drivers awake.... no, perhaps not.....

[Yuri Budilov]

last Sunday, 4:30 pm or so, I got nearly collected by a car's passenger side
mirror..... Mr Honda Civic just had to change lanes right in front of
me...... Every time I ride there is at least one moron driver ready to take
my life and/or limb...... and I am getting quite sick of it....... I am sure
many of you have experienced these types of events (or worse).

So I am thinking of riding in the mornings on Saturday's and Sundays
only...... looking for a safe riding time window......

Question to all:

do you consider riding between ~8am and ~9:30am on Saturdays and Sundays to
be much safer (from cars) than riding at other times during the weekend? I
am trying to find a car-safe-riding-window for all seasons down here in
Melbourne and quite often it is still dark-ish in June-July-Aug at ~7-7:30
am..... By 8am in the middle of winter it is normally light outside......

And another question: how safe is Beach Road, from ~Black Rock to ~St
Kilda/Middle Park on the weekends during 8am and 9:30 am? I generally only
ride on my own, not in group (a personal preference)

thanks in advance for any tips! Safe riding to all, watch out for 4-wheel
animals out there....

 

[blah]

Every time I ride there is at least one moron driver ready to take
> my life and/or limb...... and I am getting quite sick of it....... I am sure
> many of you have experienced these types of events (or worse).

> do you consider riding between ~8am and ~9:30am on Saturdays and Sundays to
> be much safer (from cars) than riding at other times during the weekend?

No, I think it's pretty random. There will always be morons out. Of
course, there are more cyclists out in the mornings, so that would at
least help raise awareness... safety (ha ha) in numbers...

 

[hippy]

"blah" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Every time I ride there is at least one moron driver ready to take
> > my life and/or limb...... and I am getting quite sick of it....... I
am sure
> > many of you have experienced these types of events (or worse).

Yep. Get used to it and practise safe riding.

> > do you consider riding between ~8am and ~9:30am on Saturdays and
Sundays to
> > be much safer (from cars) than riding at other times during the
weekend?
>
> No, I think it's pretty random. There will always be morons out. Of
> course, there are more cyclists out in the mornings, so that would at
> least help raise awareness... safety (ha ha) in numbers...

Actually, find that there are MANY more cars out on the road
after 10-11am and these extra numbers hang around for most
of the day. I often don't wake up early enough for the early
bunch rides and end up out late morning or early afternoon.
During summer at least, riding as early as possible is better for
less cars and less heat. Winter just means you need lights.
Just think about most people's habits - sleep in on weekends
and then go out shopping, etc. for the day.
Beach Rd. has always appeared pretty tame to me. I dodge
more riders than cars there usually. The only part I would
consider 'risky' is when you get closer to St. Kilda and have
to be aware of people opening car doors into your path.

hth
hippy

 

[John Doe]

"Yuri Budilov" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:YX%[email protected]...
> last Sunday, 4:30 pm or so, I got nearly collected by a car's passenger
side
> mirror..... Mr Honda Civic just had to change lanes right in front of
> me...... Every time I ride there is at least one moron driver ready to
take
> my life and/or limb...... and I am getting quite sick of it....... I am
sure
> many of you have experienced these types of events (or worse).
>
> So I am thinking of riding in the mornings on Saturday's and Sundays
> only...... looking for a safe riding time window......
>
> Question to all:
>
> do you consider riding between ~8am and ~9:30am on Saturdays and Sundays
to
> be much safer (from cars) than riding at other times during the weekend? I
> am trying to find a car-safe-riding-window for all seasons down here in
> Melbourne and quite often it is still dark-ish in June-July-Aug at ~7-7:30
> am..... By 8am in the middle of winter it is normally light outside......
>
> And another question: how safe is Beach Road, from ~Black Rock to ~St
> Kilda/Middle Park on the weekends during 8am and 9:30 am? I generally only
> ride on my own, not in group (a personal preference)
>
> thanks in advance for any tips! Safe riding to all, watch out for 4-wheel
> animals out there....
>
>

Find that riding in the dark with lots of lighting is better than riding in
first light. I find that at 5am there are not many cars on the road. I
find it more enjoyable as I hate the cars. Mostly these are tradesment on
their way to work. Always polite but that maybe because they can overtake
me very easily. I am extremely well lit like a disco even to the point
where people will laugh at me (at night not morning - only serious people
out at 5am usually). Man I love it when they laugh cause that means it is
really noticable and out of the ordinary and gives me that confidence boost
that most will see me. My commute on the way home is much less enjoyable
being 6-7pm and people coming home from the pub and lots and lots of
traffic.

