Over the next 2 months I will be focusing on a charity bike ride from the UK to Ukraine in support of the Ukrainian charity 'Voices of Children'.

LOTS of information and opportunities to contribute and participate will be posted.

'Ride2Ukraine' starts 5 Aug 2024 in Sheffield, UK.

Vote Heath post 11 – Cycling and sustainability

In 2018 quantum computing scientist Michelle Simmons was named Australian of the Year. Thank you for creating the field of atomic electronics.

Advocates for safer streets in Australia also look at tiny issues that in some way affect everyone, whether they know it or not.

(I will be releasing two posts every week between now and Australia Day 2024 which is January 26. I hope you enjoy them. They were fun to write.)

Vote Heath post 12 – Cycling and our shared humanity

In 2014 AFL football player Adam Goodes was named Australian of the Year. Thank you for not only being a great sportsman but also for speaking out against racism.

Advocates for safer streets in Australia also regularly speak up and speak out for those who do not have a voice. It’s time we all spoke out against car culture and road violence.

(This is my final post ahead of the announcement of the 2024 Australian of the Year on January 26.)

Open Letter 11 to the Hon Gabrielle Williams MP

Re: Melbourne could be like Paris

Below is the 11th of my 26 letters to Victoria’s first (and possibly last?) Minister for Active Transport. I wonder how they are being received? Not only has the Minister not responded, neither have the 11 ministers and 11 shadow ministers I copied in on these letters. Perhaps no one in the Parliament of Victoria is serious about active transport, sustainable transport, modal shift or action on climate change?

I particularly like this letter because it asks us all to suspend our disbelief, to dream and to see our state capital as a better version of itself, that is, to re-imagine Melbourne as it could be in the very near future.

Enjoy the read – you may be one of the few in Victoria actually open to progressive change and ideas that don’t involve trucks, concrete and debt.

Heath Ryan

NB: The full text (attached) was emailed to the Hon Gabrielle Williams on 19 Dec 2023 and copied to eleven other ministers and eleven shadow ministers as well as the Premier and Deputy Premier.

Open Letter 10 to the Hon Gabrielle Williams MP

Re: Keeping kids and neighbourhoods safe is a vote winner

This was the 10th of my 26 letters to the Minister for Active Transport. Sadly she has not been very active in this space, and her office has been noticeably IN-active in responded to these letters.

The first 5 letters looked at reforming our legal framework so we can have safe streets, while 6 through 10 looked at making it safe for children to walk/ride to school and in their neighbourhoods. Ignoring these important steps isn’t helping anyone in Victoria.

Heath Ryan

NB: The full text (attached) was emailed to the Hon Gabrielle Williams on 12 Dec 2023 and copied to eleven other ministers and eleven shadow ministers as well as the Premier and Deputy Premier.

Vote Heath Minimal 9 – Cycling and inclusion

In 2022 professional wheelchair athlete Dylon Alcott was named Australian of the Year. A worthy recipient. Thank you, Dylon.

Advocates for safer and more accessible streets help disabled and less abled Australians augment their accessibility and enhance their inclusion in society. It’s time this unpaid work was recognised.

(I will be releasing two posts every week between now and Australia Day 2024 which is January 26. I hope you enjoy them. They were fun to write.)

Vote Heath Minimal 10 – Cycling and connectedness

In 2015 domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty was named Australian of the Year. Thank you for your courage to speak up.

Advocates for safer streets and more connected communities in Australians regularly speak up and speak out. It’s time we all spoke out against road violence.

(I will be releasing two posts every week between now and Australia Day 2024 which is January 26. I hope you enjoy them. They were fun to write.)

Vote Heath post 7 – Independence in kids

In 2019 caver divers Craig Challen and Richard Harris were recognised for their work rescuing 12 Thai boys from a flooded cave. One of my friends would have joined the rescue team but she was filming in the Arctic with National Geographic at the time.

Because of the work of Australian advocates for safer streets in Australia, every Australian child can benefit from the health, the wellbeing and the independence that cycling delivers. It’s time this was formally recognised in Australia.

Vote Heath post 8 – Cycling vs stem cell research

Biomedical scientist Alan Mackay-Sim, a “titan of science”, was recognised in 2017 for his adult stem cell research. Diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2015 and treated with a stem cell transplant, he died in 2023 aged 71.

(Advocates for safer streets in Australia help all older Australians extend the time they can remain active and independent. It’s time this unpaid work was recognised.)

Open Letter 9 to the Hon Gabrielle Williams MP

Re: If streets are safe for kids, they’ll also be safe for women

Our streets should be safe for women.

I have sent nine letters to Victorian Active Transport Minister the Hon Gabrielle Williams MP over the course of three months but have not received a single reply. I know Minister Williams has previously been the minister for women and for youth, and I understand she is also a mother of two. I do hope she sees the importance of making our streets safe for everyone. See attached letter.

NB: This was emailed to the Minister on 8 Dec 2023 and copied to eleven other ministers and eleven shadow ministers as well as the Premier and Deputy Premier. No one had responded at this point EXCEPT the Office of the Minister for Health, Mary-Anne Thomas MP, whose office said it was not relevant to the health portfolio.

Open Letter 8 to the Hon Gabrielle Williams MP

Re: Quiet streets please

Here’s a great 2024 New Year’s resolution for Victoria’s first Public and Active Transport Minister, Gabrielle Williams MP: implement 8 LTNs across Victoria this year. Perhaps four in Melbourne and four in regional towns.

Not sure what an LTN is? Look up ‘Low Traffic Neighbourhoods’. Other countries have LOTS of them; Australia doesn’t even have one.

Heath Ryan

NB: The full text (attached) was emailed to the Hon Gabrielle Williams on 6 Dec 2023 and copied to eleven other ministers and eleven shadow ministers as well as the Premier and Deputy Premier. No one had responded at this point.

The Indefatigables, Post 23: Victor Waltham breaks the elusive sub 30-day time on the Perth-to-Sydney route

In 1927, 15 years after Frances Birtles set the Perth-to-Sydney record at 31 days, 3 hours, 15 minutes, and 13 years after Fred White failed to break that record, Victor Waltham from Western Australia achieved the elusive sub 30-day time when he rode from Sydney to Perth in 26 days, 3 hours, 8 minutes.

After Waltham, It would be another 90 years before a new unsupported cycling record was recorded on this route. But a new era of faster times from Perth to Sydney was about to dawn with men and women on bicycles setting new records with support teams in motor vehicles.

Learn more about Fred White (pp. 130-131) and others who set transcontinental records in Australia in The Indefatigables: A Record of Australian Endurance Cycling by Kathryn Moody and Heath Ryan.

Available now:

Softcover: 9780734641465
Hardcover: 9780734641472
eBook: 9780734622419

www.amazon.com.au/Indefatigables-Record-Australian-Endurance-Cycling/dp/073464146X

Vote Heath post 5 – Cycling and a cleaner environment

Actor Geoffrey Rush was honoured by Australia in 2012 for his (paid) work as an actor. Great for those who enjoy a film now and again. (Enough said.)

Cycling reduces carbon emissions and is helping save the planet we all live on. It’s about time a (volunteer) cycling advocate was recognised as Australian of the Year.

Vote Heath post 6 – Empowering women and girls

In 2021 Grace Tame was a very worthy Australian of the Year for her work advocating for the survivors of bullying, grooming and sexual abuse.

Cycling can also empower and improve equity and equality for women. It’s time a cycling advocate – and maybe a female advocate – was recognised as Australian of the Year.

(I will be releasing two posts every Friday between now and Australia Day 2024 which is January 26. I hope you enjoy them. They were fun to write.)