TOP 25 - Bicycle Network

CRASH TRAUMA! IS STRICT LIABILITY THE ANSWER?
+
REFLECTIVE
GEAR REPORT
+
AUSTRALIA’S MOST WIDELY READ BIKE MAGAZINE
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
AUSTRALIA’S
TOP
25
SCENIC RIDES
PROFILE
STEVE VAN RUYVEN
EQUAL ROAD
WOMEN’S ELITE
CYCLING
Contents
RIDE ON MAGAZINE APRIL - MAY 2015
IN THE KNOW
04 News
06 Feedback
36 Foam roller recovery
45 Calendar
78 Health Report
FEATURES
16 PROFILE
Steve van Ruyven
60 RIDE
Golden peaks
Brutish hills and spectacular
views await those willing to
take on the challenge of the
Gold Coast peaks
62 BIKES
Recumbent incumbent
65 RIDE
70 REPORT
Power and passion
30 REVIEW
Behind the scenes of Taiwan’s
bike factories
test looks at the best and
brightest.
40 REPORT
Protecting the vulnerable
Strict liability for —is it the
answer to protect riders
rights?
50 REPORT
Desert dreaming
An onlookers view of the
Simpson Desert Bike
Challenge
54 REVIEW
Reflecting rides
Reflections on reflective gear
for riders
58 REPORT
Closing the gap
70
Australia’s top 25 scenic rides
down.
Ride On’s 10th annual lights
60
Scenic route
Even MS can’t slow this rider
What price your lights?
25
Different types of bikes for the
laid back rider
72 TECH
Simple checks you can do on
your steed
76 RIDE
A wall of tarmac
Riding the fearsome Mount
Baw Baw
80
50
LAST WORD
Long road to recovery
How do you cope being off the
bike?
30
REVIEWS
10 First Look
12 Hot Products
22 BIKE
Giant Propel Advanced 2
24 BIKE
Bombtrack Hook
The state of play with elite
25 BIKE
women’s cycling
Corratec 8-speed Coaster
Cover photo by Thomas Joynt. Illustration Karl Hilzinger.
Disclaimer
Copyright © Bicycle Victoria Incorporated 2015
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is accurate and up-to-date. However, they cannot guarantee the accuracy, applicability or completeness of the content available in this publication. Nothing in this publication should necessarily be
construed as expert material and is intended to inform the reader of basic news and reviews on cycling. This publication may include views or recommendations from third parties and is not necessarily
a reflection of our views nor indicates a particular prescribed cause of action. Use of this publication is at the sole choice of the reader. The publisher, and authors and editors do not warrant the
performance, effectiveness or reliability of any bike riding gear or products that are listed, published or linked to in this publication. The publisher, authors and editors, expressly disclaim all and any
liability or responsibility to any person, reader or purchaser of this publication in response to any action or reliance, whether wholly or partially related to any part of the contents in this publication.
Readers should rely on their own enquiries in making any decisions which relate to the content in this publication.
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
1
UPHOLDING YOUR RIGHTS
RIDE WITH CONFIDENCE
Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, Bicycle Network’s partner
law firm, provides privileged access to legal advice for
members involved in a crash.
Your Bicycle Network membership includes Australia’s
Premium Bike Rider Insurance, which covers:
Maurice Blackburn can help if you’ve:
• Loss of income
• Had your bike or property damaged in an accident
(service offered exclusively to Bicycle Network
members)
• Overseas riding
• Been injured in a road accident
• Lodged a claim with the TAC
• Been injured by a faulty bike
• Been injured on a bike path or public property
They have the largest team of specialist road accident
lawyers in Victoria and have helped many riders make
successful compensation claims.
• Non-Medicare medical expenses
• Loss of deposits and luggage on Bicycle Network
events
• Rehabilitation costs
• Home help and other support related costs
• Permanent injury/disability and death lump sum
payments
• Damage to other people’s property
• Personal injury to other people
No win – No fee
Free first consultation
Call Bicycle Network for Riders Rights’
information or a referral to Maurice Blackburn
03 8376 8888
Bicyclenetwork.com.au
Mauriceblackburn.com.au
.com.au
UNIQUE DESIGNS
COMING SOON
It's time
we stood out
from the
crowd
AUSTRALIAN MADE
AUSTRALIAN DESIGNED
AUSTRALIAN OWNED
News
Cyclists underground
A design for an underground bikeway
and pedestrian path, which uses kinetic
energy to generate the electricity to run
it, has won a London Planning Award for
Best Conceptual Project.
