the tour de freedom ride started this week and involves 40 riders tackling a 6 day 1000km charity ride to raise money for Teen Challenge WA. a few of our club members (carlos, meg and cathi) are doing this ride and a few others known to the club as well (roberta and carla). at the end of the first days ride, the group headed to lunch. as smaller groups headed back to the accommodation, a group of three including roberta and carla, were involved in an accident. a vehicle managed to turn right across the path of the three riders and cleaned up roberta and carla. roberta sustained a broken ankle among other injuries and was airlifted back to perth. carla sustained a hip injury and some other grazes but has also returned to perth. the worse part about this incident was that the driver then reversed back, and took off without even stopping to see what damage they had done.
so, firstly, how do you not see three cyclists riding towards you??? a single rider, i understand, but three bright moving objects??? the driver managed to miss the first rider but cleaned up the following two. as a driver you need to focus. be aware of everything around you. as a cyclist, look to see if the driver has made eye contact with you. trust no-one.
the whole hit and run thing i really don’t understand. a few years ago a guy hit a cyclist on port beach road and didn’t stop, but finally abandoned his car in cottesloe. he managed to drive a couple of k’s with a badly smashed windscreen before deciding to pull over. take some responsibility for your actions. once people are inside the safe and warm cocoon of their vehicle, they seem to feel that they are protected. the driver in esperance had come to a stop. the next move would have been to turn the engine off and see how the riders are. but no, they made the decision to reverse the car and then speed off. even without the whole “consequences of your actions” thing, what type of person is so callous as to leave an injured person lying on the road.
it is time for some legislation changes in wa. we don’t need to be pioneers, as qld, act and sa have already started the ball rolling. a 1m minimum distance doesn’t protect riders from being hit, but it gives them a recourse for charging the driver with something serious. recently a guy was cleanup by a taxi who pulled out as the rider was coming down malcolm st. in the police action that followed, it was decided that the driver would not be charged with dangerous driving because video footage showed him checking his mirrors before pulling out. it doesn’t mean he saw anything, or acted on it. it just means he went through the process of checking. the difference between dangerous driving and careless driving is 10 times the fine and a possible jail time. in the meantime the cyclist has ongoing injuries that they may never fully get over.
wa is often referred to as a nanny state, and it certainly seems to be that way. unfortunately, instead of looking after the more vulnerable members of society, it seems to make sure that the perpetrators are not too hard done by while the victims have to fend for themselves.
we hope that roberta and carla make a full recover and are back on the bike soon. it will also be interesting to see what happens to the driver once the law catches up with them.
UPDATE – they have a person in custody over this incident. hitting the cyclists is just one of many charges he is facing.
ride leader sponsor – no ride leader sponsor for october as the one i had lined up was no longer available. i kind of ran out of time to sort out an alternative, but i know there are a few companies out there that are interested. i will sort you out for next month.
rules of engagement – please read the previous post if you come out on any of our rides. it is up to all members to enforce these rules.
spr quarterly breakfast – this saturday after the main ride, join us for the quarterly breakfast at Dome. $15 gets you a hot beverage plus access to the buffet table. see the previous post for further details.
spr watertower challenge – this sunday sees the 2015 running of the watertower challenge. we have 25 teams of 3 riders tackling the imperial and metric centuries. may thanks to the club volunteers that have said they will help out this weekend. an email will go out tonight to riders and volunteers outlining what is required on the day. also special thanks to our nutrition suppliers aqualyte and watt+ that will be keeping the riders going. more info on the watertower event page.
tour of margaret river – the tour of margaret river teams have been set and we have 2 teams of women and 2 teams of men with a couple of reserves.
italy trip – would you like to ride your bike over in italy next year. there is a trip being organised where you can join/leave at your leisure. if you are interested, more info is available on the previous post. an info night will be held on the 12th of november so if you need more info before you take the plunge, have a look at the other previous post.
smashfest criterium series – the dates for this years smashfest criteriums at tech park are just being finalised. at the moment we are looking at 2 before christmas and 2 in the new year. this year they will all be held on a saturday afternoon on the following dates – 21st nov, 5th dec, 9th & 16th jan. after this we will also have on the same circuit, the aussie day crit, renae’s race and the state champs. discussions are also on around an spr/rccc club crit champs for just our riders with a social event on afterwards. stay tuned for more info.
ride routes – the watertower challenge is on this sunday and will start from the coode st carpark from 6:00am. all riders will be away before the 7:00am start of the hills ride, but please be aware that many of the regulars will not be on the hills ride, so make sure you know the route and step-up if needed to manage the group.
saturday 24th october
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special
all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am
development group – novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday
transitional – trans canning vale 42.34km spr saturday
fast & main groups – south st 51.23km spr saturday
sunday 25th october
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special
all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am
short – wlsh weir 62.23km spr sunday
long – wlsh obs kal 90.32km spr sunday
monday 26th october
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am
main group – south stock 33.76km spr monday
tuesday 27th october
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
spr tuesday 36.37km (river ride)
ride starts frasers carpark at 5:45am
development group – interval training kings park
wednesday 28th october
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
spr wednesday 14.22km (uci masters)
ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am
development group – stock road repeats
thursday 29th october
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30arm
spr thursday 37.26km (cott & freo)
ride starts frasers carpark at 5:45am
development group – interval training kings park
friday 30th october
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am