Author: L-dub

Courtesy of The Age…

Cyclists found to have killed or seriously injured a pedestrian will face penalties of up to five years in jail or a $68,000 fine, after tough new laws came into effect today.

“Cyclists need to recognise that, if they do occasion damage, they have responsibilities. They do need to stop,” said Roads Minister Tim Pallas said, launching the new laws this morning at a Bourke Street bicycle shop.

The new penalties, he said, would help police tackle reckless riding by cyclists, and reduce the likelihood of pedestrians, other cyclists or drivers suffering serious injury.

Continue reading “‘Jail threat for dangerous cyclists’”

The Melbourne City Council is proposing to redevelop Swanston St – and 7 proposals are on the table. One of these options is banning bicycles in Swanston St – and making it a car and delivery vehicle thoroughfare. This option wasn’t discussed as part of the Council’s consultation process, and seems to be a last-minute attempt to rush through a ban on bikes on Swanston.

One of the things I love about Melbourne, having moved here last year from Hobart, is the number of bike lanes here, and the number of people who ride bicycles as their primary mode of transport. It’s awesome to see people riding past in the morning on their way to work instead of banked up in their cars stressing out. Way more people ride to work here than in Hobart, and I figure a big part of that is having cycle lanes almost everywhere so you don’t have to battle cars the whole time.

Swanston St is Australia’s busiest cycleway. It seems totally ridiculous to me to be discouraging bicycles in the city by removing bicycle access in the CBD and instead catering for cars and delivery vehicles. In a time where we’re seeing the early effects of climate change hitting us already, we shouldn’t be rewarding people for driving cars – we should be encouraging more people to ride their bikes.

So, I’ve filled out the submission form. I hope you can all join me in taking 2 minutes to have a say on the redevelopment on Swanston St.

Have a read about the proposals on the Bicycle Victoria website here
Have your say on the Council submission form here

So I’ve been in Melburn for about six weeks now, and have been riding pretty much daily. It’s a different breed of cyclist here. Commuters are generally happy to keep their scowls fixed in place, stare straight ahead and don’t make eye contact. Roadies in full team kit and Specialized and Cannondale carbon numbers cruise through the ‘burbs but will generally say hello if you press them. Fixed riders will either snob you or do the ol’ neck crane to check out your bike, some no doubt mentally taking stock so they can rush home and blog about it. Commuter racing is in full swing, with some people getting really mad if you overtake them. Meh. Three cyclists dead within two weeks, one found on the road alone, one crushed under a bus, one hit by a car on a cruisy suburban ride.

Bike paths criss-cross the city and are a slower ride than the busier streets, dodging dogs and their walkers, kids with frisbees, and recumbent riders taking up the whole goddamn path. The other option’s taking the road and dealing with a constant stream of traffic and always hoping that the stream of cars waiting to turn across you will see you blowing through the green in between three lanes of cars.

H picked up a singlespeed cruiser (see above) and has been riding half and hour to work and back again. I’m feeling a bit cheated as it only takes me 7 mins to get to work from our place. I’ve been taking the long way around to try to get at least some feeling of having ridden anywhere. It’s easier to get from A to B than Hobart, but somehow I feel like it’s cheating a bit riding with no hills. There’s no climb home, no dizzy spells when you get in the door, no feeling like you’re going to vomit when you get in the door. I think some longer weekend rides are in order to kick out the cobwebs. Here’s hoping you’re riding hard and having fun doing so.

The 28 cobbled sections of  Paris-Roubaix taped to Saunier Duval/Scott team member Luciano Pagliarini’s top tube.

Boonen wins the 106th Paris-Roubaix on a bike with 177.5 crank arms. Cancellara second, Ballan third. O’Grady fifth.

259.5 kilometres of racing. 28 sections of cobblestones, making 57 kilometres in all of cobbled hell.

The fastest Paris-Roubaix for over 20 years.

