so to save me from trying to think of something insightful or witty thing to write about this week, toby brown has posted a very important piece to his facebook page. with his permission i have copied the majority of it below as i totally agree with the message and sentiment of what he has written.
If you ride in Western Australia this summer, you are riding directly into the zeitgeist. The constant irritation that has been bubbling away between cyclists and motorists in our state for the last few years is coming to the boiling point.
What’s turned up the heat? In my estimation, three main things.
Firstly, and we should get this out of the way early as it is beyond the scope of this discussion, is the fact that cycling infrastructure spending has not kept pace with the development and growth of the sport. This means that cyclists and motorists are interacting much more than they have in the past. We as cyclists hear a constant grousing from motorists that cyclists ‘belong on the bike paths’. Believe me, we would all prefer to ride in an environment that is free from the dangers that come from riding close to traffic. The truth is though, without purpose built infrastructure it is just not going to happen. We will continue to share roads with motorists.
The second issue that brings up the temperature in this near boiling point environment is the proliferation of new technology which gives both motorists, and cyclists, the ability to record each other’s poor behaviour and then post it on social media. Both sides do it. In fact Western Australians are so good at this we have become a fertile ground for tech start-ups that produce really great cameras for bikes that record endless hours of motorists behaving poorly. Dash cams in cars, and yes, drivers recording on their mobile phones do the same thing. We are adept at catching each other doing something stupid and airing it out in the public domain. We find it vindicating that we are right in our side of the debate. Cyclists are dumb and should be on the bike paths. Motorists are entitled and show little regard for human life. Evidence now exists that both of these statements are true.
Finally, the straw on the camel’s proverbial? The 1m rule. The safe passing legislation. The cycling community and lobby groups have long wanted legislation that protects vulnerable road users. After all, what is legislation if it’s not a means to regulate people’s behaviour who have shown that they can’t regulate it themselves? The 1m rule is necessary. It’s a sad fact that cyclists have died on Western Australian roads because motorists have been too close, too impatient, and perhaps just too preoccupied.
And it works. The anecdotal feedback from the cyclists is that since the implementation of the safe passing legislation, they have felt safer on the roads. Motorists have been more respectful, more patient, and have been giving more room. Its great and it will save lives.
However, there has been an unintended consequence. We, the cycling community have demanded better behaviour from the motoring public. Now they in turn they are demanding better behaviour from us.
And rightly so.
We are now moving into a new era, where all road users are going to hold each other to account for the way we use the roads. As a cyclist, if you are doing something unsafe, illegal, or just plain stupid, you should expect it to be filmed. You should also expect to be held to account for your behaviour in the court of public opinion.
As such, there are a whole lot of cycling norms that need to be re-examined.
Riding over the white lines on the Wednesday afternoon ride. Over.
Drafting vehicles on public roads. Over.
Boxing Day Pappas. Genuinely, over.
A failure to reconcile these old behaviours and norms with the new reality we find ourselves in is just going to end badly for everyone. You will inflame tensions, you will lose sponsorship for your teams and ultimately you will risk lives.
Have a safe and merry Christmas, and be safe and respectful out on the roads.
NOTE: Zeitgeist (/ˈzaɪtɡaɪst/) is the dominant set of ideals and beliefs that motivate the actions of the members of a society in a particular period in time.
ride leader sponsor – the ride leader sponsor for december is Travis Meyer from Finance Detective. Travis Meyer is an ex-professional cyclist having raced with some of the biggest teams in the world such as Orica-GreenEdge & Garmin Slipstream. He has turned his attention to his new venture, as a Mortgage & Finance Broker, working alongside the best in the business, Finance Detective. please see the previous post for more details.
xmas breakfast and awards – as xmas this year falls on a monday, the final saturday ride and corresponding breakfast will be on the 23rd dec. this will be the annual dress-up ride so we hope to see some inventive costumes and bike decorations. as always we like to take this time to acknowledge peoples achievements throughout the year. some awards are decided by the social committee, some by the president and others by the riders. remember that breakfast is $15 cash at the door for a coffee and buffet. don’t bring your credit card.
club survey – the club survey results have been posted so have a look to see what areas the club will be concentrating on next year. the additional comments will also be replied to, as we want to make sure everyone understands where the club stands on certain issues. the winner of the ipad will be drawn at the xmas breakfast on 23rd dec.
2018 licences renewal – any race licence that you purchase now will be valid until the end of 2018. recreational licences are a year from the date purchased, but race licences are for a calendar year. if you are looking at changing clubs and wish to join spr, then now is the time to do it. a club change before a renewal is free, so get it done now then when you renew you will be a member of spr.
group sizes and ride etiquette – a timely reminder from our training and development officer on just why we split the ride up into certain size groups. why we need to keep separated on the road and what it means for your safety. have a read of the previous post, because if you get pulled up for one of these issues don’t expect that “i didn’t know” to be a valid excuse.
t
hursday training ride – we implemented a new system of splitting the thursday group ride to keep the size manageable. we think that we have come up with a good way of splitting the groups, but we need you to be honest about your own abilities. have a look at the strava segment for the ride so you know where you sit. there is nothing to stop you stepping up to challenge yourself, but this will at least provide a guide as to how much more challenging it will be.
saturday start locations – we have revamped the group start locations on saturday morning. please have a look at the map so you know where your group will congregate. this makes it easier for ride leaders to give you a briefing before the ride starts. see the previous post for more details.
christmas day ride – not an official ride, but the “mr bonner christmas spectacular” will leave the carpark at 7:00am. if you don’t have any family commitments, then come along for an easy, mostly flat ride.
ride routes – there will be a small change this saturday. as we are now getting so many groups at the start, the lower groups are leaving later and later. as they take longer on the ride, they are getting to the coffee shop even later again. as we want as many people there for the breakfast and awards, this week there will be a split between main 1 and 2. fast/fast2/main1 will all go on one course while main2/3/4 will take another. the transitional groups will head out first followed by 2-3-4, then fast-fast2-main1. hopefully this means that people don’t miss out at the coffee shop.
saturday 23rd december
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special
all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am
development group – novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday
transitional – trans mosman 40.39km spr saturday
main 2/3/4 – shelley & mosman 50.14km spr saturday
fast/fast2/main 1 – freo & canning vale 52.11km spr saturday
sunday 24th december – christmas eve
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special
all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am
development group – coffee ride
short – brktn weir 82.89km spr sunday
long – cann dam 100.13km spr sunday
monday 25th december – christmas day
rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am
mr bonner christmas spectacular
tuesday 26th december – boxing day
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
spr tuesday 36.37km (river ride)
ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am
development group – interval training kings park
all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am
public hol 58.97km spr special
wednesday 27th december
ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am
interval training – stock road repeats
thursday 28th december
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
see previous post for ride groups
spr thursday 37.26km (cott & freo)
ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am
development group – interval training kings park
friday 29th december
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am