Beach Road - Sunday morning - 11 Dec - (Melb)

[Dancier]

Yesterday we left Federation Square at 7.30am heading towards Flinders. So we headed down St Kilda road onto Kerford road then onto Beach road. Well they had the road blocked from Port Melbourne to Elwood for a triathlon which had not started.



The only option for bike riders was down the bike path which was not that favourable for the quantity of riders that were on it. About two kilometres from Kerford road someone decided to just ride on the road and of course everyone followed for an unhindered ride up too Elwood.



The thing that annoyed me off the most was that they had that road blocked for at least an hour before the race started, you would think that they would let the bikes through in that time.

 

[ritcho]

[snip]

The thing that annoyed me off the most was that they had that road blocked for at least an hour before the race started, you would think that they would let the bikes through in that time.

It is reasonable to block the road off in advance of a race. Should they wait until the first athletes ride through?

Ritch

 

[Marx SS]

I did Beach rd to Franger on Saturday & noticed the signs about rd closures for Sunday (maybe I should have posted Sat night, oops).

I suppose road closures would exclude cyclists as well as cars because, well I suppose bikes are traffic too. Also I think we’ve all seen what can happen when you get bikes en-mass, sometimes red lights & even on-coming traffic don’t stand a chance, so to allow cyclists on the road closures would mean that it would be difficult to cease the bikes using the closed off roads when the tri-athletes are actually coming through.

With the ‘popularity’ of Beach rd you would think that between the time of 6am – 11am the road would be off limits to vehicular traffic regardless..…..

 

[DaveB]

Dancier wrote:
> ::Yesterday we left Federation Square at 7.30am heading towards
> Flinders. So we headed down St Kilda road onto Kerford road then onto
> Beach road. Well they had the road blocked from Port Melbourne to
> Elwood for a triathlon which had not started. ::
>
> :: ::
>
> ::The only option for bike riders was down the bike path which was not
> that favourable for the quantity of riders that were on it. About two
> kilometres from Kerford road someone decided to just ride on the road
> and of course everyone followed for an unhindered ride up too Elwood.
> ::
>
> :: ::
>
> ::The thing that annoyed me off the most was that they had that road
> blocked for at least an hour before the race started, you would think
> that they would let the bikes through in that time.::
>
>

Given the attitude of some Beach Rd riders I'm not surprised they block
off access to everyone well in advance of the race. I've seen groups of
riders completely ignore marshalls and ride straight onto the course
during the race (and you provide a good example above of where
instructions were ignored by one, and followed by the rest). It hardly
makes for a situation where organisers are going to cut anyone some
slack. And don't tell me they would get off the course if the race had
started because they'll only know that when they hit the first race group.

The attitude of some is astounding. I was racing down there last year
and two social riders refused to get off the course despite repeated
requests from the marshalls on motorbikes. Eventually they were forced
off the road.

Besides if it takes 15 mins for social riders to get from the start to
out of the course, an hour ahead for the block sounds fairly reasonable
to me.

DaveB

 

[MikeyOz]

Yesterday we left Federation Square at 7.30am heading towards Flinders. So we headed down St Kilda road onto Kerford road then onto Beach road. Well they had the road blocked from Port Melbourne to Elwood for a triathlon which had not started.



The only option for bike riders was down the bike path which was not that favourable for the quantity of riders that were on it. About two kilometres from Kerford road someone decided to just ride on the road and of course everyone followed for an unhindered ride up too Elwood.



The thing that annoyed me off the most was that they had that road blocked for at least an hour before the race started, you would think that they would let the bikes through in that time.

its Triathlon season.... you need to be aware of that for January and February as well... but at least you know now and they have every right to block off the road up to an hour before hand... I have ridden down there on training rides when a triathlon is on... there are plenty of bypass options....

 

[Dancier]

It is reasonable to block the road off in advance of a race. Should they wait until the first athletes ride through?

Ritch

There were bikes on both side of the road when I was riding on the path and I just thought they were part of the event but as it turned out the event had not started at that stage.

They could of put tempory bike lanes in and cleared them 15 minutes prior to the event starting, they had marshals on every street corner and a big police presence.

In some ways I think they expected people to ride on the road even though they did not want them there. I would assume that they would of swept the course with police bikes just prior to event starting anyway.

 

[DaveB]

Dancier wrote:
> ritcho Wrote:
>
>>It is reasonable to block the road off in advance of a race. Should they
>>wait until the first athletes ride through?
>>
>>Ritch
>
> There were bikes on both side of the road when I was riding on the path
> and I just thought they were part of the event but as it turned out the
> event had not started at that stage.
>
> They could of put tempory bike lanes in and cleared them 15 minutes
> prior to the event starting, they had marshals on every street corner
> and a big police presence.

The last thing anyone wants to be doing 15 mins before a race is changes
to the course. That's why they get permits for the road well in advance
of the start time.

>
> In some ways I think they expected people to ride on the road even
> though they did not want them there. I would assume that they would of
> swept the course with police bikes just prior to event starting anyway.
>

They do but it's usually one police bike, and that's just to verify
there is nobody out there, not to direct traffic off the course.

