The colour lovers even have a Colour Your Ride Facebook page that gives you early notice about bicycle bargains! … They sure know all about the importance of sharing passion, value and expertise with your online community.

Thanks to Sydney Cycle Chic for the beautiful photo

Last Saturday I joined Sydney Cycle Chic for a super stylish  ride through hipster-ville aka Surry Hills. It was more of a social event than exercise (no complaints from me though!) with about 30 fashionistas with fashion bikes.

Other cycle chic kids have already written great blog posts so rather than compete with theirs, I’ll just bundle them altogether for you to read, comment on and get jealous of all the cool bike pics

• The official blog post from the brains behind Sydney Cycle Chic
• Sit-up Cycle’s Mike Rubbo photojournalism post – I especially love the photo treatment he used.
• A perfect poem by the Freedom Cyclist (and anti-helmet campaigner)
• And the first of a series of Sydney Cycle Chic posts by the Feather Brigade … who are going to hold a crazy Halloween dress-up ride on October 31st – keep an eye out for details.

And if you haven’t had enough yet, check out the Surry Hills Cycle Chic Flickr photos!

The Social Bicycle System from Ryan Rzepecki on Vimeo.

I recently came across this new social bike sharing initiative called SoBi. They describe it as “a public bike share system that uses GPS, mobile communications, and a secure lock that can attach to almost any bicycle and lock to any regular bike rack.”

How does it work?

After creating an account, the SoBi system will give bike riders unlimited access to the bike share system. Social cyclists can use the web or phone app to locate a bike and then use a pin code to unlock the bike. There is a central server to approve and track the transaction.

Why is it awesome?

According to Mashable, “SoBi is designed with both the cyclist and the city in mind. Riders have their own SoBi profile which tracks their rides and even calculates calories burned. Users can also view a map of their travel habits, share their trips and see if friends are biking nearby.”

Would you use SoBi? Why/why not?

I bought a bike on the weekend! It’s a vintage cream step-through with a basket on the front … very Surry Hills.

So far I’ve been cruising on the footpaths because I’m likely to get a serious case of the death wobbles if I ride on the street!

I’ve hit up Moore Park and Centennial Park but am keen to find out some other good rides around the city … any recommendations?