The Bike to Work project

​Now is a good time to tell you about my New Years resolution - from last year. I set myself the challenge of riding the bike to work 50 times in 2015.

I work four days a week, and it's a very long ride. I CAN ride all the way there and back, but I'm slow and it's a long way (26km each way). So, I have number of ways I can do it, and still get a good work day:

• Some days I rode all the way in, and got a lift home (we have two learner drivers, so they fought for the chance to drive us in on school holidays).
• Some days, Jeff and I put the bikes on the car rack, and drove half way, then rode in and back (12km each way, very nice).
• Some days took the bike on the train for part of the trip home.
• We moved offices, from Collingwood to the city, so now I can also ride to my choice of bike cage (Bicycle Victoria is installing fantastic bike cages at railway stations), lock up there, and train into the city.

There have been challenges.

• Any option that involved the car needed MY car, the one that fits the bike rack. But that's the one Catriona drives too, and she often has evening commitments. So I didn't ride some days.
• In winter it gets dark really early, so some options don't work.
• I don't mind riding in the warm or the cold, and I can manage drizzle and breezes, but rain, extreme heat and strong wind make it too dangerous for me.
• A few days I had early meetings.
• And the odd sick day, and bike-getting-repaired day, cuts out some rides too.

So, it has taken some effort to get to the fifty rides. I've been keeping a spreadsheet.

And I'm pleased to say, I'm nearly there. I've hit 49 rides, and I have just two work days left.

WILL SHE MAKE IT?

Post script. I made it. The next day. Wasn't that hard really!

Want to see my new bike bag?

Our friends at Topeak make some really good bike bags - they are expensive, but they work really well. I've given you a link to the bag I own - it can hold your day's goodies and clothes for a ride-to-work day, or some groceries for a chores day, or plenty of picnic for a day off.

To use a Topeak bag, you need a special carrier on your bike. But once you have the special carrier, you can slide ANY matching bag onto it.

So, what happened was, I managed to tear my older Topeak bag (it was a bit less cool than the one in the link). I repaired for a bit with duct tape, but it was pretty torn. I replaced it with the cool one I have now. I finally decided the torn one had to be retired. But first, I took it apart (as you do). And discovered that the whole mechanism that clips onto the special carrier was just fine!

So, I bought a pretty canvas bag at a local op shop, and here is my new bike bag!

A gleaning excursion

As if I needed any further motivation to go on bike rides... I can't help but notice, on a lot of bike paths, there are fruit trees overhanging public areas. Now, fruit falling there is likely to go to waste. And in some cases, even cause paths to get slippery and dangerous. So, it's very much my duty to collect it and get it out of the way.

Here's the haul from my last fruit gathering excursion. Plenty of cumquats (from several different trees), some lemons, grapefruit and mandarins.













And here's what I did with it! Some "found" marmalade.

And in case you are wondering, I've checked, and as far as I know, fruit gleaning is perfectly legal, and even quietly encouraged. Here's a map of "feral" fruit trees.

Awesome bird feeding!

Another pic from my bike ride. The householder here has put out some top quality bird feeders, and look at the fabulous results!

Have you lost a guinea pig?

I saw this little guy in the wilds by the Eastlink bike trail. He wasn't near any houses, so I wasn't sure if I could help him get home. So if you've lost a guinea pig somewhere between the big bird sculpture and Princes highway, she/he is alive and well, and looking for you!

My Good Friday bike adventure

As another Easter treat, when we had finished our outing to Frankston, I got Jeff to drop me with my bike at the start of the Eastlink trail. Well, probably not the actual start, but near the big bird, and about 25 km by bike from home. It was a fabulous trip! I took ages, because I had to stop and enjoy stuff so often.

There was a small car show - well, that's not really my thing, but they had attracted a service club running a sausage sizzle. Also not my thing... But on closer inspection, they were making Vegie burgers too! So I called over the fence to the cook, who made me a terrific burger.

Then there I collected some fruit from trees overhanging the trail - figs and quinces. Heaps of figs out there, but mostly not ripe yet. You lucky people with fig trees, I hope you are loving them!

The traditional smarties photo

Here I am posing at Ellipsoidal Freeway Sculpture, that gorgeous artwork we never get to stop at normally. I took some other people's photos too. That's not a ghost in the photo, I just managed to get a smudge on the lens.

Jonathan and Jeff on the ride

Here's Jonathan and Jeff getting ready for the 35 km ride. Thomas has already disappeared into the distance. They caught him eventually ... I didn't catch up with the rest of the family until the finish line. We did do most of it together though.

The big bike ride!

Yesterday was the big Eastlink bike ride. This is the third year Jeff and I have done the 35km ride, and for the first time, Thomas and Jonathan joined us. I did some fundraising too, at work, and through crafty channels, and managed to get to $500. That meant I got to wear the fabulous fundraisers' jersey!

We rode to Chadstone

Jonathan and I have successfully ridden to Chadstone - that's nearly 15km from home. Here's his reward - fries from Lord of the Fries ( they really are the best, worth riding for). I'm so dainty I'm just having coffee.

A spinny thing!

A big bike ride with the boys - we have stopped because they spotted a different kind of spinning playground equipment! And there was a maze too (this is Ferndale park we think, near Ashburton station).

Oh no, smashed bike helmet!

Poor Jonathan!

Of course, it got broken when he dropped it on the floor in a shopping centre. We'll get a new one before we ride home!

Snail Pellets - STAT!

Got home late on Saturday and tiptoed into the kitchen for a glass of water. THIS MONSTER was at eye level. An icky, urky, ooey, gooey, SNAIL (one of many, I might add) all over the glass door that leads to the garden.

All on the outside of course, but still...

It was hard to recover and get to sleep...

Jeff comes out of the tunnel

We are almost done on the Eastlink ride!

About to start the Eastlink ride

Destination Ringwood

Yes! We managed a good long bike ride, all the way to Ringwood. There's a new Maccas here so we get a treat, refill the water bottle, and head home. Well done boys! One day we'll manage it with less treat and more ride.

A big bike ride

The Ride for Home was today - that's a charity bike event, where the Eastlink tollway is closed to all traffic, all morning. Jeff and I both went in it, and it was fabulous!

We were worried about terrible weather - the forecast was heavy rain. And just for laughs, the Department of Primary Industries warned us about a plague of locusts that may descend.

And it turned out ... the rain held off all day, and conditions were near-perfect (no wind, not too sunny or hot, just smooth pedalling all the way.

We rode 35km (that's the shorter ride), and the grand finale was a screaming zoom through two tunnels! Turns out a 1 in 20 grade means you career down at great speed, but it's a tad of work getting back up. No problem for a

many-geared bike though, so I'm not complaining.

Check it out, I got to stand at the Smarties!