Category: Blog

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Ten years of Brisbane CityCycle – love letter, hate mail, eulogy

One of the better ways to explore a new city is by bike, because you can take as much time as you like to stop wherever something catches your eye.

As the owner of a not very well maintained biking website, I had a particular affinity for the Brisbane CityCycle scheme. CityCycle was the much maligned pet project of our milkshake duck of a former lord mayor to install a physical station-based bike hire scheme throughout the city, with the small catch that JCDecaux got to install advertising billboards throughout the suburbs as well.

Glenelg St / Merivale St CityCycle Station. A pylon with a screen and buttons, with yellow Lipton bikes spread off to the horizon.

CityCycle and Me

I had a bit of a love hate relationship with the scheme. For starters, Australia’s mandatory helmet law meant that a bike share scheme really required a helmet share scheme. Initially the council expected you to BYO helmet, which I think showed a complete lack of foresight or perhaps care. Eventually they relented and left helmets with the bikes.

But ick factor aside (apparently studies showed sharing helmets was fine) a lot of the time you’d arrive at a station to find no hardhats around anyway. So you had to run the risk of getting caught by police, or just walk.

I remember one night coming home from Toowong via ferry. There were no hats at the Orleigh Park station so I took the risk: after all what are the chances? A block away from home and the police pulled me over, lights and all. I was let off with a warning but I had to walk the the bike the rest of the way.

The CityCycle bike handlebars read "Important notice: it is a legal requirement to wear an approved helmet at all times whilst cycling"

Beyond that, the payment system was way more complex than it needed to be, the bikes themselves were SO heavy, in the beginning the system closed at 10pm, and a lack of sensible places to ride at the time turned off a lot of people.

Despite all this, it was a great little scheme. The free 30 minute window meant if you timed things right you could pretty much ride all day without paying a cent, so it was a really great way to explore the city on the cheap.

And I think just having the bikes around town was good promotion for a sustainable and healthy transport option. Puts a spark of an idea in your mind.

The network

Being a river city, the Brisbane CityCycle network followed the ol’ brown snake from Newstead down to St Lucia.

Stations were dotted around the river and by railway stations, so you were never too far away from one, provided you didn’t stray out the network.

I took this screenshot from the map on the Brisbane Council site, but I don’t think it’s comprehensive because I know for a fact there was a Citycycle station up the street from my place which isn’t listed here. Alas.

A map of Brisbane with Citycycle stations listed. Mainly clustered around the CBD and New Farm.

The online subscription required a credit card and sent an email with an account number to plug in at the kiosk at each station. The website was painful to use because it wasn’t optimised for mobile, and each person had to sign up individually. So if I knew I was going out with friends sometimes I’d create a couple of burner subscriptions we could all use without having to sign up.

A day pass on the scheme used to cost $2.00 and usage was billed in 30 min blocks. The first 30 minutes was free, the next two blocks were $2, and subsequent blocks were $5, capped at $48/day. Slightly confusing.

But there was no penalty for checking a bike back in before the 30 minutes expired. So the trick was to check in before your 30 minutes was up, wait a moment for the system to reset, then check it back out again for another free thirty minutes. You could hire a bike for effectively the whole day as long as you checked it back in periodically, for a grand total of $2.00.

A CityCycle PDF containing the link code to unlock the bike. Extremely not optimised for mobile.

But once you were going there were no limits*!

I remember once I’d organised to ride with some friends but my own bike was broken. So I checked out one of the trusty yellow workhorses and cycled the heavy bloody thing along our route, and the only complaints were from everyone else that I was going too slow. I cycled way outside the coverage zone that day and I don’t remember how much that one cost, so it can’t have been too bad.

I also have a friend who legendarily rode a CityCycle up Mount Coot-Tha. A few people did over the years. I could never.

The ride took me fifty-seven minutes, end-to-end. Forty-eight of those were spent riding, most of the balance was waiting at the Hale St West construction site and refilling my water bottle at the top. What’s sort of cool is that when a did a similar ride a few months ago, it took me forty-four minutes. That was slightly more circuitous, going around the graveyard but skipping the initial Planetarium climb, but the point remains that despite a CityCycle bike’s weight and positioning, it doesn’t really make that much of a difference. Nevertheless, the uphill segment of my ride did take the record for the slowest front-side Mt Coot-tha ascent.