Top ten:

1. BOONEN Tom 51 QUICK STEP 5h 58′ 42″
2. CANCELLARA Fabian 5 TEAM CSC 5h 58′ 42″
3. BALLAN Alessandro 71 LAMPRE 5h 58′ 42″
4. MAASKANT Martijn 247 SLIPSTREAM CHIPOTLE 6h 02′ 21″ + 03′ 39″
5. O’GRADY Stuart 1 TEAM CSC 6h 02′ 39″ + 03′ 57″
6. HOSTE Leif 31 SILENCE – LOTTO 6h 02′ 39″ + 03′ 57″
7. DEVOLDER Stijn 54 QUICK STEP 6h 02′ 41″ + 03′ 59″
8. VAN SUMMEREN Johan 37 SILENCE – LOTTO 6h
9. HINCAPIE George 61 HIGH ROAD 6h 03′ 54″ + 05′ 12″
10. BALDATO Fabio 72 LAMPRE 6h 03′ 54″ + 05′ 12″

Read more:
Daily Peloton / Cyclingnews.com Race Tech

Sunday was pretty much the perfect day for riding. A clear, slightly breezy day of about 22 degrees, three men slightly hungover and overtired, and a cruisy two-hour ride to be had. Ben, Mischa and I met up in Salamanca, and headed over the Tasman Bridge, following the bike paths to the Geilston Bay BMX track for a bit of fixed BMX riding, or FXMX, as we’ve come to call it.

The track at Geilston Bay is pretty rough, with some deep gravelly corners, old-style jumps and burms, and even some local skids complete with mullets, trackies, and wifebeaters burning around on BMXs. We put in a bit of training on the track before heading off home over the bridge again to Salamanca.

FXMX, for the uninitiated, is basically Fixed Bicycle Motocross. The idea is to race as fast as you can around a BMX track, but an added degree of difficulty is that you do it fixed on your street machine. Modifications to bikes are encouraged but not necessary. Pulling shapes, or ‘getting rad’, off the top of the kickers on the track is optional, but adds more style to your ride. Riding is often battled out as much with elbows and knees as it is with pedals and tyres, and competitors often wear armour, similar to keirin or BMX racers.

It’s looking like winter is going to be featuring some more FXMX riding as we try to get through riding the winter months in a town that likes to change its weather every five minutes.

Stay tuned for more updates on the FXMX trend. Remember, you saw it here first.

After not riding a bike for around a month having been on tour in rain-sodden Queensland and New South Wales, the last few days have been a rediscovery of just how much fun riding is, especially when it’s summer in Hobart. The air is crisp, the sun is hot, and the hills don’t get any easier, but after jumping back on the bike this week, I’ve gotten stoked on riding all over again. I’ve been riding to work with a stupid grin on my dial, waking up sore, remembering that yes, I did have muscles there, and yes, I’d forgotten about them until trying to creak out of bed the day after my first ride for four weeks. Ouch.

Anyway, here are a few photos of my bike, for posterity’s sake. For those of you in Hobart, get out to Newtown Oval tonight at about 6pm for some casual track racing – everyone’s welcome!

Make sure you check out the details for the SS Nationals as well – it’s going to be a silly weekend!

Oh, and Shifter Dan posted this beauty on his site. Spreading the B’n’C gospel! Happy Fridays.

So, with all the intentions of getting up at 7am to make the meeting time of 8am this morning for National Ride To Work Day’s free breakfast in Hobart’s CBD, I slept through and woke up at 8:30am. Shit eh.

Still, today provides a bit of a prompt to think about how we get to work every day. While we might struggle through winter’s gusts, rain, sleet, hail, and freezing cold early mornings, it’s coming into summer, and biking around the city is a real joy. Being outside, somewhat free of traffic, and breathing in the fresh air (unless you’re stuck behind a coughing mid-70s Mercedes Benz, that is) seems much more sane that being behind the wheel in peak hour traffic every day. While we don’t have the massive congestion problems of other cities, cycling to work is way less stressful than driving, at least for me, and there’s already enough stress at work for most people to deal with.

Good to see that NRTW Day is getting some coverage nationwide too. The report in that article suggests the number of commuters using bicycles to get to work in Melbourne has doubled in the past year. Some of this, no doubt, is due to the new trendiness of fixed-gear bikes, but regardless, whatever is making people hang up the car keys and drag out the pushies, it’s all good, and the more people cycling for commuting, the better things will be for cyclists in Australia’s cities.

Not all of it is chance and luck though. Check out this article, from two years ago, that looks at ways of encouraging people to cycle to work in Melbourne, rather than drive or take the bus/train/tram. With a bit of foresight, cities can plan to become cycle-friendly. Let’s hope more cities can be as forward-thinking.