Magda Szubanski the woman living in a glass house who threw stones

I was hoping to write a good post about riding in the Australian Capital Territory. I was hoping to write a good post about new experiences cycling in a great place with good people and with excellent facilities. However today I am writing the first post since I moved to Canberra about an ugly rant by an unfunny comedian Magda Szubanski.

Magda Szubanski is the female equivalent of Mikey Robins – a comedian who used self depreciating humour regarding her obesity. Recently she decided to lose the weight by going on the Jenny Craig program and has now become the poster girl for Jenny Craig. It probably pays for her to promote its products (Jenny Craig is extremely expensive) as it does for other formerly flabby celebrities.

Her success with the Jenny Craig program had a good run in the press, including the usual blurbs in the women’s magazines and the newspapers. There was even an interview on the television news. However there was a moment when the wannabee shock jock on Today FM Kyle Sandilands came said words to the effect that Magda would lose more weight if she were put in a concentration camp. Immediately there was an outcry. Kyle who had come off a suspension for questioning a 14-year-old rape victim about her sex life. Was suspended again and sent to counselling.  There is still speculation as to if his show will return after the Christmas break.

On Good News Week a television program that sends up current affairs Magda took part in a segment which encourages participants to rant about something which irritates them. During this segment she ranted about cyclists on Beach Road Melbourne, saying “a four-lane highway is not your gym”. She continued to rant like a small child who missed out on a lolly about cyclists in lycra with their “bums in the air”. The rant was pretty much the usual crap that comes out of News Limited papers such as the Daily Terror or the Herald Sun. One would have thought that she had taken to ghost writing some of the crap used by Anita Ugly.  Until she and her fellow alleged comedian Julia Morris started coming out with “just drive and take them out” and “open the [car] door!”

Thankfully, I didn’t actually see the actual show. I saw the unedited version of the rant on YouTube. When I saw it I was disgusted. I thought about Ali a mate of mine who was killed while looking for a route to ride to work.

Ali was a keen cyclist and he was encouraged to ride to work by his workmates in Australian Quarantine & Inspection Service AQIS. He lived in Belmore. I work for Customs and we were working at the International Mail Centre in Clyde. Customs, AQIS and Australia Post. I initially thought it would be a real physical challenge for anyone to ride from Belmore to Clyde. 

Ali made it as far as Auburn. He got doored by an elderly woman and struck by a four wheel drive . It was a real shock for his workmates in AQIS and everyone at Clyde.  As Wade Wallace who runs cyclingtipsblog.com said in the Melbourne Age “every cyclist out there is probably about one or two people removed from knowing someone who has been killed or is in a wheelchair… That’s where it hits home pretty hard.”

This episode has led to some interesting stuff on the web. On one had we have had the Terror opening its article on the issue for comment and bringing out the usual bogans as only News Ltd can. On the other hand someone has come up with
http://twitpic.com/josl4 which basicaly a spoof of her environment week advert. There is now a Facebook group Magda Szubanski – Cyclist Hater. I thought it would be worth while posting this quote from a Melbourne cyclist who survived an incident on Beach Road
“My name is Michael Forbes. 15 months ago I was hit by a truck and ricocheted into a parked car whilst riding my bicycle on Beach Road. The accident was absolutely no fault of my own and I am now a quadriplegic in a wheelchair. GNW has always been my favourite hour of television and nothing has made me more angry than last night’s episode. For someone who is getting paid to lose weight to carry on like that last night showed no understanding of how to live a healthy lifestyle and keep that weight off. Beach Road gets more cycle traffic than car traffic on the weekend and it is best that they do not use the bike path as it would not take long for a child to be struck by a cyclist at speed. So excuse me if I have taken this comedy show a little bit seriously in this segment but could you imagine my anger as somebody goes on a rant about knocking cyclist off their bikes on the exact road that life as I knew it ended? Especially someone who is respected in this community. I can honestly say I have not been more angry than right now in my entire life. When my wife makes her way into a cafe wearing her cycling outfit by losing weight through exercise to meet me in my wheelchair, if you are there Magda be sure to expect me to introduce myself. This rant from my perspective is infinitely worse than Kyle’s effort on the radio.”