Mt Coot-tha on a CityCycle, Thom, 2011

The downfall of the dock

The French style docked bike hire schemes were really a product of their time. In the late 2010s dockless bikes were trialled around the world with kinda horrifying results (the scale of waste in this photoset of abandoned and illegal bike share bikes in China for example is truly mind boggling).

A purple Beam scooter parked smack in the middle of the footpath. Some people are just the worst hey?

But Bird and Lime changed the game with dockless escooter hire, launching in Brisbane in late 2018.

Despite not sticking around to see their work pay off, it really ushered in the era of micromobility for the masses. These days you can now find a Beam or Neuron scooter parked across the footpath on pretty much any city street, and the app-based signup is leagues easier to use. I still love my bike, but sometimes you can’t beat a scoot for the perspiration-free convenience.

In late 2021 the CityCycle stations finally began to disappear, one by one turning into car parks, scooter drops, or reverting back to footpath. The one thing that didn’t disappear though? Those JCDecaux billboards. Funny that.

An old Citycycle parking spot turned into motorbike parking. A small billboard says "have a Bris-better day out on e0-bikes and e-scooters across out bikeways"

Council has converted former CityCycle spaces on the footpath to e-mobility parking hubs. We are also continuing to investigate the future use of former on-road CityCycle spaces, including converting these spaces to other parking options where possible.

Works to decommission and remove each of the CityCycle stations included: saw-cutting, jack-hammering and core drilling to pull apart elements of the station, removal of the existing material around the station, reinstatement of the site area to match existing surfaces (as close as practical).

CityCycle decommissioning, BCC 2021

While CityCycle is gone, the pandemic and rise of the scoots means there’s even more people than ever looking to active transport to get around.

There’s still plenty left to do, but eleven years of council focus on cycling infrastructure has given us an increasingly comprehensive cycling and scooting network. It’s obvious that this is the best way to get around, and it’s great news that from here there’s only going to be more focus on making it possible.

That’s about it. If you’re interested in more, my vlog about the Brisbane Festival includes an art installation where the remaining CityCycle bikes were turned into sculpture.

Alternatively this 2018 era vlog about the Night Noodle Markets includes riding a CityCycle into the city montage to meet up with friends. A different era.

Also for more tips, check out my cycling in Brisbane website.

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“I’m quitting the internet,” or a social media strategy for a better you

I’ve been avoiding the news. Not that I’m trying to be less informed, but my multiple times a day habit of checking for updates wasn’t doing my head any favours. There’s just not that much information I need to know.

For the past few months I’ve been coming round on the idea that Twitter is having the same effect on me.

A grungey black & white Twitter bird over the text repeatedly asking 'what's happening'

Back in the early days of the pandemic a mutual snapped at me for posting a terrified prediction of what’s to come. Yes, the cascade of political bullshit led us right to where we are today. But the thought stuck with me and I’ve been a lot more careful about what and how I post. Because truly what good is sending my anxiety out into the world when all is going to do is multiply?

So lately I’ve been trying to bring back the old Twitter. Posting nice things only: photos, experiences, memories. Trying my damnedest to turn the tide back to that rose tinted place that I enjoyed all those years ago. An old friend messaged me to tell me that they appreciate it, which honestly was the wildest thing because I never explicitly said what I was doing, they just picked up on the vibe. But at the same time they confessed that they’re burnt out on social media and don’t post any more. I get it.

Occasionally I’ll post something I’m passionate about: climate solutions, LGBTQ rights, or a combination of the two, usually in the form of encouraging we get rid of our corrupt, trumpian government. Those ones land the hardest, and it seems it’s more often my friends who miss the point and hassle me about them. Maybe I’m not as eloquent as I thought? Or maybe people are tired and that’s how it manifests.

Positive vibes only. Advocate for good.

Another dear friend posted recently, “this place is toxic and we all have Stockholm syndrome. I promise you it’ll be okay if you step away, even for a little” and it’s pretty fair.

