Campaigners in Australia are fighting to have a rule changed that they believe is "nuts".
Anyone over the age of 16 riding a bicycle on the pavement in New South Wales can be slapped with a $116 fine. In Victoria, the age limit is even lower, anyone over the age 14 can run a risk of being fined up to $182 if found cycling on the footpath. This means cyclists in some of the biggest Australian cities, such as Sydney, Melbourne and its capital Canberra are forced to ride on the roads in traffic due to a lack of segregated cycle infrastructure.
> Melbourne cyclists face £900 fine for breaking 10km/h speed limit in shared zones
All this could soon be set to change, accelerated by the recent decision of Wollongong City Council which officially proposed such a change this week — a move supported by Bicycle NSW, a campaign group which is lobbying for a statewide ruling.
"It has to happen because of the lack of support for separated bike lanes," Edward Hore, President of the Australian Cycling Alliance, told Yahoo News Australia, saying many cyclists are "terrified" at the prospect of using busy roads.
Hore said the areas of main concern is the vast suburban sprawl outside of the Sydney and Melbourne CBDs where there are minimal shared paths or designated bike lanes.
"In places like Blacktown in Sydney there are lots of areas which have high-speed cars and trucks sharing the road with cyclists and they're not allowed to ride on the footpath," Mr Hore said.
"That's just nuts because that's where the crashes happen."
> Aussie cyclists protest mandatory helmet laws with helmet-optional rides
Bicycle NSW chief executive Peter McLean also pointed to the successful co-existence of pedestrians and cyclists on footpaths in other states and abroad, stressing that pedestrians always have the right of way.
Hore dismissed concerns cyclists would cycle too fast on the footpath, saying riders are constantly maintaining a safe speed due to the amount of hazards such as cars exiting driveways. He argued cyclists would be going 20km/h at most, which is a "perfectly safe" speed.
WalkSydney spokeswoman Lena Huda has argued footpaths are already too congested, however, Mr Hore said the busiest footpaths are in the CBD where cyclists only use them once they've reached their destination.
Hmm, riding on the pavement, while illegal in the UK, seems like it would be welcome by cyclists in Australia. But is there a possibility that it could make matters worse with pedestrians and cyclists sharing the pavement? Or could this be the first step towards demanding better segregated infrastructure for cyclists? Let me know in the comments!
The road season is MUCH closer than you think https://t.co/rr9Dx1Kl7G
— Tim Bonville-Ginn (@TimBonvilleGinn) November 16, 2023
What has a video of a bottle of Birra Moretti being opened got to do with Hope Tech you ask? Well, obviously Hope has released a limited edition "crank arm bottle opener" for £40.
Honestly, not a bad product to own or gift (obviously it's overpriced so be it as it may), but was the video really needed?
road.cc regular Jo Burt, and a known aficionado of all things cycling, wasn't very pleased this morning with what he saw on Facebook Marketplace.
they’re asking waaaay too much for this but just look at it. i might crowdfund an intervention to reclaim this amazing lo pro Bob Jackson from it’s fixietwat transgression #facebookmarketplacepic.twitter.com/cTcNKSVo1O
— Jo Burt (@VecchioJo) November 17, 2023
A disgrace, some might even say an abomination! What has happened to the perpetually downhill-rolling, bigger wheel at the back, glorious reverse penny farthings today?
Famously, Francesco Moser, "Lo sceriffo", one of the all-time greats set the world hour record on such a bike, with two seat tubes, a 700c wheel at the front and a custom-built 1030c at the back. It's honestly quite enthralling to watch in action.
But of course, even this bike, is up for grabs at Steel Vintage Bikes.
If you've got the cash, send in an offer and see if that makes someone happy. Just please don't switch the giant back wheel for a regular sized one, and definitely keep UCI off your tail...
I'm not even going to lie, I've most probably dreamt, or more like, had nightmares of things going horribly wrong when building a bike (now that I type this, it's less of a nightmare and more of a certain reality...).
But if, in an ideal world, bike builds weren't a greasy and mucky affair, this is how it would probably go. Can't deny that all black SL8 looks very, very appealing.
According to a report this morning, Rod Ellingworth, the Ineos Grenadiers’ deputy team principal and one of the British squad’s founding members, has resigned from his role amid rumours of internal tensions, according to reports this morning, marking the end of an era for an Ineos team struggling to break out of a prolonged transitional period in recent years...
We know Christmas is coming, so is Black Friday. You might be looking for some bike accessories/upgrades to gift your mates, so you go to Google (as you do today, instead of a bike shop), and maybe type in a vague search query for what you're looking for. And there, you are bombarded with search results from this website called Temu, with price tags too good to be true!
What's Temu, you ask? And are those dirt-cheap products any good? Worry not, the road.cc bought 10 things from Temu, the latest buzzy bargain basement online retailer to crop up amid the cost-of-living crisis, and put them through their paces to see if they're actually any good...
To be fair, the NCN in where I live is pretty damn good. But this... I might need Van Aert-like CX skills to keep myself on the bike, given it's pretty much a stream flowing down there.
The National Cycle Network (Route 26) near Sherborne.
(To be fair, I've heard a local councillor may be working with Sustrans and the landowner to get this stretch improved and/or find an alternative route.) pic.twitter.com/wJlHAbRy3v
— Tom Hallett (@thomashallett) November 16, 2023
Look away now Peter Sagan fans. Something something "wheelies for show, attacking with a broken shoe for dough"...
Ah here we go again, another local police campaign to "keep cyclists safe" by... advising the cyclists.
Just getting this out here by the way: > Study finds that wearing hi-vis can INCREASE chance of collision while cycling
Anyway before we get ahead of ourselves, let's have a quick read of the post from Dorset Police.
Do you cycle to and from work? Wearing suitable clothing can help other road users to notice you.
[⛅] During daylight hours, wearing fluorescent clothing can help you to stand out against your surroundings.
[🌙] Once the sun goes down, cyclists should wear clothing with reflective tabards to help others to see them in the dark.
If you're cycling at night, remember that bikes should be equipped with a white light at the front and a red light and reflector at the back.
Right, nothing to see here, just a few casual rounds of "victim-blaming" according to numerous seething cyclists on social media. Just what the doctor ordered for a Friday morning!
However, Lib Dem councillor from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council Adrian Chapmanlaw wasn't having any of it either. He shared the post on Twitter and Facebook, captioning with the words: "I can't facepalm this enough". I think I would tend to agree.
A cyclist who complained to the police after he was mistakenly pulled over by an officer for “using a mobile phone” while riding on the road – when, in fact, the cyclist was attempting to save footage of a close pass from a lorry driver on his bike camera – was later told that, though there is no specific offence for using an electronic device while riding a bike, his actions could still be deemed “careless and inconsiderate”.
During the incident, after stopping the cyclist the officer erroneously argued that it was illegal to use a phone or electronic device while cycling, telling the rider to “look it up”, said that he would have received a ticket – or been arrested or charged – had she not been on her own, and advised him that not wearing a helmet or hi-vis clothing could lead to him getting “killed or smushed”.