ANTIMO IANNELLA
August 25, 2008

ADELAIDE will become a bike-friendly city as part of a $3 million, three-year plan approved by Adelaide City Council last night.

The Draft Bicycle Action Plan 2008-2011 includes a range of initiatives designed to make it easier for people to ride their bikes safely around the city and through the parklands.

Key features of the plan include a primary “on-road” bike lane network and the completion of the Park Lands Trail - a cycling and walking circuit around the CBD.

The plan, which will be implemented sometime this year, will also see more secure bike parks and lockers installed in council U-Park car parks, and provide more free bike racks around the city.

Lord Mayor Michael Harbison said the draft action plan would encourage more people to ride their bikes and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Providing greater opportunities for cycling through the creation of more bike lanes and the provision of cycling infrastructure means more people will choose to ride their bike to work or study in the city,” he said.

The successful Free City Bikes scheme will also be expanded to more locations around the city under the plan.

(from )

ALL across the globe, forward-thinking city planners and prescient civic leaders are seeing the light.

Prompted by a growing public clamour for radical reform and the irresistible conviction that existing commuting habits are unsustainable, they have embarked on the bold mission of creating modern cycling cities.

There are a number of key drivers behind this sea change in thinking. Apart from spiralling fuel prices and crippling traffic congestion, communities are becoming increasingly aware of environmental challenges, including global warming. Added to this mix are lifestyle and healthy living issues.

Once the need for change has been understood and embraced, cities can be transformed into bike-friendly environments fairly quickly.

Even a metropolis such as London has experienced a doubling of cyclists in recent years following the decision to spend more than $100 million annually to encourage cycling. This week, the British Department of Transport unveiled a blueprint to spend more than $200 million to help transform 12 English towns into modern cycling cities.

Plans include easy-to-access and affordable on-street bike rentals, free bikes for deprived communities, state-of-the art showers and lockers in the city centre, secure bike parking at schools and businesses, lower vehicle speed limits and congestion charges and dedicated commuter cycleways along all major arterial routes linking the suburbs and city centres.

A city such as Amsterdam, which pioneered efforts to make cycling popular and safe, now has up to half the residents on their bikes. And the city plans to invest another $100 million to improve its network further. In neighbouring Groningen, ruinous traffic congestion led city planners to dig up the city-centre motorways. Now three in every five residents travel by bicycle.

The headlong transformation to two wheels can be found in cities as varied as Paris (soon to be dubbed “the city of bicycles”), Havana (which now has much lower obesity and diabetes rates) and Bogota (where efforts to make cycleways safe for even eight-year-olds has seen a 50-fold increase in usage).

For good reason, Adelaide is recognised for its impressive array of recreational cycling routes and is an integral part of the professional Tour Down Under. We also boast impressive stretches of bike lanes approaching the city centre from most compass points.

But at some point many of these bike lanes simply disappear, forcing hapless cyclists into a free-for-all bottleneck with buses, cars, trams and trucks.

The lack of a comprehensive network of dedicated cycleways – especially for commuters – has led critics to label the city’s bike infrastructure as “a haphazard joke” and “generally quite dangerous”. In an area blessed with an ideal geography and climate for cycling, it is shocking that per capita spending on bicycle infrastructure in SA is half that of WA and a quarter that of NSW.

The time for bold decision-making is upon us. Cyclists should not be an ad hoc afterthought in city planning decisions.

Convert the CBD into one-way thoroughfares with generous provision for dedicated bicycle lanes at the heart of a revitalised city.

Responsibility for all editorial comment is taken by The Editor, Melvin Mansell, 31 Waymouth St, Adelaide, SA 5000.

(from the e-mail list)

Damon known to many as the urbanbicyclist from CM Melbourne, has kindly forwarded beautiful colour CM posters for use to advertise the CM rides in Adelaide. He has rightly suggested that people take ownership in filling out the details for the ride and placing them in your favourite bike shop, wholesome food outlet or other - these are posters to be nurtured…

Additionally, he has also forwarded little foldout City Rider Guides which could be distributed to those contemplating a life on the bike or possibly for new persons presenting to a Friday night CM.

