New Site for Western Australian Road Cyclists

[nimm]

OMGosh who gives a toss exactly what was happening at that time of that photo - I think people have too much time to grumble here...

The valid points IMO are around the home page photo and who it's meant to appeal to? "Perthcycling" sounds broader than social road riding so perhaps a combination of photos showing road, MTB, and some family shots may be more appealing to the general population.

And the other point being is yet another website needed? That I don't know cause I just tend to read this forum

[cricetidae]

So far it looks promising and I agree with Nimm that perhaps some of the images should changed to reflect that the broader side of cycling.

I admit that I haunt here and bike radar but lets float the site and see how it does and give it a chance. As long as the site regularly gets updated then I am sure it will survive.

[Aushiker]

3) DPI requires us to use "shoulders"
[/i]

Just a small point of clarification. The DPI can't require us to do anything. It does not make laws . All that has taken place here is they have published a guidance sheet, not a "fact" sheet as they like to describe them.

Interesting (I can't find the one referred to and no link or title as listed on the DPI web page is given to put it into context) but looking at others:

There is no:

(a) Date given. So we cannot determine how old the advice is and hence if it reflects the current legislation;
(b) No supporting references are provided to the legislation and/or case law or other authoritative advice to support the views given. Really quite critical as it needed to established the authenticity of the advice;
(c) The author and his or her credentials are not given;

Anyway ... had a bloody good mountain bike ride yesterday

Andrew

[sittingbison]

that's probably what I was alluding to Andrew, that there laws, guidelines, urban mythology 'directing' cycling practices, but we cyclists must sometimes take all these with a grain of salt and use our common sense as well to maintain safe practices.

I do realise that guidelines, urban myth and common sense are not the law which is paramount, however sometimes the law is an ass (not a defense in court )

That picture was not showing anything not practiced on a daily basis by hordes of grouppettos.[/i]

[Aushiker]

that's probably what I was alluding to Andrew, that there laws, guidelines, urban mythology 'directing' cycling practices, but we cyclists must sometimes take all these with a grain of salt and use our common sense as well to maintain safe practices.

Well put.

That picture was not showing anything not practiced on a daily basis by hordes of grouppettos.[/i]

I agree and now having had experience of group riding, consider it quite smart and there are some roads I prefer to only ride in a group,

Andrew

[heavymetal]

So far it looks promising and I agree with Nimm that perhaps some of the images should changed to reflect that the broader side of cycling.

Loaded touring bikes perhaps?

I wish you well with the site. There is probably a need for a web site that covers the broader side of cycling.

There are quite a lot of forums around for cycling, and I prefer these ones.

Kev
BicycleWA webmaster

[Bruce]

Is their a criticalmass ride on this Friday? start from and time
Thanks

[azzurribike]

2 cents worth.

Riding in a bunch feels safer. Why? because its highly visible and traffic has to deal with it appropriately. Too often in this crazy world ppl rush past cyclists and put them at risk. So a bunch in my opinion needs to keep ppl safe and if that means taking a lane from time to time then so be it. It forces traffic to behave appropriately.

Obviously there are many and varied scenarios eg around corners on narrow country roads bunch goes single file etc etc etc

A more important discussion than argueing the toss on this one would be road positioning and the duties of the riders at the front and as important the riders in the rear.

IMHO

PS Lets not see any more "road rage" in here and stick together

[gsxrboy]

If I stick to you, it means I'd be riding a Cervelo .. sweet

[sittingbison]

...A more important discussion than argueing the toss on this one would be road positioning and the duties of the riders at the front and as important the riders in the rear...

...Fabian on the front driving the train, notice the CA guy struggling - that must be Christophe Moreau, and waaayyyy down the derriere de peloton is a Silence Lotto "super domestique"...

started out that way before the road rage kicked in

[FlyinFynn]

I think our group is part sponsored by Cervelo..

See our bike weight board:

http://www.perthcycling.com.au/southper ... ?page_id=4

Although, I am not guilty of this (I really wanted one (Cervelo Soloist SLC) but they were still a little pricey for me and I got a great deal on a Cannondale System Six ).

