FREE D LOCKS FOR FREMANTLE CYCLISTS

 

City of Fremantle’s Community Safety Team will be giving out free D-locks in an effort to reduce bike theft. The campaign will be launched at a Bike Theft Awareness Day at Kings Square this Friday 25 February, starting at 10am.

The ‘Lock down on bike theft’ campaign will focus on Fremantle’s city centre and run from February through to April.

It is a collaboration between Fremantle Police and the City of Fremantle, with the Public Transport Authority rolling out a similar initiative at Fremantle Train Station during February.

 

D-locks have been proven to be quite robust and they can only be removed using a cutting device or saw whereas a standard bike cable can be cut within 10 or 15 seconds using a standard cutting device.

The Community Safety Team has about 200 D-locks to give out to the public over the next two to three months.

 

Fremantle residents will be able to collect a free D-lock, have their bikes engraved and learn some handy tips about where to park their bikes and lock them properly.

The free D-locks are available to Fremantle residents only and are limited to one per person until stocks run out.

Roel Loopers

YUMMY BREAKY AT FREO RIDE TO WORK

The Ride To Work breakfast was held at Fremantle Kings Square this morning and was appreciated by many cyclists who turned up for yummy South American baked beans and eggs, muffins and great coffee while checking out electric and cargo bikes.

Nice to see City of Fremantle CEO Phil StJohn up and about early and enjoying a hearty breaky.

Roel Loopers

FREE RIDE TO WORK BREAKY AT KINGS SQUARE

Hop on your bikes tomorrow morning and join the free Fremantle RIDE TO WORK breakfast at Kings Square between 7-9 pm.

It’s going to be a hot day so perfect for the RTW breaky.

Roel Loopers

FREMANTLE RIDE TO WORK DAY

Bicycles to Take Over South Tce on Wednesday – Ride to Work Day

Join a ‘Bike Bus’ group to lead to you to a free breakfast at Pioneer Park, near Fremantle Railway Station.Bike Bus’s will be riding along South Terrace on Ride to Work day this year to promote bicycle awareness in Fremantle.

A Bike Bus, consists of a group of cyclists riding together, on a set route, with the aim to make the journey a more interesting, safer, more visible and sociable experience.

The event is being organized by the Fremantle Bicycle Users Group (BUG), a community based, volunteer group who advocate on behalf of people who ride bicycles in and around the Fremantle Area.

A bike bus will be departing from South Beach Cycles/Third Wheel Café at 7:00, 7:30 and 8:00am on Wednesday 14 October and arriving at the City of Fremantle’s Ride to Work breakfast in Pioneer Park.

All cyclists are welcome to join the ride, including regular riders to support others.

Visit facebook.com/bikefreo for more information on the bike bus or Freo BUG. Contact Fremantle.bug@gmail.com

JOIN THE FREO FREEWHEELERS!

I received this email from Alex Fletcher and want to share it with you, as it sounds like an interesting project:

I am trying to get Perth people (starting in Freo) to reduce their driving, in favour of walking, cycling and public transport. I also want to support local businesses. I’m working on an app called Freewheeler (www.freewheeler.com ) with my dad to track commutes and modes then reward people for active & sustainable commuting.

I’m doing a crowdfunding campaign at the moment to raise funds to help roll out a Fremantle pilot project. The campaign page is at http://www.startsomegood.com/freewheeler

If this initiative interests you at all, then I’d appreciate any exposure you’d care to give on your blog. Crowdfunding is proving to be pretty hard work and I’m really keen to get the Fremantle community on board, as I think it could make a big difference to Fremantle (and hopefully later Australia).

Check it out Freo!

Roel Loopers

ROEL FOR FREO! Beaconsfield Ward. Truly Independent.

Written and authorised by Roel Loopers if 5 Maxwell Street, Beaconsfield 6162.

IS IT SAFER TO HAVE BIKES ON FOOTPATHS?

The announcement that WA Transport Minister Dean Nalder is considering changing the road rules so that cyclists of all ages can use the footpaths will no doubt be talked about for as long as we have talked about roads being unsafe for cyclists and many motorists being inconsiderate morons.

What are the pros and cons of these changes, especially the no speed limit one? While life might become safer for cyclists it will become more dangerous for pedestrians because no matter what speed bikes are going at they will be faster than pedestrians, so that must be a worry. Will cyclists be allowed to use the footpaths on both sides of the roads in both directions, which would create a bit more chaos, or should they use the left footpaths only in the direction of traffic?

It makes sense not to limit speed as it would create even more work for police to try to monitor that with speed cameras on footpaths, but it is naive to believe all cyclists will behave responsibly and not endanger pedestrians when riding too fast on the footpaths.

But it will be a relief for motorists driving along the Fremantle Cappuccino Strip and other tight spots around the city to not have to sit behind a cyclist doing only 15 kilometres per hour.

No one expects that those weekend licra-clad road ‘terrorists’ who speed in large pelotons to early morning coffee will start using footpaths, but at the same time we should not be so naive as to belief that common sense will prevail and that it will be a good self regulator. If it were we would have far less traffic accidents on our roads.

Is the future of walking now going to be pedestrians with little mirrors attached to their heads so they can detect speeding cyclists coming from behind on footpaths? Time will tell, but Minister Dean Nalder has not done many things right in his short career in Parliament, so I am not convinced he will get this one right.

Roel Loopers

ARTY TOUR DE PERTH

I was disappointed this evening when I found out that theFremantle prologue of the Tour de Perth meant it was only a time trial and not a race. Pretty boring photos shooting individual riders doing laps I thought, so I decided to do it the arty way that captures speed and colour.

Nice to see a bit of a crowd at the start and finish at the Esplanade Hotel.

Roel Loopers

BIG BICYCLE RACE IN FREO TODAY!

The South Metropolitan Police have announced that they will enforce helmet bike laws in Fremantle today but that won’t affect the speeding riders in the TOUR DE PERTH this evening. They always wear helmets.

Stage 1-Fremantle Prologue will be held from 6 pm with start and finish at the Esplanade and riders going around very tight corners at Mouat, Croke and Cliff streets at high speeds.

It is a great spectacle that deserves far more spectators than it had last year, so forget the TV for a few hours and support this event.

Roel Loopers

CYCLISTS SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESSES

I am always trying to get the balance right on this blog because I am not a big believer in one-eyed, narrow-minded and blinkered views, so the article in The Guardian about the European cycling industry needs to be mentioned to please Fremantle’s bike groupies.

The Guardian reports that the European cycling industry employs more people than the mining industry there and twice as many as the steel industry. 650,000 people work in the cycling economy the newspaper reports with most jobs being in bicycle tourism, which includes accommodation and restaurants.

The fact that should be opening some eyes in the Fremantle retail industry is that cyclists contribute more to the local economy than other modes of transport, because cyclists go to local shops, restaurants and cafes. Of course our problem is that cyclists are still a tiny minority compared to motorists, and for the cycling community to have a real impact on the Western Australia economy there needs to be a change in culture and mindset.

Full article in The Guardian here: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/nov/12/europes-cycling-economy-has-created-650000-jobs?CMP=share_btn_fb

Roel Loopers