cycling

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    Why Do Aussies Ride On A “Deadly Treadly?”

    What Does “Deadly Treadly” Mean? Aussieはなぜ自転車を「Deadly Treadly」と呼ぶの？ Imagine you’ve just bought a brand-new bicycle. You wheel it out of the shop, admiring the shiny frame. An Aussie mate walks over, grins and says, “Nice deadly treadly!” Nobody thinks the bike is dangerous. In fact, it’s a compliment. Deadly treadly is one of those classic Aussie rhyming expressions that simply means “bicycle.” It’s playful, memorable and unmistakably Strine. 日本で自転車といえば、「自転車」「チャリ」「ママチャリ」など、いろいろな呼び方があります。Aussieにも、ユーモアたっぷりの呼び名があります。それが、”deadly treadly”です。意味、とてもシンプル。「自転車」。それだけです。でも、語感がよく、一度聞いたら忘れられないのがAussie英語らしいところ。\友達同士で使う、親しみのある表現です。 Expression Deadly treadly Pronunciation /ˈdedli ˈtredli/ Meaning 自転車。 特に日常生活で使う普通の自転車を親しみを込めて呼ぶ表現です。「deadly（命にかかわる）」という本来の意味はほとんど意識されておらず、リズムを楽しむ言葉になっています。 Example I rode my deadly treadly to work today. 「今日は自転車で会社へ行ったよ。」 また、 My old deadly treadly finally gave up. なら、 「長年乗った愛車の自転車が、とうとう寿命を迎えた。」 という意味になります。 日本語で言うと？ 日本語なら、「チャリ」「愛車」などが近いでしょう。ただし、”deadly treadly” は少しユーモラスな響きがあり、「チャリ」よりも遊び心のある言い方です。 Australia–Japan Connection オーストラリアは広い国ですが、シドニーやメルボルンなどの都市では、自転車を通勤や通学に利用する人も増えています。休日にはサイクリングロードを家族で楽しむ姿もよく見られます。日本も自転車文化が盛んな国。だから “deadly treadly” という言葉は、日本人にも親しみやすいStrineのひとつかもしれません。 Aussieは、何でも短くしたり、語呂を楽しんだりするのが大好きです。”deadly…

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    Brommies, Bikkies, Books, And Bashful Bring Bits Of Britain

    Britain dominated my day unexpectedly today, thanks to my Brompton bike, a plateful of biscuits, books, and a bashful barker. Though a fervent fan of decolonization, I’ve got a powerful penchant for Pommies. Australian culture was heavily influenced by Britain when I was growing up, I was partially educated in England, and I work with a couple of English lads who are top notch blokes. So I have a soft spot for Britain for all sorts of reasons, and I think there’s an element to that with Japan, too, which chose Britain as the first-ever foreign country it formally allied with back in 1902. Anyway, enough of the waffle, and…

  • Beware The Rides Of March

    By the Australian reckoning, where seasons change on the first day of the month, I am always a sucker when I get on a bike in March and suddenly expect spring conditions. No amount of experience seems to change the way I approach this. And it only happens in March, really, where I await the transition from winter to spring, which seems to drag on for an interminably long time. Every year, the gap between winter and spring seems to linger longer than ever before. Of course, each year is a relatively shorter period of life, so all things considered, it’s actually shorter. Japanese has a saying to describe this…

  • Springing Into March And Marching Into Spring

    Spring seems to have come a bit early this year; sort of. And I got to celebrate my return to cycling shoes amid glorious sunshine, warmth and conditions pretty much perfect for being on a bike. From March 2020 through to August 2024, I wore cycling shoes more than any other type of footwear, and even since then it would be a good chance that I had maintained that record through to November 2025. Then, I fell and broke my leg, and my orthopaedic surgeon and physio therapist had banned me from using cycling shoes as they require a jerking movement in the leg to unclip from the pedal, which…

  • Gifted With A Glimpse Of Gloriousness

    Dragging myself out of bed into the dark and icy cold when I didn’t want to go ended up with being rewarded by a series of absolutely glorious sights. I woke earlier than usual and was absolutely freezing, which was unexpected as the forecast is for another spring-like day today. My inner voice told me to stay in bed and enjoy the warmth that wrapping myself in a blanket would bring. But I got dressed and went out anyway. And blessings followed thereafter! I rode a clockwise loop this morning, as opposed to my usual counterclockwise route along the river. There was nothing unexpected at first, but as I entered…

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    Big Red Dinosaur Loader Gets A Free Bath

    Tokyo turned on the best weather of the year so far today, and the Big Red Dinosaur Loader celebrated with a free bath, albeit an unintentional one. Big Red fell into the drink when I propped it up on the waterside to take a photo under the gloriously azure skies that perfectly matched its hue. Built for rough stuff, the bike was perfectly fine, and it actually turned into a much-needed wash. It was another day to slide in a second ride, which I was quite fortunate to do. I knew today was going to be demanding, as I had meetings scheduled for nearly the entire day. These are aimed…

  • So Cursed Even Its Thief Brought It Back

    In a week where a kleptocrat despot and Dicktator made for one of the most bizarre geopolitical times of my existence, Mrs. Kangaeroo reminded me of a thief much closer to home as I finally got my Astuto bike back home. Mrs. Kangaeroo calls the bike cursed. She might have a bit of evidence to back up her claim, as she pointed out that even when a thief stole the bike in February last year, they brought it back to us again four months later. The bike has certainly had a bit of misfortune since making my acquaintance when I began trying to build it after my old Trek literally…

  • Happy Riding In More Ways Than One

    Every ride on a bike is a good one in my books (even those that have had wretched outcomes), but I had a few extra happy moments when I went out this morning. Happy is the name of my mate’s pet beagle, and I got to meet them on their predawn constitutional for the first time in months. It topped off a great ride with an otherworldly mist over the rivers I rode and the gradation of color in the skies as the sun began to rise, which was a pleasing sight, indeed. Happy, the dog, barked like crazy, and I don’t think that’s because he enjoys my company. But…

  • Hey, Hey, You, Get Off Of My Cloud

    For a few minutes this morning, cycling along the Tama and Asa rivers in western Tokyo was sublime as the sun started to rise and mists rising up from the water formed clouds. There are a few periods in the year when this phenomenon occurs, usually in the autumn and spring when the water and air temperatures diverge to a large degree. This year had, to me, seemed to be an archetypically Tokyo winter; the first in years. It has been chilly, sunny and windy: all phenomena I associate with the coldest part of the year. It hasn’t happened like that for the past few years, though, especially last year…

  • Using Any Excuse Just To Post This Pic

    A somewhat discomforting start to the year has continued today, but that doesn’t really matter because I’m just making up excuses to write so I can post this picture. I captured this shot near Tachikawa‘s Kotobukiya Stadium as the local residents prepare for their d dondoyaki festival to build huge bonfires made from New Year decorations and pray for good fortune for the rest of the year. These festivals are held by thousands of neighborhoods across the country, but I have also viewed them as something akin to the chilling denouement of the 1973 British horror flick, The Wicker Man. My perspective is totally incorrect, of course, but I’ve never…