I agree with Michael in fact the “apology” is that came about as a result of the public pressure from the internet was such I had to go looking for the remorse. You can read it below:

“I am so sorry that the skit on bikers has caused offence. There are so many safety issues surrounding cyclists. Motorists need to become much more aware of cyclists on the road. My belief is that responsible cycling is to use bike paths where possible and if it’s not possible, to be extra careful on the roads.

We all make mistakes and the point is that hopefully we learn from them. Clearly my joke has brought to light that there are frustrations amongst cyclists and motorists. Hopefully some good will come of this and it will help promote useful dialogue between the two groups where some of these frustrations can be worked through in a productive way.

I am a bike rider from way back and in fact have been planning to buy a new bike. As a gesture of solidarity I have offered to participate in Bicycle Victoria’s sector of the National Ride to Work
Day on 14th October. Apologies again.

Magda.

And, yes, I will be wearing lycra.”

 I wonder how this effort will lead to ” useful dialogue between the two groups (I assume cyclists and motorists) where some of these frustrations can be worked through in a productive way”.

My own message for Magda is that the holocaust about which Kyle Sandilands joked was brought on by German contempt for Poles and Polish Jews in particular. They used words like subhuman to describe both Poles and Jews, pretty much in the same way that moronic motorists use similar words to target cyclists. In Nazi Europe it was OK to kill, maim or injure Jews so much so that Concentration Camps were used to bring this aim about. The contempt for nonmotorised road users in our roads legislation is such that the penalties for killing, maiming or injuring someone on our roads is best described as a joke – perhaps the only one that should have been highlighted in this sad and sorry saga. For the record Channel 10 is not innocent either. The GNW was not shown live and the producers chose to broadcast Magda’s comments.

Slow news day in Melbourne: Bicycle registration and other Bullshit

From todays Age: My comments will be in brackets. But I will start with the observation that if the cyclist depicted put a set of panniers and or a rack pack on the rack that number plate would be completly obscured!

A growing army of cyclists want to be free to ride free. But some drivers say it’s time they paid a rego fee

• Reid Sexton
• April 12, 2009

There have been calls to charge cyclists a registration fee to help pay for the State Government’s $115 million bike strategy, and to help identify rogue cyclists. Photo: Justin McManus

 

ASK Harry Barber if he thinks cyclists should pay a registration fee to ride their bikes and he is straight to the point.

It would be ridiculous, the Bicycle Victoria chief says, to tax transport that costs less to fund than other modes and contributes virtually nothing to carbon emissions.

But recent talk suggests the boom in cycling is accompanied by a similar rise in people who think cyclists should have to pay — and be held accountable — for their time on the road.

In February, 3AW radio host Neil Mitchell called for a registration fee or tax at the point of sale to help pay for the State Government’s new $115 million bike strategy (Mitchell has not heard about second had bikes or custom building).

His call echoed that of then Federal Opposition spokesman on sports, Pat Farmer, who last year said cyclists should pay registration to fund infrastructure and safety campaigns (Neil Mitchell is a Victorian and probably is not aware that Pat Farmer made his statements as a diversion from the fact that he had moved from his electorate in Campbelltown – a working class electorate he only just held onto in the middle of a landslide election. In the end the diversion did not work with Farmer set to leave politics at the end of the parliamentary term – good ridance to bad rubbish!)

The latest Transport Accident Commission data shows that in the five years to 2007, the number of cyclists lodging successful claims after an accident with motorised transport rose significantly each year while the number of other claims plateaued or fell.

In 2003, 3.6 per cent of approved claims for taxpayer assistance for medical bills came from cyclists. By 2007, cyclists made up 5.4 per cent of approved claims.

This figure is roughly in line with the boom that led to around 22,000 people riding to work at the time of the 2006 census, a rise of around 50 per cent in five years.

All indicators suggest that number has grown steadily since then, but the issue of medical funding is not the only one that has people thinking cyclists should pay for their road use.

A survey commissioned last month by car insurer Budget Direct found 50 per cent of Melbourne motorists surveyed supported the introduction of a cyclist registration fee (with claims from cyclists against them rising I guess they had to use some sort of spin to try to attack cycling and possibly drum up new motorists for their insurance business).

