Tweed Coast Treadly

Rode the loop on the cypress, this arvo. The only thing that came from it was the ability to daydream, hopefully I was concentrating when required! The main focus of the thoughts was not obvious just random thoughts… Such as when I recently rode over the Cudgera Creek Interchange there was a highway patrol vehicle sitting there doing the freeway radar bit… anyway as I approached I noticed the tinted side window being wound up… Why? was it just a coincidence?or, was it a privacy issue based on policy? or, a subconscious technique by the patrol(wo)man to avoid any personal interaction?

Or something along the lines of must clean the bike  etc or when will I drop the ride in for it’s first service?

Other thoughts drifted to riding technique, like cornering and trying to ride in higher gears to prepare for the drop bar rides etc

So really a blah blah ride… but a pleasant wind down to the day’s endeavors

Feeling really bad today but was called into work and went anyway, box of tissues and “codral cold tablets” © in hand… Yes I did drive and even then was late! During the day i was very forgetful, lucky I didn’t ride for sure i would of forgotten to take something of necessity maybe the bike!

Anyway, on the way home i decided to see what the skid marks looked like from Mondays Near miss. They started in the median strip lane about 100 meters from where they eventually stopped! crossing 3 lanes of traffic. The guy was really hooting along! The only reason I can see for the fuss was that he was speeding to get around those last few cars turning off and must of wanted to cut in front of them and to his surprise we were in his racing line to the exit and reacted by jamming on his brakes and just managed , lucky for us, to partially control his skid. Enough he really deserves ChrisL’s Tosspot of the Week award.

After downloading my “Push-On”,  from “Bicycle NSW”, newsletter today I visited the primary site and found an article about Peak Oil and the impending doom - Peak Oil Write Up. Although it was informative it did neglect to state anything concerning the Negative effect of Peak Oil on the bicycle itself! As thee was no-where to comment on the site I will write a tiny comment here.

The bicycle needs the tools and materials that Oil provide. Maybe Hydro, Wind or Solar can replace any Fuels required in welding… but the ludrication and so-named rubber tyres and tubes will need some form of substitution as will ALL the petro-chemical based plastic components (even the loverly lycra).

If Peak Oil == Expensive then the cheap form of transport is still going to increase in relative terms anyway.

I ride a fairly cheap(sic) treadly and so far it is still costing me around $1.50 a day.

ie the bike $400,

some specific clothing $100 (some shorts less than annual, but what are they made of?),

helmet $60(maybe considered a 1 off but what is it made of?)

tools and cleaners etc $50,

service: 5000kms service replace chain and cluster

tyres 4-7000kms $35 each (made from??)

tubes time depends upon luck (made from??) 

service: 10000kms (maybe not in one year but very possible!)

lubricants: might be able to use the sheep for this replacement

What else bid i miss? Well you could add clips/shoes, bags, puncture repair kits, lighting, batteries, cable sheath, wiring, brake pads, etc, the list goes on and on… so many things in our daily lives depend on OIL not just transport I think transppport is such a side issue…. why do you need transport if there is no reason to go to the non-existent workplace or shop for those non-existent goods?

Yes many subsitutes can be created or re-implimented but they are not on the future list of whaat we will be doing.

The future list of things to do only includes the one idea! That is to look for a way to keep things the same as much as possible. That is not going to happen if “Peak Oil is the reality”.

Some people go all futuristic and begin discussions of biofuels/natural gas/solar/hydrogen/and god forbid nuclear cars as a replacement for Crude OIL. All possibilities but with great cost – creation of the fuel, emissions, economy and even transporting it!

The humble bicycle is not immune to the effects of “Peak Oil” nor the strangly named “Climate Change” group of effects (global warming, distruction of Ozone layer, distruction of habitats, extinction of species) and those that should be included global village disease (avian flu) and geneticallty modified monotype cropping (anyone remember the movie Soylent Green ?) 

Ok this is enough ranting for today……