Dubbed the London Underline, the
project proposes to use abandoned
space, and was inspired by the
overcrowding problems (current and
future) in London.
http://bit.ly/16tPAzQ
Bike warning
Jaguar Land Rover is working on
technology to reduce the number of bike
rider car doorings. The car company
is developing “bike sense” technology
to warn drivers when a bike rider is
approaching. As a bike approaches, a
bike bell sounds from a car speaker
closest to the side of the car the rider is
passing, alerting the driver that they are
there. Adding to this, car seats will give
a driver a nudge on the shoulder (closest
to the passing bike) and LED lights flash
to give an extra warning.
http://bit.ly/1AoJqgr
Seventy years young
An English study has revealed that bike
riding could be the fountain of youth.
The study by Kings College in London
showed that older bike riders—those
aged in their 70s—had similar muscle
strength, lung power and exercise
capacity to those 25 years younger.
http://dailym.ai/1FePNa8
I ride my bike for transportation
a great deal—occasionally I ride
it for fun. But I also have
a generator bike that's
hooked up to my solar
battery pack, so if I
ride 15 minutes hard
on my bike, that's
enough energy to toast
toast, or power my computer.
Ed Begley Jnr, Actor.
Pique
interest
BICYCLE NETWORK is
now running a Peaks
Challenge series with
announcements that two
more events are being
added to the original in
Falls Creek.
Peaks Challenge Gold
Coast (Queensland) and
Peaks Challenge Cradle
Mountain (Tasmania) have
both been launched with
the Queensland Challenge
to be held in August and
Tasmania in November.
Bicycle Network’s General
Manager of Events Darren
Allen said the new series
would be a serious
challenge for even the
strongest of riders.
“We know how much
riders loved the Peaks
Challenge Falls Creek—
and many were missing
out because it has become
so popular.
“With these two new rides,
it’s two more chances for
them to get involved—it’s
also a chance for trainedup riders to take on two
new challenges,” he said.
www.bicyclenetwork.com.au
New shares
San Diego has joined cities like
Melbourne and London by setting up a
new bike share scheme.
The DecoBikes scheme has 80 bike
stations dotted around the city and costs
around $5 per half hour for hire (cheaper
if the bikes are used for longer). There
are plans to have up to 180 stations in
areas including near the coast.
http://bit.ly/1FzuNHz
World champ
Australia’s Anna Meares has become
the most successful female track cyclist
after winning her 11th World Title in
France earlier this year. She called the
win “number one” with her medal tally
for world championships now sitting at
26 (including silver and bronze). Fellow
Australian Annette Edmondson also had
success at the titles.
http://ab.co/1B3i3ZM
4
Ride On April-May 2015
Vote bike
TWO RECENT state
elections have seen bike
(and car) groups lobby
for a better deal for bike
riders. The Queensland
State Election (held on
January 31) and NSW State
Election (on March 28) saw
Bicycle Queensland and
Bicycle Network asking for
improved infrastructure
including separated lanes
along key routes (along
with other asks). Bicycle
Queensland joined forces
with the RACQ to demand
a commitment from the
major parties to improve
road safety for all road
users.
http://bit.ly/1GnAk4r
The NSW State Election
saw Bicycle Network
launch its VOTE BIKE
2015 campaign which
had three main requests
including delivering a $310
million bike infrastructure
fund, assessing all new
infrastructure project for
cycling opportunities and
delivering a Ride2School
Program in NSW.
Bicycle Network CEO
Craig Richards said:
“encouraging people in
NSW to incorporate riding a
bike into their daily lives is
what’s needed to solve the
growing health problems
related to a lack of physical
activity.”
www.votebike.com.au
Ignoring the
signs
WESTERN AUSTRALIAN cyclist
fatalities in 2014 were mainly due to
riders ignoring road signals and stop
signs. Western Australia’s Minister for
Road Safety Liza Harvey said cyclists
were often to blame in these serious
crashes.
Bicycling WA’s CEO Jeremey Murray told
media at the time that the statistics were
concerning.
