Dehydrated koala approaches cyclist for help as Australian wildlife suffers in heatwave and fires

‘It walked right up to me ... and climbed up onto my bike while I gave him water,’ says rider 

A dehydrated and confused koala approached a passing cyclist in what appeared to be a call for help, as a heatwave and wild fires continued to grip Australia.

Anna Heuseler was with a group of cyclists heading towards Adelaide in temperatures of up to 40C when they spotted the animal sitting in the middle of the road.

The koala hurried over and drank thirstily when offered a water bottle, even clambering onto Ms Heuseler’s bike to take big gulps.

Sharing the footage on Instagram, she wrote: “This koala walked right up to me as I was descending and climbed up onto my bike while I gave him water. Best thing to happen to me on a ride ever.”

The mid-north coast of New South Wales is one of Australia’s most populous koala habitats, estimated at 15,000-28,000.

But ecologists fear up to a third of those – as many as 9,000 – could have been killed in the fires, according to Sussan Ley, Australia’s environment minister. Those that survived the heat, flames and habitat loss have been left desperately searching for food and water.  

The experts believe 480 million animals could have been killed since the start of the devastating fires in September, which have burnt more than 5 million hectares (12 million acres) and killed eight people.

Ms Heuseler told 7News it was not uncommon to spot koalas out in the bushland, but she had been surprised by this animal’s reaction. “We’ve seen literally hundreds of koalas over the years [but] we have never seen a koala do this.

“We were descending from Norton Summit Road back into the city early this morning and we came around a bend and there was a koala sitting in the middle of the road. Naturally, we stopped because we were going to help relocate him off the road.

“I stopped on my bike and he walked right up to me, quite quickly for a koala, and as I was giving him a drink from all our water bottles, he actually climbed up onto my bike. None of us have ever seen anything like it.”

After giving the animal water, she led it away from the road, back to the scrubland.

The bushfires in the Adelaide Hills have burnt 25,000 hectares of land and left koalas.

Three weeks ago, an ecologist told an official inquiry that thousands of koalas had been killed, and the fires were so large their bodies would probably never be found.

Fires tore through the mid-north coast in November, and further emergency-level blazes have since flared in NSW near Sydney, on the NSW south coast, in South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia.

But even before the bushfire crisis, koala populations in NSW and Queensland had already dropped by 42 per cent between 1990 and 2010, according to the federal threatened species scientific committee, The Guardian reported.

Jane Brister, of Adelaide Koala Rescue, which is caring for 46 rescued koalas, said: “A big problem we’re noticing now is koalas are coming in starving… there’s just no food.

“Part of the problem is there’s often at least four days until someone finds them.”

Thousands of eucalyptus trees – the animals’ staple diet – have been destroyed by fire. 

(Source: Independent)

Why I quit my day job researching happiness and started cycling to Bhutan

I’d had enough. It was October 2017, and I’d been wondering what the point of my job was for far too long, and while I’m sure there was something meaningful somewhere and to someone in what I was doing day-to-day, it had certainly lost meaning for me. For all the good that writing another academic research paper would do, I thought I might as well be cycling to Bhutan.

Christopher Boyce, CC BY-ND

The idea of cycling to this small country nestled in the Himalayan foothills is one I’d had for many years. Bhutan is famous for deciding to value its population’s happiness and well-being over economic growth. As an academic researcher focused on understanding happiness and well-being, the journey looked to me to be something of a pilgrimage.

Before I quit, I’d spent more than ten years at different universities, trying to understand what the most important contributors were to well-being. But what I found was that I was burnt out. Given the nature of my research, the irony of this was not lost on me. I needed to do something different. I wanted to travel; to explore and understand happiness through a non-academic lens. But I wanted to connect the research I’d been doing over the years with what was happening, or indeed not happening, in the world.

Taktshang Goemba, Tiger nest monastery, in Bhutan.  Kai19/Shutterstock

Purpose and meaning
When I began my research, I was motivated by the importance of the subject. Most people I knew wanted to be happy and so, I thought, my research might help people to do that. I did what academics are incentivised to do: publish in the best peer-reviewed journals (indexed by academic readership and citation counts), as well as bring in research funds. I also did things such as engage with people outside of academia that might not ordinarily read my research – the public, the media, governments, policymakers – things I wasn’t always incentivised to do, but nevertheless did because they contributed to a personal sense of purpose and meaning.

When it comes to living happy and fulfilled lives, we humans need meaning, we need purpose. People who feel there is a deeper purpose and meaning in what they are doing in their day-to-day lives tend to be happier, healthier, and more satisfied. Research shows, for example, that a life orientated towards meaning brings greater satisfaction than a life oriented toward hedonic pleasure. Those that have a strong sense of purpose in life live longer, and having a strong sense of purpose may be just as good for your health as engaging in regular exercise. Some would even conceive that purpose is, by definition, a key aspect of happiness itself.