DaveB

 

[Euan]

>>>>> "Dancier" == Dancier <[email protected]> writes:

Dancier> ::Yesterday we left Federation Square at 7.30am heading
Dancier> towards Flinders. So we headed down St Kilda road onto
Dancier> Kerford road then onto Beach road. Well they had the road
Dancier> blocked from Port Melbourne to Elwood for a triathlon which
Dancier> had not started. ::

Yeah, there's a bloody good reason for that. It's called public
liability. The race is not allowed to start until the police give the
go ahead and given that the police are not going to give the go ahead
for the event to start until the roads are clear then it's hardly
surprising there's a bit of lead time.

So you had to divert from your intended route, big deal. Get over it,
there were over 2,000 paying participants in that event and they had
every right to the road.

There are plenty of more worthwhile things to be annoyed about, I
suggest you take a reality check and re-assess your priorities. Your
intolerance of what is a healthy, fun and beneficial event is astounding.
--
Cheers | ~~ __@
Euan | ~~ _-\<,
Melbourne, Australia | ~ (*)/ (*)

 

[Dancier]

Yeah, there's a bloody good reason for that. It's called public
liability.

There are plenty of more worthwhile things to be annoyed about, I
suggest you take a reality check and re-assess your priorities. Your
intolerance of what is a healthy, fun and beneficial event is astounding.

Public liability - What about all the riders on the footpath that were diverted, there was a lot of danger their but obviously in your mind they do not count.

Why am I intolerant and why do I need to take a reality check when the suggestion was to have lanes open until 15 minutes prior to the race. When you are told to get off the course, you do just that.

Usually people coming out with such statements as intolerant and you need to re-assess your priorities are the ones that need help the most.

 

[ritcho]

Public liability - What about all the riders on the footpath that were diverted, there was a lot of danger their but obviously in your mind they do not count.

Why am I intolerant and why do I need to take a reality check when the suggestion was to have lanes open until 15 minutes prior to the race. When you are told to get off the course, you do just that.

Usually people coming out with such statements as intolerant and you need to re-assess your priorities are the ones that need help the most.

There's more than just Beach Road in Melbourne - you weren't exactly forced to take the bike path. In any case, you later note that riders went onto the course (contrary to the road closure), casting doubt on the claim that you would get off the course when directed.

An event that closes any road on a quiet Sunday morning poses as little inconvenience as possible, so I think your complaints are ill-founded.

Ritch

 

[Bleve]

Dancier wrote:


Take a deep breath, kids!

Dancier, Euan's right, they have to close the road in the way they do
for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it's a legal
requirement - and it's not a big deal, you can ride lots of other
roads. You don't *have* to ride (illegally!) down the footpath.
There's Nepean Hwy, the back roads behind Beach Rd, there's other
places to go etc. It's a shared resource ...

 

[flyingdutch]

easily Fixed. A part of the new Anti-Terrorism legislation Johnny Howard should outlaw seditious riders with speedo-propelled-tribars
Actively encouraging wobbly riding and 'rrrrr___ing' (cant even say it...) should be stamped out

 

[EuanB]

Public liability - What about all the riders on the footpath that were diverted, there was a lot of danger their but obviously in your mind they do not count.

You didn't have to use the footpath, there were other routes available to you.

Why am I intolerant and why do I need to take a reality check when the suggestion was to have lanes open until 15 minutes prior to the race. When you are told to get off the course, you do just that.

Right, which is why I saw dozens of roadies illegally using the closed road during the event? Impeding competetiors and causing danger? Your suggestion, while well meaning, is far from credible.

Usually people coming out with such statements as intolerant and you need to re-assess your priorities are the ones that need help the most.

Either that or I have more knowledge about what goes in to these events than you do. I work for the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority and have had a lot of exposure in to how public events are regulated and run.

 

[Tamyka Bell]

Dancier wrote:
>
> Euan Wrote:
> >
> > Yeah, there's a bloody good reason for that. It's called public
> > liability.
> >
> > There are plenty of more worthwhile things to be annoyed about, I
> > suggest you take a reality check and re-assess your priorities. Your
> > intolerance of what is a healthy, fun and beneficial event is
> > astounding.
> >
> >
> Public liability - What about all the riders on the footpath that were
> diverted, there was a lot of danger their but obviously in your mind
> they do not count.
>
> Why am I intolerant and why do I need to take a reality check when the
> suggestion was to have lanes open until 15 minutes prior to the race.
> When you are told to get off the course, you do just that.
>
> Usually people coming out with such statements as intolerant and you
> need to re-assess your priorities are the ones that need help the most.
>
> --
> Dancier

Next you'll be saying cyclists should be allowed to ride through the
Anzac Day parades.

Tam

 

[Marx SS]

oh shyit I didn't realise it's illegal to ride on the footpath.

in relation to the inconveniance of the road closures, just thank god you don't live there. Imagine trying to back out of your driveway every weekend with all those pesky bicycles streaming past.......