st andrews / kinglake riding

•In article said:

Hi, Saw quite a few cyclists about while 4wd'ing up around the
kinglake area last weekend. There's some decent hills up around there
but i was wondering how 'cycle friendly' the car drivers were around
there? (if anyone has ridden those areas of course)

I've ridden around there quite a bit and never had any problems
with cars,

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jay said:

Hi,
Saw quite a few cyclists about while 4wd'ing up around the kinglake
area last weekend. There's some decent hills up around there but i was
wondering how 'cycle friendly' the car drivers were around there? (if
anyone has ridden those areas of course)

I lived just around the corner from St Andrews for 3 years (moved about
4 months ago) and never had a problem. I rode Hurstbridge to Kinglake
regularly without problem.

The only time I felt really nervous was coming down the hill from
Kinglake; take it easy on some of the tighter corners. They're tight
enough that some larger vehicles (buses in particular) have no choice
but to swing out onto the other side of the road to get around the
corner. I had one close call at > 60km/hr where the bus driver and I saw
the whites of each others eyes just a little more closely than I would
have liked. No real danger, but certain saw the heart rate monitor go up
a notch or 7.

It's great riding, btw. The climb from St Andrews to Kinglake is great.
There's a few tough inclines (the bastardy one just out of Kinglake is
the worst of them) but in general it's just a good, solid and relentless
7 or 8 km climb.

As I said, I've since moved: I'm now living in central Victoria, so the
riding here is much, much flatter. When I'm out with the local bunch
I've hooked up with I utterly destroy them on anything resembling an
incline, and I put this down to riding up to Kinglake 2 or 3 mornings a
week.

I've only ridden along there once and didn't have a problem with cars.
Felt at ease with them. When they see you suffering up the hill they're
generally more respectful of you.

They climb winds around a bit so cars a stuck behind you sometimes. Just
do motorists a favour and if you can see ahead of you well enough and
it's all clear just wave them through. They'll appreciate it.

--

Have ridden from Malvern to Kinglake quite a few times. No problems with
cars. Have a look at cycle2max.com for info on Kinglake climb.

cheers

"jay" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi,
Saw quite a few cyclists about while 4wd'ing up around the kinglake
area last weekend. There's some decent hills up around there but i was
wondering how 'cycle friendly' the car drivers were around there? (if
anyone has ridden those areas of course)

Andrew Lighten said:

It's great riding, btw. The climb from St Andrews to Kinglake is great.
There's a few tough inclines (the bastardy one just out of Kinglake is
the worst of them) but in general it's just a good, solid and relentless
7 or 8 km climb.

Must learn to proof-read my posts.

The bastardy bit of the climb is just out of St Andrews, not Kinglake.

"jay" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi,
Saw quite a few cyclists about while 4wd'ing up around the kinglake
area last weekend. There's some decent hills up around there but i was
wondering how 'cycle friendly' the car drivers were around there? (if
anyone has ridden those areas of course)

This has been a regular ride form me for a number of years. I usually go
early, leaving Macleod at 6:30~7:00am on a weekend. There are not many cars
on the road at this time, mind you most drivers prefer to drive through
Whittlesea than up through St Andrews.

I have only had 1 incident over the years, a car full of nightclubbers.
Other than that it is great riding.

Kevin