“That's obviously a concern. We would
want to be doing more to improve road
safety and organisations like Bicycling
Western Australia really do need to
be doing more to encourage better
behaviour amongst bike riders,” Mr
Murray said.
“Hopefully the government can support
us in that and at the same time we also
need to be doing more education for
drivers so that they actually understand
what the rights of bike riders are when
they're on the road.”
The Western Australian Government is
considering introducing metre-passing
laws following the ongoing trial of
similar laws in Queensland last year.
PHOTO OF ED BEGLEY JR COURTESY OF PHILKON
IN BRIEF
Handy hints
SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Big bike
WHILE QUITE a few
world records have been
broken by professional
cyclists with legs of
steel, a recent World
Record breaker in South
Australia didn’t require
speed at all.
Bikes or planes
AN INTERESTING
American survey has
revealed that more
people in and around the
city of Anchorage ride a
bike or fly by aeroplane
to work, than take public
transport.
The Regional Household
Travel Survey saw
more than 7,400 people
between Anchorage and
the Mat-Su Borough
answer questions on how
they travel. The results
showed 2.2% of people
rode a bike, while 1.8%
flew in an aeroplane
and 1.7% took public
transport to work. The
majority of respondents
(70%) drove in a car alone
while commuting.
http://bit.ly/1zBNJkD
Parking place
BICYCLE NETWORK’S Bike Parking
Experts have set up shop in both
Tasmania and NSW offering bike parking
to local councils, businesses and
builders.
The business, which started back in the
1990s, has been selling bike parking
across the country from its base in
Melbourne.
The University of South
Australia helped break
the record for the world’s
longest bike with 20
participants riding an
almost 42 metre-long
monster for 16 metres.
Oily remover
When doing some bike
WINN
maintenance on the greasy
ING
bits you should wear
gloves. But sometimes you
just get chain grease where
you don’t want it. The most
effective and safest grease remover I have
found is baby oil. A small squirt on the
greasy bit followed by liquid hand soap will
leave you clean and moisturised. There’s
also no perfume for the blokes to explain.
Works on skin and clothes but as usual for
clothes try an inconspicuous spot first.
—Neville
TIP
While there was a false
start with the bike
toppling over, riders
picked themselves up to
break the record. The
bike weighed 2.5 tonnes!
http://bit.ly/1Di119F
Bicycle Network’s General Manager of
Government and External Relations,
Chris Carpenter, said the expansion was
exciting news.
“We know there’s a definite demand
for bike parking across Australia and
having offices locally for businesses,
schools and local councils is a great way
for them to access our expertise face to
face.”
www.bikeparkingexperts.com.au
School record
NATIONAL
Ride2School Day
(on March 13) saw
record numbers
of students
jumping on a bike
and pedalling to
school.
More than 350,000
students actively
travelled for the
day from over
2,000 school
communities
across the country.
Bicycle Network’s
General Manager
of Behaviour
Change Gemma
McCrohan said:
“Inspiring students
to ride to school
encourages
independence and
is a crucial part of
education and the
development of
social skills.
“Students who
ride to school
arrive energised
and alert and
ready to learn,” Ms
McCrohan said.
Ride2School Day
has been running
nationally since
2006.
Cable savers
Always keep some cable ties in your repair
kit as they can be used as substitutes for
nuts and bolts. Very handy quick repair!
—Michael
Light idea
You can easily check if your light is
pointing at people’s eyes and blinding
them when you ride at night or in low light.
Lean your bike against a wall with the light
on at night. Then walk 10 or 20 metres in
front and see what it looks like to others.
Adjust your light downwards if it needs it.
—Brett
Fishing tubes
Bike tyre inner tubes are useful for
straightening monofilament fishing line.
Pinch the twisted line between the rubber
tube and pull it through. Don’t pull too
fast or pinch too hard or the friction will
burn and weaken the line. It should end up
untwisted and perfect for a fly-line leader.
—Tony
Got a tip, or heard of
one that may interest
Ride On readers?
Please email them to
rideon@bicyclenetwork.
com.au. The best tip
receives a free copy of
The Little Bike Bible.