With the Perth Cycling site, I think it is aimed at the Cyclo Sportif cyclists out there, rather than Mt bikers, Recumbents etc. Those who feel a little competitive when on two wheels.. (I may be guilty of this ).

Our group really tries to focus on safety even though we have go fast sections. All the incidents in our group (I have been with them for 2.5yrs now) have been either slow or unavoidable, one dog in the rain, one shoe in the middle of the road caused havoc once, and two guys fell off going around a round about a few weeks back in the rain (we had slowed right down and then they slide down in unison (very strange as they were both expectant dads in the next week, perhaps minds not on cycling? Both proud dads now, one nursing broken clavicle)..

Anyway, I am boring you all, back to work for me..

160kms on Sat and Sun for me, 1200m of climbing on Sunday, bring on the Mosman hill baby...

[Ant.]

How did they not see a shoe on the road?

[heavymetal]

one shoe in the middle of the road caused havoc once

There was a thread on here some years ago (before the database had a hiccup) about a shoe I lost once when riding.

Could this be the same shoe

Kev.

[Aushiker]

With the Perth Cycling site, I think it is aimed at the Cyclo Sportif cyclists out there, rather than Mt bikers, Recumbents etc. Those who feel a little competitive when on two wheels.. (I may be guilty of this )

I do hope you are not suggesting recumbent riders or mountain bike riders are not or cannot be competitive. If you are, then I would suggest that maybe you are little ill-informed

Off the top of my head, you might want to check this linkand oh go tell Tim and Jo Bennett of Kalamunda Cycles they are not competitive

As to recumbents I am sure Graeme can enlighten you as to who holds the fastest HPV (human powered vehicle) speed record and what sort of HPV they ride.

Andrew

[Kalgrm]

Nah, it's okay Andrew. The thread was entitled "New site for WA Road Cyclists", and the (rather narrow) definition of road cyclists are riders of bikes conforming to the UCI rules. "Roadies" are the people this new site is catering for, which is why it holds no interest for me. I don't like to be one of the flock.

I do feel annoyed when world cup champion mountain bikers like Cadel Evans need to abandon the sport just to make a decent living though ...

Cheers,
Graeme

[Aushiker]

Nah, it's okay Andrew. The thread was entitled "New site for WA Road Cyclists", and the (rather narrow) definition of road cyclists are riders of bikes conforming to the UCI rules. "Roadies" are the people this new site is catering for, which is why it holds no interest for me. I don't like to be one of the flock.

Whoops. Missed the "road" part ... the site but is called Perthcycling.com so maybe there is an identification crisis happening

BTW on the website front page it does say:

"This site has been set up to provide any person new to cycling or new to perth, a central point of reference to help them find group rides, race information, race results, forums, classifieds and blogs.

Any information that you wish to add can be submitted via e-mail."

so maybe they need an introduction to mountain bikes and recumbents

Andrew

[Kalgrm]

It's very easy for people to think that what they do encompasses the whole of the sport. If your whole world revolves around road riding, it's hard to believe there might be other types of cycling which are equally as rewarding.

I've seen the extremes of this narrow vision by some roadies when they swear, sneer and - worse - spit at recumbent riders like myself and my friends. These few riders do nothing for the image of their sport.

My point is that although the site is titled Perthcycling.com, it's aimed at roadies. I can understand that they feel ownership of the word "cycling" because that's what they do. However, others who don't want to be roadies (like hybrid, MTB and 'bent riders) can feel excluded by this view. That's why I think our site offers more to more people.

Cheers,
Graeme

[Aushiker]

I've seen the extremes of this narrow vision by some roadies when they swear, sneer and - worse - spit at recumbent riders like myself and my friends. These few riders do nothing for the image of their sport.

Yikes! Not nice at all. I thought it was bad enough being "ignored" whilst riding the flat bar ... but that sure beats that childish behaviour.

Andrew

[moosterbounce]

I've seen the extremes of this narrow vision by some roadies when they swear, sneer and - worse - spit at recumbent riders like myself and my friends. These few riders do nothing for the image of their sport.

I'm sure some people abuse hand cyclists for being difficult to see, and probably don't even realise they don't have legs. Some people...

What's the bike equivalent of a tradie's ute (as they tend to hurl a fair amount of abuse)?

