Having just ridden up the 1 in 20 today for the first time since I got back from Europe (and probably the first time since about the same time last year), I see there are new crash barriers. Very new as I don't recall seeing them ever before, so probably less than a year old. And there are sections of sealed shoulder. A few points about this 'cycling facility':djw47 wrote:there are sections which have enough space on the left to ride on and keep out of the lane, trust me they're there and have been for at least since they put in the crash barriers, and there are areas where it's narrow and not possible!
1. They are intermittent and not overly wide. Some sections do not extend right to the crash barrier - half sealed and half loose gravel
2. You can barely see the loose gravel as the sealed shoulder is covered (between 50% and 110%) with sticks, bark, leaves, branches, and any other debris. Obviously there is no sweeping program.
3. The sealed surface is the usual design - rougher than the road surface and fairly bumpy
4. Sealed shoulder only on the climb, nothing at all on the descent. Just as well really as the last thing I want when descending at 40-45kmh is to have motorists expecting me to ride way off to the left. I'll take all the space I need thank you very much.
So in conclusion I'd rate this sealed shoulder, as a 'cycling facility', to be a fail. I won't be using it, except in an emergency.
As a comparison for what could be done, Adelaide has a real cycling facility on the road into the hills, Mt Barker Rd. It looks like this. They don't have such a deep forest there with so many trees dropping bark and branches, but still it has taken a different outlook on cycling to achieve this.