"Hey, your rear light doesn't work..."

I often say that to fellow cyclists who obviously have lights on their bikes but don't want to use them in the night.

Recently I got a very nice answer to that: "Shit, that one too. Thanks a million!"

The guy was really grateful that I told him as he had only recently replaced his front light but not noticed that the one in the back was also broken. Well, how should he? A bicycle does not have a flashing warning lamp in case something is damaged...

I hence encourage everyone who sees a cyclist with a non-working light to tell them. It can be life-saving. Not every cyclist recklessly and purposely cycles around as a bike ninja.

"Yehuda Moon and the Kickstand Cyclery" by Rick Smith

What you can do as a cyclist for your own safety? Check your lights every time you set off in the dark! And make sure you carry spare batteries if you use battery-driven lights.

Spring is coming!

Hello everyone! Sorry that I've not been writing much for a while. I'm writing my bachelor's thesis and it takes all of my energy, and I don't feel much like writing anymore after 8 hours of typing and stuff. So, today I'm just posting some images of bikes and cycling in late winter and early spring.

Traffic in India

Beep! Beep! Apart from left-hand traffic this is the first thing one notices after coming to India. It’s the cars, autorickshaws and motorbikes blowing their horns on the crowded roads. Unlike Europe, however, this noise level does not indicate stress or anger. People honk for various reasons -- before and while overtaking, to indicate a turn, before stopping or changing lanes.

Seen in the 7th district in Vienna

A machine that sells inner tubes for bicycles 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There's a similar one in front of the Cooperative Fahrrad. I really like that idea and hope there will be many more. Cause sometimes an inner tube can be everything you need in the middle of the night or a weekend :-).

A so-called Schlauchomat

Meeting bikey friends

Did you ever recognise a friend on bike while cycling from A to B? It happens to me about once a month that I accidentially meet a friend waiting at a red light. I really like these moments and little chats, it cheers me up and suddenly all the time waisted at these red traffic lights seems much shorter and more valuable :).

Yesterday at Alserbachstraße I bumped into Bea who is a co-blogger on Velosophie.at. She still has some problems with her cycling bag that she keeps losing (it's a click-in system for the rack). Nonetheless she's very stylish in this ugly wintery weather.

Bea on Alserbachstraße yesterday
(it's bloody freezing, snowy and windy again -- buuh!)

Girls and bicycles

I must admit that I almost forget the importance of today -- it's International Women's Day, and probably a good idea to think about women and transport as well. If once written how little influence women have on traffic planning and how much of difference that could make (see "Women and transport").

Through Alec's article "Girl.Pedal.Power: Selbstbewußtsein per Rad" on the Austrian bicycle culture platform Velosophie.at I found this interesting video about school girls in Darlington, UK, who started to think about the use of bicycles in their town and compared it to the bicycle-friendly German city Bremen. Here's their video "Beauty and the Bike" in which they talk about their experiences:


If you got interested -- read more about their project "Beauty and the Bike" in German and English.

What are your reasons to (not) ride a bicycle? Do you prefer cycle lanes or rather not have them?

Barcelona and bike therapy

Does city life stress you? Are you fed up of being unable to unwind? Do you think cycle would help doing so? Then you need to try bike therapy!

I read about bike therapy a few weeks ago and it immediately caught my attention. I never heard about it and, judging for the little amount of information I found, it is a new practise. Mainly, bike therapy consist in combining cycling and relaxation exercises to reduce stress and gain tranquillity. The bike stroll must indeed be in a place which would favour all this.

Wow! Bike blossom time!

It's really amazing. On the weekend the temperatures went up, the sun returned after a few months of just gray sky -- and suddenly there are many many more cyclists to be seen on the roads. Spring time kicks in, yeah!

Today I even decided to cycle without a cap and without gloves. The wind in my hair just felt so lovely. Oh, how I missed that! On the other hand, my hands got really cold. On the way back from uni I wore some thin gloves again...

Truly amazing to see the bike paths in the rush hour. It's bike blossom time! Yeah, baby :).

And you're really cool if you find a chewing gum that matches your bike ride.