Cycling in Melbourne Australia
Experience from hell
Enjoy heading out along Beach road and don't usually get out till 09.30, headed out with the Tenax group (great bunch of people) for the first time and leaving 07.30 at least 2 hours earlier than normal. Well some of the sites I saw out there were absolutely absurd and some of the worst riding I had ever seen.
There were so many people and big groups mingling with other groups with a riding etiquette that I had never seen before, I was totally surprised about the aggressive nature in which others ride their bikes with no care for anyone else and abuse going everywhere from rider to rider, people cutting other people off to a point that one of the guys I always ride with was cut off and taken down.
Some of the faster groups(not all) that I saw over taking other slower groups need to take a look at the way they are behaving as it’s truly not a good look for cyclist and we get a hard enough time as cyclist as it is and only reinforces what people think of us.
Think I will stick to 09.30 starts MUCH SAFER and enjoyable which what it’s all about.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John E. on -
No surprise there, it has been too crowded for the last couple of years - lots of inexperienced riders with too much ego & too much arrogance. I prefer to ride alone so ride later - otherwise you just can't get away from either tagging onto someone or being tagged yourself. If you ride with a group, assess the quality of riders in it - if they are constantly starting/stopping pedaling, desperately hanging on the back, wobbling, being inconsistent and dangerous, find another bunch with more experience. It's great that so many people are taking up riding, and they need time to gain experience, but quite often they bring their driving attitude to riding - these are riders who need to have the proper etiquette pointed out to them. It's a bit like China adopting the car - a nation full of learner drivers! We have a road full of learner riders!(who think that riding is just going fast)
Try the North Rd ride each weekday - mostly experienced riders who understand the flow of a peleton and ride accordingly & save the aggression for competition.
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Permalink Reply by DJ on -
I can't see the attraction with riding along Beach Road.It is vastly over rated.Traffic light every few minutes, crowded with inexperienced riders, almost dead flat and boring until Mornington.It's far too busy with other cyclists to be able to do the sort of workout that you require on any particular day. I see it as a road ridden by sheep who don't know any better. It's not a road for genuine cyclists. It's a road for poseurs. There are far better roads to ride on around Melbourne than that one.
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Permalink Reply by Chris Harris on -
I can see the attraction in summer.. .all those babes in bikinis !
Aside from that, I'll stick to my off-road trails.
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Permalink Reply by Glennys Jones on
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A bit like the ATB, but this year with BNV making jersey compulsory, it's going to be much harder to keep a watch out for the "all the gear and no idea" riders as they camouflage back into the faceless crowd.
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