Some who want cyclists registered said bike riders should pay for infrastructure costs like other road users, but most said cyclists should be registered so they could be identified if they broke road rules (Like the motorists who steal number plates so they can steal petrol no doubt!).

Budget Direct spokeswoman Richelle Ward said drivers were tired of putting up with cyclists who regularly flouted the law but could not be reported. “A lot of people feel very strongly about this,” she said.

“It’s nothing sinister but a lot of people are saying they get nervous when bicycles do silly things on the road … they feel cyclists should be held accountable (with successful claims indicating that the motorist was at fault some thing tells me that Richell should stop attacking cyclists).

“The problem isn’t (children) on the road. It’s when cyclists are ducking in and out of traffic and running red lights.”

Victoria Police defended its record of catching errant cyclists, saying it was not aware of issues regarding identification of cyclists who commit road offences.

Harry Barber concedes a minority of cyclists break the law but said better enforcement rather than better identification would solve the problem. “Enforcement is a job for police, (not motorists),” he said.

“This is not a matter of passing a lot of laws that aren’t enforced.

“The police have plenty of laws that they can enforce but they have other priorities and are pretty busy.”

Mr Barber said most cyclists were also motorists and so already funded the TAC through car registration fees.

But he said if non-drivers were asked to provide TAC funding then it would have to extend to pedestrians and public transport users, because they were also at risk of being injured by a car.

Mr Barber said cycling infrastructure provided taxpayers with value for money by moving more people for less cost than other transport modes.

He cited the recent safety upgrade of bike lanes on Rathdowne Street in Carlton — which has boosted the number of riders who use it by 100 a day — for $150,000.

This is a fraction of what it would cost to get a comparable number of people on buses or moving through Melbourne’s congested road network by car, he said. “Asking cyclists to pay is having it exactly the wrong way around,” he said.

“The saving that using a bike delivers (to taxpayers) is enormous … then there are the climate and health benefits.”

But in Brisbane, the idea of using cyclist registration fees to fund bicycle infrastructure appears to be gaining pace.

Last week, just under half of 400 cyclists surveyed said they would support a licensing scheme, with most saying their support would be withdrawn if the money was not put towards creating better bike paths.

The survey organiser said it showed that people were now prepared to pay to ride if it meant guaranteeing their safety.

Cyclist James Storer, 34, rides his bike to work most days from Carnegie to South Melbourne.

He would back a bike levy of around $200 but only if it funded education campaigns to improve the relationship between cyclists and motorists (A voluntary $200 donation the the Amy Gillett Foundaton could achieve the same thing).

His friend and fellow cyclist Nathan Gallacher said only a nominal fee would be appropriate, and even then only for identification purposes.

“If you look at the damage to roads and the environment caused by cars … a bike does zero damage in comparison.”

A VicRoads spokesman said it did not have the resources to make bicycle registration a viable option.

Biking around Brisbane

On Saturday I went to Brisbane to see a friend of mine. I had also intended to participate in either the Mt Coo- tha Challenge or the Great Brisbane Bike Ride. These rides are held to celebrate the end of Bike Week in Queensland. I had fully intended on taking the Shogun Katana in pretty much the same way I took it down to Victoria for the Amy Gillett Ride. However when I looked up the City Rail website for information on track work I found I would have a battle getting the bike to and from the airport. The Airport line was closed for track work (with Busses replacing trains from Central to the Airport) and there was track work on the return journey to Mum and Dad’s place with the same deal.

I had toyed with the idea of a cab from Central to the Airport but that would have blown the budget for the trip and would not have solved the issue with regards trains out west. I wound up capitulating and left the bike and bike gear at home. I found that this decision was the best as City Rail had used state transit busses (bikes are prohibited on STA busses) and there was not much in the way of space. There were guys who had brought surf boards on board and they were forced to stand for the journey to the domestic terminal.

I got to the Virgin Blue Terminal and checked in after a fashion. It was a good flight. I got myself a room at the Chifley at Lennon’s and settled in to watch the aftermath of the Queensland Election. There were other cyclists staying at the hotel. One guy came from Toowoomba and had a carbon fibre Trek with him as he and his girlfriend waited for the lift.

The next day I went for a walk around South Bank and eventually found myself walking across the Goodwill Bridge and into the Botanical Gardens. As I did I watched enviously the riders from both rides arrived at South Bank.

