2014 Ride 2 Riverstone Charity Cycling Event

[RobK]

- For any interested in car-pooling to get to the ride, I've started a discussion on sydneycyclist - See http://www.sydneycyclist.com/forum/topi ... on-may-4th.
- Also, early-bird entry discounts end on Easter Sunday.
- We're still after volunteers, particularly 'signage crew' vols to put out signs the day before the ride. Signage Crew vols get free entry to the ride on the Sunday. Please Register and select 'Volunteer' and 'Signage Crew' when prompted if interested.

[leximack]

getting close now, hope the weather is good. Dont want to ride in the rain (again )

Don

[RobK]

Just a reminder that the Rivo ride is happening this Sunday. Online registrations are still open, or you can register at the start site on Sunday morning (but please allow a little extra time).

Unfortunately we've had to shorten the 50, 80 & 100km routes a little due to Hawkesbury Council undertaking roadworks and closing a section of road we were planning to use. Still should still be a great day out on the bike though.

[Hergest]

I'm looking forward to it. I think winter clothing will be the order of the day this year judging by the forecast.

[Hergest]

That was great. Lovely weather after all if a bit breezy now and then. I (and a few others) went wrong on the 2nd loop of the 100 km ride but it was all good as it meant we actually clocked up 103 km which was a bonus.

Thanks to all those who organise the event. I helped out putting signs out yesterday and it made me realise just how much effort goes into putting an event like this on.

Now i'm going to sit and digest the big lunch.

[leximack]

was good fun on the bike today, great event for a very important cause.
Wind seemed to be okish except i seemed to always be in a headwind (how does that work on a loop??).
temps were good and roads dried very quicky. Liked the course and will venture out that way more often.
Only issue i had was missing a turnoff from anangrove rd onto edwards rd. Marshall said to go straight (probably though we were a 50 or 80km rider or which ever group was going that way even though we yelled out that we were 100k riders), i thought it was wrong at the time but wasnt 100% sure, knew it was wrong after i went past blue gum rd so turned back.
Maybe the different groups (50, 80, 100k etc) can have different colour bibs so its easier to identify whos who, so many intersections that the different categories go different ways so its easy to get confused.
Overall i had fun, ended up with 117km by the time i got home.

Don

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[danchez]

Same issue with the marshals being a bit confused on where to direct who (was probably more me confused in hindsight). Unfortunately I realised too late and ended back at the start point 25km's short of the revised 80km route.

Had fun none the less! Enjoyed the previously unexplored (for me) terrain.

[Xplora]

Downloadable Garmin Course would be an easy fix for that... but route changes don't help with that

[ab012]

Same issue with the marshals being a bit confused on where to direct who (was probably more me confused in hindsight). Unfortunately I realised too late and ended back at the start point 25km's short of the revised 80km route.

Had fun none the less! Enjoyed the previously unexplored (for me) terrain.

Ha! Exactly same thing happened to me, although in my case being late and starting at 8:30 probably didnt help matters... Its quite odd too given that I thought most of the signs were quite visible and clear yet still somehow got lost!

The people at the start point then pointed me back to the route so ended up with my own version of the ride in the 2nd half Bit lonely in that section though.

[RobK]

Apologies for the volunteer pointing 100km the wrong way. I'd done the briefing to the vols before the ride started and took the vols on that corner aside and spoken to them, as we'd had similar issues in the past there.
Unfortunately the message didn't get through
As soon as we were aware of what was happening we spoke to the vol and riders were directed in the correct direction. Unfortunately though, a lot of 100km riders had started on their second (and maybe even third?) loops of that section by that stage.
I find it very frustrating to see small things like this having such a major impact on the event and people's perception of the organising. 90% of the work for these events goes on in the background - It's only the end 10% that riders actually see. If a few things in that 10% go wrong, then everyone is affected. (End of whinge!)
Honestly though, the ride is organised by a committee of 5 people at present. I find it a large workload - We need more people, especially cyclists on the committee and to assist in the final weeks before the event. I'm actually saying to the others on the committee that I don't want to be involved again unless there are more people to help share the workload and bounce ideas around.
Anyone interested in helping keep this event going and improving it?

Cheers,

Rob

[SheikYerbouti]

I was just about to register for the 2015 R2R... and it has been cancelled!
Police concerned after fatality in Tour de Hills. Fair enough but v disappointed.

[queequeg]

I was just about to register for the 2015 R2R... and it has been cancelled!
Police concerned after fatality in Tour de Hills. Fair enough but v disappointed.

The police have not even finished the report for the coroner over the tour de hills incident, but my understanding is that police are concerned about the lack of road shoulder on old northern road due to roadworks. Obviously not concerned enough to provide any traffic control, but it has been referred up to police regional command (according to the Hills District Times last week). It didn't say the event was being cancelled, but it wouldn't surprise me. Seems to happen a lot in NSW for cycling events.

