Thread: Cyclists.

Originally Posted by bee utey

So what's the thing that makes Australians so ignorant compared to their Danish cousins? Lack of education? Too much sun on the brain? We could do some important research, say send a bunch of Aussies and a bunch of Danes on holiday to Bali and see who ****es off the locals most.

its not ignorance or lack of education.
cycling is not a way of life here
we have different cities
different culture

Originally Posted by disco man

No helmet,no problem.

BBC - Autos - For cyclists, the best helmet may be no helmet at all

<Image added>

I've always thought a Michelin Man airbag suit would be the way to go. Perhaps this is the first step!

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

What is the difference between a slow moving 4 wheel vehicle in a lane of a road and a peleton of cyclists riding two abrest on the same road.

If you are not sure try this. Get is a defender and crawl along at 40. Now get a commodore to run into your rear at 80.

Now you should survive this ok to try the second part of the experiment. Get on a bike and try the same thing.

Now make sure that if you try this experiment that you do it in the order above.

If you try and reverse it the experiment wont work.

Originally Posted by Dave_S

I love seeing all you guys (and all the rednecks who commented on the news article) getting bent out of shape about cyclists. See, I can't do anything about the daily routine of verbal abuse, people trying to run me off the road, driving in bikeways, throwing crap at me and whatever else they can think of. Then I have to put up with being told I'm arrogant, elitist, a criminal and just plain rude. I'm also a freeloader, using roads I haven't paid for and hiding my identity by not having a registration number on my forehead.

The cowards who throw all this crap at me are keen to inflict damage from a distance - the abuse comes from people who are running away or who hide in the anonymity of the internet.

I deal with it by getting out there on the roads and pedalling more miles. But I enjoy knowing that the whole cycling issue is eating away at all the haters, pushing them ever closer to that inevitable stroke or heart attack. I know that one day one of them will probably run me down, but I'm comforted by the knowledge that an average person will be pushed to bankruptcy by the cost of hiring lawyers to defend them in the trial that will result. Even if the police don't charge you, I'll be bringing a civil action. And if you kill me, my partner will take so much money off you that you'll end up having to ride a bike. A cheap one.

I happen to be one of the ones listed at the top of this post. I can assure you I am far from bent out of shape. I am sitting back having a good laugh as it is appearing to me that you are the one getting bent out of shape.

As for your law suits. In Vic the TAC covers the motorist. Good luck with a civil case, I am not seeing any at the moment which tells me they are not successful and even if they were what happens when you get hit by some one who has no assets.

And I can assure you that if I hit you, and no I don't deliberately go around hitting cyclists so it would be an accident, by the time your civil case got to court all my assets would have disappeared.

Originally Posted by d2dave

If you are not sure try this. Get is a defender and crawl along at 40. Now get a commodore to run into your rear at 80.

Now you should survive this ok to try the second part of the experiment. Get on a bike and try the same thing.

Now make sure that if you try this experiment that you do it in the order above.

If you try and reverse it the experiment wont work.

Talk about getting up on your high horse.

My point was that motorists are legally obliged to avoid slow moving vehicles taking up a lane, so from the motorists perspective there should be no difference between having to avoid a slow moving vehicle or having to avoid a group of cyclists. Both road users have a right to be there.

From the cyclists perspect the fear of being run into by a negligent motorist (as happened on Southern Cross Drive Sydney in recent months) is real.

I was not challenging the cyclists rather supporting their rights.

But if that is your attitude, and if you express the same in lycra out on the road, no wonder there are motorists that would like to see all cyclists merge with the pavement.

Originally Posted by Eevo

its not ignorance or lack of education.
cycling is not a way of life here
we have different cities
different culture

So? Conservatism perhaps.
People adapt to external forces.
Ways of life change from decade to decade.
Cities and cultures evolve, Holland did.
Conservatives die of constipation and apoplexy.
Australia was once a nation embracing bicycles and will be again. Bicycles consistently outsell cars, one day critical mass will be achieved and lycra will be the king of fabrics.

http://nobmob.com/node/43109

Bicycles Network Australia | Bikes continue to outsell cars in Australia



Bicycles outsell cars in Australia - National - theage.com.au

In Almost Every European Country, Bikes Are Outselling New Cars : Parallels : NPR

Canberra the cycling capital of Australia, study finds

http://www.smh.com.au/executive-styl...611-39xbq.html

The cars that ate bike lanes

Always something new out of Western Australia, as Pliny the Elder nearly said, with reports of cars co-opting footpaths and separated bicycle ways.
Photos of the invasion were sent to police, with vehicle registration numbers visible, but no fines were issued. So much for the theory that police will take action against breakers of road rules if you can identify them.

cycling forwards, one pedal stroke at a time...

Originally Posted by bee utey

Spot on! Clinical tests have proven that riding regular distances while clad in lycra improves your bedroom performance a hundred times better than daily doses of Viagra. RRROOOOAAAARRRRR!!!!

Afraid I'm never likely to be able to either prove or disprove this ..........................

1. What is Viagra.

2. While I do ride a bicycle occasionally (in Kalgoorlie - wouldn't be game enough in Perth), I don't own any lycra.


But happy to take your word for it.

Originally Posted by bee utey

So? Conservatism perhaps.
People adapt to external forces.
Ways of life change from decade to decade.
Cities and cultures evolve, Holland did.
Conservatives die of constipation and apoplexy.

i wouldnt call it Conservatism.
we have evolved in different ways. one isnt more correct or more advanced than the other.