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Well for those of you up before sunrise there was plenty of fog around Melbourne.

For a regular bunch or riders who travel down Nepean Highway to Mordialloc and back to St Kilda, the morning had that sombre mood.

No matter what the weather conditions, the “North Road” bunch move at swift speeds as part of their morning routine finishing at Cafe Race in St Kilda for the Cafe latte & half toast.

Well Friday is the social ride, no break neck speeds, just a chance to reflect on the week and keep the nutrients flowing through the legs, ready for the longer rides on the weekend or maybe some club racing.

Unfortunately cyclist have received much negative press about the rogue riders who like rogue motorists reflect a small part of the cycling community.

I ride with the North Road bunch most mornings and have found the group respectiveful of other motorists and road rules.

I hope everyone enjoyed their 4 days off and managed to do mininal damaged to all those Easter eggs.

Well a keen cyclist called Daniel Keane managed to burn all those calories on our behalves by cycling from Adelaide to Melbourne in only 4 days.

Just to make sure he had plenty of room for a diet of chocolate on Sunday, he rode along the Great Ocean Road to Queenscliff to catch the ferry to Sorrento.

A huge effort Daniel:)))

At the end of the day persistence overides resistence.
It’s amazing that if you are truly focused and believe 110% in yourself anything is achievable.

While the Grand Prix circus was being packed way, I was forced to detour along the lengh of St Kilda Rd. My usual route along the picturesque lakeside Drive, Albert Park was temporarily closed off.

Well I admire the 900 odd cyclists venturing along St Kilda Rd. It is like riding through a swarm of locusts.
Cars suddenly turning left without indicating, net alone looking and the constant barrage of opening car doors yet again drivers oblivious to the oncoming cyclists.

Generally the majority of cars are well behaved but an unfortunate few place the safety & lives of cyclists at risk.
A friend of mine, lets call him Phil B encountered the wraith of an opening door with the permanent legacy of a 2 inch scar a constant reminder.

During my 4 trips along St Kilda Rd, I chatted to many cyclists who have all experienced near missses or accidents.

I know there is a responsibilty with cyclists for due dilligence to other road users and road rules but the inplications for an exposed cyclist from a shielded driver is considerably higher.

I look forward to the day, if or when it happens that a dedicated bicycle lane is introduced.

Cycling traffic along St Kilda Rd has increased expodentially since the introduction of bicycle lanes.

According to Bicycle Victoria, in 1992 the bicycle trips into the CBD were under 50 with this figure shooting up to over 400 when cycling lanes were introduced to over 900 in 2006.
The final figure was according to a survey conducted by The Inner Melbourne Action Plan (the councils of Melbourne, Port Phillip, Stonnington and Yarra in association with VicUrban and the State Government) that monitored city bound traffic along St Kilda Road between 7.00-9.00am.
This represented an increase of 16% over the previous year.

The great thing is the small amount of room requirred for the bicycle lane which doesn’t impact on car traffic volume levels.

While people are gripping over the introduction of the Parking Bay Levy tax in Melbourne’s CBD carparks, only one year after London’s congestion tax was introduced, London’s Mayor Ken Livingstone has declared the traffic congestion charge scheme a success. (on the day of its first anniversary 17th February 2004)
He said that traffic had been cut by 18% and delays were down 30%.

Fast forward to the future, and many people are turning to 2 wheels with bicycle shops located on the out skirts of the congestion charge zone experiencing profit increases of 15-30% in profits since the introduction of the tax in 2003.

In 2006 there were on average 70,000 fewer vehicles entering the charging zone than on the day before the scheme was introduced.

Transport for London have released figures stating that CO2 levels have been cut, road deaths have decresed by 70% and wait for it, CYCLING within the zone has increased by a whopping 70%

So it is difficult to understand why the Victorian Bracks Government on one hand advocates decreasing the reliance on cars entering the City of Melbourne, yet any initiatives to increase bicycle use are thawted by the Roads & Ports Minister Tim Pallas. I find this very strange:(

The day that it was announce to introduce a dedicated cycling lane along St Kilda Rd, the Transport Minister intervened and now, well no more dedicated cycling lane shielded from kamikaze drivers suddenly turning.

Would the lane impact on car traffic- nope because the lanes were merely utilsing the existing bicycle lane and merely moving it across to the curb.

Great work Bracksy!!!

Well maybe not, your best work is considering spending $30M on installing lights for the GP to bring up spectator numbers to what was originally promised and quibbing with the Federal Government about who should spend $30M on installing a sewerage treatment plant underneath Princess Park. This would have supplied enough water for every Park in the City of Melbourne.
Now that is trully GREAT WORK!!!