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
5
Readers’ Feedback
Top
Letter
Each issue we award a prize
for the most inspiring, entertaining
or timely contribution. The winner
this issue receives a
pair of BBB Waterflex
Fluoro Shoe Covers,
valued at $54.90,
thanks to Cycling
& Sports Clothing,
cyclingsports.com.au
Great Vic memories
The article by Melissa Heagney Ride On
(December 2014 – January 2015), and
the fact that [Bicycle Network] is now
40 years on, has prompted me to put a
few thoughts on paper to record some
further reminiscences.
Melissa mentions Brian Dixon, Keith
Dunstan, Ron Shepherd and Alan Parker,
all of whom were key players in the early
days of what was the Bicycle Institute
of Victoria (the “BIV”), operating from
cramped upstairs premises in Little
Lonsdale Street (Melbourne).
It now seems to be a distant memory
but the task before these doughty
individuals at that time was huge, and
seemingly insurmountable. In 1975
bicycles in Australia were a thing of the
past, pretty much seen as a children’s
toy with no other useful function.
On the roads they were considered
to be at best a nuisance at and at
worst dangerous. The day was fast
approaching when “common sense”
was going to prevail and bikes would be
banned from the roads altogether.
This was already starting to
happen—the newest and best roads
then were freeways and bikes were
banned from them (along with horse
drawn vehicles) as a matter of course.
The charge was being enthusiastically
led by the engineering technocrats in
the Country Road Board (building all the
freeways) and local council engineers
(managing all the local streets) whose
vision of the future world was all about
motor cars.
If there was an award going for
the best lobbyist of the 20th century, it
would go to Alan Parker. His unrelenting
persistence managed to eventually make
an impact on the Titanic that was the
Victorian road engineering technocracy.
He didn’t sink it but he did make it
pause for thought. His influence was so
great that it extended beyond Victoria
6
Ride On April-May 2015
Arm twister
Why do bike jerseys have to have openings to the rear pockets so high?
Mature age riders—OK, old blokes—generally don’t have the same
dexterity as younger riders. For me, twisting an arm behind my back to
retrieve something from a rear pocket is akin to physical origami.
Basically, I have the dexterity of a brick, and I think that that
is something many older riders could relate to. If cycle clothing
manufacturers could just lower the openings a centimetre or two it
would make the world of difference to many of us oldies.
—Bill Hick
to every state in Australia. Alan’s
engineering expertise (and vast library
which filled a fair bit of his house in
Footscray) was ably reinforced by the
intelligence of Ron Shepherd, originally a
school teacher, who realised that it was
societal and attitudinal change that was
needed, not just engineering solutions.
That approach brought us Bike–Ed in
schools and the recognition that we also
need to educate the engineers, the public
and the politicians and so on.
Keith Dunstans’ public voice—he was
an immensely popular journalist—was
vital, and the support of Brian Dixon
from inside the political scene was
essential. Solid support was also coming
from key Government officials; Sergeant
Ted Wilson from the motorbike squad
was the police bicycle co-ordinator and a
real legend, Warwick Pattinson, was the
inside man in the Ministry of Transport.
All of this led to the formulation
of the Geelong and then Melbourne
Bikeplans. Interestingly the first bikeplan
in Australia was actually in Newcastle—
the Newcastle Cycleways Movement was
paralleling the BIV and there was a lot of
idea swapping going on.
The Melbourne Bikeplan, following
the BIV lead, took the 4E’s approach,
giving weight to engineering, education,
enforcement and encouragement
aspects and setting out programs and
funding for each.
The main outcome from the
Melbourne Bikeplan was the
establishment of the cyclists’ own
transport technocrats, inside the
bureaucracy; The State Bicycle
Committee was set up within
the Ministry of Transport, with
representatives from various interests,
including the BIV.
The Committee was very ably chaired
by an independent retired engineer and
town planner, Alastair Hepburn. Alastair
came into this job with no particular
knowledge or commitment to cycling
but he took it on with vigour. He made
sure that the committee was not, as
many on the inside would have seen it, a
tokenistic response to an annoying minor
lobby group.
He made sure that the committee
and its work was taken seriously and
over time bicycle transport became
a mainstream consideration for the
bureaucracy in Victoria. The most
important aspect of the committee was
that it had funding and a staff of three:
myself, Bill Dix and secretarial support.
Our job was to disburse funds across
Victoria for bicycle projects. Heady days.
