Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Chris249 wrote: Is it possibly because in Australia, where we have stupid helmet laws and psyco transport ministers, that utility cycling is now so uncommon that it's seen as unprofessional?

There, fixed that for you. Before you invoke The MHL thread, go back through this thread and count the helmets.

Chris249 wrote:In Sydney the CBD is also pretty hilly and the weather is humid. I run hot and I'd struggle to ride in a suit in Sydney without stinking it up.

If you can walk you can cycle. Take your jacket off, if needs be. The key is to SLOW DOWN to a walking level of effort.

Back to the point you were trying to make, having worked in the Darwin for a while I certainly noted a more relaxed attitude to perspiration there. You also take on a rather more relaxed pace when walking. None of this southern hustle and bustle! And one of the nice things about fine suits is that merino tends not to stink like synthetic fabrics if you do get a little perspiration.

Finally, we also now have aerosol deoderant.

Yes - merino underlayers are great. But not so good in 35C. I ride light and cool with a short sleeve shirt and shorts on days above about 28C forecast max (luckily this is fine with the work dress norms), but the sweat always happens when I arrive at work and the free air-flow stops. A wipe-down, and a relax under the AC vents is excellent.

One other thing to bear in mind - without getting too personal. Sweat is mostly just water (except for armpits and groin). It takes some hours (12hrs +) before sweat develops enough bacteria count to become 'pong'. A quick wipe down with water and/or paper-towel or wipes will get rid of most. Your clothes should be fine for the day, even riding in work clothing.

il padrone wrote: One other thing to bear in mind - without getting too personal. Sweat is mostly just water (except for armpits and groin). It takes some hours (12hrs +) before sweat develops enough bacteria count to become 'pong'.

I didn't know that. Learnt something today.

Comedian wrote:I didn't know that. Learnt something today.

Bear in mind - Brisbane sweat might be different to Victorian sweat

Qld sweat covers a larger area, but is an hour behind in summer

Looks like a nice ride...

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One of the benefits I found from moving to the country (away from the coast) is there is less humidity out here. The same activities produce far less sweat. A pleasant surprise.

bychosis wrote:Qld sweat covers a larger area, but is an hour behind in summer

Haha, love it! I hate daylight savings.

PHOTO: Cyclists in Bundaberg, Queensland 1939. (Supplied: John Oxley Library )
From ABC News

Thoglette wrote:
PHOTO: Cyclists in Bundaberg, Queensland 1939. (Supplied: John Oxley Library )
From ABC News

Nice find. Love the handlebars

Cookie-cutters

Aushiker wrote: Nice find. Love the handlebars

When I was a kid, it was so normal (for kids) to have drop bars reversed into cow horns, that the first time I saw them in the drop position, I wondered why the bars were upside down.

5 abreast, wouldn't see that today, great pic though- reminds my dad of the old days.

Not sure if its cycle Chic. My grandfather on right with siblings. Couple of bent bicycle forks - the bikes were well used as there were 11 children in the family and he was the youngest. Couple of elder brothers passed in WWI. Chinchilla Queensland circa 1916.

Nice one Schurms. Thats a really cool photo. I love old photos, especially with family history.

schurms wrote:Not sure if its cycle Chic. My grandfather on right with siblings.

Very cool photo schurms.

Couple of bent bicycle forks - the bikes were well used

Lol. Before the day of straight forked aluminium bone rattlers they were made that way, from a long forgotten material called "steel", with the bend built into them for comfort.

Thoglette wrote:

Chris249 wrote: Is it possibly because in Australia, where we have stupid helmet laws and psyco transport ministers, that utility cycling is now so uncommon that it's seen as unprofessional?

There, fixed that for you. Before you invoke The MHL thread, go back through this thread and count the helmets.

Chris249 wrote:In Sydney the CBD is also pretty hilly and the weather is humid. I run hot and I'd struggle to ride in a suit in Sydney without stinking it up.

If you can walk you can cycle. Take your jacket off, if needs be. The key is to SLOW DOWN to a walking level of effort.

Back to the point you were trying to make, having worked in the Darwin for a while I certainly noted a more relaxed attitude to perspiration there. You also take on a rather more relaxed pace when walking. None of this southern hustle and bustle! And one of the nice things about fine suits is that merino tends not to stink like synthetic fabrics if you do get a little perspiration.

Finally, we also now have aerosol deoderant.

I'm late to the reply, but some of us get hot and unpleasantly sweaty on a hot Sydney day even when walking or standing, and even when not wearing the jacket and tie that is de rigueur for many workplaces. Slowing down doesn't help if you are sweating even when standing still..... quite the contrary, sometimes I used to feel cooler riding at a decent clip on the time trial bike where there was a nice flow of cooling air for minimal effort. YMMV.

The point remains that in a climate (figuratively and literally speaking) where being sweaty on arrival is now frowned upon, the minority who commute without air conditioning may also be frowned upon, or at least have different feelings about feeling hot and sticky now that we no longer feel hot and sticky for 12 hours every hot day, as we did before a/c in workplaces, cars, trains and buses.

Also, about your modification to my post; I now live in a neighbourhood where 16% of work commutes are done on a bike even in the dead of winter, when the average minimum is close to zero. Judging from the numbers of bikes in the work bike cage, that number would be dramatically higher in the summer. School cycling is rare in many areas, but there are dozens of kids cycling to school down the road and the primary school just built a BMX track on the playground. Judging from a stats breakdown on one very useful blog, it could well have just about the highest proportion of non-student commuters around, with the possible exception of Darwin. And yet we have the same MHLs, therefore it's apparent MHLs (which I'm very ambivalent about) are not a major barrier to increasing the level of utility/commuter cycling dramatically. Given that, the time and effort spent fighting them could perhaps be much better spent on other causes.

Chris249 wrote: ...therefore it's apparent MHLs (which I'm very ambivalent about) are not a major barrier to increasing the level of utility/commuter cycling dramatically. Given that, the time and effort spent fighting them could perhaps be much better spent on other causes.

I used to think the same way.

However the 2011 Heart Foundation study conclusively showed that MHLs are a major barrier to utility/commuter cycling. And last year Zeegers put the last nails in the statistical coffin.

In a nutshell, those who'd benefit from helmets mostly wore them anyway; those who didn't mostly stopped riding. Or their parents stopped them (per an later Heart foundation survey on kids riding to school)

Before we get this thread locked, there is a bundle of information on the Official MHL Thread to look at. Or PM me if you like.

Yeh, lets do the boring stuff elsewhere

Check out the bike photos for the burning man festival

^^^ - Hey, aren't those forks on backwards?

I wonder how close the cars were allowed to come to these blokes??

CoffsGal wrote:^^^ - Hey, aren't those forks on backwards?

Manitou RA design

BICYCLETTE-MOTOBECANE-1987

Probably worth someone saving to Photobucket then uploading for a more permanent posting

Rob

Rob74 wrote:BICYCLETTE-MOTOBECANE-1987

Probably worth someone saving to Photobucket then uploading for a more permanent posting

Rob