On Feb 13, 12:06 pm, Bean Long wrote:
Well this morning's ride in wasn't one of the best. Here's the short
version:

First, the kids took ages to get organised for child care, so I was late
anyway. As I was rushing to get out of the house I found my rear tyre
was a little flat, so I had to get the floor pump out of the shed and
pump it up. No big dramas but I was already late so I'm getting a bit
flustered. Finally leave home at about 8:10 am (I normally like to leave
around 7:30, so I'm much later than usual). Ride through Gowrie and
Wanniassa and then up the Farrer ridge on Athllon.

A lady on her bike coming down the hill suddenly flies over her bars and
lands on the deck in front of me. Ouch! Skin off the elbows but no
broken bones. I fix her rear derailler which was the problem... it had
moved up a sprocket but didn't take the chain with it and the whole
drive train had jammed! Give her the once over (I'm not trained in first
aid, despite thinking about it last night!). She seems OK and is up on
her feet and quite talkative, so I offer my condolences and get on my
way. Now even later. Things are fine going through Woden and onto
Adelaide Ave, but by the time I get to the Hopetoun overpass my rear
tyre has decided to call it a day... must be a dud valve I think. I
change the tube while I notice the traffic building up and suddenly fire
engines approaching.

The tube change was a quick 5 mins and I'm back on the bike heading to
State Circle where the traffic has come to a standstill. When I say
standstill I mean that traffic had stopped but some drivers were eager
to pass their comrades on the left by quickly nipping into the cycle
lane, so I have 3 or 4 instances of near heart-attack and significant
finger waving within just a couple of hundred meters. Not happy Jan!
Then I see the reason for the traffic jam.

A cyclist had been hit on what I consider one of the most dangerous
corners in Canberra. It's an intersection where the cycle lane splits
and goes either straight or left and if you're on a bike and going
straight, beware the car turning left!! The car had significant damage
to the left hand side where the cyclist had come to grief and the
cyclist was on the ground being cared for by the ambo's. There was a guy
I've ridden with on the scene too but I didn't want to stick my head in
just to find out the story... I'm sure it will be talked about at the
crits tonight. So, after chatting for a minute or two with some other
cyclists who were clearly shocked by the scene, and realising that all
that could be done was being done by people with the right training, I
got moving again. Finally, just to finish me off for the morning, I had
a near collision coming off Commonwealth bridge with a cyclist who
decided he wanted to go right instead of left without indicating and
while I was passing him. A few choice words and off to work where I'm
emotionally frazzled for the day!

No news on the cyclist yet but anxious he's OK.

Bean

Wow, and they say Canberra's well set up for cyclists! I did around 50
km in Bne this morning and saw none of this - oh, bar some dick in a
Kingswood who had a yell at us because three lanes weren't enough for
him. Maybe our wild-seeming roads and drivers are safer than roads
"designed for cyclists". Could be something in that.

Donga