Work is an important source of purpose and meaning for many people. When people get made redundant or become unemployed, much of the loss in well-being they experience is often due to the loss of purpose and meaning, rather than the loss of income. Even if there is no deeper personal purpose and meaning in the actual work itself then there is much to value in our daily social interactions and the structure that work provides us, although they are easily overlooked.

It is purpose and meaning that helps people get up each day and it doesn’t necessarily have to be specifically about work. Purpose and meaning can take many different forms and is deeply personal. It might be looking after family, following a hobby, passion, or faith. Purpose and meaning is also an important source of resilience, helping people get through the difficulty and challenges that are an inevitable part of life.

The importance of purpose and meaning is well recognised. In the UK, for example, one of the four questions that the government’s Office for National Statistics asks in its Well-Being Survey is: “Overall, to what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile?” To which people are asked to respond on a scale from zero “not at all” to ten, “completely”. In the UK the mean score to this question is about 7.8, suggesting people feel their lives are relatively worthwhile. However, there is variation around this mean. Around 15% of the population answer a score of six or less on this question and this level has been relatively stable.

Walking the talk, being authentic
It has always felt important to me to apply my research findings to my own life. My research consistently showed that once basic needs are met, having more money is only weakly related to happiness and well-being, relative to other things such as relationships, health (mental and physical), and our personality characteristics. Taking this on board, I have decided not to take better paying jobs or strive for promotion (one of my first ever published papers demonstrated that promotion can have detrimental effects on one’s mental health) for the sake of it. Instead, I tried to create a life where I had more space to focus on those aspects of life I knew to be the most important for well-being.

Another important contributor to our well-being is something psychologists term authenticity. Authenticity reflects our tendency to live in line with our beliefs and values rather the demands of others, of society. So in following what I believed to be true from the research I and others were doing I was doubly rewarded; I was happier.

Nonetheless, the longer I spent in academia the more I began to question the wider relevance of my research. I began to realise that a lot of debates around happiness could sometimes be shockingly misleading such as the extent that money can buy happiness – which too often gets overstated. Gazing out beyond the academic world, I saw a society that seems to act, whether consciously or not, as if the most important thing is to keep the economy perpetually growing, regardless of the ill effects that endless consumption has on the planet and people’s mental health.

I felt despondent. What was the point in writing another academic paper? Perhaps, I thought, I ought to be doing something a bit different. Not only to rediscover meaning and purpose, but to continue striving for an authentic existence and, through that, perhaps a little more happiness too. It was then that I finally decided that it was time to leave my full-time job at the university and to start my cycling odyssey to Bhutan.

A kingdom of happiness
We might not hear about them very often, but there are actually many places in the world where economic growth is not so overtly favoured above other things. It might be just a few people who have decided to live together and put their well-being above economic gain; there are small communities, towns and cities already doing this. But in the case of an entire country – Bhutan – the stated central aim of government is to increase happiness and well-being.

In 1972, the fourth king of Bhutan, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, first expressed the idea in an interview. He said: “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product.” Initially, Gross National Happiness was a concept rooted in the country’s spiritual traditions, and government policies would be evaluated based on their supposed influence on well-being rather than its economic effect.

Back in 1972, however, there was little in the way of reliable metrics to compute the influence of a policy on well-being. So the idea of increasing happiness remained more of a philosophical concept. Nevertheless, the happiness concept became embedded in the policy-making process. Some of the decisions that arose from this approach included a ban on television (up until 1999), making tobacco illegal, and restricting tourism to preserve the country’s culture.

Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the fourth King of Bhutan (right) and the current king, his son, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (left).  Gelay Jamtsho / flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

The Bhutanese have since developed a Gross National Happiness Index to measure the country’s collective level of well-being – this has been the government’s goal since its constitution was enacted in 2008. The index has direct links to policy making and it is meant to provide incentives for the government, non-governmental organisations, and businesses to operate in ways that increase the happiness index. For example, environmental protection is enshrined in its constitution, which puts a limit on profitable industries such as logging.

Yet Bhutan is by no means the happiest place on Earth, despite its focus on happiness. Finland topped the UN’s 2018 World Happiness Report and Bhutan came in at 97 out of 156 countries. A number of factors are at play here, but Bhutan has been criticised for having a top-down focus on what constitutes happiness. It also suffers from considerable poverty, human rights abuses and many other issues that numerous countries face.

Nevertheless, the case of Bhutan continues to inspire conversations as to what should be the purpose of society and how countries can measure success. Bhutan also illustrates what might just be possible if there were the political will.

The journey, not the destination
Against this backdrop, I set off from the UK in October 2017 with the barest of essentials packed onto a bicycle and my route, you might say, has been circuitous. As I write I am in Canada, and it was important for me to travel across South and North America, as I wanted to pass through other places that, much like Bhutan, are exploring new ways of living and where the economy does not necessarily dominate political and social life.

