Cycle Chic Interview

On my recent visit to Melbourne for the State of Design Festival, the good people from Inframe.tv shoved me into a chair at Denmark House and engaged me in a chat about Cycle Chic. The origins and the philosophy and all that.

Fixing Melbourne

A minor departure from the usual Cycle Chic fare. This chap was at the same hotel in Melbourne - the ultra cool Hotel Olsen - and came rolling up on this Cecil Walker fixie.

Cool chap on a lovely bike from a cool Australian bikemaker.

Bicycle Wine

What wine to drink is always a pertinant question when travelling. In Melbourne, however, it was quite simple to choose. Rolling. Complete with a lovely cyclist on the label. For more wine labels featuring bicycles and cyclists, check out this post over at Copenhagenize.com.

Regarding the Rolling wine, great minds think alike. Sue over at Freedom Cyclist in Australia is way ahead of me!

Dinking. Yes... dinking.

So I learned a new word whilst in Melbourne. Dinking. That's New World Antipodean for 'doubling'. Here's Lou and Emma (Creative Director and Marketing and Development Manager of the State of Design Festival, respectively) heading off to a party after a night out on the day of my keynote talk at the festival.

Dinking. Funny how that rhymes with drinking. :-)

Melbourne Cycle Chic - and a demonstration

I've now returned home to Copenhagen after giving a keynote speech at the brilliant State of Design festival in Melbourne. It was fantastic to meet so many wonderful people but especially fantastic to meet some Cycle Chicistas who made the trip to Melbourne for the talk. At left is Jenny - AKA Unity Finesmith - from Auckland Cycle Chic and, at right in the lovely green gloves, is Saskia from A Spirit of Place and Cycle Chic Sundays - Sydney.


Here's another friend, Dr Paul Martin, with his wife on the left and Jenny on the right. In addition to the State of Design keynote, there was a brilliantly, well-dressed bicycle-related protest on the Saturday. We all went for a bike ride on the new bike share bikes in Melbourne. Which sounds nice until you consider the fact that Melbourne has bike helmet laws. We were part of a protest/demonstration and you can read much more about it over at Copenhagenize.com


Here are some other chic cyclists enjoying the ride and the protest.


And a spot of Canine Demonstration Cycle Chic. His name is Bon Bon.

All in all it was quite possibly the chic'est demonstration I've ever been involved in.

Russian Cycle Chic & Australian Rant

Welcome to Monday. Welcome to Cycle Chic, Russian Style. From the groovy Afisha.ru website.
Katya, 23 years
She bought a cheap toy bicycle by Stels, painted it and named it Joddy.


Masha, 23 years
She bought it for exactly one and a half thousand rubles. She uses the basket for books and all kinds of fruits and vegetables. She tried to carry her dog, Otiko, in it but he likes to run alongside. She notices that car drivers pass her winking and smiling more often than boys on the street. She dreams of a retro bike cruiser with a feminine frame.

And yes, Cycle Chic is itching to get back to Moscow.


On the other side of the globe, in Melbourne, a journalist is quite fed up with lycra and 'cyclists'. She just wishes she could cycle to work without having to put up with the 'hobby' cyclists:

I cycle to work on my poverty-pack hybrid in my work clothes, cruising along at a leisurely pace as the lycra brigade whizzes past with audible groans of disgust at my clear lack of cycling style.

If I dare get in their way with a wobbly start at the lights, the verbal abuse would make your hair curl.

I just smile politely and totter along like a happy little tortoise, invariably catching up to the lycra brigade at the many sets of lights between home and office.

But for maximum effect you really have to read her whole article right here. She certainly doesn't cut any corners but she is witty and sharp about it.

Interestingly, this is something we here at Cycle Chic are noticing more and more in the chatter on the internet. A kind of backlash by people who cycle in regular clothes on normal clothes against the fetish cyclists in their 'gear' who tend, in certain regions, to dominate the public image of 'cyclists'. And, in a way, shouldn't it be the general public who dominate the scene as it is them who are re-mainstreaming cycling after a break of 40 odd years? Nothing wrong with anyone who fancies joining a cycling club or anything like that. But cycling has always been a democratic pursuit and it is for the people at large - for the benefit of society.

Read more about how this is just History Repeating Itself on our sister site, Copenhagenize.com.