The Life-Sized City Blog

I'm reading an amazing book at the moment, after a correspondence with a reader.. It's called The Bicycle and the Bush - Man and Machine in Rural Australia . The author is Jim Fitzpatrick Books about the historical role of the bicycle are always a fascinating read for me. Just when you think that everything has been uncovered, nuggets of historical goodness are dug up, cleaned and polished for all the world to see. At first glance, the title seems a bit optimistic. Surely there can't be THAT much to write about on the subject. The Bicycle and the Bush, however, is filled with brilliant stories, anecdotes and historical references. Australia is in no way a shining light for bicycle culture in a modern context but what an astonishing role the bicycle played in building the nation between 1890-1920. It never ceases to amaze me when writers produce a work that requires so much research. In addition to a constant flow of nuggets, the book is richly illustrated. At left...

Bicycles outside Palace Cinema in Cairns, 1937. We all know that it's too hot to ride a bicycle in your regular clothes in Queensland. You need all manner of special clothing and a lightweight bicycle to be able to tackle the heat and topography. And an electric assist motor if you can get your hands on one. Everybody knows that. That's why nobody ever rode bicycles in the state until 1975. Or maybe we just have short term memory loss. It's actually called "generational forgetting" - how we have little regarded for what came before us. Here are vintage photos from the State of Queensland, Australia that show the bicycle was a normal transport form all over the state for decades. Bicycles parked outside the City Baths in Maryborough. 1940s. Bicycles parked in Mackay, 1948. Bicycles parked outside the Lands and Works Office, 1904. Bicycles parked outside the Hotel Boyd in Mount Isa, Queensland, 1952. Unidentified father and son posing with a bicycle for a trav...