You remember that first summer afternoon when the training wheels finally came off?

The cycling experience for most people can be described quite easily. We learned to cycle as children, slowly moving from our backyard to the back road, finally becoming able to go around the block and to a friend’s house.

Cycling represented freedom.
Then… life happened.

We traded handlebars for steering wheels and the open air for air conditioning. We tucked our bikes into the dusty corners of the garage or never got around to buying one after moving.

Excuses vary, but freedom stopped being about a breeze in your hair and started being about a full tank of gas and a highway exit.

I stood at a red light yesterday in the heart of the city. To my left, a bus full of people glued to their phones, trapped in an uncomfortable seat and an algorithm not of their own making. To my right, the morning sun was hitting the trees just right.

I felt the cold bite of the wind on my cheeks and that familiar, dull ache in my quads.

The kind of things that tells you you’re actually alive.

This platform is a way to find out more about the people who are trying to make cycling a reality in the cities of Australia. Why, what, and how?

To connect those who ride and those who (still) don’t to the people who are calling the shots.

But more importantly, is to make everyone realise that with enough care, conviction, and infrastructure, we can get people to pedal their way into happiness, health and joy.

Whether you’re conquering a hill that used to make you winded or teaching your daughter to find her balance, you’re tapping into a fundamental joy.

It’s time to pull that bike out of that dark corner.

Let’s ride.

— Afonso Firmo