Bicycle music video interlude 3

An oldie but a goody! Warning contains nudity.

You can see the making of this video Here!

Milton has a stack on his bike

One of Canberra's favourite sons crashed his bike into the back of a garbage truck. The Canberra Times Reports:

'Canberra Paralympian Michael Milton is recovering in hospital with spinal, shoulder and rib fractures after a cycling accident in Dickson last week.The five-time Paralympian lost control of his bike along Cowper Street and collided with a garbage truck last Friday.
Milton spent the long weekend in Canberra Hospital in a stable condition, but had no memory of what had caused the accident.
Competing with just one leg, the Paralympic champion has won 22 international ski racing medals and is the fastest snow skier in the world with a disability.
In 2007, Milton also began competing in cycling, winning gold medals at the 2007 and 2008 Australian Track Cycling Championships and overcoming oesophageal cancer to gain selection for the Beijing Paralympic Games.'



This man has certainly had it tough, losing a leg at an early age due to Cancer then going on to win paraolympic gold in skiing and world downhill speed skiing records and then turning his abilities to cycling. If losing a leg wasn't bad enough he then had been diagnosed with oesphageal cancer. He fully recovered after having his oesphagus removed, and then qualifying for the Beijing Games.

Get well soon Michael, you are an inspiration to us all!

Priority works announced

Last year the ACT government commissioned a consultant to prioritize future works in the Pedestrian and Bike path network. At the top of the list is the much muted Civic cycle loop which the Canberra cycle lobby group Pedal Power has been lobbying for. This is a loop of the city will have physically protected cycle lanes. One section of the the loop will be a shared zone, which is on Bunda street.

Bunda Street ,Google View
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As you know I am a big supporter of separated facilities using international best practice ,yet I am surprised that Pedal Power are lobbying for such facilities as they have said that cycle lanes are a 'safe a practical choice' arguing that 'mere perception that cycle lanes are dangerous doesn't make them so'. 

Cycle lanes are used in many countries and in Europe, but there are a set of guidelines for cycle lanes  which are used primarily on low volume-low speed roads. Areas that are 50km/h or less. 

 Cycle lanes are a minimum 2 metre's and are coloured for the entire length not just at intersections. In the ACT and in many Australian cities we have allowed cycle lanes on major arterial roads,highways and freeways without some form of protection.

The Netherlands has over forty years of experience and statistics in improving cycle facilities that are safe for everyone to use ,most roads at 50km/h are physically separated with lower residential speed limits and also in town centre areas. Yet Pedal Power wants to argue that over a short period of 10 years in the ACT, there has been no fatalities recorded on most cycle lanes and only a small number of injures reported.


The consultation was a two part study, one looking at the network priorities and the other looking at behavioral change to get more people cycling. The second study was important in my view to introduce worlds best practice for cycling infrastructure that would guild network upgrades.  That study has yet to be released and was only an online survey.

One of my suggestions was taken on board,which was the allocation of network priorities by town centre locations not an overall priority list for Canberra. The first draft had several works predominately in Belconnen and Civic(city centre). Now the Chief Minister (John Stanhope) lives in Belconnen and I could draw some interesting statistics about the amount of works going on in Belconnen lately but that's another story.

Priority projects in each region
North Canberra (including the City)

• Civic Cycle Loop - Allara Street to Bunda Street via Parkes Way, Marcus Clarke Street, Rudd Street and Allara Street, Civic: on road protected cycle lane
• Bunda Street (Civic Cycle Loop shared space) - Genge Street to Akuna Street, Civic: shared space project*

South Canberra

• Brisbane Avenue link - State Circle to Bowen Drive, Barton: on-road cycle lanes
• Kings Avenue - Russell Drive to Parliament House, Parkes: on-road cycle lanes

Woden

• Accessible street project on Bradley Street between Easty Street and Town Square, Woden
• Wisdom Street link - Yamba Street to Carruthers Street/Yarra Glen, Woden: off-road shared path

Tuggeranong

• Accessible street project on Pittman Street and Athllon Drive, Tuggeranong
• Athllon Drive - Atkins Street to Hindmarsh Drive, Tuggeranong: on-road cycle lanes

Gungahlin

• Hibberson Street - Kate Crace Street to Gozzard Street, Gungahlin: shared space project
• Accessible street project on Hibberson Street between Hinder Street and Gozzard Street, Gungahlin

Belconnen

• Accessible street project on Lathlain Street to Westfield and then to Chandler Street, Belconnen
• Chandler Street - Benjamin Way to College Street, Belconnen: on-road cycle lanes

Still more cycle lanes on roads that are considered 'high speed high volume roads' ,interestingly another consultation going on at the moment is a road safety policy 'Vision Zero' which is based on the  Swedish policy of the same name. In the Discussion paper it suggests to consider physically separate cycle lanes on high speed roads. Now what constitutes a high speed road is not clear in the document. But a simple graph which has been ignored by many Australian government transport departments is clear and is a minimum standard across many European cities. The cycling countries of  the Netherlands,Denmark and Germany well exceed this standard.