There are a number of Shared User Paths (SUPs) in the South Bank area and I noticed a contrast between them and the SUPs I have cycled and walked on in Sydney and Canberra.

The first point of contrast was the signage. The signage in Sydney is minimalist and what there is generally advises cyclists to give way to pedestrians. The signage in Brisbane additionally advised pedestrians not to block the path. There were also signage painted onto the path that advised pedestrians to keep to the extreme left and for cyclists to sound their bell and give way to pedestrians. This appears to have kept the pedestrian cyclist conflict down. In addition there is signage at blind spots and narrow points where cyclists are advised to slow down.

There were also areas where pedestrians and cyclists were separated. These were in areas such as the Bicentennial path, where the path was wide enough for two way traffic (of both pedestrians and cyclists) to pass each other.

Fortunately I noticed a family group riding, the children were in a Chariot trailer towed by the wife and both adults were riding Mountain Bikes. I noticed that there was a sticker advertising Valet Cycle Hire. I asked the riders where they hired the bikes from and they gave me a mobile phone number. I continued my walk into the Botanical Gardens and found a white van with a trailer. From an A frame sign I found out that it was were the bikes were hired. I had a look at what was on offer and it went from children’s bikes to Adults MTBs mostly entry level. There wasn’t much on offer as most of the bikes had been hired earlier in the day. I decided to continue on with some other things I had planned. Before I left I spoke to the guy who hired the bikes. He handed me a map of the SUPs in the Brisbane area and I told him I would be back the next morning for a ride.

After a visit to the QLD parliament and dinner with my friend Jodie. I returned to the hotel.

While there I found out that there had been a guy murdered by Outlaw Motor Cycle Gang members at the domestic airport back in Sydney. From what the news showed he had been chased by gang members into the check in area. There he was bludgeoned to death with bollards used to manage cues of waiting passengers. With my luck fresh in my mind I went to bed.

The next morning I got my gear together and checked out. I went straight to the same spot in the Botanical gardens where I found the guy and his partner setting up for the day. I filled out the conditions of hire form and got a red Diamondback MTB and a helmet and went for a spin. On the advice of the guy I rode through the Botanical Gardens and across the Goodwill Bridge. I then rode towards New Farm and my goal of the Story Bridge – Brisbane’s landmark the equivalent of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

After a backtrack, a bit of guesswork and some on road sections, I found the SUP across the Story Bridge. It is pretty much a SUP. I am surprised that they have not made a second crossing for cyclists only (much like the Sydney Harbour Bridge) but it worked pretty well. I rode along the path only dismounting as directed by a sign which directed cyclists to dismount as there were maintenance works in the area. The path had been narrowed slightly and an old woman went through the area. She asked me if I was dismounting as she had almost been injured that morning. I replied I was and was just waiting for her to go through, so I would have enough room for me and the bike.

After I crossed the Story Bridge. I rode out towards New Farm and a board walk SUP that lead to the path back through the Riverside Centre.

On one section the Path was closed by the Brisbane Ports Authority for maintenance and was diverted onto the footpath. I found that in Queensland cycling on the footpath is legal. There are two versions of how this came about. One I have heard is that under Queensland law the footpath is considered part of the road. The other is that the QLD government decided allowed footpath cycling to reduce the danger from motor vehicles driven by bogans. There is also a similar situation in the ACT and I have often wondered if Harold Scruby and the Pedestrian Council would change their minds on the issue if they visited Canberra and now Brisbane? When I rejoined the path towards the Riverside Centre I found it was pretty much plain sailing from there. I got back to the Botanical Gardens and decided I would try the Bicentennial path.

The Bicentennial path leads out towards the University of Queensland at St Lucia. I rode along this path marvelling at the amount of shade and how wide it was. There was a point where maintenance was in progress and the pedestrians were advised to walk in single file. The traffic on the path was also controlled by traffic controllers otherwise known as Lollipop men. I followed the Path all the way out to Indooroopilly. I also went part of the way to St Lucia. I only returned to the Botanical Gardens because of I had to catch a flight later that day and rode back.

When I returned I pointed out I had some problems changing up to the big chain ring – that was not much of a problem. I asked how far I had gone after explaining the route and was told the best part of 20km.

