Onya bike!

Since moving to Marrickville six years ago, I have always wanted to ride a bike. The Cooks River cycle paths always seemed tempting to me, as I would go for my daily runs.

One Sunday morning in December I was brunching with my mate Lou and her neighbour Fifi when a group of muscled blokes walked past. Stretched across one shoulder blade to another, The Dulwich Hill Inner West Cycle Group was written across their extremely taut backs. Perked up by our sexual excitement – I certainly had had no sex for ages – Lou tapped one bloke on the back and asked if women were allowed to join their seemingly ‘blokes only’ group.

Geoff, a friendly chap, gave me details about the group, telling me it was the club’s New Year resolution to sign up more women. He advised me to contact the group’s president Lindsay Munks – a bloke I was to soon realise as the doyen of Sydney cycle enthusiasts.

The next day I shot off an email to Lindsay and received a warm reply. He recommended a WSD bikes (that would be Womens' Specific Design) quoting me a price of about $1000

Shocked by the possibility of having to fork out that amount of money for a new bike, my English editor Charlie Bubbles suggested I contact my local police. Apparently in London, police have sales where they sell off stolen bikes, computers, cars and even police horses. Sort of like what we have with the ‘Good Guys’ here. To prove this possibility, he made a call to Marrickville Police Station. After a good 20 minutes on the phone, the police gave Charlie a number to call. Apparently Marrickville Police do take in bikes “that look suspicious” but do not sell directly to the public.

In the end I purchased a $275 ‘on-the-road’ bike from Mick Mazza which, also came with a box of roses.

My friend Sam’s fellow public service colleague said Lindsay Munks would laugh at my bike when he sees it.

We shall see.