today's ride

Zebee Johnstone said:

A ped waved me through the wider bit between the trees on the footpath
after the tunnel under the train, yeah riding o the path is naughty,
but riding up the road in that bit is more than I can feel comfortable
doing right now as buses, taxis, sudden swerving "must be in that lane"
and tired legs don't mix.. I slowed and almost stopped and went quite
wide of her, and she stopped and waved me through with a smile. I thanked
her and we both headed in our respective directions.

I often ride on that footpath, going up, for the same reasons as you.
And coming back down, I _always_ use it. There aren't really many
alternatives for a cyclist, if you want to go back through that tunnel.

Quoted message said:

On the whole, a good ride. A little less puffed, a little less
intimidated, and still heaps of fun despite the wet.

I didn't mind the rain. Not cold enough to be cold, not heavy enough
to be painful. Sure has cut the number of peds and cyclists though!
Pyrmont bridge was relatively clear of both, and so was the Harbour
Bridge.

I learned a lesson this morning, the hard way. On Pyrmont Bridge, keep
*well* clear of the monorail when it's raining and a train is coming. The
train sprays a lot of water on anyone unlucky enough to be underneath
or just off to one side.

--
beerwolf (remove numbers from email address)

In aus.bicycle on Fri, 12 May 2006 23:43:28 +1000

beerwolf said:

I learned a lesson this morning, the hard way. On Pyrmont Bridge, keep
*well* clear of the monorail when it's raining and a train is coming. The
train sprays a lot of water on anyone unlucky enough to be underneath
or just off to one side.

Ouch!

GOod to know, never would have occurred to me.

I suppose it is just an elevated bus....

Zebee

beerwolf said:

I often ride on that footpath, going up, for the same reasons as you.
And coming back down, I _always_ use it. There aren't really many
alternatives for a cyclist, if you want to go back through that tunnel.

If you're coming off <thinks> Miller? St - anyway, the one that's just up
the hill from the station - you can head down towards Blues Pt, then cut
through a little park. This leads you though back streets to the other
side of the tunnel, and is legal.

Coming back that way doesn't work because it's too narrow to reasonably go
the wrong way on a one way street after the tunnel, which is why the bike
lane ends there. [1] The highway isn't too bad, though you get the odd
[censored]. I suppose you could go through the back of Milsons Pt, but it'd
be fairly blah. The footpath seems to be pretty accepted as a cycleway, so
it might even be worth lobbying for it to be formally declared.

My preferred option city bound was to head down the hill toward Blues Pt
then turn at the lights, which comes out at the roundabout in Milsons Pt.
But only because I liked to go close to the speed limit.

[1] For those who don't know this area, it's a one way street with a bike
lane going in the opposite direction. So yes, we bloody bike riders are
going the wrong way, but we're allowed to.

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
Oh, loneliness and cheeseburgers are a dangerous mix.
- Comic Book Guy

In aus.bicycle on Sat, 13 May 2006 10:13:15 +1000

Random Data said:

beerwolf said:

I often ride on that footpath, going up, for the same reasons as you.
And coming back down, I _always_ use it. There aren't really many
alternatives for a cyclist, if you want to go back through that tunnel.

If you're coming off <thinks> Miller? St - anyway, the one that's just up
the hill from the station - you can head down towards Blues Pt, then cut
through a little park. This leads you though back streets to the other
side of the tunnel, and is legal.

No, it's going the other way. Off the bridge, go left so you can go
right on the street, up the hill, through the roundabout, up the
bicycle lane that is there so you can go the wrong way up a one way
street, right into the tunnel under the railway.

Now you have the choice to go on the road and brave buses, taxis, and
swerving cars wanting to turn left into the road the station's on, or
use the footpath.

Quoted message said:

be fairly blah. The footpath seems to be pretty accepted as a cycleway, so
it might even be worth lobbying for it to be formally declared.

An interesting idea.... I wonder what North Sydney council would
say... It's not too bad at the tunnel end, but there would need to be
some clear traffic management at the Walker St lights - quite a few
peds come out of the station and use those lights.

