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No 23, August 2002
| Contents | |
|---|---|
| My commute | 1 |
| Cycling holidays | 3 |
| Bike Bits | 6 |
| Other Editions | |
Editors: Kin-Yat Lo + Michael Chow
Production: Keith Griffin
The views expressed in Chain Mail articles are those of the authors only and do not necessarily represent either the common views shared by a majority of Bike North members, or Bike North policy as formulated by the Bike North Executive Committee.
My commute
This is a new, regular section where we promote bicycles for transport. You can learn more about commuting from other Bike North members. In this first article, Fran Griffin describes her commute from Carlingford to Macquarie University. Please send us details of your commute for publication in future issues.
I am fortunate enough to live only 10kms from where I work, with a very easy daily commute. In fact it is so easy it has become rather boring.
The first thing I have to do is time my departure carefully, since I have to ride past the school. Now we all know how mums drive first thing in the morning, and what kids are like when they see their friends being unloaded from cars ... bedlam on wheels combined with a stampede in uniform! Add to this a few buses, other drivers trying to get past the school and the kids and the mums and the buses... and one poor insignificant cyclist.
The trusty and ageing mountain bike has dragged me up the hill from home to the corner opposite the school. [Fran's mountain bike has since been replaced by Fabio, a sleek new road bike — Ed] Hopefully it is too early or too late for the dreaded mayhem, but somehow it always seems to be just the right time. I have become good at riding from my street, through the chicane, and up to the right turn into a back street, on the centre line with my arm out. Not riding there means I can never make the turn, not signalling means copping abuse — it's amazing what a calming effect it has on the traffic to hold your right arm out to the side for extended periods of time! Perhaps the drivers are fascinated that this is possible, or maybe they want to see how long I can do it, or is there some mysterious hypnotic effect it has on them?
The next challenge is the parking area for the oval behind the school, which is a favourite dumping place for the mums with really little kids. There are speed bumps too — those nasty cheaply built little sharp ones — which make my mud guard rattle against whatever it is that it rattles against, serving as a good warning for unwary pedestrians that I am coming through. Having negotiated groups of gossipping mums; pre-schoolers occasionally escaping and running feral through the car park; and the simultaneous reversing phenomenon that involves cars on opposite sides and doesn't involve the use of eyes or ears, I am finally in a nice quiet backstreet. In this street the main hazard is a cat, which I see quite often, and which likes to lie in the middle of the road. The next obstacle is the opening in the fence which leads to the footpath on Pennant Hills Road. This is one of those supposedly soundproof things, but certainly not glass-proof! For a while I gave up riding through it, due to the frequency with which I met elderly pedestrians, not to mention the group of girls from the school who liked to sit there for their morning smoke. They have recently trimmed the bushes on the other side, allowing me a greater chance of not maiming the oldies, so I am riding through it again.
The footpath is an uneventful couple of hundred metres to the M2. Last summer it suddenly developed a pointed mountain during one very hot day. This was quite interesting to get airborne over if you forgot it was there. It's been fixed now, so that bit of excitement is gone. The trimmed bushes take some of the challenge out too, since the path had become almost too narrow, and quite often startled parrots and miners would erupt from the flowers as I passed. I have never hit one though!
Now down to business, this is the M2 and there is a roadie just ahead. Well he usually tends to remain just ahead, and just ahead a bit further... since I am significantly out-geared on the downhill. I have even been passed on the downhill, kept up on the flat, only to be left behind in the tunnel because the roadies I was following decided to sprint! Well so did I, in fact I sprint it every day, but I was in my highest gear pedalling twice as fast as they were, and they were still gaining (ggrrrrrr!!!!).
The camaraderie on the M2 is nice — most cyclists do say hello or acknowledge from the other side, or offer assistance if you have not been sufficiently nimble to avoid the pretty crystals left by those who feel they add a certain je ne sais quoi to the breakdown lane.
Now which magpie should I annoy today? Will it be the nasty one in Talavera Road which chases me all the way from the M2 exit into the uni and past the roundabout in fearsome kamakaze style? His beak will be sharpened and is usually deadly accurate. I arrive with blood dripping from my forehead and ear, despite adjusting the helmet and straps to protect these areas. I do receive lots of sympathy from my colleagues on arrival though.
Or will I see if the fickle one at the Vimiera Road roundabout feels like a chase this morning? This also involves either a trip across the busy part of the campus, dodging the students, or a trip around the back of the campus, dodging the ducks, and if I'm unlucky — the other magpie!