so this last week both social media and mainstream media exploded with the push for single file riding to become law. what surprised me was that the offending facebook page has been active for quite a while and what was it about this week that made it take off. i am assuming that trump didn’t do anything stupid enough and the media outlets were a bit hard up for content. the premise is that drivers want a law to force cyclists to ride in single file as it is safer for the riders. safety. well i am glad that there is someone else looking out for our safety. so lets analyse this a bit. a group of riders whether in a single file or not are riding on a road. are they unsafe??? what is it about riders that are two-abreast that makes it so unsafe??? the road surface is the same, the riders are still interacting with each other. what makes it dangerous??? if it is unsafe, it is the actions of other road users that makes it unsafe for cyclists to be two-abreast. so if we were going to legislate for safety, why not legislate against the party that was making it unsafe. well we did, and the 1m rule has been applied to most states in australia. unfortunately, the backlash from this law has meant that there is a ground swell of discontent that say that it just isn’t fair. if i have to give you 1m, then you should only ride single file. well, i believe that riding two-abreast is safer for cyclists and here is why; the drivers see you. if they are complaining about you, it means that they see you. the majority of cycling related fatalities in this country are due to distracted drivers cleaning up single rider cyclists that are usually riding on the shoulder and generally minding their own business. it is rare that a group of riders is involved in an incident, as drivers see us. laws change to improve safety, not to appease those that feel that they are being inconvenienced. my advice is not to engage on social media, and continue to do what we are doing. just keep it respectful on the road, and adjust your riding style to suit the situation. if traffic is banking up, go single to let them through. if the road furniture makes it dangerous to overtake, then take the lane until it is safe. don’t use the excuse that “it’s the law to ride two-abreast”, ride in a way that allows everyone to get where they need to go, without someone going home in an ambulance.
ride leader sponsor – the ride leader sponsor for june is wa cyclocross. cyclocross is a cross between road and mountain biking usually held on a grass or dirt circuit. there are divisions for all abilities and a kids race before on a shortened circuit.
check out any of the events coming up soon and get on down to ring a cowbell.
earlybird lights – the nights are dark and full of terrors, so that is why you need to have a good set of operating lights on your bike during the earlybird. on the thursday group 3 ride, there were 3 people that did not have operating lights on their bikes. if it is a once off “my lights just died” situation, then fine, but don’t argue, just apologise and say you will have them fixed before the next ride. there is a very big risk that you can be cleaned up by a car because they can’t see you. especially since people seem to wear a lot of black kit during winter. if your lights are repeatably failing, then it is time to buy some new ones. as we have always said, no front flashers and make sure your rear is not on retina burn mode for the people trying to follow your wheel.
spr general meeting – a few years ago the state government made some changes to the associations act that has meant every clubs constitution needs to change. to do this, we need to hold a general meeting to vote on and accept the changes. our meeting will be on the 9th june after the main ride and will be held at the coffee shop. unlike the agm, there will not be a breakfast, but you will need to sign in so we can document how many people were in attendance to vote. the previous post has a link to the new constitution, so have a look and table any feedback before the meeting so we can discuss any changes.
spr tomr 2018 – are you interested in this years tour of margaret river??? if so, check out the previous post for more information and send in your expression of interest. make sure you read some of the race reports to understand just how good this event is, or have a chat to a previous entrant at the coffee shop after the ride.
social sub-committee – we are looking for a few members to assist in the running of the spr social sub-committee. the occasional breakfast, grand tour dinner and other out of lycra events are on the cards for this year. check out the previous post if you can help out.
entertainment books – we will again be selling entertainment books this year through the club. the digital versions actually come online now and last years don’t finish till the end of june allowing you twice as many offers for 3 months. check out the links on the previous post to find out more.
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.
from the ride coordinator – stay upright.
saturday 2nd june
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 1/2 – trans canning vale 42.34km spr saturday
fast/main – maddington 51.87km spr saturday
sunday 3rd june
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 – carr peet obs 97.72km spr sunday
monday 4th june – wa day
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am
south stock 33.76km spr monday
all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am
main rides – public hol 58.97km spr special
tuesday 5th june
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
wednesday 6th june
ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am
interval training – stock road repeats
thursday 7th june
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 8th june
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am