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Thursday, January 30, 2014

Bound for Botany Bay

(Image: snow & bikes, Sankt Anton, Austria)
After nearly 5 months away, I'm leaving the northern hemisphere ... I'm on my way home ... 
... home to court cases and bush fires and shark culls and Tony (no-relation-to-me) Abbott ...
... but also home to BN2 and BN3 and my Aussie pals ...
... and I'm excited!!!

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Australia's bike helmet law sucks

(Photos: on her bike in Whistler)


Sometimes I find it easy to succumb to bicycle down-heartedness ... even when I'm outside Australia ... I mean why can't we use our bikes like the above user?

Yes, ok, I know there's bicycle helmet law in BC (Whistler) but it seems to mean sweet FA because you see bikes & peeps galore going about their Whistler business, untrammelled by mandatory clothing requirements ... and to date as far as I have seen without police interference.

Meanwhile back in courts in Australia folk are convicted as criminals for going to get bread and milk (or whatever) on bikes just because they didn't apply questionable plastic-coated foam hats to their heads ...

... as per normal, massive sigh from me :(

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Climb every mountain

(Photos: The Peak District, England)








Happy 2014, and are we ready to front up for another year taking on Australia and its silly helmet laws ... ???

... sigh!

... of course we are!

So far this year, I have 2 court cases both coming up in March:

1. First the appeal to the matter heard last September 2013 and,

2. Second, another defended hearing for Pyrmont Bridge helmet crime also committed in 2013.

With any luck, I'll get rid of the criminal conviction for the wicked crime of riding a bicycle without a helmet, and maybe, just maybe this'll be the year that we say goodbye to mandatory helmet law!!!! ... maybe! ...

... because maybe just maybe the next magistrate might just decide 'enough is enough' and that it's high time for Australian politicians to be grown-up about transport and hand us back our choice in how we dress ourselves when we hop on our bikes and get about town (or wherever).

Whatever though, it is time that:

$$$ we discontinue our national penchant for anecdotes and tried statistics instead

$$$ we stop listening to the media and other hysterical hysters on the merits of helmets

$$$ we absorb that many a catastrophic accident can happen with helmets cycling or skiing for that matter ... and does ...

$$$ we start listening to experts (remember, media are not experts but panic-merchants) when they tell us that 'today's helmets cannot mitigate the rotational component' of brain injuries

But now for me, it's 'farewell to old England' and 'hello hello' to Aussie helmet-campaigning ... as we hopefully all get ready for freedom cycling coming to a place near us very soon in Australia ...

... hey I can but dream, right!!!

Happy New Year again!