I have a muted word list that scrolls almost the length of the universe, from politicians to Dutch words, tired memes, covid terms, crypto, a bunch of keywords from my own industry, and some commonly used smarmy phrases that are generally up to no good. “Allow me to explain”, “buckle up”, “thread 🧵”.

The one thing that gets me though is the fomo. I appreciate the phrase “extremely online”, because yeah that’s me. Extremely. Same as I’ll check the news multiple times a day, I’ll check the tweets constantly. Rather than spend a second with my own thoughts, I’d much prefer to immerse myself in others. I’ve always said I prefer the Twitter app because there’s something inherently sticky about it: it feels good and makes me happy. That’s by design, but it’s the sugar high before the crash rather than a genuine fulfilling enjoyment. Someone liked the post you retweeted!

But ultimately this is where my friends are, I don’t want to step away completely. But I do want to cut back and try to mitigate some of the worst effects. So there’s two things I want to try:

  1. Only check it once a day. Maybe on my lunch break? Sometime I can enjoy it, without losing the entire day to it.
  2. Sit with my thoughts. Organise them in other ways. Keep a journal.

This blog post actually sprung out of number two. Initially it was going to be a series of bullet points in Google Keep. Some new year’s rulin’s. But I realised that’s not the only way to compose my thoughts, and this kinda serves as one of those “I’m quitting social media” posts that I usually think kind of feel like a cry for help hah.

I have no idea if I will be able to keep this up, and I’m sure my thinking on it will evolve. But it genuinely feels like a really positive thing right now so I’m keen to give it a go.

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The leadup to a Brisbane summer

I don’t know why, but the washing maching turned off before it finished draining. So the door was locked and I had to run another 15 minute cycle before I could get my bits out.

It was 38 degrees today, for like, no reason. But it was a welcome change. I feel like I’ve barely had a summer since I’ve been in Australia, so I took a walk and basked in the oppressive heat for a bit before taking shelter in my apartment which inexplicably kept a level 25 degrees throughout the day without aircon. I assume it’s a combo of good insulation and the heatsink properties of the massive concrete structure.

So I’m happy. I’m really enjoying being here, in this place and time.

On the weekend I went to visit R on Macleay Island. He moved from the very middle of the city for a somewhat literal sea change. More specifically a bay change.

I never realised how gorgeous Moreton Bay actually is. From Macleay you can see all the islands, Peel, Moreton, North Stradbroke. On Saturday just after sunset we saw twinkling lights on the horizon which turned out to be boats mooring off Peel which is apparently a popular getaway spot.

Apparently there’s a (not so?) secret bar on one of the islands that’s popular with seafaring types. Just float up and grab a meal. My hairdresser owns a boat, so I know these things you see.

Last year I took a trip to North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah) just to take a break. It was pre-vaccine so it was a weird and anxious experience, and I didn’t have appropriate clothes so I came home with a nasty sunburn. To top it off I accidentally and irreparably deleted most of my photos and vlog footage in a freak MacOS accident. So I wasn’t happy with myself, and truth be told it wasn’t a super relaxing experience.

But with my newfound appreciation for the beauty of the bay and the islands, and a bit more of an understanding of what centers me, I think I want to get out there more in some way.

For perhaps a year I’ve had some notes scratched down and a vague hand-wavy plan to do a vlog series centered around the southeast Queensland rail network. Partly as an excuse to get out and travel more, but also because I don’t have a car and don’t want to get one while our weird supply chain issues are making everything increasingly expensive.

So my idea is that even if I can’t drive to all the beautiful places I know exist around SEQ, I can still explore plenty of other options that don’t necessarily get as much love. The concept of travelling to the ends of each line really appeals to me both as a train nerd and also as a poor schlub who doesn’t have his own transit.

My first trip was an easy one, something I’d already done. Back to Macleay Island to circumnavigate it by bicycle.

I wanted to visit Ryan again, but also find my own way under my own power without needing to catch an Uber or a lift. So this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

The day before my trip I found my bike was making a noise, which was super annoying because of COURSE I should have made sure it was in good working order before I set off. The guy at the bike shop didn’t have time to do a service, but he tightened everything up and it fixed it (for a while at least).

