Vélo voyages

After nearly six months getting around on a bike, this is what I've learnt and loved

The Medical Review Team has made the decision to uphold the suspension to your driver licence/ learner permit.

Ever since that rather impersonal license suspension arrived – sent via downloadable pdf to my VicRoads account – I have been getting around thanks to the generosity of friends, a begrudging sibling, and, primarily, the services of a beat up old ‘fixie’ bike.

Because it takes up considerable space in the small apartment I share with my sister, the bike often gets a bad rap. However, I’ve grown to love it and using it to cruise around Melbourne.

Here’s why:

1. The unknowing bike exchange: I actually came into possession of the Masi ‘fixie’ by accident. During the summer, my Reid bike was sitting mostly behind the couch in the groundskeeper’s shed at Melbourne Uni. Having grabbed a coffee, I noticed that there was no bike behind the couch, but instead one – not mine – leaning against the desk. Evidently, a college student had wandered past, preferred the look of the Reid and initiated a quick swap. Fair play – the Masi wasn’t in great shape.

2. Frankenstein’s monster: After stopping laughing at the fact that I’d been “half-inched” John from the bike shop at Uni lent a hand. Over the course of a month, he put old used parts lying around his shop onto the Masi and soon enough it was back up to speed. Handlebars, tyres and chain all ‘new’, I felt a million bucks on a bike worth probably no more than a handful.

3. Good bike lanes: Riding has been an exercise in gratitude. And for these generously sized lanes, which are in bountiful supply around the city, I have developed a newfound appreciation. Especially the ones with the green bitumen paint and a concrete divider on the right side. Shangri-La.

4. ‘Today’s crew’: I smile to myself every time I turn onto Swanston St outside Flinders Street Station heading north up the hill. Inevitably there’s a group of five or six heading the same direction, and as we wait for the bike light to go green, I can’t help but feel we are our own kind of slow-moving peloton. Some will try to zip ahead – before inevitably getting brought back to the group by red lights and stopping trams. How long will we stay a team before everyone heads in different directions? Usually, a majority get to the State Library, but there’s generally not many left after Queensberry Street…

5. Pop-up bike repair stations: See: Newfound appreciation. These things are great. Having one at the bottom of our street feels like a cheat code.

7. Favourite view in Melbourne: Riding along the river in early Autumn mornings is stunning. Hot air balloons sit low over the river, and the sunrise lights up the Arts Centre and the CBD. For me, getting onto St Kilda Road bridge and peering back towards the MCG never disappoints. Seeing the city this way has reaffirmed that living in Melbourne really is a treat. There should be some index for that…

6. Overtaking people on e-bikes: Normally when overtaking I get a little hit of anxiety; will they re-catch up to me and make me look a fool? Catching someone on an e-bike is a different story. Maybe I’m more competitive than I thought. Or perhaps I just really want a battery…

8. Strava: Come on, it had to sneak in there. Feel free to hang out with me there.

I’m supposed to be allowed to drive again in three weeks. Although I can’t wait to get back in the Honda, with its wonky number plate, busted air-con and temperamental driver-side door handle, I can’t imagine the fixie will be quickly discarded. I really have come to love riding around and the city in which I get to do it.

Props to Melbourne, props to riding. Hold on the Lycra.