Kickbiking in Oz
Hi, this is Jack from Bristol in the UK.
Over the holiday I spent three weeks in Western Australia. While Northern Hemisphere KB riders were struggling with snow, we had long days in the sun, sometimes approaching 40 degrees, with barbecue for Xmas dinner. We were mostly in Perth and Fremantle, with a trip down south to the towns of Denmark and Margaret River. I had a fantastic time kickbiking, often getting out by 6am and riding for 3 – 5 hours.
It’s a perfect environment for KBing. Perth has maybe the best network of cycle paths of any major city. So you can ride all around the beautiful Swann river which is more like a huge lake, with Perth enthroned on it. These are beautifully smooth wide paths and mostly level. Each municipality takes care to make its foreshore beautiful and accessible. Sometimes you are up on cliffs above the river, looking down on the wide waters where you might see dolphins, kayaks, pelicans and black swans.
In rainy UK I normally do a few hours KB every week. In Australia I was doing that every day. At age 62 I was delighted to find that I had swollen knees only on the first two or three days. After that, my body adapted, and after all those hours I had no physical problems. What a different story it would have been if I had been walking, running or cycling for all those hours. Mind you, I did take it easy, gliding whenever possible and walking up hills.
I’m writing mostly to express my HUGE GRATITUDE to Bruce Cook of Kickbike Australia, and the guys at the Australian Footbike Association who forwarded my message to him. Bruce fixed up for me to hire a G4 Sport in Perth. Also HUGE GRATITUDE to Michael Payne, the Kickbike agent in Perth. He kindly hired me a shiny red demonstration model in perfect condition, for a very modest fee. This was his first hire…. and I don’t think he will do it again. I had a crash on my third day, when the bike lost a lot of paint and crushed the brake mechanism, and I lost some skin. (Learning: Stop the bike before taking a hand off the bars to wipe brow) Then there must have been more wear and tear over the next two weeks. So Michael’s lovely Aussie geniality was a bit challenged but not overcome when he saw the damage. A few more dollars from me to compensate for his loss. I suppose I am used to my chrome MR which doesn’t lose paint in the same way. Sorry Michael!
In Oz it was the same story as everywhere else, though more friendly than in the UK: “Get a proper bike!”… “What happens when you want to sit down?” “Do you have an engine?” They have never seen a KB either….though I saw four recumbents in three weeks, which is a record. I had the impression that the G4 was more comfortable than my usual MR. Not sure why. Maybe the larger footplatform, bigger tyres and higher handlebar.
If you would like to see my pictures of Kickbiking in Oz, please visit www.tiny.cc/KBinOz
Thank you for reading!
And thank you to Jack for sharing his adventures.