But at the end of the day, when I rode
my bike to work from South Melbourne
to the city in the early 1980s, I recall
thinking that if I saw another commuter
cyclist I probably knew their name
because there were so few of us. If they
were wearing a (not then compulsory)
helmet I almost definitely knew them
because they would have been a member
of either the Melbourne or Knox Bicycle
Touring Clubs. Something a bit more
tectonic was required if we were going
to seriously get “more cyclists cycling
more often”.
This is where the Great Victorian
Bike Ride comes in.
Keith Dunstan and Ron Shepherd
had both been on the Ride Across
America, and Ron had been on the
Great British Bike Ride. Victoria’s 150th
anniversary was approaching and they
thought that a bike ride would be a
great idea here, too. There was funding
available for community events for
the anniversary and so they applied
and were granted $20,000. This was
the beginning of something big, but
nobody really recognised that at the
time. Ron and Keith put together an
organising committee; key members
were themselves and a keen cyclist and
lawyer, Ted Parker. Ted’s contribution to
Readers’ Feedback
the rides, and to the BIV, was massive over
the next several years. I also joined up, not
knowing what I was in for.
The concept then was for a “Great
Victorian Bike Ride” (following the British
lead) from Wodonga to Melbourne. About
200 or so entrants was thought feasible,
and more importantly 200 massed cyclists
would fill a TV screen as cycling promotion
was really what the event was about. To get
things underway and manage the project
(all the committee members also had
real jobs, after all) Graham Rebbeck was
hired. Graham had a radio background, his
credentials for this job were that, as a radio
personality, he had organised some mass
cycling events in Melbourne, that and of
course, his personality.
In his “pitch” for the gig (the terms
he would have used) Graham told the
committee in no uncertain terms that a goal
of 200 was rubbish, we should be aiming for
2000. The logistics of getting 2000 cyclists
from Melbourne to Wodonga and then back
to Melbourne over nine days was something
that could be worked out, the key thing was
to set the goal and make a start.
The Committee and Graham (very ably
assisted by his wife, Julie) decided to get on
with it and the rest is history.
REPORT
40
YEARS ON
TWO WHEELS
From the Bicycle Institute of Victoria to Bicycle Network – Bicycle Network’s General
Manager of Communications (and Ride On Editor) Melissa Heagney explains how a
small group of passionate bike riders has grown to become one of Australia’s biggest
member-owned organisations striving to get people physically active.
A
Member of Parliament, a journalist and a group of
passionate bike riders get together for a meeting.
Sounds like the start of a great sitcom.
While there would have undoubtedly been some
laughs, this meeting was one of the many which started our
journey—the 40 years of Bicycle Network.
The MP (St Kilda MP Brian Dixon), journalist (Keith Dunstan)
and riders, including Ron Shepherd and Alan Parker, gathered
to discuss the idea of starting an organisation to represent the
interests of bike riders. So, the Bicycle Institute of Victoria was
born.
The Bicycle Institute of Victoria (as we were then known)
was established officially in 1975 with the aim of putting bike
riding, and improved conditions for bike riders, on the Victorian
Government agenda.
Keith Dunstan, best known for his stories of bike riding
adventures through his ‘A Place in the Sun’ column in The Sun
News-Pictorial, became the Institute’s first President.
He was ably helped by passionate pushbike riders, including
16
Ron Shepherd and Alan Parker. They worked tirelessly to get the
institute off the ground and, with the help of patron MP Brian
Dixon, bike riding soon became part of the State Government
vernacular.
With the influence of the Bicycle Institute of Victoria, bike
paths were built, separated lanes added to roads and the number
of bike riders quickly grew. Victoria, particularly Melbourne,
became—and to many still is—a Mecca for bike riders.
Not surprisingly as the number of riders grew, so did we, and
we recruited members to help fund our work. By the early 1990s,
we’d attracted thousands of members—a body of supporters
which has continued to grow throughout the years.
As well as members, we recruited volunteers to run successful
bike events, such as the Great Victorian Bike Ride—the first of
which was run in 1984 to coincide with Victoria's 150th birthday
celebrations.
Over the past 40 years, the name of the organisation I am
proud to be part of has changed from the Bicycle Institute of
Ò
Victoria, to Bicycle Victoria, to Bicycle Network Victoria.
Ride On December 2014 -January 2015
There were 2140 cyclists on the first
ride. From memory it didn’t rain at all
and the triumphal ride down a closed
Tullamarine Freeway on the last day is a
lifelong memory for everybody who was
there.