In Costa Rica, for example, there’s a real emphasis on “pura vida” or the pure life. Citizens live long and happy lives (comparable to that of financially rich countries) on levels of income that are much lower. I met many a living example of what I’d seen in the research – happiness that comes from relationships, good health, and being in connection with ourselves and nature. Once basic needs are met, money adds little to well-being and I met many people with not very much; but enough to be able to help me as I passed through their village or town on my bicycle.

I also wanted to visit Canada, which has an exemplary national index of well-being that was developed in conjunction with citizens. It was developed as a bottom-up process with clear and direct links to policy. From a research perspective we know that autonomy and having a voice is important for well-being and I have learnt from personal experience how important it is to feel heard.

And, of course, there were many places in between that I wanted to visit that felt important to help me understand happiness more deeply: communities intent on happiness, natural wonders of the world, and various cities with something to contribute.

I’ve flown some of the way (across oceans) but cycled most of it in a bid to make the journey authentic and purposeful. Not only did I think cycling would be good for my own well-being (physical and mental) but because it is a form of travel that has minimal ecological impact and therefore would not harm the well-being of those around me. Plus, my experiences travelling on a bicycle before I began this journey showed me that it is a fantastic way to meet people. It is a fairly unusual form of travel in some parts of the world and it draws interest and builds connections.

Life on a bike.  Christopher Boyce, CC BY-ND

People can often make a place. I knew that the people I met would form an important part of my trip and I wanted to create long lasting connections, which are of course an important component of a happy life. These connections have come through sharing experiences of what it means to be happy – sharing my own research and personal experiences of happiness and also being willing to hear about the experiences of others, from the people I have met in the street and the plazas to the people making policy decisions.

There are many people who are interested in implementing programmes and happiness policies into their own lives and the lives of others as a means to genuinely promote happiness and well-being in the area where they live.

When I spoke with people involved in policy decisions in Costa Rica, for example, we discussed the country’s involvement in the Wellbeing Economy Alliance. This is an organisation that resembles the G7 group of countries, but rather than a focus on the size of the economy, these countries – including Costa Rica, Scotland, New Zealand and Slovenia, among others – aim to promote well-being.

Overcoming challenges
My journey has been undeniably amazing on a personal level. Each day can bring something different, unexpected, challenging, and that demands a lot psychologically. Suddenly I might find myself in the home of a person I met in a plaza sharing food with their family. The next day I could find myself sitting in my tent alone but in the company of a beautiful night sky. There have been some truly special moments and, through these, I have often felt happy and learnt many interesting things about myself. For example, that I am much more than just an academic, and that sometimes what we perceive ourselves to be can limit what we can be.

Yet it has not been easy, and has definitely not been a holiday. My journey has involved a substantial amount of physical effort and at times deep challenge. About two months into my trip I got bitten by a street dog in a tiny village in Peru. The need to deal with the physical effects aside (treating the wound, getting to a hospital, getting vaccinations), the experience really affected me psychologically.

The journey’s not always been easy.  Christopher Boyce, CC BY-ND

I wanted to come home. I was struggling to find the emotional strength I needed to get through. I felt alone. But I persevered and I put my ability to do so down to eventually finding the support I needed (both locally and from back home), as well as having that clear sense of purpose.

I’m glad I persevered with the journey as all the other experiences I’ve since that incident and the people I have met have been enormously enriching and given me a greater feeling of wholeness. Plus, an important part of happiness is dealing with adversity and building resilience for when difficult things happen, as they inevitably do.

Now, I’m in Canada and, in truth, I’m surprised I’ve made it this far. I often wonder whether I’ll ever actually make it to Bhutan; there are many more mountains to climb and seas to cross. Lately, I’ve been having a difficult time on the road – it’s been a year and I deeply miss the surroundings of home, friends and family.

Maybe I don’t actually need to go all the way to Bhutan. Maybe what I’ve done is enough. Either way, I can rest assured that happiness is found in the journey – not the destination.

(Source: The Conversation)

Seven Parsi men who cycled across the world nearly a century ago

Through resourcefulness and strength, the men from Bombay overcame all kinds of obstacles and hardships.

“I envy the young men who have made the book. I too have some of the red blood which seeks adventure; some thing of the wanderlust which even drives one forward. But fate and circumstances have prevented from satisfying it in the ordinary way – I seek adventure in other ways.”

Jawaharlal Nehru’s foreword to a book by three Parsi men who cycled around the world in the 1920s was just one of the delightful things about it. Chapter after chapter in the book describes the young men’s rollicking adventures, like the time one of them got stones broken on his chest with a hammer while another dragged a car with a rope held between his teeth.

Keki Kharas, Rustam Ghandhi and Rutton Shroff in
New York, USA. | Courtesy: Anoop Babani

Anoop Babani read the book, With Cyclists Around The World, with amusement and interest, but it was the end that intrigued the former journalist and cyclist. There, on “perhaps the last page”, was the hope that the grand reception received by the three Parsis upon their return to Bombay in March 1928 would also be accorded to “another fellow who is coming back”. Who was this fellow? When did he leave India and when did he come back? Babani had to find out.

