Simon said:
Patrick Turner said:........
Wow... I agree the current ACT gov is very good (does the opposition
still have a policy of removing all cycle lanes?). There is good and
bad about cycle lanes too. The green lanes are only dangerous because
the drivers here are so bad - there's not even a proper test to get
your licence!
The cycle lanes may just end up being scrapped by the existing Labour
Governemnt who brought them in.
Simon Corbell was mainly responsible, in an effort to foster people
power and cycling
to work and green things, and to fulfil expctations of the people.
When he criticized the the proposal to re-cycle sewerage after
processing back into the drinking supply
our Chief Minister, the very Ghung Ho Jon Stanhope fired Corbell as fast
as possible
and out the door went the one guy with any sense of caution about water,
and good news for cyclists.
The replacement has said its a "town made for cars" and is the usual
redneck rightwing loony.
Stanhope does a lap on his bicycle each morning; its how he looks so
fit, mean and intimidating.
Well, they say he cycles each day, but maybe that's maybe what he makes
the press think he does,
in the hope of being seen as the cyclist's friend, and of course,
cyclists vote.
And there are lots of them. Australians purchased 1 million bicycles
last year.
The Liberal Opposition's stance cannot be relied upon to be for/against
cycle lanes unless
they see votes in it.
The bumbling old farts on both Labour and Liberal sides govern us by
taking turns to neglect
system maintenance.
The cycle path ideology and initial creation goes back to the
1960s and 70s before self government and before the locals had to pay
for their creation
out of their own pockets.
So thus the staid non green non cyclist friendly old [censored] who con
their way into power
just go on as if the system is fine and will care for itself by miracle.
If the paths get real bumpy because of neglect, then folks will buy
bikes with bigger tyres and suspension,
or mountain bikes, or equivalent to what ppl used in 1910, but with
modern things like index gears.
The trouble is that once a system is created, abolition by neglect can
cause an accident or a death,
and its a false economy to sustain the legal claims of millions when
some repairs
or innovations could have prevented the bother for much less money.
There is much that could be done to integrate the cycle path system to
enable cyclists to get off the roads
and back on easily from areas where danger is most present.
I believe Canberra could learn much from Amsterdam.
And its relatively flat here. A fit young rider has no trouble commuting
all around Canberra on a bike with 48 x 18 gearing ( 72 inches ).
I have just changed to 44 x 18, because I turn 60 next week, and
now I really need the lower gear. I can't wait to get my other bike
back together with this new fangled indexed gearing stuff on it.
What [censored] me is that the Stanhope Government is so arrogant.
They have huge plans to allow developers open slather to change the
whole place my making it all so much more densely populated,
and thus reap the benefits in far greater charges and taxes,
but so little seems to be really being done to make it better for
cyclists.
I will give them credit for bringing in the cycle lanes though, even
though they may backflip.
And another thing they deserve some credit for is the grinding down of
joints in the concrete
paving slabs on so many of Canberras many many kilometres of cycle
path/footpath network.
Rather than pull up and replace old concrete, they have merely sent out
a guy/s with a machine to grind and chamfer
all the bumps in excess of 10mm so that now you really don't have to
worry about buckling
your rims when you go from road to cycle path.
After a couple of years it seems that 99% have been gone over this way,
saving a huge sum on immediate replacements.
Bumps of 20mm can lead to people walking and tripping over and falling,
and perhaps they did all that work because they knew they could be sued
so easily.
I am not sure of the motives. But anyway, there isn't a footpath I have
found
where I cannot ride tolerably, and many tarred country roads
around Canberra are worse than the concrete paths.
And the footpaths go for kilos well away from houses, and for long
distances.
Many are old and crumbling, so they just grind 'em down.
Better than nothing.
But one must keep one's eyes wide open 100% of the time!
And its no wonder so many ignore the cycle paths. Its difficult to
legislate
a law and enforce it to make ppl use them. People take the risk on the
road because it
goes where they want to get to and its smoother and faster.
You don't see many of the racing guys using cycle paths to train;
it'd seem a sissy thing to do.
Real men ride the road, ( where they are killed every now and then ).
I'd be happy if compelled to use the paths only, but they'd have tp
spend a huge amount
to force ppl onto them, and with much access improvements.
Without perfection we muddle through......
Quoted message said:
It wasn't the one particular ad that I meant was the problem. It was
it's context in the series of road issues. The fact the "cyclists"
are put in the same bategory as speeding and tailgating was my issue,
and it gives the suggestion that cyclists are a road problem.
I have to say I have not read all these adds, bt from the few I have
read it seemed to me
they were just part of a be seen to be educating the public, and what
needed to be said was completely
left out. What was said was just the same boring old lines,
although much is common sense.
I have seen too many shenanigans on the road caused by both cyclists and
motorists
to know that both can act stupidly, and without due care, and nothing
much will ever change human nature and the way ppl change when they get
behind a wheel,
like Toad, Beep Beep!!, get out of my way!
The government doesn't need to ever promote the idea that cyclists are a
road problem.
A large number of motorists are well convinced cyclists are a problem.
The same ppl usually hate cats, muslims, asians, indigenous, and anyone
who isn't normal.
They whinge like hell when they see money being spent on cycle paths,
yet they see cyclists on the damn road, where they think they shouldn't
be.
They see the cyclists as a special interest minority who should pay
their own way,
and use only what they pay for.
I have been told quite often to "get orf the f----- road!!"
One day this happened and I caught up to the guy at a set of lights,
and asked him if had any more to say. He did, and said something
unprintable about
my mother. I quickly learnt in through his window, and spat right
between his eyes.
He was so stunned he froze, while I quickly backed away and crossed the
road to a known escape route.
Thinking this plan out took me just 2 seconds.
His two dogs went beserko in his van when they smelt his rage, and he
stalled trying to move from the lights.
I watched at a distance as he fumbled in fury, and then he got out,
shook a fist and yelled a bit more,
and I urged him come follow me.
But he wasn't that brave, or very fit. Only a young bloke. And he'd
spilt his beer.
I smiled and rode off, satisfied.
I have to admit I should have not protested in reply to his attitude
about my presence on a lonely stretch of road where there was a huge
amount of room to pass me.
I sometimes feel the same about abusive motorists now, but I now ain't
so foolhardy to
respond as I did. But I once bailed up a bus driver who'd cut me off by
moving towards the curb
too soon after passing me. Boy, did I let the [censored] have it about
murder at the next lights.
I fully shamed him in front of all his passengers, and hopefully he got
a message....
You just cannot go around casually killing cyclists.
Many motorists spend 20% of their income on owning and running a car,
and much time is spent earning the money for a motor,
but they never complain about the poor average speed they attain when
you add in the
earning time just to pay for the motor. They don't realise their
addiction.
And its a catchy addiction too. India and China are trying desperately
to get
more mobile, and away from the farting bullock pulling the cart,
and into something with a door, and plush seats, and to a new life of
plenty.
But all that is another deeper story, where every little man wants to be
a big man.
Australia has no shortage of the bigoted, the ignorant, the intolerant.
But someone said to me once, the big bronze Aussie is mainly all bronze.
Patrick Turner.