Zebee

Zebee Johnstone said:

Got waved through a roundabout by a 4WD,

What did the driver think about his vehicle taking such liberties?

I think I also got waved by a considerate driver the other day. Well,
it was more of a jab than a wave, but I'm sure the sentiment was
there! Concerned with my safety, I expect. ;-)

There I was minding my own business on the Princes Highway about two
thirds of the way through my 27km commute. Stopped at traffic lights,
first in the queue, and positioned at the centre of the left hand
lane, as I always am at traffic lights. There were two lanes going
forward, mine and the one to my right (which is also a right hand turn
lane). The lane to my left is a left hand turn lane, so visually
speaking, it looks like I'm situated in the middle of the road.

So far so good. Lights turn green, we all set off calmly and
peacefully, and at or near the far side of the intersection I shift
over to the left to let some cars through (which I can see in my rear
vision mirror), as there was ample room. Still good, and cars begin to
pass me at a safe distance but within the same lane. Just prior to
this I heard a couple of stifled beeps come from somewhere behind and
to the right, but with a road full of cars, who could know who did the
beeping and for what purpose? Anyway, moments afterwards I see a
Mitsubishi Starwagon-type van pull past in the right hand lane, and
over the roof of a passing car I happen to notice a man leaning
backwards, looking out of his left hand windows (I'm not talking about
the front passenger window) in my general direction, and madly
gesticulating towards the left (while not watching where he was
driving).

Now, I suppose the sign language was probably directed towards me (why
I suppose that I don't know), and I further suppose that he must have
been urgently suggesting I take the left hand turn for some reason I
couldn't fathom. Actually, it is more likely that (b) get off the road
or (c) keep to the left, is the correct answer. But who can know what
these silly mime games actually mean? When you stop to think about it,
you see how pathetic it is that, locked in a moving cage of metal, a
fellow with obviously some urgent and important message to
communicate, couldn't simply pause and exchange thoughts with another
person, but could only be pathetically borne away towards another day
of wage slavery.

To those who ask why I ride to wage slavery (almost said 'work'😉
instead of drive, I might simply ask, "How many people did you say
good morning to on the way to work?" Three or four is a nice average
for me.

David

--

David Trudgett
http://www.zeta.org.au/~wpower/

To benefit by others' killing and delude oneself into the belief that
one is being very religious and non-violent is sheer self-deception.

-- Mohandas Gandhi, "Non-Violence in Peace and War", Navajivan
Publishing, 1948, II-68, cited in Merton, Thomas, "Gandhi on
Non-Violence", New Directions, 1964, p.58.

In aus.bicycle on Sat, 13 May 2006 18:25:00 +1000

David Trudgett said:

Zebee Johnstone said:

Got waved through a roundabout by a 4WD,

What did the driver think about his vehicle taking such liberties?

Well, you know what the reports say when one crashes, the driver's
never involved...

Quoted message said:

To those who ask why I ride to wage slavery (almost said 'work'😉
instead of drive, I might simply ask, "How many people did you say
good morning to on the way to work?" Three or four is a nice average
for me.

I do it for the exercise and the pleasure. The smiles and hellos and
chats at the lights are a bonus.

Mostly with pedestrians though... other cyclists tend to just ride on
by. Probably because we are going in the same direction, plenty of
smiles and greetings on the cycle paths from those going the other
way.

Zebee

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

be fairly blah. The footpath seems to be pretty accepted as a cycleway,
so
it might even be worth lobbying for it to be formally declared.

An interesting idea.... I wonder what North Sydney council would
say... It's not too bad at the tunnel end, but there would need to be
some clear traffic management at the Walker St lights - quite a few
peds come out of the station and use those lights.

Zebee

I thought it was a shared path. Arent there some of those little signs up?
Maybe not, according to the North Sydney Bike Plan map at
www.northsydney.nsw.gov.au/resources/documents/NorthSydney_Bikeplan.pdf

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