His research revealed that in the 1920s and 1930s, 10 Indians – all in their 20s, all Parsis, and all from Bombay – chose to cycle around the globe in three separate groups. “Fired by the intense desire to carry the name of the country – Mother India – to the far-flung corners of the world,” they journeyed across mountains, forests and plains, sometimes without food and water. Eventually, only seven of them completed their odyssey.

How it began

The first group to set off on their bicycles was made up of six members of the Bombay Weightlifting Club. They were Adi Hakim, Jal Bapasola, Rustom Bhumgara, Gustad Hathiram, Keki Pochkhanawala and Nariman Kapadia. According to Rohinton Bhumgara, son of Rustom Bhumgara, the six youngsters had attended a public lecture in 1920 by a Frenchman who had walked from Europe to India. Hearing him talk left them deeply inspired.

Their journey began in October 1923 and meandered through Punjab, Balochistan, the Middle East, Europe, United States, Japan and South East Asia. On the way, one team member returned to India from Tehran for “personal reasons”, while two others were so “enamoured” of America that they stayed back.

Adi Hakim, Jal Bapasola and Rustom Bhumgara return
to Bombay after nearly five years.

“Once, he [Jal Bapasola] narrated how they approached the Raleigh Cycle Co of England in Bombay about [the company] sponsoring the cycles,” Babani was told by Bapasola’s 82-year-old son Noshir Bapasola, who lives in New Jersey. “The company refused. “But when they reached England, he said the company was begging them to use their cycles. He asked them why they had a change of heart and was told quite bluntly ‘we did not believe that you boys would be so successful’.”

By the time Hakim, Bapasola and Bhumgara reached India in March 1928, they had covered around 70,000 kilometres. In their book With Cyclists Around The World, they enumerated their achievements with “pardonable pride”: in four and a half years, they had scaled the Alps, crossed “pirate-infested territories” and waded through jungles with “hostile semi-savage tribes”, sometimes “escaping death by inches”.

Overcoming hardships

Their efforts, in turn, inspired a sports journalist from Bombay named Framroze Davar to set off on his bicycle, all on his own. Nine months and 5,000 kilometres later, in Vienna, “he met Gustav Sztavjanik, [a cyclist] who was impressed with his journey,” said Babani. “He joined Davar and they both cycled around the world for seven years. Theirs was the longest, toughest and most adventurous journey.”

Sztavjanik and Davar rode over the Alps, including Mont Blanc, parts of the Soviet Union, the Baltic states and Scandinavia, before turning towards France. From there, they sailed to Algiers in Africa, pedalled in the Sahara and the Amazon forests, and climbed 5,200 metres up the Andes with their cycles – each weighing around 15 kilograms – on their backs.

According to Babani, their hardships knew no end. They faced eight sandstorms and ran out of water. The terrain was so thorny that they had to stuff their tyres with grass. They even contracted malaria. The biggest challenge for them, though, was the Amazon. Struggling to cycle in the thick forest, they were forced to build rafts. Thankfully for them, a tribe of head-hunters gave them shelter. “It was their first such trip ever from the West coast to the East coast of South America and took them about nine months,” wrote Austrian author Hermann Härtel in a book on Sztavjanik. “This was uncharted territory and very dangerous. Many explorers before them never made it back out again.”

Davar and Sztavjanik crossing an Amazonian river.

When the two reached Burma, they found themselves amidst a herd of wild elephants. Sztavjanik was injured and hospitalised for a month. Davar, who covered a total of 10,000 kilometres, 52 countries and five continents, wrote three books on his travels: Cycling Over Roof Of The World, Across The Sahara and The Amazon in Reality and Romance. “These books are a great study in anthropology,” said Babani. In them, Davar talks about the tribes he meet in the Amazon, “their customs, how they look, their clothing and what they hunt”.

Stories of these adventures inspired a third group of Parsi men – Keki Kharas, Rustam Ghandhi and Rutton Shroff – to cycle around the world in 1933. After covering 84,000 kilometres spanning five continents over nine years, they co-authored two books: Peddling Through The Afghan Wilds and Across The Highways Of The World. In the first, they wrote, “In Afghanistan, we were marooned in the desert for three successive days and nights without either food or water....”

Brand ambassadors

For these cyclists the expeditions were not about challenging their physical and mental ability, but to present India to the world. “They were like brand ambassadors,” said Babani, who displayed his research at an exhibition at Ravindra Bhavan in Margao, Goa, in December.

At the exhibition, titled Our Saddles, Our Butts, Their World, Babani showed a cycle, a part of which was manufactured at the Sen-Raleigh bicycle factory near Asansol in West Bengal. Opened in 1950, it was one of the earliest bicycle manufacturing units in India. Prior to that, bicycles had to be imported, which is why only the wealthy, including Hakim and Co., could afford them.