[SheikYerbouti]

It didn't say the event was being cancelled, but it wouldn't surprise me.

PRESS RELEASE

Monday, 30 March 2015

Subject Ride 2 Riverstone 2015 Update Possible Cancellation

Authorisation Wal Smith (Chairman)

For immediate release


Cancellation of Ride 2 Riverstone Cycle Event 2015

Owing to circumstances beyond our control, the Ride 2 Riverstone Cycle Event, that scheduled for May 3 2015 has been cancelled.

The Committee met with the NSW Police at Castle Hill Police Station on Monday 16 March 2015.Concerns over rider safety were raised in relation to the routes planned for the 2015 Ride 2 Riverstone.

A similar cycling event was held earlier this year where, unfortunately, a cyclist fatality occurred. While our event is supported by a comprehensive Traffic Management Plan (TMP) this incident has resulted in a sharper focus on safety. There was insufficient time to adequately deal with the matters raised to gain the necessary approvals to run the event.

The Committee in conjunction with the Police, the relevant Local Councils and our risk assessors are working hard to resolve the problems to ensure the ride runs ASAP.

Cycle events raise many millions of dollars for worthy research, including our research into Childhood Cancer, which now includes clinical trials. This money will be sorely missed.

We wish to thank the relevant authorities for the time they have given us to put our case, and hope to resolve all issues very soon.


Ross Hardy-Barker
Ride Administrator

[queequeg]

Where was that posted? I didn't see anything on
the ride website.

[SheikYerbouti]

It was emailed out to all Rotary members - one forwarded it to me. It has also gone on their FB site earlier today: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php? ... 0410619863" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Xplora]

This is really bad news, and pretty much sums up why risk management for cycling is a joke. They are fighting to rip up dedicated cycling infrastructure in the CBD, while they are refusing to allow a charitable event to run because of a lack of dedicated infrastructure....

I note that there aren't many plans for urgent upgrades to lay road shoulders for those cyclists wishing to legally ride these roads for the rest of the time.

It saddens me that a charity would need to formulate a risk management plan for the reduction in their funding because their events can't be run due to council/police interference. We wonder why community seems to be a smaller and smaller part of life in Australia - this is why.

/rant

[queequeg]

I do find the bias in the police/council disheartening. One incident in 20 years of running the Tour de Hills and they're expressing serious safety concerns. Meanwhile, a 12 yr old gets hit and killed by car after getting off a bus and it is "ho hum, just another statistic, move along". Where are the calls from council/police to ban people from using cars because they cause so much carnage?

/rant

[Bunged Knee]

I too got an email from them.
I`m disappointed as I will be Route Marshall volunteer for R2R. I`ve participated in all R2R rides and was the 1st time doing Route Marshall volunteer at Oakville RFS last year.

Would like to do RM again this year but due to cancellation.

[tez001]

Thats a shame, and I hope its not a sign for other events such as the Spring cycle, Gong ride etc.

[biker jk]

Thats a shame, and I hope its not a sign for other events such as the Spring cycle, Gong ride etc.

Those events you mention have road closures and police traffic management. This is paid for and is not cheap. It will be interesting if the police offered to provide traffic management to offset their safety concerns in the case of the Ride 2 Riverstone and what they wanted to be paid.

[Xplora]

Thats a shame, and I hope its not a sign for other events such as the Spring cycle, Gong ride etc.

This is precisely why you need to kick up a stink about this now. There is nothing unsafe about a bicycle, and they allow that many cars driven by equally unskilled drivers every single day during peak hour. There is no justification around this...

Bear in mind that traffic plans require months of lead time, and I'm guessing the committee was thrown a curve ball in one of the planning meetings after the fatality. The traffic plans cost thousands to organise and I'm guessing they were told major changes were required without sufficient lead time to address them - it's a pretty said turn of events. Rotary and Lions would achieve more benefit to the community than the risk involved to cyclists with TdH or R2R.

[ab012]

Dissappointing

[Boognoss]

Dissappointing

Very disappointing, especially in light of the fantastic Bobbin Head Classic ride I rode on Sunday. I know of one rider that came off and was attended to (and hopefully he's alright) but there's a risk in everything. It's the soft cop-out option from council/police. I wonder why 3/5 Australian adults are overweight or obese (I read this stat today), hiding in their houses wrapped in bubblewrap......

[Xplora]

I wonder if this is a useful thing to raise with the local MP? Police is a State responsibility. It makes every health initiative a bit of a joke when proven healthy living kickstarters are stopped because car drivers can't be trusted... ban the motor vehicles if it's too hard

[queequeg]

I wonder if this is a useful thing to raise with the local MP? Police is a State responsibility. It makes every health initiative a bit of a joke when proven healthy living kickstarters are stopped because car drivers can't be trusted... ban the motor vehicles if it's too hard

That's my take. Event cancelled due to lack of police trust in poorly skilled motorists.