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

 

[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 with the Melways & then drive the cage around to have a look at any potential hazards (such as traffic), before riding. Beach road early on the weekends is OK, but gets busy later in the day. Cagers know better than to 'do' beach road early on the weekends,

Cheers,

Hitchy

 

[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

 

[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]

 

[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

 

[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