Watsonia locals say they are patiently waiting for the first Uber bike to be abandoned in their suburb, seemingly keen to recreate the halcyon days of late 2017 when a discarded oBike turned up in Binnak Park and lent some inner-city cool to our outer suburban existence. Long-time Watsonia resident David Brandon said he’s already keeping an eye out for one of the distinctive red bikes, saying that achieving coolness in 2020 was a complicated formula, but being home to an abandoned ride-sharing bicycle was a non-negotiable.
Speaking to The Watsonia Bugle, Brandon said, “Mate, those oBikes were the ultimate symbol of inner-city cool. They became a more iconic symbol of a hip Melbourne lifestyle than sitting on a milk crate in a city laneway sipping a flat white. We might be the third most popular suburb in all of Australia, but we can’t truly claim to be cool until one of those red bikes sits unused in a random part of our suburb for a few days.”
While the eventual appearance of the oBike back in 2017 happened months after similar bikes had been popping up all around Melbourne, Brandon claimed that Uber’s e-bikes should make it to Watsonia much more quickly. He said, “These Uber ones are e-bikes, so they’re a lot easier and quicker to ride, meaning the trip from the city should take a fraction of the time that that brave soul who dumped the oBike would’ve taken to get to Binnak Park a few years ago. Plus, Watsonia is catching up with Melbourne’s cultural zeitgeist at a much faster rate these days, so I’m expecting to see one by this weekend.”
The Watsonia Bugle 