I would be remiss if I did not give out the details for Valet Cycle Hire. They can be found in the Botanical Gardens near the QLD Parliament and can be contacted on 0408003198. They have Tandems, MTBs, children’s bikes as well as Chariot trailers for children. I handed back the bike and helmet and got myself to Central Station where I caught the Air Train to the airport and flew back to Sydney. When I got back to Sydney wound up walking to Petersham and caught the train to the Strathfield and then went on my merry way to the Mountains.

Haphazard Harold’s latest missive “Will these people ever give up?” Maj Kilgore Apocalypse Now

 

Haphazard Harold

 

 

 

 

Having recently returned from the ACT it’s disappointing that Harold has to go trolling against bicycle infrastructure, particularly shared user paths. The Big Canberra Bike Ride as previously reported took riders both on a journey through Canberra both on the road and on Shared User Paths. Everything about it went well. No bogans yelling at the riders from the safety and comfort of their cars, shared paths that were in good repair and riders who used common sense when using the shared paths.

It seems that Haphazard Harold has decided to keep the issues raised in his previous missive in an interview for the Inner-West Weekly, which was posted in their on line edition. In this report Haphazard Harold had decided to extend his ambit claims that cycle paths should be abolished with “

a plan that includes insurance for pedestrians, fines for speeding and other offences such as negligent cycling, and a comprehensive identification system such as numberplates on bikes.”

Fortunately the reporter for the Inner-West Weekly was principled enough to seek out an opinion from the RTA which stated

all cyclists in NSW were governed by state laws which prohibit riding in a “negligent or reckless fashion”. “The legal advice obtained by the Pedestrian Council does not raise anything new which would warrant a change to existing RTA policies,”. Pretty much what I and everyone else thought and it would appear that Harold’s desire to get rid of shared paths will go the same way that his efforts to get rid of bull bars from four wheel drives went. Nowhere!

It is worth refuting some of his latest claims. Firstly Haphazard Harold claims “

said shared bike paths, such as the Bay Run foreshore and Cooks River bike path, were “a farce”. The only people who have made The Bay Run foreshore a farce have been pedestrians who won’t stay in the pedestrian sections of the path. Many walk two abreast and use the sections marked for cyclists. As for the Cooks River bike path there are usually no problems the path is wide enough for everyone’s needs.

The hypocrisy from Haphazard Harold continues with “

councils must enforce a 10km/h speed limit on bike paths ”. Given Harold’s backing of the state government’s decision to reduce the demerits for motorists exceeding the speed limit by more than 15 km an hour it this sounds too cute by far. If it is just a “misdemeanour” for motorists to exceed the speed limit by not more than 10km per hour what about cyclists doing the same? Haphazard Harold’s proposal for a “comprehensive identification system such as numberplates on bikes” is similar to the other idiocy that came from Paul (Pot)tinger and the Mosman Farmer. The best response to those proposals came from the Cycling Promotion Fund http://www.cyclingpromotion.com.au/images/stories/factsheets/Issue_Sheet_5_Bicycles_belong_on_the_road.pdf

As seen from this document the amount of money raised from the registration of cars and other government imposts on cars is way overshadowed by the costs to society incurred by motor vehicles.

If Harold really wanted to improve the safety of cyclists and pedestrians he would be pushing for more safer cycle paths not less.

Just to sort things out It seems to my mind to be a good idea to provide a rebuttal of arguments for bicycle registration. The long and the short is

It’s too costly, It’s unenforceable, It would be detrimental to the broader social benefits of cycling, Compliance would be minimalist (especially among those it’s supposed to catch.

 

Bicycle Victoria spokesman Harry Barber said The Germans tried to do it to the Dutch during World War II and it didn’t work,” to quote Treadly and Me (see http://treadly.net/2007/04/05/bike-number-plates-dumb-idea-redux/) “it only provoked resistance. And without taking the comparison to Nazis too far, how much fun would cyclists have swapping registration plates backwards and forwards between themselves, and between all sorts of different bikes”. Something that has come up during the spate of petrol thefts during the recent period where petrol was $1.50 and above, was the number of numberplates stolen from cars, there has also been issues with people modifying numberplates with electrical tape and texta pens and what has become an urban legend about people using hair sprays to fool speed cameras – no one can say the same cannot happen to number plates on bikes.