If you’d like to help to put these posters out please let me know how I can contact you, otherwise I’ll be certain to bring them to the next CM.

Likewise for the Guides.

A big thank-you to you Damon !!

Kind regards,

Andre (tmpiinternode.0n. net)

__o
_`\<,_ burn fat, not oil
(*)/ (*)

(from The Advertiser)

CRIMINAL lawyer Eugene McGee and his brother, Craig, have been ordered to stand trial on charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The McGees have pleaded not guilty to one count each, the charges relating to their alleged conduct in the hours after Eugene killed cyclist Ian Humphrey in a hit-run accident in November, 2003.
They will be arraigned in the District Court in October, but Craig McGee will be able to enjoy a 12-day holiday in the Philippines before his trial.

In the Adelaide Magistrates Court yesterday, Magistrate Fred Field varied his bail so he could travel there from late December to early January.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, meanwhile, has been criticised by Mr Field over its handling of the case, which follows the conviction of Eugene McGee for driving without due care after being acquitted of causing death by dangerous driving.
Mr Field slammed a prosecution application to cross-examine two witnesses as a “fishing expedition”.

Prosecutor Caroline Mealor had sought leave to cross-examine Eugene McGee’s solicitor, Matthew Selley, and his doctor, Professor Andrew McFarlane.

She said that although they had refused to give statements, they had “relevant information” about the case, including claims the McGees met at a quarry after Mr Humphrey’s death, but before going to the police.

But Mr Field agreed with defence objections, saying that “the prosecution seeks to embark upon a fishing expedition . . . without merit”.

(from the e-mail list)

Hello fellow cyclists,

Please consider putting in a nomination to this year’s Bicycling Achievement Awards. The Awards were established in 2000 to recognise and reward the good work being done around Australia to encourage and promote cycling, and to foster innovation. A booklet is produced every year with the nominations and winners so that people can read about what’s being done elsewhere. There are seven Award categories covering cover individuals (in paid and unpaid capacities), bicycle organisations, local governments, schools, businesses, politicians and bicycle retailers. Nominations close Sunday 27 August and can be emailed. The winners will be announced at the Bicycling Australia Show dinner on 14 October at the Arts Centre in Melbourne.

If you’d like to know more about the Awards, go to
http://www.cyclingpromotion.com.au/content/blogsection/1/9/. You can download a nomination form or last year’s booklet. Alternatively contact me if you’d like to know more, need help getting started, or would like hard copies.

Note, nominations don’t need to be long or fancy - one of the winning nominations last year was handwritten on a few pieces of notepaper while the nominator was away on the Cycle Queensland 9 day event.

Happy cycling everyone,

Kathy Brunning
Executive Assistant, Cycling Promotion Fund
PO Box 3052 Auburn Victoria 3123
Ph 03-9818-5400 Fax 03-9818-4535
www.cyclingpromotion.com.au
An initiative of the Bicycling Industry in Australia

(from Anna Vlach at The Advertiser)

DEDICATED cycling routes along rail corridors are the answer to reducing the number of run-ins between cyclists and motor vehicles, according to the Bicycle Institute of South Australia.

Chairman Sam Powrie said the routes identified as “green travel corridors” in the State Government’s cycling strategy Safety in Numbers would provide experienced and novice riders with a fast and safe alternative to arterial roads.

“There needs to be a commitment to funding in the September State Budget,” he said.

Police statistics recently released show two cyclists have died after road accidents in SA this year, with a national average of 35 cyclist fatalities and more than 2500 riders seriously injured annually.

To mark the first anniversary of champion cyclist Amy Gillett’s tragic death on Wednesday, the foundation that bears her name has also released a television advertisement reminding motorists and cyclists to share the road and be “safe together”.

The campaign has been welcomed by former state road cyclist Karen Sawyer, 29, of Brooklyn Park, who gave up the sport in April because of concern for her own safety.

“I’ve had a few close calls with cars and a couple of accidents, including ones where I have hit my head,” she said.

“I didn’t want to end up with a brain injury.”

