Photo by Miranda Jones

On a recent visit to the scorching midsummer heat of Australia, I noticed a book of ‘bush’ poetry on sale.  The cover sported a man perched on the handlebars of his bike, horror on his face. Tangled in the spokes was a huge, poisonous and irritated King Brown Snake ready to strike. 

The next morning I awoke from a disturbing and now recurring dream in which I nearly stepped on a very large King Brown. The last time I’d had this same dream, I was also at my parents beach house atop steep limestone cliffs overlooking the southern ocean. These honeycomb cliffs are riddled with pigeon nests, hence pigeon eggs, hence predatory, egg snatching brown snakes. The next day on my morning run, I had come within inches of both my life and the head of a 7 foot Brown Snake as it reared to strike.

As members of SC we share in the sheer euphoric glee of riding a bike, however, not all of us approach winter in the same emotional spectrum. Therefore, as a winter non-cyclist it is important for some of us to preserve and love our two-wheeled family members during their frigid downtime from a suitable distance.

Many cyclists battle with household space. Having a house with a garage or sturdy shed allows for easy storage – it is the apartment, condo, or shared space dwellers that will be the focus here.