[Kalgrm]

They're only difficult to see if you don't actually look for all road users.

Sort of like roadies are to drivers, eh?

What's the bike equivalent of a tradie's ute? I think you might have a fair idea what I'd be answering, based on the content of that earlier post. I've never copped abuse from a rider who wasn't on a road bike.

Look, most riders are great, regardless of the bike they are on. There just seems to be a rotten minority in all forms of activity, and in cycling, they seem to gravitate towards the fast, sporty bikes. They take on the pack mentality and take "strength" from their numbers. Their true insecurity manifests itself when they abuse other riders. But it's only a small few who do it, and I won't tar the whole demographic of "roadies" with the same brush - most don't deserve it.

Cheers,
Graeme

(Edit: Wait! I was abused by a teenager on a K-mart special MTB earlier this year. "You look stupid on that thing!" he said. Couldn't be bothered telling him a worn tyre would write off his own "bike", so I just smiled and waved .... )

[ajh_ausnzcf]

They're only difficult to see if you don't actually look for all road users.

Sort of like roadies are to drivers, eh? ;) :lol:

What's the bike equivalent of a tradie's ute? I think you might have a fair idea what I'd be answering, based on the content of that earlier post. I've never copped abuse from a rider who wasn't on a road bike.

Look, most riders are great, regardless of the bike they are on. There just seems to be a rotten minority in all forms of activity, and in cycling, they seem to gravitate towards the fast, sporty bikes. They take on the pack mentality and take "strength" from their numbers. Their true insecurity manifests itself when they abuse other riders. But it's only a small few who do it, and I won't tar the whole demographic of "roadies" with the same brush - most don't deserve it.

Cheers,
Graeme

(Edit: Wait! I was abused by a teenager on a K-mart special MTB earlier this year. "You look stupid on that thing!" he said. Couldn't be bothered telling him a worn tyre would write off his own "bike", so I just smiled and waved .... ;))

It's all about social intelligence to my mind. Some have it, some are missing something.

I've only had motor vehicle drivers hurling insults and "advice", all the cyclists I've seen either don't say anything and go about their business riding or give a friendly greeting.

[Kalgrm]

Ajh,

I should clarify why they think I deserve to be abused: I ride a recumbent bike, which to some elitist cyclists, is not a "real bike". To them, I am on a lesser vehicle, just as to some drivers, cyclists are on a lesser vehicle.

For some reason, 'bents elicit comments. Most are great, some very small number are abusive, but it's rare to be completely ignored.

Cheers,
Graeme

[ajh_ausnzcf]

I believe I know how you feel Graeme and what mean, the mind boggles at why some people are abusive towards others. What to do about it? Probably nothing?

[FlyinFynn]

Ohh, I know Tim and Jo Bennet are very competitive, Jo with her Triathlon accomplishments as well as MTB efforts. Tim with his very quick MTB efforts (although my mate beat him last year in the mtb leg of the Anaconda. Tim was tired from the week long race he had done the week before perhaps). Tim has even been seen training on Welshpool road taking tips from Hilton McMurdo (lets hope he does not become a true roadie).

As for being abusive, I say hello to most people I ride past, even when in a pack. Walkers, runners, cyclists on all types of machinery. I am very curious about recumbents and the like. Would like to give them a go one day. I raced BMXs when I was little, I did the Anaconda last year solo (mtb leg only the year before), have done the Busselton Half Ironman a few times. So I guess I would fall into the triathlete multi sport section of cyclists. But I have started road racing as well (pays more than triathlon unfortunately). I came second in a tri (off road one) and I was given a stubbie holder. Tri cost $40 to enter. I came 5th in my first crit and received $20 (cost $10 to enter). Much cheaper sport (although machinery pretty expensive).

Look forward to see you at the races Andrew

[sittingbison]

...I came 5th in my first crit and received $20 (cost $10 to enter). Much cheaper sport (although machinery pretty expensive)...

cost of bike (before crash ie BC) - $10000
cost of clobber BC - $600
cost of lid BC - $300 (a goodun)
cost of shades BC - $300
cost of upgrade BC - $3000

race winnings pa. - $100