The trip itself consisted of bike to South Brisbane station -> train to Cleveland station -> bike to Redland Bay Marina -> ferry to Macleay -> Bike to Ryan’s. It’s a modest 14 km ride on paper. In practice the trip from Cleveland was hilly and without amenity. I lost count of the times I needed to ride on the grass to get back on the path, or a tiny shoulder as cars raced past.

I sent a random email to the council asking what their preferred route is, in case I missed something.

Anyway the rest of the journey was incredible The ferry is starting to show its age, but it’s amazing to be on the water, watching all the islands slide past. The boats everywhere, doing their thing. Some kid on a jetski.

I never realised Stradbroke Island was so mountainous. I was in awe of it in the distance behind the relative flatness of the South Moreton Bay Islands.

I’ve got a vlog planned, I’m not sure how it’s gonna pan out because that bicycle leg of the trip I didn’t have a GREAT time. But I won’t spoil the rest.

My take-away is that Macleay Island is an incredible, weird, surprisingly normal suburban place completely out of place that I enjoyed riding around. Again, it’s deceptively large and I didn’t get as much done as I originally planned, but I had a fantastic time doing it.

Tomorrow I’m leaving on another trip, this time to Gympie (North).

It’s an odd one, because most people don’t realise the trains go up that far. And to be fair, they hardly do. I think it’s two services a day and the rolling stock are OLLLLDDDDD as heck.

It’s an old gold rush town with a steam heritage and not too much else going for it.

But it’s a cheap destination I’m excited to get out there.

I’m sitting on my balcony, the sun is going down casting golden rays across the walls, and I’m watching a tiny money spider bounce around the table in front of me looking for a bug to eat.

I kind of started this post a month or so ago, and checked back in occasionally but only just finished it now. If “finished” is how you’d describe it. Published at least.

But I’m happy. Things are good. And I’m really enjoying being here, in this place and time.

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Macleay

It’s 1am local time on the island. I’m not asleep but also not quite not as I last here composing this tweet. The wind is rustling through the leaves and cicadas chatter gently in the distance. Every so often lightning flashes over the bay illuminating the bedroom. No curlews yet

A very grainy night time shot of some indistinct trees
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The Big One

There’s this general understanding in Brisbane that at some point we’re gonna have The Big One. A coronavirus wave of berejiklian proportions, then all this *gesticulates* is going to go away.

Plans are made spontaneously, things we’ve been putting off are happening now. We’re all living in the moment and making the most of whatever time we have left.

Things will come good again, of course they will. But we’ll never forgive Morrison for the bungled rollout, or the NSW Libs for letting it spread (quite deliberately) in the first place.

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A memory from quarantine

When I came back to Australia and went into hotel quarantine, probably my only complaint was that I had no way to wash my drinking glass. Bar soap, as it turns out, not good. I asked and they sent up a thing of dish washing liquid which I kept ever since.

It’s been refilled a bunch of times and at some point the cap fell off and went missing. It’s been over a year and it was never designed to be reused as much as it has been but it was a small kindness, and as stupid as it is I’m getting emotional throwing it away.

I’m very grateful to Victoria. For putting me up, but also giving me a thing of soap when I needed it most.

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Brisbane Winter

When I first moved back to Brisbane I had nothing, really. Ben was kind enough to give me his old TV that he wasn’t using, and it was probably one of the best hand-me-downs I’ve ever gotten. Thank you, Ben.

Reddacliffe place. The sun has gone down behind the library building. It's very blue and cold, but there's a hint of golden sunlight in the distance.

I have a particular affinity for a good TV. The one I had in Amsterdam was small and bad, so I really appreciated upgrading to the forty-something inch goodness and crisp clarity of the 720p display. I’m convinced everything looks good on a 720p display, it’s the great equalizer.

Now it’s been a bit over a year and I’m back in my place and I want to decorate. I want to mount the TV and cabinet on the wall and have a proper cosy space. But if I’m going to do that, I need to get the right TV first. Measure once, cut twice y’know? 😅

Looking down George Street. The road is super damaged, and the skyscrapers form an urban canyon. There's a glimpse of sunset on the horizon.