As Chris Gerhard points out “

Consider the effectiveness. Number plates on cars don’t stop them jumping lights or speeding so there is no reason to think this measure would be effective for cyclists”. There are a huge number of hit and run drivers who have not been caught. It seems Harold Scruby (now known as Haphazard Harold) doesn’t do anything to urge continuing investigation of these cases. These drivers would have been driving registered cars and the fact that they were registered did not deter them from committing homicide with their registered motor vehicles.A number plate on a bike no more identifies the rider than a number plate on a car identifies the driver.

The impracticality is screamingly obvious when as Gerhard points out again “

Consider the size of a number plate. It has to be unique to cope with the 30 million bikes so seven digits. Seven digits on the back of a push bike. Pretty big then or not readable. If it is big that will make most bikes, like the ones I ride to work on illegal as there is no room for a number plate once you have lights, reflectors etc. All “racing” bikes would be illegal and most mountain bikes”

In short what Haphazard Harold is trying to do is pretty much like most anti-cycling whingers try to do and deter cycling – by pushing for a registration system, a system that would be

prohibitive in cost and would deter people from owning and riding a bike. In short Harold’s plan sounds about as futile as a plan that would force pedestrians to wear number plates and carry lights at night (red at the back and white at the front).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Big Canberra Bike Ride (contribution to A Grand for Charity = 25 km)

On Saturday, I went down to Wollongong to catch up with Ruth. I took the Katana down with me. We decided to spend a weekend down in Canberra, we would have a look at a few of the local attractions – the National Gallery, the Parliament and the War Memorial. I would also do the Big Canberra Bike Ride, which is a muck around community ride – it isn’t timed and is something enjoyed by all who participate in it.

It is also used as a fund raiser for the Heart Foundation. Heart Disease has been a major killer of Australians. This has been down to things like diet and exercise, as well as stress and smoking. I support the heart foundation because my dad and other members of my family have had issues with heart disease.

I enjoyed the train ride down to North Wollongong where I arranged to meet Ruth. There was a drunk on the train and we had entertainment from Central to Sutherland. I also got discussing the financial crisis with two guys from Brisbane who had hitched hiked up to Sydney from Adelaide and had a chat with a young mother who had brought a child and a ton of shopping on the train.

Everything went well – I got to North Wollongong and met Ruth outside the train station. It turned out Ruth had arranged to get a tow ball fitted to her Hyundai Getz, it turned out that she and her mother got skinned by the mechanic. The tow ball did not fit the bike rack. I assured both Ruth and her mother that everything was OK and that everything was going to be fine. I was able to disassemble the bike and put it into the back.

We headed off to Canberra via the Macquarie Pass. It is on an Audax Raid, so it was interesting to see the layout of the land and find just how challenging it could be as a ride. We stopped at the Robertson Pie Shop but it was closed so we had some salad for dinner before pushing on to the Hume Highway via Sutton Forrest. We got to Canberra at about 10pm and got a room at the Carotell. We unpacked the car and I reassemble the bike.

At 6 I headed off to the Big Canberra Bike Ride, I rode down the Federal Highway and up Northbourne Avenue. I went through the town centre and followed a path around to the point a Lake Burleigh Griffin where the ride was going to head off. This point opposite Old Parliament House offered a brilliant view of the hot air balloons taking off. It was spectacular. There was even a small sailing boat on the lake. There were some unusual hot air balloons, one shaped like a birthday cake with the words “Happy Birthday” on the side complete with candles, a Bertie Beatle, and a Kookaburra. When the birthday cake took off one of the organisers who had access to the PA system said “Happy Birthday Canberra!”.

