On ya bike

Bikes rule! but where are they all? I'm looking for other riders, like surfers look for other surfers on dark sharky days. Where are you all? Does Sydney have a 'Reclaim the streets' day?

When I first moved to Sydney I bought a sweet fixed gear bike second hand in Redfern. It's a great bike and I still have it 9 years later.

I was shocked at how hostile drivers were to me simply for so audaciously following the road rules (on my bike).

"get off the farken road" yelled out the window as they sped past.

The best is when they same something as they drive past but then get stuck at the lights and then try to avoid me as I pull up next them.

As I recounted my experiences to others they were never shocked. They would share their own stories of hostile drivers.

To make matters worse, Sydney has a less predictable street layout to my home town (Melbourne). In Melbourne the city is laid out as a near perfect grid of straight lines. In retrospect i think it was easier to predict where cars would be coming from and helped me get a handle on possible risks.

In Sydney, (except for the CBD) the street layout was designed by Dr Seuss. It feels like at any moment cars could come at you from any angle.