Babani plans to write a book on the Parsi men’s journeys and the history behind India’s cycling culture. Titled Peddling History: Rise, Fall and Rise of Humble Bikes, the book will be out this year. When asked what struck him most about the intrepid cyclists, Babani said, it was their “genuine innocence”: “That’s what touched my mind and inspired me to do research about their journeys and to write.”

(Source: Scroll)

World Cup 2018: The Indian who cycled to Russia to meet Messi

Clifin Francis was sitting at home in southern India when a friend asked if he was going to the World Cup.

"Of course," he replied. "I might even travel to Russia to watch the extravaganza."

That was in August - but he had no idea how he would afford the air tickets from Kerala where he lives. Mr Francis is a freelance maths teacher and earns $40 (£30) a day.

"I realised I wouldn't have enough money to travel to Russia and stay for a month. Then I asked myself - what could be the cheapest way of travelling? Bicycle was the answer."

Friends didn't believe him, but by then he'd made up his mind.

On 23 February, he started on an epic journey that took him by air to Dubai, and then ferry to Iran. From there the Russian capital is still more than 4,200km (2,600 miles) away by bike.

The prize at the end - a chance to see his hero, Argentina's Lionel Messi, arguably the best footballer in the world.

"I love cycling and I am crazy about football. I simply combined two of my passions," Mr Francis told the BBC.

He had planned to travel via Pakistan but had to drop the idea because of tense relations with India.

'Football and films'
"The change in plan cost me a lot. I could not take my bike to Dubai and had to buy a new one there which cost $700. It wasn't the best one for long-distance travels but that's all I could afford," he said.

But he forgot this temporary setback as soon as he entered the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on 11 March.

"It's the most beautiful country in the world and the people are so welcoming. I spent 45 days in the country, but stayed in a hotel only for two days," he said.

Mr Francis had only $10 a day to spend but says everywhere he went in Iran, people invited him to stay in their houses and offered him food.

"My perception about Iran has changed. I realised that you shouldn't form an opinion about a country based on its geopolitics," he said.

He vividly remembers the dramatic landscapes.

"Cycling became less painful because of the beautiful Iranian countryside. I would definitely go back.

"They made me promise that I would cheer for the Iranian team in Russia. They also love Bollywood and that helped me break the ice with people in many places," he said.

"It's so true that football and films unite the world."

Cycling made him thinner
Next stop was Azerbaijan, where the border police had trouble verifying his travel documents - because he'd "lost a lot of weight from constant cycling".

"I didn't look like my picture in the passport. The police took more than eight hours to verify my details, but they were nice to me."

Mr Francis couldn't afford hotels in Azerbaijan and mostly pitched his tent in parks.

"People were nice here as well but they took time to open up to a stranger. I found some Indians living in the capital Baku and stayed with them for a while."

Stuck in 'no man's land'
When Mr Francis reached Georgia, however, he was turned back and had to change plan again, about halfway to Moscow.

"I had all the documents but still don't know why I was refused entry. That left me in a precarious situation because I had a single-entry visa for Azerbaijan," he said.

Mr Francis was stuck in "no man's land" between Georgia and Azerbaijan for a day. He was eventually given an urgent visa by Azerbaijan to re-enter.

"I then had to find another route to get into Russia. Somebody told me that Azerbaijan shared a land border with the Dagestan region of Russia," he said.

"I went there without realising that it was not considered safe. But I had no option of turning back and I entered Dagestan on 5 June."

Language was a big problem because people hardly spoke English in Dagestan, he added.

"People were so surprised to see an Indian on a bicycle entering their area. Again, I used the universal language of football and films to make people open up to me."

Mr Francis has now made it as far as Tambov, a city about 460km south of Moscow by road. He needs to be in the capital by 26 June for the France v Denmark match.

"It's the only game I managed to get tickets for."

Lionel Messi may be gifted - but he'll want to forget the penalty
he missed against Iceland

"But I support Argentina and Lionel Messi is my favourite - I worship him. It's my dream to meet him and ask him to sign my bicycle."

Clifin Francis hopes his journey will inspire people about football and fitness.

"I want to see India play in the World Cup some day. And that will only happen when more children take up football in India. I am optimistic about our chances in the next 20 years," he said.

"I am also hoping that people will take up cycling after reading my story.

"Cycling takes you back to the primitive necessities of life. What you need at the end of the day is a shower, nice place to pitch your tent and good food and you are happy.

"I would be happy if my journey ends up inspiring even one child to play football in India."

(Source: BBC)

New Zealand hire bike found down volcano crater

A bicycle belonging to a cycle hire scheme in New Zealand has been found at the bottom of a crater of a dormant volcano.

The New Zealand Herald says that the bike, belonging to Auckland's OnzO scheme, was spotted on Mount Eden (or Maungawhau in the Maori language) by a local who was out taking a walk.