Pete

 

[flyingdutch]

Agree

groups are forming everywhere down on beach road from 6am onwards. 8am
seems to be peakhour for bikes starting off from StK

the orads are wide and drivers are constantly remnded to be on the look
out for bikes

the biggest danger is getting sucked into a way-too-fast-peleton
going by...

ah, the puppy instincts dont go away after 30!



--

 

[Hitchy]

g'day

more importantly than what time you ride, is probably WHERE you ride
After all, a busy road is a busy road. Perhaps do a bit of research wit
the Melways & then drive the cage around to have a look at any potentia
hazards (such as traffic), before riding. Beach road early on th
weekends is OK, but gets busy later in the day. Cagers know better tha
to 'do' beach road early on the weekends

Cheers

Hitch


-

 

[hippy]

"John Doe" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> that most will see me. My commute on the way home is much less
enjoyable
> being 6-7pm and people coming home from the pub and lots and lots of
> traffic.

Coming home from the pub at 6-7pm pfft!! What's
this country coming to?! ;-) Bring back Boonie!

hippy

 

[Dale Stanbrough]

In article <YX%[email protected]>,
"Yuri Budilov" <[email protected]> wrote:

> last Sunday, 4:30 pm or so, I got nearly collected by a car's passenger side
> mirror..... Mr Honda Civic just had to change lanes right in front of
> me...... Every time I ride there is at least one moron driver ready to take
> my life and/or limb...... and I am getting quite sick of it....... I am sure
> many of you have experienced these types of events (or worse).
>
> So I am thinking of riding in the mornings on Saturday's and Sundays
> only...... looking for a safe riding time window......


A solution that I came up with was to have a wide stick/umbrella/fishing
rod strapped sideways on my pannier.

Cars drive as close as they can to the most sticky out bit of your
bike. I put them out another 45-60cms away with this, and it seems
to work well. I personally prefer a flexible stick so that I can
still squeeze by cars without damaging them.

Another thing I do is to wobble my bike all over the place when
riding up hills so that drivers think i'm unpredictable - they
tend to give me more room when passing.

Apart from the buses that is...

Dale

--
[email protected]

 

[NickZX6R]

Yuri Budilov <[email protected]> wrote:
> last Sunday, 4:30 pm or so, I got nearly collected by a car's passenger side
> mirror..... Mr Honda Civic just had to change lanes right in front of
> me...... Every time I ride there is at least one moron driver ready to take
> my life and/or limb...... and I am getting quite sick of it....... I am sure
> many of you have experienced these types of events (or worse).

> So I am thinking of riding in the mornings on Saturday's and Sundays
> only...... looking for a safe riding time window......

> Question to all:

> do you consider riding between ~8am and ~9:30am on Saturdays and Sundays to
> be much safer (from cars) than riding at other times during the weekend? I
> am trying to find a car-safe-riding-window for all seasons down here in
> Melbourne and quite often it is still dark-ish in June-July-Aug at ~7-7:30
> am..... By 8am in the middle of winter it is normally light outside......

> And another question: how safe is Beach Road, from ~Black Rock to ~St
> Kilda/Middle Park on the weekends during 8am and 9:30 am? I generally only
> ride on my own, not in group (a personal preference)

> thanks in advance for any tips! Safe riding to all, watch out for 4-wheel
> animals out there....


I usually ride early in the morning. Mainly because there's much less
traffic and it leaves more of the day for other stuff.

I think it's safer early in the morning because there are fewer cars
around, but quite a few times over the years I've seen cars running
through red lights at speed, presumably half ******, exhausted or
otherwise out of it. So maybe a higher proportion of drivers at that
time are a danger.

But mostly, if there are less cars around, it makes a more enjoyable
ride I reckon.

Cheers.
-Nick

 

[DRS]

flyingdutch <[email protected]> wrote in message
[email protected]
> Agree
>
> groups are forming everywhere down on beach road from 6am onwards. 8am
> seems to be peakhour for bikes starting off from StK

Are there any for people without racing bikes?

--

"The central problem with the concept of the 'Axis of Evil' is that it
involves an assumption that the US is the 'fulcrum of virtue'."
Bob Hawke, former Prime Minister of Australia

 

[hippy]

"DRS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> flyingdutch <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > groups are forming everywhere down on beach road from 6am onwards.
8am
> > seems to be peakhour for bikes starting off from StK
>
> Are there any for people without racing bikes?

I've seen bunches of mtb'ers and mtb'ers within
'roadie' groups. Comfort bikes could equally
form a bunch but this isn't too common. If you
can keep up with a bunch, I see no reason why
you can't join in, unless they are doing specific
training or they are just pr*cks that you should
avoid anyway.

hippy