So that’s what I did. I saw there was a one-day sale online, and the model I’d had my eye on was just the right price. So I jumped on my bike and rode into the city to look at them in person.

It was just before closing time, but the guy was very helpful. I suppose he got himself a nice commission from the transaction, so we both win.

The golden sun on the horizon streaming light through the fence at the top of the Kurilpa Bridge.

It’s an extravagant purchase, and I feel like all I’ve done since moving home is buy more stuff. So I’m feeling a little guilty about it. But it’s been on my list for at a year now, and if it’s like the last TV I bought I’m hoping it will last pretty much forever.

It’s getting delivered on Monday so I have a few more nights with the trusty old faithful. Then comes the tricky part, working out how to mount the new one.

An old broken down pier that the party boat used to use before the 2011 floods. The sun is really low on the horizon, casting yellow rays everywhere.

Pictured: some bits from the bike ride.

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Goodwill sunset

I bought the iPhone 12 Pro Max for it’s excellent camera array intending to elevate my vlogs, but within the 14 day cool down period I decided it wasn’t for me and returned it. I think I got suckered into the marketing hype.

Instead I decided to get a proper camera for myself, the Sony ZV1. It’s a point-and-shoot form factor designed specifically for video, based on the RX100 line. I wish I did this ages ago.

With a notional risk of community transmission I decided not to meet up with friends this weekend, opting instead for a call and some Animal Crossing. But I still wanted to do something with myself and get some exercise, so I decided to ride into the city and take some b-roll.

A cloudless sky looking along the Brisbane river at Southbank and the ferry stop on the north side.

It was a fun ride, and I managed to use some of the new CityLink paths. They were not especially convenient coming from Roma Street but I appreciated them nonetheless.

I spent a little time in the city, but for the sunset I camped out on the Goodwill Bridge to watch the birds, ferries, and generally life go by. It was cold but nice.

Later in the evening the sun has gone down further leaving a fiery red on the horizon. A CityCat pools into the stop.

There’s no shots from the camera because it’s really only for video. But I got a few good clips you might see in an upcoming vlog.

It wasn’t a spectacular sunset, but right toward the end as the daylight died it delivered the goods.

My phone did a decent job of capturing the magic.

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Blockies with Gav

I have just now finally got my shit together and am just about to leave the house.

First officeworks

Then maybe guzman? idk i need food

My Friend Gav

We had been loosely planning to catch up this weekend, so after some finagling we decided to meet at Office Works and have burritos in the park.

A panorama of a field with trees overhanging. People in uniform playing hockey to the left, and a pair of trash and recyling bins to the right.

It wasn’t an especially beautiful day, but it was nice and cool to sit outside on the bleachers (what even is the Australian word for these?)

There was a women’s hockey game being played nearby which was strangely compelling. I don’t really care for sport, but I was drawn into the action on a couple of occasions. The number of times the sticks went flying reminded me of the SBS feature on concussions in women’s sport from a couple of nights ago.

All in all, a decent way to spend a few hours. Gav mentioned this area always feels like the gross old sporting area, as seen while walking along Enoggera Creek. But it’s quite lovely when you’re in it.

The beautiful old fig trees, or at least I think they're fig trees, along the sides of the field. A couple of bleachers, and a soccer goal in the distance.
The beautiful old fig trees, or at least I think they're fig trees, along the sides of the field. A couple of bleachers, and a soccer goal in the distance.
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Flight

I was in the shower today and a low-flying plane flew past the window and startled me. Partly because I wasn’t expecting anything to be up there in that clear blue sky. But I also realised that my little escape from the continent has left me with an aversion to air travel.

Sure, airports always sucked but a trip in an aeroplane used to have this excitement of adventure about it, a chance to climb into the tube and escape from reality. But now all that conjures is masks, hazmat bags, the unforgivable malice of the person leaving their mask down over their nose. Being stranded in a foreign country as the world ends.

It was one of those little culture shocks to be back in Brisbane and see a plane flying overhead for the first time like everything’s fine. It was like a little omen, there to remind us of our hubris. They still startle me, and I didn’t know why. But perhaps now I do.

Between corona and the climate I would happily never step foot in a plane again. I don’t think that’s realistic. But it’s a feeling.