Mount Eden is Auckland's highest natural point, and last erupted some 28,000 years ago. While there's absolutely no danger from volcanic activity, a photographer from the Herald said that "the area was muddy and slippery and it would have taken a lot of effort to get the bike down there and [to] get back up".

OnzO spokesperson Min Kyu Jung was less than impressed with the find, saying "Obviously we discourage people from leaving bikes where they shouldn't be".

Maungawhau, otherwise known as Mount Eden, an unlikely place to leave a bicycle

It's not the first time that OnzO have run into problems recovering abandoned bicycles. According to the Stuff news website, staff have had a task recovering the distinctive black and yellow single-speed bikes from the harbour, up trees, and over the internet where they have been listed for sale.

Unlike older urban bicycle hire systems, OnzO's bikes do not rely on docking stations, but require a phone app to unlock the cycle's rear wheel, meaning they can be picked up or dropped off anywhere.

Speaking in the weeks after the service's launch late last year, OnzO's Bruce Qin said that teething troubles - such as people "hoarding" bikes or leaving them in difficult-to-reach places - were being ironed out.

The bike's rear wheel is immobilised when not in use

"As a new thing into the country, OnzO has patience for people to learn the concept of 'shared'," Mr Qin said.

But, according to the NZ Herald, patience with pranksters is wearing thin, with the company planning to cut off access to the bikes to people who abuse the system.

(Source: BBC)

An IAS officer who beats Shillong traffic by cycling all the way to office

First stops – West Jaintia Hills and West Khasi Hills; Next stop – Shillong!

While some orate their way to popularity, few others by exhibiting their talents, lesser known individuals tread the steps of recognition, and manage to find appreciation in the hearts of the people by doing what they do best – Being Humble.

Leading by example, this IAS officer from Karnataka has earned quite a name for himself in Meghalaya and is widely known in the districts where he had served as — The ‘People’s Deputy Commissioner’.

Arunkumar Kembhavi has become a household name in Meghalaya. All thanks to his people-friendly, unique and out-of-the-box ideas and initiatives to facilitate change in the society and though, he no longer serves as the DC of either WKH or WJH, he is, however, still known to the people of those districts as The People’s DC.

Less you forget, Kembhavi is known for his initiatives like Wall of Kindness (first in the region), building roads with shredded waste plastic technology, green office, online administrative system, deploying effective GPS tracking software for election monitoring (the 1st in the whole country) besides a chunk of other major initiatives.

After being transferred to Shillong as the Registrar of Cooperative Societies and Director of Community and Rural Development just last week, Kembhavi, is already making a ‘green-mark’, an approach which has got many officers and staffs of the Secretariat talking about.

Shillong is a pleasant city but not pleasant enough when you are commuting from one place to another in a vehicle. And Yes! Shillong traffic was exactly the same nightmare, Kembhavi faced when he arrived in the capital city.

It didn’t take long for the young and vibrant officer to come up with an alternate solution to beat Shillong traffic and reach office on time. And his first preference was cycling to work. “After I joined secretariat last week, the first thing I did was I bought myself a cycle because I don’t want to experience the problematic nature of traffic,” Kembhavi said.

Since the commuting distance from his residence to the Secretariat is only a few kms away, it seemed a little idiotic for him to take a vehicle, with a hope to reach office in a jiffy, but only to get stuck in a traffic for half an hour.

“Shillong city is slowly becoming unlivable now and there is a need to regain the past glory of this city; and traffic being the main problem, I think we can all emulate other countries’ way of dealing with the problem — cycle to work,” he smilingly said.

Owing to the fact that Shillong’s weather is conducive to cycle, the decision to pedal all the way to work didn’t seem to bother him at all. The only challenge was, of course, the roads and all that they encompasses. “The roads here in the city are not conducive to ride a bike. And since, this is more or less a new concept, there is always a fear of being hit by a rash driver,” he expressed.

However, it is encouraging to see the attitude of the traffic police towards cyclists as they would always give way and let them through amid the chaos, Kembhavi added.

“For me, cycling is not a mean of staying fit, rather, it is a functional necessity to beat traffic,” said the IAS officer adding that the amount of time he saved from patiently waiting and getting annoyed in the traffic, is spent on more resourceful things at work.

Stating that the reactions he received from his colleagues are quite encouraging, Kembhavi said that the intentions expressed by some officers to ‘maybe’ follow suit is encouraging but then again, there is a slight disadvantage and that is the city roads does not have a cycling track to protect and restrain the cyclists to a particular track/ tracks.

“Meghalaya has a good cycling club led by Abhishek Bhagotia (another IAS officer) called Cycling Shillong and I think through this club, we can encourage people to consider cycling as it is a more convenient mode of transportation within the periphery of the city,” he observed.

Stating that the number of cyclists in Shillong has increased, if not remarkably, Kembhavi said that youths are now getting into cycling, it is important to dedicate a lane for cycling in the roads of Shillong.