I was early enough to sign on and get myself ready. Everyone was in a pretty relaxed and friendly mood. I noticed quite a lot of recumbent bikes – something which is pretty much peculiar to Canberra. There was one with an American and an Australian flag flying from orange safety flag pole. It turned out the rider was from the states. The event was sponsored by Australian Ethical Investments and was organised by Pedal Power – the ACT peak cycling body. They had a stand where they took memberships, sold books, jerseys and t-shirts. Towards the start of the ride there were speeches from Australian Ethical Investments – they claimed that they had avoided most of the corporate excesses which have lead to the collapses that are being seen today. There was a speech by Simon Corbell – the ACT Attorney General, who urged us to have a safe ride and talked up his governments activities in increasing cycling in the ACT. Then there was a speech by Pedal Power who urged everyone to join and have a safe ride and finally the usual safety blurb by the ACT police – this was delivered by a motor cycle policeman who’s uniform only needed the helmet from the show Chips for him to be confused with a highway patrolman from the US. We were finally underway and had to dismount to cross a bridge that was part of a new RG Menzies path. The ride went out onto the roads around Canberra and was controlled by Pedal Power volunteers with fluoro vests and road works flags. We enjoyed a view of the War Memorial and then went through the north eastern suburbs of Canberra to the Dickson Tradies Club where there was a morning tea and consisting of croissants, muffins and a cup of tea of coffee. It also doubled as a toilet stop. As we went through Dickson I was passed by the motorcycle cop who asked “Are you having fun yet?”. We then headed up Northbourne Avenue and went through the town centre. We went over the bridge across lake Burleigh Griffin and then onto a shared user path that led to Canberra’s south western suburbs. Everything worked well on this ride. There were few pedestrians. People were polite and let people know when they were passing. They also rode slowly past the pedestrians, who generally kept to the left of the path. All this makes me wonder if Harold Scruby has ever been to the ACT and seen how things work there. It would seem that the residents of the ACT have a better relationship with each other than Sydneysiders do.

When we rejoined the road we went through some obviously well to do suburbs. The houses were well maintained and there were a number of private schools which were obviously doing just as well. We went down one of the wider streets and had a good descent towards Parliament House. We stopped at the lights and then resumed our journey towards the lake. When we rode passed the Parliament there were a number of Australian Federal Police Protective Service bike patrol riders watching the ride. I noticed their newish Avanti MTBs. We finally joined one of the main roads that lead to the lake and joined the Shared User Path that lead back to the start of the ride.

When I got back I collected my certificate stating I had completed the 25km ride. I got some info from Pedal Power on Ride to Work Day and a membership form. I hung around for the draw for the Diamond Back MTB which I did not win (fortunately). There was a bit of tension in the atmosphere when it was announced that the Diamond Back had been imported by Pacific Brands – the company who is laying off thousands of it’s Australian work force to set up manufacturing it’s Bonds undies and singlets etc in China. I also missed out on the other prizes as expected. I had a look at an old Penny Farthing brought around by the Canberra Bicycle Museum before I headed off.

I rang Ruth and arranged to meet her at the Carotell. I rode out to Dickson and found a Woolworths Supermarket which was open and got some pizza type bread rolls for lunch and some extra supplies. On my way there I saw an altercation between a motorist and a cyclist – it was just words and the usual come out and have a go stuff – so it was nothing serious. I rode back and found my way back to the Carotell. Ruth arrived a short time later and we enjoyed lunch.

We visited Cockington Green and the next day the National Gallery and the Parliament, before heading off to Ruth’s place at Warrimoo.

Everyone I know (or a lot of them anyway) hates Harold Scruby and so do I!

There is one thing I have marvelled at in history is how people who would have done well working together wind up at each others throats. When I think about the new wonderful plans for the creation of a more environmentally sustainable Sydney. I find that the latest missive from Harold Scruby otherwise known as the Pedestrian Council of Australia (it literally is only him and a fax machine) quite a bit perplexing. 

In my opinion cyclist and pedestrians ought to be doing something about their real danger – cars.  There are groups in other cities such as Transport Alternatives in New York who lobby for better pedestrian and cycling facilities. They also promote cycling and walking as alternatives to cars. I have read Car Busters and found articles on both walking and cycling. The New York Bicycle Messenger Association even organised a ride/march in memory of pedestrians and cyclists who have been killed by cars.

Harold is usually on the ball with his observations of motoring culture but the latest claims regarding the demerit points for motorists exceeding limits for motor vehicles makes me wonder if he really is just pretending to be a road safety advocate. From the Sydney Morning Herald of November 15 “The Pedestrian Council chairman, Harold Scruby, said he had long been pushing for an overhaul of demerit points.”As it is at the moment, it is inconsistent and unfair because gradations of the speed limit go up by 10 kilometres while the penalties go up by 15 kilometres,” he said.” He also mentioned that those drivers caught exceeding the speed limit by less than 10km were committing just a “misdemeanour”. Drivers caught committing a “misdemeanour” would get just a whopping big fine. Harold evidently has not seen Victorian road safety adverts that demonstrate that going just 5 kilometers over the speed limit run the risk of killing or seriously injuring pedestrians and cyclists. This risk is due to the increased stopping distance that just 5 kilometers over the speed limit incurs.

