Taking on the Road
Vic takes some lessonsTo ride on-road or off-road that is the question.
With just a couple of months of riding under my belt, I still didn’t’ feel confident enough to take my bike on the road. Instead I would stick to the Cook’s River or sheepishly ride my bike on the pavement. A copper dog once told me that if any cop was to book a cyclist for riding on the pavement, “they’d need to get a life’. In any case riding on the road was something I knew I had to master if I was to be a fully fledged inner west cyclist.
And so I decided to attend a three-hour free course with the Greenway group.
The course began at Johnson Park, Dulwich Hill. Getting there was a bit like an episode from Race Around the World. My work buddy Vic and her partner Jason drove from the Eastern Suburbs and after 15 minutes of getting lost along Warren Rd/Illawarra Rd they had finally made it to my home in Ewart St. Jason jumped out and wacked my bike on the back of his ute. With the three of us in the front street, (I have to say being in a ute for me was a thrill), we made it to Constitution St. The riders were still there so we needn’t have worried about missing the course. After a brief introduction from each person in the group we were ready to tackle our fist lessons – on the basketball court.
We were taught emergency braking, tight ways to manoeuvre our bike, gear changes, signalling and looking over our shoulder to check on traffic. It was quite intense but very helpful as we learnt simple tips that made such a difference to our riding.
While consuming our ‘packed lunch’ we were given a brief but very helpful overview of road rules. Our teacher Tanya recommended we take alternative quieter streets to ride on and where possible and ride through parks. I also didn’t realise that drink riding was a no no.
With just a couple of months of riding under my belt, I still didn’t’ feel confident enough to take my bike on the road. Instead I would stick to the Cook’s River or sheepishly ride my bike on the pavement. A copper dog once told me that if any cop was to book a cyclist for riding on the pavement, “they’d need to get a life’. In any case riding on the road was something I knew I had to master if I was to be a fully fledged inner west cyclist.
And so I decided to attend a three-hour free course with the Greenway group.
The course began at Johnson Park, Dulwich Hill. Getting there was a bit like an episode from Race Around the World. My work buddy Vic and her partner Jason drove from the Eastern Suburbs and after 15 minutes of getting lost along Warren Rd/Illawarra Rd they had finally made it to my home in Ewart St. Jason jumped out and wacked my bike on the back of his ute. With the three of us in the front street, (I have to say being in a ute for me was a thrill), we made it to Constitution St. The riders were still there so we needn’t have worried about missing the course. After a brief introduction from each person in the group we were ready to tackle our fist lessons – on the basketball court.
We were taught emergency braking, tight ways to manoeuvre our bike, gear changes, signalling and looking over our shoulder to check on traffic. It was quite intense but very helpful as we learnt simple tips that made such a difference to our riding.
While consuming our ‘packed lunch’ we were given a brief but very helpful overview of road rules. Our teacher Tanya recommended we take alternative quieter streets to ride on and where possible and ride through parks. I also didn’t realise that drink riding was a no no.
Learning rules over lunch
Then we were ready for our cycle to the Cook’s River. It was the first time for me. Riding on the road that is and I have to say it made such a difference riding with a group of people. The car drivers were indeed very respectful and I thought very patient too but then I guess that’s what safety in numbers is all about.
Tanya was fabulous and very encouraging. She did talk about a mate of hers who smashed his leg muscle and that the “only injury” she had was a broken collar bone.
By the end of the course, the only injury I sustained was some chipped nail polish on my left thumb.
For me, hand signalling and looking over my shoulder is something I still need to master. I think I will take up her suggestion and join my local bicycle user group (BUG), MASSBUG.0
And I will definitely take up her suggestion to join Bicycle NSW. An $85 membership gives you comprehensive insurance.
Hopefully soon, I’ll be able to whiz about Marrickville’s Streets.
I do recommend this course. Try it. You’ll enjoy it I am sure, just remember to bring the packed lunch. www.greenway.org.au
Tanya was fabulous and very encouraging. She did talk about a mate of hers who smashed his leg muscle and that the “only injury” she had was a broken collar bone.
By the end of the course, the only injury I sustained was some chipped nail polish on my left thumb.
For me, hand signalling and looking over my shoulder is something I still need to master. I think I will take up her suggestion and join my local bicycle user group (BUG), MASSBUG.0
And I will definitely take up her suggestion to join Bicycle NSW. An $85 membership gives you comprehensive insurance.
Hopefully soon, I’ll be able to whiz about Marrickville’s Streets.
I do recommend this course. Try it. You’ll enjoy it I am sure, just remember to bring the packed lunch. www.greenway.org.au
Jason packs the bikes back into his ute
4 comments:
Great post MP, and good on ya for taking the plunge, looking forward to seeing you out there.
Phil - spinopsys.com.
Hey Princess, as a fellow Maricikillean, fellow journo and fellow tentative cyclist ... congrats.
The Cooks River path is great. Have you gone all the way to Botany Bay yet? There's some fab territory around there.
I saw this article on Phil's blog and popped over to say GOOD ON YOU. Can be a scary thing road riding for the noobie. Every cyclist on the road raises visibility for the rest of us.
Cheers
You have inspired me - I'm going to dust off the bike and try to do one of these courses. Then hopefully I'll be able to get off the footpath (sorry, pedestrians...).
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