Last night I was threatened with arrest for not wearing a bicycle hat sold as a helmet.

That’s right, I don’t wear a bicycle helmet. I follow the international safety standard which, unlike the Australia standard, has been proven in the real world.

Some rough stats are: you are 10 times more likely to die from a car hitting you, when you are wearing a helmet, than anyone in the Netherlands without a helmet.

Clearly the helmet is not giving us the safety edge you might have hoped for, in fact that’s one seriously worrying correlation.

I’m embarrassed to say that before I was a bicycle-riding babe, I was a car-driving ditz. But there are good sides to everything and having been both means I can speak with authority when it comes to which is better.

Today on my way home from work it occurred to me just how magical it is to step out of one’s office and on to a bicycle, and for the period of your ride home do nothing but enjoy the weather.

Weather is great. I love it. What’s not to love. Sun, cloud,

So this morning I spotted something on a car I’d not seen before, which is not really saying much because my life is basically carless in every way.

However, what I saw said a whole lot. A whole lot about where car drivers are at when it comes to their relationship with reality.

It was a sticker on the windscreen of a newish looking 3 door that said “Fuel Consumption” and then below was a list of facts and figures on the fuel efficiency of the vehicle.

At first glance the sticker looked important,

A Spanish girlfriend told me over lunch that the best thing that has happened to her in Melbourne was her bicycle. “I love it” she beamed, “it’s a better ride than the men!”

Wow! That either says a lot about the bicycles here, or sadly not much about the men.

I’m going for it saying a lot about the bicycles, because frankly Melbourne’s bicycling men are some of the world’s best: they ride all weather, wear check and most importantly know how to dink.

However, no matter the quality of Melbourne’s bicycle men,