Took my bike to the market for the first time, and my first impressions of CityCycle:

So in the past fortnight, I bought a $50 pannier rack (the one that every bike store here sells) and received my Take A Look mirror in the post (I have it mounted to my visor with two cable ties as my glasses frames are too thin - Amazon has some descriptive reviews and user photos, but they don't ship here; some local bike stores here also stock it but I don't know if they do both sizes, I have the compact version which I got from another large online vendor).

The rack has been great (especially with the warmer weather) and because of the mirror, "taking the lane" lane control while going at gentle pace with a loaded rack is still easy.

So yesterday I visited the West End market for the first time and initially thought of carrying the goods back like this except as I haven't modified the bags, it's a bit fiddly to get the corner out of the spokes and the other out of my heel.

Suddenly, I realised I was actually at a sunny market (not a fantasy world!) at the close of day with strong fruit boxes being flattened for recycling (or whatever they do at cardboard box heaven)..



The dimension is more pleasant than the old milk crate trick, and I think it also looks better. :p I should also have picked up a lid to make it doubly strong, so I'll just have to return for more next week!

A great day, sunny but not too hot as bicycling is almost always easier than walking.

As an aside, after I got home; I signed up for an annual CityCycle subscription with the "Express" card I picked up on Thursday after work, just before the Transport Information Centre shut for the day. Did a 34km test ride split into eight sub-30 minute (free) trips around the river and some streets (golly New Farm is busy on a Saturday night - don't know how one would do it like the relaxed people in government promotional images without a mirror and local experience). In short, the "Dutch" riding position is very different, very pleasant and the bikes are also just as well designed as I thought. I swapped bikes a few times (as opposed to hiring out the same one again) to get a feel for the differences - some were better than others and I reversed a saddle on one to mark it.

In brief summary, I'm sure the friends I know who are on the fringe of getting into bicycling will enjoy it immensely. I'll probably also use it for my short dash to work across the city so I don't have to bother with parking. Additionally, the basket is handy for carrying stray Friday/Saturday night glass bottles to the bin as well as carrying more useful things (from what I've read - possibly here - Melbourne's Bike Share front racks just wouldn't do the job as well). I'm very excited about UQ/St Lucia getting stations by year's end as it will make a remarkable difference to all the students with lemon bikes (sans lights) or no bikes.