Ms Sawyer said the Government should also invest in an extensive and graphic public awareness campaign outlining road rules for cyclists, whom she said could reach speeds of 35-50km/h.

“Drivers don’t realise the speed a cyclist is going at,” she said. “If it was a car travelling at those speeds, motorists wouldn’t do half the things they do, including not indicating.”

Taxi drivers were by far the “worst offenders”, she said.

“I had one do a U-turn when I was coming along beside him and I had to do a U-turn with him or I would have rode straight into him,” she said.

Mr Powrie said research had shown the most effective way to encourage motorists to share the road was to increase the number of cyclists so more drivers had a “direct understanding”.

A Transport SA spokesman confirmed yesterday $600,000 in Black Spot funding for the next financial year had been allocated to cycling infrastructure.

The Government also regularly promoted a “share the road” campaign, he said.

Family and friends of Ms Gillett, who died on July 19 last year when a car crashed into Australian cycling team members near the town of Zeulenroda in Germany, will gather for a memorial service at the crash site tomorrow.

The 3rd Thinking on Two Wheels International Cycling Conference will be held in Adelaide, Australia on Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 January 2007. The conference will be hosted by UniSA which is at the forefront of conducting research, and promoting debate and discussion on cycling issues concerned with health, recreation, community, engineering and sustainable transport.

Additionally, UniSA has sponsored Team UniSA for six years and promotes cycling as a healthy, fun activity that can directly encourage a sustainable transport system and sustainable lifestyle choices.

The Conference immediately precedes the Down Under Classic and the five-stage Tour Down Under, the only Hors Classe 2 category race in the Southern Hemisphere and the most prestigious international professional cycle race in Australia. This race includes an opportunity for members of the public to ride a stage during the Tour before the professional riders take to the bitumen. Delegates can experience the delights of Adelaide including savouring the produce from the world-famous Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills districts while relaxing in the convivial cafes of the several dining precincts of Adelaide.

Please note that abstracts are now able to be submitted; the closing date is 14 July 2006.

For more information, download the PDF (340KB) brochure.

Australians bought more bicycles than motor vehicles in 2005, according to official figures released today by the motor and bicycle industries.

Bicycle sales in Australia topped 1.1 million for the fourth straight year of million-plus sales.

The Cycling Promotion Fund (CPF), Australia’s peak bicycle promotional body, said bike sales for 2005 ended up 13 per cent ahead of the motor vehicles total of 988,269 - the sixth year that bikes had outsold cars.

CPF program director Rosemarie Speidel said the massive rate at which Australians bought bicycles reflected the ever-increasing popularity of cycling as a form of recreation, sport and transport.

“Cycling is Australia’s fourth most popular physical activity after walking, aerobics and swimming - and ahead of golf,” she said.

“The Exercise Recreation and Sport Survey (ERASS) conducted by the federal and state governments shows that participation in cycling grew by 15.3% from 2001 to 2004.”

By contrast, tennis declined 4.2%, netball declined 7.9% and golf remained stagnant.

“We are seeing more and more people riding bikes for recreation, sport as well as everyday transport, which has to be a good thing for the health of a country where obesity is a major health concern.
There has also been huge growth in cycling events and bicycle tourism, which helps to boost regional economies with the influx of competitors, spectators and tourists.”

Ms Speidel said feedback from the bicycle industry indicated that the strong sales covered everything from everyday recreational bikes right through to high-end road and competition bicycles.

Media inquiries: Rosemarie Speidel: 0407 537 760
Ian Christie: 0431 770 982

• Australia was the dominant cycling nation at the Athens Olympic Games, collecting 10 medals including six gold.
• Cycling is the fourth highest participation recreation activity in Australia with more than 1.6 million aged 15 years and older riding in 2004 - an increase of 15.3% on 2001.
• Regular cyclists can expect to be as fit as an average person 10 years younger.
• On a bicycle you can travel up to 1030 kilometres on the energy equivalent to one litre petrol.
• Bicycles are the world’s most popular vehicle - 1.4 billion bikes versus 340 million cars.
• 101 million bicycles were produced globally in the year 2000, versus 41 million cars.