Separation Please!

Sadly on Ride to work day a cyclist has lost his life riding on a major highway in SA. Ridiculously Bike SA and Cycling SA repeated there call to share the road ! On a highway. The call should go out for immediate physical separation of cyclists on ' high speed high volume roads' with grade separation at major highway intersections.

Interestingly in another article a German road safety expert ( head of safety at Mercedes Benz) who has said the higher speed on major highways would be safer also said :


"Authorities would also have to do more to separate different road users, such as cars and cyclists, he said.
''I was very surprised to read on the highway that cyclists have to use the parking shoulder,'' he said.
''In Germany, it is absolutely forbidden for the bicycle to go on the highway. We try to divide the different people, the different partners in the traffic, and it makes it much safer.''

 Germany has a much higher cycling rate than Australia and in some cities as high as thirty percent and safer roads despite having virtually no speed limits on the autobahns.

No surprises that the Netherlands has the safest roads and the lowest deaths per 100 000 population. By introducing policies like Sustainable Safety where there is a focus on the vulnerable road users, physical separation at high speed high volume roads is the key.

www.hembrow.blogspot.com

Cyclists in the Netherlands, yes wearing helmets!

Major Highway, Netherlands

Here is a simple video by Mark Wagenbuur that makes the case quite simply ,cycling deaths can be avoidable but its not the helmet laws that make us safer its the infrastructure stupid!.

In a time before Mandatory Helmet Laws (MHL)

Here is a great little film which reminds me of a time before the MHL, when kids were kids, a time when we were fearless and we rode our bikes everyday to school and on the weekends. Now thats dangerous or so they keep telling us.

Check out the Boy's Mullet, a classic!



Here is some classic photo's from the seventies and eighties , makes you wonder how we survived our childhood with such dangerous activities we use to get up to.

Riding to School

Hanging out after school ,watching a burst water main

Going for a ride on the weekend

These days maybe the safest place is in the living room ....................

Yes sad but true. Maybe when you grow up you then can ride a stationary bike at the gym ,after you drive yourself there first!

Ride to Work day

Tomorrow is the National Ride to Work Day with events in most major cities across the country. The idea of a national day is to promote commuting to work  by bike as an everyday option. While this annual day that has been going on since 1998, what effect has it had on increase bike share use in this country. Well according to the new Australian National Cycling Strategy 2011 - 16   our use of the bike has dropped,  though only slightly but given we haven't reached 2% yet its still .1% of stuff all.

There are obviously a number of factors for the slight decline particularly after several investments in cycling infrastructure over that period, though in my opinion not the right type of infrastructure that encourages more people to cycle. If you have a look at the split for cycling for Australian cities, you can see that Canberra leads the nation in mode share for cycling and had the biggest increase in cycling between 1976 and 1981.

So what happened, a major investment and construction of Bicycle paths, arguably the best in Australia which provided safe but not always a direct route to work or other locations. There were several missing links in the network but the focus by the Current ACT Government has been on cycle lanes on roads, like many other Australian cities as a cheap and what they consider, an effective option.

Now I support cycle lanes, but not on major arterial roads with speed limits between 60 - 100 km/h. This approach by Australian authorities is the complete opposite of what is acceptable in the cycling European countries where there cycling rates are much higher,safer and cycling rates continue to increase. Though this is not mentioned in the new cycling strategy particularly from a safety point of view. There seems to be to much focus from the road racing group  in my view not to enforce physical separation of cycling infrastructure on the major roads ,primarily because of the conflict with slower cyclists like children riding to school. But then again when you are hit by a vehicle traveling at 100km/h, at least your wearing a helmet to protect you! right.

Monaro Highway ,Canberra

Cycling super highway, Holland

Bicycle Recycle

No ,this is not a bicycle parking facility, but a place were the old ,tired and unwanted ,unloved bicycles come when their owners have replaced or given up on them. Sad ,because there are some good quality bikes here.