eCouncillor riding his new Norco VFR 4 series bicycle up and down William Street or across Hyde Park hardly raises an eyebrow other than the abuse of ignorant taxi drivers who seem to feel the road is there for them only. Put Hollywood hero and South Sydney's white night Russell Crowe on Elizabeth Street and cycling takes a whole new edge. 
As a member of the City of Sydney's Bicycle Steering Committee I will move quickly to enlist Russell's support in building Sydney's engagement with cycling as a viable alternative to walking, driving and public transport. With inner city daily commuter trips by bike as low as 2% in Sydney (with a target range of 6% in Melbourne to 33% in Copenhagen) there are real opportunities and proven positive health, environment and economic benefits by encouraging more cycling. At the same time Council and the State government must continue their investment in cycling infrastructure.
Today's Daily Telegraph carried the pic and story on page 7. On line the picture of Crowe could not be found so I have scanned it in for eCouncillor's cycling friends.
On yer bike
By Dora TsavdaridisFebruary 21, 2006
THE last time he wore a helmet was in Gladiator.Yesterday, Elizabeth St was the venue as Russell Crowe engaged in a different kind of combat - with Sydney's peak-hour gridlock.
And while Crowe is used to stopping traffic as one of cinema's biggest stars, he got a reaction of a different kind yesterday.
One driver was unimpressed with his bike-riding skills and honked him when his bike strayed into the middle of the road.
Crowe is taking a break from films at the moment and is focusing on winning his privatisation bid for the South Sydney Rabbitohs with business partner Peter Holmes a Court.
His dream to own the rugby league team, which he has followed since he was a young boy, will only come true if 75 per cent of club members vote to accept the $3 million deal.
The Woolloomooloo based actor recently finished filming the lead role in a film by Gladiator director, Ridley Scott called A Good Year, which also stars fellow Australian Abbie Cornish.
He plays Max Skinner, an Englishman who inherits a vineyard in the south of France.
3 comments:
What a good idea.
I'm sure Russ would be into this.
He did a lot of cycling recently while filming in France. (Where cycling is obviously a Big Deal)
However there are pictures of Russell cycling in New York and Toronto last while filming Cinderella Man and A Beautiful Mind.
I'm sure you could get a lot of pictures together of Russell cycling (and other celebs too)to help with publicity.
BTW...your blog entry about this has found its way to Murph's Place...the largest Crowe fan News Board....and Russell does read the entries there and corresponds with Murph. So perhaps he already knows about it. (www.murphsplace.com)
Thanks Daphne. It's great the unexpected directions blogs can take.
We (the Council) plan to enlist celebrity or cycling 'champions' in the last stages of our cycling upgrades across the city. (stahe 1 - planning, stage 2 - infrastructure and stage 3 - promotion & awareness of cycling in Sydney CBD). Sydney's problem is a real lack of facilities for cyclists as evident by Russ being blasted by a frustrated motorist because he was riding on the raod - totally legally. I will search out the pics of him cycling overseas as you suggested. If anyone has links please send them to me.
Shayne
BTW. I live 250 metres from Russell's apartment at Woolloomooloo and have never seen him cycling. I have seen him jumping in and out of 4x4's and on his Harley. So the 'Gladiator' cyclist was a pleasant suprise!
We already have cycling infrastructure, they are called roads. Council's money would be better spent encouraging more cyclists to ride and perhaps rolling out some educational programs targeting driver and cyclist behaviour.
Post a Comment