Sydney riding experience

Originally Posted by PGANDO

Solid points but we must surely still deserve better. I have been one the sluggers that has been getting out at 6am on the w/ends heading out to Waterfall with some of the quicker groups and it constantly amazes me that we have to ride on poorly lit freeways as trucks brush past our elbows (getting sucked into the roadway from the low pressure as they fly past), and the poor state of Anzac Pde....Reckon the name came from the striking similarity to the testing terrain our soldiers faced in Turkey). Sydney road maintenance is at best just patchwork....more reactive than proactive with a polly-filla mentality....I suppose when you are a cash strapped state gov't that can't even get drivers to use a tunnel that's meant to make your life that much easier even using a half price incentive, then I suppose fixing roads ain't too high on the priority list.

My question to you Mike is are you happy to make do with how things are? Do you feel as though this is as good as it gets? Or, do you feel as though if all cyclists actually do get behind an organisation such as Sydney's equivalent of Bicycle Victoria, that we do actually have a chance of perhaps improving our lot? Ie, see more actual marked bike lanes (remember in most cases it's just paint), more bike friendly grates, better roads for those well known popular cycle routes?..............

Originally Posted by Jeytown

oh no another melbournite giving us there opinon

boy where would we be without melbourne telling us how good they are

oh well what can i say we dont thave the mauch lauded RMIT (cough cough splutter) but at least were starting im sure that we will get there

its amazing riding around with your ipod on

how amazingly curteous to other road users do you sing along as well

was your accident at the same time that you had your ipod on

overall its good to hear your okay and that everything is working out for you accidents are never good for anyone

cheers

Originally Posted by artemidorus

Mate, all of the OP's points are true. Some Sydney drivers have quite a homicidal attitude towards cyclists that I have never seen elsewhere, although I gather some bits of the US are worse.
There is something quite wrong with the culture that has bred these people; pretty place but it can churn out some ugly-minded types. If it weren't for all my family and friends being here, I'd be out of here.
This ugly-mindedness seems to be particularly Anglo-Saxon; go riding in almost any part of continental Europe and you simply won't see the same kind of vile behaviour.
Before you ask, I'm Anglo-Saxon/Celtic and Sydney born and bred, too.

Originally Posted by Jeytown

it seems
that pgando

has gone silent on the issue

i and (people will dissagree) feel that when you are on the road that you act and dress accordingly

ie. wear reflective vests
have lights
all the safety gear

so what you dont look cool you stay alive i have seen many cars and everyone else pay more attention (for the safe reasons of course )dressed like a bad looking road worker than when i look a bad tdf impersonator

i am not sayin that this occours with pgando or anyone else however most road riders dont dress like they deserve attention and i believe that is 85 % of the problem when it comes to road conflict if your dressed like tdf

then expect some resentment from cars becasue plain and simply

they cant see you

look at motorcycles in NSW up until recently it was a regulation that the front light be always hardwired on

why because of visual problems with cars and the like along with other issues

i believe cyclists are in this category and once we adopt a more safer approach conflicts will be less of an occourance

once again you can never predict accidents and they arent good to be in

but if you act safe you will be safe

remember it was only a few weeks ago that CFSMTB said that cyclists were getting booked for not wearing the correct gear on there bikes in (wait for it )

MELBOURNE

bicycle vic , bicycle nsw , bicycle iraq, bicycle anywhere

whatever

their only advisory committees to the state road authority if you want action in your area

it starts with you

that i guess will be all i will add to this debate over the long skinngy between melb and syd

now after that rant im going to get a horlicks

once again the views expressed here are not necessarily he views of the cyclists of nsw

no offence just my view

democracy and all that

cheers

Originally Posted by mikesbytes

Guys, save your energy for the Authorities. Everyone agrees that conditions should be better.

Pgando, what are you going to do about riding while you are living in Sydney?

Originally Posted by Jeytown

so i believe if we build a bridge big enough ...........................................

Originally Posted by nitrous

Bloody Sydneysiders - always going on about their bridge!

Originally Posted by mikesbytes

I saw this article on a bike ferry underneath that bridge of yours over the port. Is there no bicycle and walking facilities? When I lived in Auckland, it sucked that you couldn't ride over the Auckland Harbour Bridge.