Though the perks attached with cycling is fitness and time-saving besides others, there is, however, a side-effect of cycling in the streets of Shillong and that is the pollution emitted from vehicles on a daily basis.

“The poisonous gas emitted by vehicles everyday is a bane for us and it deters us from achieving our objectives of staying healthy and fit. If only we can replace 100 cars with bicycles in the city, it would have proved beneficially not only physically but also environmentally. I don’t see any reason why people shouldn’t take up cycling,” he said.

(Source: TNT)

Uber is copying the bike-sharing model that brought chaos to cities in China

Uber is adopting a sharing model that has swept Chinese cities, often to the annoyance of pedestrians and city planners, and that has made its way to US cities in the last six months.

According to a blog post Thursday (Jan. 31), Uber is offering the pilot dockless bike rental service to a select group of users in San Francisco, via a partnership with Jump Bikes, (formerly known as Social Bicycle), a company that powers bike-share schemes all over the US. Unlike most of the services from Jump Bikes and Motivate (which powers the docked bike program in New York and other cities), Uber and Jump are offering electric bicycles, and they don’t need to be dropped off at specific parking stations

Unlike most of the services from Jump and Motivate (which powers the docked bike program in New York and other cities), Uber and Jump are offering electric bicycles, and they don’t need to be dropped off at specific parking stations.

Opening the app and going to the “Bike” icon will unveil a map of nearby bicycles. Users can unlock a bike with a pin number that Uber sends. The company is charging $2 per minute. “Once the ride is complete, you can lock the bike to any public rack in the bike zone shown on the app’s map,” writes Uber’s head of policy and transportation research in another post.

That’s wishful thinking.

Uber is actually late to dockless bike-sharing, a business model pioneered in China. Throughout 2016 and 2017, dozens of startups filled Chinese city streets with bikes that users could unlock with their smartphones, ride for a few yuan per minute, and park anywhere they pleased. A funding war created two billion-dollar companies—Mobike and Ofo—and many more casualties. Meanwhile, the companies’ “park-anywhere” policy led to bikes piling up in sidewalks, office parks, and ditches, where they’d been either abandoned or confiscated (though they’ve introduced policies to encourage riders to park them in high-traffic locations).

Shared bikes become "zombie" bikes: Thousands of shared-bikes left unused on open space in Yinchuan, NW China, due to cold weather pic.twitter.com/VFWz0aISnU

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) January 19, 2018

Lots of people have posted pictures of piles of shared bikes in #China but I haven’t yet so I figured I should join the club. Seen in random back alley near city center pic.twitter.com/v7WKgiOrKM

— Deathblade (@deathbladeISSTH) January 11, 2018

In the United States, after a cameo appearance at Austin, Texas’s SWSW festival, dockless bike rental made proper city street debuts last summer, as Spin and LimeBike started up in Seattle (both of them already offer services in San Francisco). In the fall, Mobike and Ofo each expanded to the US, beginning with Washington, D.C. and Dallas, respectively. Just like in China, consumers and regulators are starting to complain about pile-ups and obstructions. In Dallas, which particularly embraced dockless bike-sharing and where Ofo alone now has some 10,000 bikes, City Hall has called on bike companies to mend their ways and is contemplating rules.

@limebike your bikes at the corner of Mangum and Seminary are impeding the sidewalk. pic.twitter.com/05Tbt4ymZH

— Ross Grady (@rossgrady) February 1, 2018

Favorite place I’ve seen a @limebike in #Dallas #theygrowontrees pic.twitter.com/nAVsi5JaIq

— Vincent Coronado (@vcoronado7) January 31, 2018

I gotta think the answer to this question is the @Mobike next to the upside down Mercury at Logan Circle. #bikeDC https://t.co/Bd5AWEtCZ5

— Dockless Bikeshare Is The Devil (@DocklessB) January 30, 2018

Uber did not reply immediately to questions about how it will ensure its bikes are parked in public racks.

Uber’s move follows a similar announcement from Didi, its former Chinese nemesis (arguably, it continues to be an arch-rival with investments in overseas Uber competitors). In January, the Chinese company launched a bike-sharing service inside its app that lets users ride vehicles from Ofo and Bluegogo, the once number-three player that Didi took under its wing.

It’s not clear if dockless bike-sharing is a winning business model, given the slim margins and logistical headaches. But to some degree, Didi and Uber’s near-simultaneous entry into the sector validates the trend. For Didi, the company is reportedly losing rides to bike-sharing (paywall), as Chinese consumers opt to hop on the nearest Mobike for a short-distance trip rather than hail a car. As bike-sharing spreads across the United States, Uber probably fears the same.

(Source: Quartz)

Thomas Stevens: The man who cycled the world on a penny-farthing bicycle

This is the story about Thomas Stevens who became the first man to cycle around the world on a bicycle. Even today, a journey of these proportions is a challenge, but making it back in the 1880s with a simple penny-farthing bicycle was even a greater challenge.

