Friday, October 7, 2011

Embassy's of Cycling

Canberra is no stranger to embassy's given that Canberra is the national capital of Australia ( a trivia question that many people overseas get wrong) as we have embassy's from countries all over the world.
In the Netherlands they have just launched the Dutch cycling embassy modeled on the Danish cycling embassy which has been going for a few years now.
The aim of these embassies is to bring together the experts like government organisations, non government organisations, consultants and planning experts to promote cycling and communicate cycling solutions. A one stop shop for cycling advocates.
Great Britain has also formed a cycling embassy which would operate differently advising organisations in their own country on the benefits of cycling and cycling infrastructure from knowledge gained from other countries, like the Netherlands. This is important given the demise of Cycling for England .


So to the worlds cycling experts of the Dutch Cycling Embassy, and the excellent video produced and narrated by Amsterdamize 's Marc Van Woudenberg. Lets hope our Government gets in contact soon.   

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Helmet freedom at Last!


Well, only if your playing Bike polo it seems or if you are over the age of 17 living in the Northern Territory. This article on ABC online caught my attention. Bike Polo is starting to become a popular sport, having been introduced here from the United States.




I'd say it won't be too long before the powers that be will start to enforce those pesky mandatory helmet laws.
Sadly it is still making the news with  the usual  for and against on whether the law should stay.
This was in the local weekly mag. , having a go at Canberra cyclists not stopping at red lights and not wearing helmets. Now we wouldn't want riding a bike to appear dangerous now would we. People might actually stop riding a bikes!

I wonder what she would make of those silly dangerous cyclists in other countries that don't have Mandatory Helmet Laws.

Copenhagenize


Amsterdamize