Last week I met with Lord Mayor Clover Moore and some of her team to chat bikes.

via chicksandbikes

I have to hand it to Cr Moore. She simply wanted to get feedback from me (bikes lanes? Has to be done; the world will adjust and get over their issues with them), and pick my brain on what more they can be doing to get people on bikes (they’re doing some pretty cool stuff already…but my suggestion is to keep making it cool, accessible; not daggy). She listened and took notes.

If you have ideas, and want them heard, you might like this:

$10,000 grant for a great bike idea:

City of Sydney is giving out Matching Grants to folk with great community ideas (bikes and beyond). They are designed to support neighbourhood based groups with the purchase of materials or supplies that will assist them to facilitate small and simple projects that bring the community together.

Personally, my bike comes with me everywhere. It travelled with me into the Apple store in Sydney the other day. The security beef looked after it for me. I bath it. What more can I say…

I’m often asked where I keep my bike at home. Most places I’ve lived, inside. Mostly for security. And rust. I found these lovely shots of bikes-as-interior-accessories the other day. Why not work them into your decor? You got any clever ideas? Send them in…

Bike fans, there’s a new bike mag out and it’s called Treadlie. It’s very cute and is on sale now in newsagents.

It’s got a guide to building your own fixie, and features hot bike looks and other hot bike bits and pieces. Oh, and my beautiful single-speed gets its own spread. If you’re keen to enter the world of SS’s and fixies, here’s a good launch pad.

And if you subscribe now you go in the draw to win that very sweet Gazelle Toer below.

OK, I’m back on the Campaign to Ride a Bike, a loose gee-up I’m waging on my blog – and beyond – to get more people riding. You can catch up on some of my rants here and also here.

But a big barrier for a lot of people is the goddamn helmet. How to preserve one’s vanity and the planet?

(PS. The cat in a melon hat was sourced by my new (!) assistant Jo Foster who has an incredible knack for finding obscure factoids, cricket trivia and pictures for this blog. She also likes threatening me with Dance-off Tuesdays and Sing-a-long Wednesdays in my office. Performance terrifies me. Jo finds this funny…ANYWAY…)

I personally struggle. I promote riding unencumbered by style restraints. But helmets just ruin the whole flow, especially for a chick. Plus. Um. Confession: I don’t always wear a helmet.  Like when I scoot down the road for dinner, or to the beach in the morning. Illegal I know. And irresponsible. But I must come clean. I sometimes debate the protective worth of them (the Sydney Morning Herald ran a story recently on whether bike helmets do any good if you’re interested). And I rationalise things in my own head thus: I’ve been riding for 32 years (and have never pranged); if I have an accident, I want my brain to go along with my body; and riding sans headwear makes for some very defensive riding.

That said, if I’m going far, or cross-country, or racing, I wear one.

And I’ve recently found some styles that are getting me a little more excited about wearing them more regularly. I’ll share a few:

A stack of you have asked me how to go about buying a single-speed bike.  Here’s a little guide, based on my experience.

1. Be very sure you want a SS bike! They’re not for everyone. They have NO gears. Correct, none. So it means riding it like you did a BMX as a kid to get up hills – bum in air and waggling. I would say you have to be very bike-fit to enjoy one, unless you live in a flat area (Melbourne is SS heaven). The benefit of no gears, of course, is that it’s a more agile, lighter, flippier ride.

2. Be sure you don’t ask for a fixie. Many people mistake the two. A fixie is a fixed-gear bike. It’s a SS, but with no brakes. When you stop peddling, it breaks. Which makes them something of a kamikaze ride. My hub is a flip-flop – which means I can switch to a fix gear if I want.

3. You can build your own or buy off-the shelf. I did the former with a friend and there are some wonderful people about who can team with you and make it a fun, care-full experience. Because that’s what this caper called life should be about.

My frame and saddle are 50 years old and from Paris. The wheels were carefully selected. The chain perfectly calibrated.

The beauty of an SS is it’s agility and to really enjoy them it is best that they are a refined, light, perfectly calibrated thing.  And to treat them like an art project and build them with light materials and have them built by kids who know their stuff.

The Customised experience

This is all about finding someone fun to do the project with. Best idea: when you see a bike you like, nab the rider and ask who built theirs.

If you life in Sydney, there’s a very cute chick in Bondi called Lucy who builds custom bikes. She started building them when other cats around town couldn’t build the one she wanted. She runs her business Vamp Garage from a garage, refurbishing vintage pushbikes with contemporary design and parts and Brookes leather saddles. She even custom-designs the stickers to give your bike a theme (if you like!). Or can take your pre-loved wheelie and transform her.

Here’s Lucy:

It’s a risk you take walking in the street these days: will you get stopped by a fashion blogger and asked to share what you wear on camera? Mostly, it’s unlikely to happen to me. I’m not overly “fashion”.  But I got stopped the other day by Faye de Lanty from Fashion Hound and was asked to explain myself. I don’t think I’d actually showered that day…or brushed my hair!

For those interested…

* Woolen haarem pants: All Saints (I buy online…the UK store is best at the moment, given the value of the Aussie dollar against the Euro). The peep-toe desert boots I wore on Good News Week (see yesterday’s post) are also from All Saints (a few of you asked).

* Glasses: from the flea markets in Hong Kong ($15)…If you’re in Hong Kong, stock up on lenses and frames. Cheap as them chips!

* Single-speed bike: built with my mate Reuben. The details are here if you’d like him to build you one.