Thomas Stevens, also known as Tom was born in Castle Street, Berkhamsted. After finishing his education in the Bourne Charity School, he found a job as an apprentice in a grocery. In 1871, when he was 17 years-old, Tom and his half-brother moved to Denver and later to San Francisco. Here, Tom learned how to ride a bicycle, without knowing that this skill will bring him a lot of fame.

Tom found a job in a Wyoming railroad mill, where he stayed for two years before he got chased out of town because he imported British workers and took part of their salaries for the favors he did for them. Later, he started working in a Colorado mine where he got the idea to ride a bicycle across the States.

1885 Advertisement for the Columbia brand of bicycles made by the Pope Manufacturing Company of Chicago

Everything started in 1884 when Stevens bought himself a penny-farthing. It was a 50-inch black-enameled Columbia Standard bicycle with nickel-plated wheels, made by the Pope Manufacturing Company of Chicago. Tom packed his handlebar bag lightly; he only took some socks, a spare t-shirt, a raincoat that he also used as a tent and bedroll and a small pocket revolver.

After putting everything in order, he hopped on his bicycle and left San Francisco at 8 o’clock on 22nd April 1884. He reached Sacramento, and after that, his journey took him across the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming. On every stop, Steven was greeted by members of local bicycle clubs. Finally, on 4th August 1884, after 103,5 days, he reached Boston and the East Coast of the United States, thus, making the first transcontinental bicycle ride.

Harper’s made a report on his effort:

“More than one-third of the route followed by Mr. Stevens had to be walked. Eighty-three and a half days of actual travel and twenty days’ stoppage for wet weather, etc., made one hundred and three and a half days occupied in reaching Boston, the distance by wagon-road being about 3,700 miles. He followed the old California trail most of the way across the plains and mountains, astonishing the Indians, and meeting with many strange adventures.”

With his journey, Stevens made foundations for a new way of traveling – one that didn’t involve rifles and a whole expedition – traveling just for the sake of visiting a place, hiking and meeting new cultures. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a member of the Massachusetts Bicycle Club, heard Tom’s speech and stated the following:

“Instead of going round the world with a rifle, for the purpose of killing something – or with a bundle of tracts, in order to convert somebody – this bold youth simply went round the globe to see the people who were on it; and since he always had something to show them as interesting as anything that they could show him, he made his way among all nations.”

Stevens decided to pass the winter in New York, and while he was there, he started making plans for his next journey – a trip across Europe. In the meantime, he started making sketches of his transcontinental journey to a magazine called Outing.

The magazine decided to make him a special correspondent and sponsored his trip to Liverpool – the starting point for his new journey. After arriving in Great Britain, Tom went to London to arrange his trip across Europe and the returned to Liverpool. On 4th May 1885, Stevens began his journey with a formal start at Edge Hill Church, Liverpool. He cycled across Britain and symbolically passed trough Berkhamsted, his birthplace. Then, Stevens took the ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe and arrived in France.

An illustration of Thomas Stevens on his bicycle

From France, Tom cycled through Germany, Austria, and Hungary. In Hungary, he was joined by another cyclist who didn’t speak English and rode with him for a while. From Hungary, Stevens continued cycling through Slavonia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Rumelia, and finally arrived in Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey – the final destination of his European journey.

Constantinople, or modern-day Istanbul, is the cross-over point between Europe and Asia. This was a nice starting point for Stevens’s plan to pedal across Asia. Here he took some well-deserved rest, obtained spare spokes for his bicycle and bought himself a new pistol. Soon he headed off and passed through Anatolia, Armenia, Kurdistan, Iraq and made it to Teheran, Iran where he was invited to stay for the winter as a guest in the Shah’s palace.

A map of Stevens’s bicycle journey across the world

Tom’s initial plan was to cycle through Siberia, but after being denied a passage, on 10th March 1886, he went to Afghanistan where he was again denied to pass. Being unable to go in that direction, Thomas returned to Constantinople and took a steamer to India.

Stevens described his trip through India as pleasant. Besides the weather being always hot, he noted that the Grand Trunk Road was in good condition for cycling and it was free of bandits. From Calcutta, he boarded a steamer that took him to Hong Kong. Here he began his journey through China. When he reached the coast, Thomas took another boat to Japan. He immediately fell in love with the country. It was calm and beautiful to cycle around. Japan was also the end of Tom’s bicycle tour across the world. His bicycle Journey ended on 17th December 1886, in Yokohama. From Japan, Stevens took a steamboat back to San Francisco. The last entry in his travelogue says: “DISTANCE WHEELED, ABOUT 13,500 MILES.”

An illustration of Stevens and his bicycle in Japan

After his bicycle journey, Thomas Stevens continued living an adventurous life. Up until 1895, he made several other trips in different places around the world.

Then, Stevens moved back to England and settled down as the manager of the Garrick Theatre in London. He died on 24th January 1935, aged 80.

(Source: The Vintage News)