On the 3rd of December 2008 he issued a press release trying to frighten the councils of Sydney and elsewhere into not creating more Shared User Paths. In the press release he claims that “It is an offence for anyone over the age of 12 to ride a bicycle on the footpath.  However, the Australian Road Rules allow the authorities to create a Shared Bicycle Path (SBP) and invite all cyclists to ride upon them.” Unfortunately for Harold the lie  (by omission) in this paragraph is that an adult cyclist supervising a cyclist under the age of 12 is permitted to ride on the footpath.

Second omission is “There is no offence for speeding on a bicycle in NSW (and most other jurisdictions)” . He obviously has not figured that a bicycle is a vehicle and as such is liable for speeding fines (that is what the organisers of the Sydney Spring Cycle & the Gong Ride assert) It is also enforced in Centennial Park.

The other bits of idiocy and stupidity in the press release were “Mr Scruby added:  “This is utter lunacy.  Under the current system, a cyclist can hit an elderly person on the footpath, cycle away and disappear.  Such injured persons can then be required to pay up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in health care costs from their own pockets, unless they sue the authorities.” Should a cyclist collide with a pedestrian they are also likely to be injured. They may even be injured seriously enough not to be able to ride away. Furthermore members of Bicycle NSW, Cycling NSW and other bicycle organisations get 3rd party insurance. Cyclists who are not members of the state based bicycle organisations are also liable to be sued for damages should they injure a pedestrian in a collision.

The line that gets the ultimate piece of stupidity “Cyclists are not required to display number-plates or be licensed and are almost impossible to recognise especially when most are wearing helmets and sunglasses.” Apart from using the usual lies from motorists who use the registration (number plates) and licencing arguments this line made me wonder which other groups in society Harold thinks all looks the same?

The other issue that made me laugh was “Cyclists are required to give way to pedestrians at all times on a SBP.  Yet many Councils erect signs advising cyclists to ring their bells.  This frequently frightens pedestrians and creates a most threatening and unfriendly environment.” Ooooh dear! Which would you prefer me just riding past or me warning that I was coming? Mind you they do actually have to have their hearing unencumbered by Ipods, walkmans and mobile phones etc.

There have been some wide reactions in the community. I will be doing an edition of this blog on the activities of the Bicycle NSW CEO Alex Unwin soon, but suffice to say that he is obviously in fear of Harold. Alex was heard on ABC radio a while ago and made a meal of  fending off the usual trolling from squawk back radio as well as a hostile interviewer.

We had the usual crap from idiotic drivers in of all places the Sydney Morning Herald. I suppose they must have made a transition from reading the Terror.

The sad fact is that the cup is half empty as regards pedestrian cyclist conflict as it is known. I have see other riders riding extremely fast past pedestrians on Shared User Paths such as the Pyrmont Bridge and the paths near the SCG. However I have had my share of pedestrians walking around in the night on unlit paths in black. I have had them dawdling along with Ipods etc.

A warning for Harold is beware of what you want for you might just get it. “For all the above and many other compelling reasons, we demand that the RTA and all Councils immediately cease the approval and creation of any future Shared Bicycle Paths and remove all existing SBPs”  I would love to have the Cooks River and Bay to Bay cycle paths pedestrian free.

 The shared user paths could be divided. There are sections of the bay to bay cycle  path that are divided into pedestrians and cyclists. Ultimately the Sydney Harbour Bridge has a bicycles only path on one side. Pedestrians are warned that they face fining if they walk on the cycle path.

The only token acknowledgement we get from Harold is “While cycling is also a great form of exercise and transport, councils must be required to build Dedicated Cycle Paths.” How about you put your money where your mouth is Harold? Get your shoulder to the wheel and lobby for the Bourke St bike road and other facilities. Oh that’s right you won’t be able to drive or walk on them!