Mustang wrote:After reading the above I'm going to throw a spanner into the works...I enjoyed the day.
Sure the run in is busy, but if you want to ride at a hectic pace perhaps its not the event for you.
One has to read the traffic ahead, but at 40/50km I imagine it would be difficult ?
My uncle died of MS so I'm pleased to be able to help in my small way.
Lots of young people there in wheel chairs would love to trade places with you as a rider.
Having said that:
There's no reason for the organisers to not follow their own rules.
I've ridden the Conquer Cancer the past two years & the two events are chalk & cheese.
agree with this
my g/f and I participated on Sunday. Great day overall
we aren't fast, but we are getting there. Last time we went on this ride we took nearly 4 hours to complete the 50km, this time we knocked it over in just under 2.5hrs. So we averaged around 20kph. We sit on around 22-28kph on the flats and probably dropped as low as 13kph up the steeper hills. We tried to keep to the left where possible, but it wasn't always possible as medium slow riders were also overtaking the slow-slow riders... As mentioned there are several speed groups in this ride. You have kids, riders who have bitten off more than they can chew so really struggle and/or stop, casual riders right up to the full blown high speed riders. Put all this into the one mix along with car traffic smack bang in the middle of Brisbane's CBD and you are bound to have problems.
We tried to be mindful of the faster riders, but the second half of the 50km was downright dangerous, with the elite riders coming up from the back - the speed difference was crazy. Whilst the slower riders weren't always showing a lot of consideration (keep in mind the slower riders usually aren't overly experienced) there wasn't a lot of consideration shown by some of the faster riders either. I had faster riders tearing past me at 10-15kph faster around corners where clearly the pack had to bunch together and the newbies usually take very wide lines. I almost got shoved into 3 faster riders with absolutely no consideration or foresight as to what was going on. These guys are experienced riders and have the advantage of approaching from behind the pack where they can see what's ahead. I was constantly looking over my shoulder watching for these guys, as I tried to merge out to pass other slower cyclists - nearly ended up the back end of a parked car.....
As Mustang said, the Brissie to the Bay ride is primarily a fun charity ride. It's designed to be fun for all ages and experience levels. It's never going to be a speed trial, there are events specifically aimed at riders who want this. I relate it to track days with my car. We have 'happy laps' and 'sprint days'. Happy Laps you have stock standard cars with drivers who have never driven on a racetrack before. They don't know anything about racing lines, apex's, watching mirrors for faster cars etc. So at these events you understand you aren't going to cut a record lap or anywhere near it. You just have to sit back and be patient, give the inexperienced drivers a wide berth, and prepare for unexpected moves. Sprint days on the other hand, you are expected to know the rules, watch for other drivers, go flat out and get your best time. However I must agree with an earlier post that organisers maybe need to look at limiting what sort of 'bikes' can enter. My g/f's bike got clipped by a bike towing a baby trailer behind it. Both the other rider and the g/f were at 'fault' as they kind of merged into each other. Problem was the baby trailer had 2 wheels on the back, was considerably wider than the bike towing it and it was offset to one side. This bike/trailer combo was passing the g/f down a hill, she saw the bike pass but didn't realise there was a trailer behind it sticking out about a foot to the kerb side. Both bikes moved a couple of inches toward each other as it passed and bang.... Lucky no-one came off. But with the increased crowds, it's a struggle to keep single bikes off each other, it's an accident waiting to happen to stick bike trailers amoungst it all.
final comment, with the increasing numbers of this event it really needs to either have better traffic control or look at other options. The g/f and I were discussing the idea that they could break the event up over Saturday & Sunday. Maybe the 100km riders on the Saturday and the rest on the Sunday ? I think that would minimise the speed difference between the slowest and fastest riders.