The ride budget aimed to produce a
10% surplus, and this was achieved, leaving
$20,000 in the bank at the end. The ride
was only ever intended to be a one-off
event (there was only going to be one 150th
anniversary after all).
But the most often asked question on
the ride was “how soon can we book for
next year?” And with the cash available,
Graham was re-commissioned to do it
all again (and again and again. Graham
managed the first four rides.)
The early rides were sponsored by
Caltex and Ultra-tune, early adopters within
the petrol head world of the benefits of
associating your brand with cycling. Other
key players were: Ian Christie and Richard
Hodgson, who provided sponsorship and
office space above their shop (Christie
Cycles) in Hawthorn; Paul Farren and
Robin Dexter who invented and maintained
the amazing dishwashing and shower
technology; Janette Beeston who drove the
sag wagon bus; Steve Law who started the
newsletter; Neville Hughes, treasurer for
the first ride who managed to accommodate
an accounting system based on thousands
of dollars of cash in a biscuit tin; Charlie
Farren who orchestrated the roadside
entertainment, building on her theatrical
experience with the Melbourne Bicycle
Touring Clubs annual MAD ride; Margaret
Hole who helped us to manage and invest
a budget that grew year by year; the
Wireless Institute Civil Emergency Network
who provided a communication network
(remember when there were no mobile
phones?).
And there were hundreds and hundreds
of other volunteers, many of whom emerged
on the rides. Massage Max and saxophone
Jack come to mind.
But from all the above the take home
message is the one about getting more
cyclists cycling more often. Before the
GVBR the Bicycle Institute had a hundred
or so members and no money. As a lobby
group it had been very successful but
this success depended on the energy and
commitment of a few individuals—this is not
a sustainable model.
Post GVBR the Institute has grown
up into the Bicycle Network—it has a
funding stream, permanent premises and
permanent staff. It numbers its members
in the tens of thousands. It is continuing to
get more people on bikes every year, it has
people paid and expert in bicycle transport
and communicates with enough people to
be a force at election time. “In March 2013,
bicycles were 13% of all vehicle movements
in the city in the morning peak,” and I’m
pretty sure that I wouldn’t know many of
their names. How good is that?
Note: These are one person’s reminiscences,
and as with any history it is open to any
amount of interpretation. My apologies for any
omissions or mistakes.
­—Tony Adams, Committee member and
sometimes Chair, GVBR Committee
1984–88.
Happy trails
For the Christmas Holidays
I took a brief holiday to
Geelong, Warrnambool, and
Port Fairy.
I went with the aim
of hiring a bike to do the
Warrnambool to Port Fairy
Rail Trail (as I went in a
friend's car that did not have a
tow ball).
However, I was annoyed
to find that if I hired a bike in
Geelong there were only two
trains to Warrnambool (from
Geelong) which would mean I
could not go ride and drop off
a bike on the same day.
Prior to leaving, I rang
Warrnambool bike centre
to see if they could help but
whilst they 'had been thinking
about it' they had not yet done
anything about it!
I then proceeded to
the Warrnambool Tourist
Information and found that
they had old bikes with the
thickest bike tyres I had seen
(thicker than my old mountain
bike) and with no gears!
I later found out that the
owner of the Warrnambool
bike shop was on the rail trail
committee. I was astonished
to hear that he could happily
organise it to be implemented
but not happily earn an extra
income stream by hiring them
out!
As a result, my next option
was inquiring at Port Fairy
Information Centre. Whilst
the bikes look reasonably new
there, again they had huge
tyres and no gears!
However, while there
I came across a notice on
board for monthly bike rides.
Whilst they did not offer bike
hire, I thought I would try my
luck and I finally had luck!
I called Brian Trotter and
he was happy to organise it
even though he himself was
not in town at that time. The
bike ride then had to begin
from Koroit. I met a really
nice gentleman called Bernie
Bishop at Koroit Station. Upon
seeing the bike I was over the
moon! It had a comfortable
seat, decent tyres and gears
to tackle the few hills
Ò
on ride.
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
7
Readers’ Feedback
Volume 33 No 2
He rode part of the way
with me so I did not take
any wrong turns. He told
me how Koroit Station has
been one big project for
the locals and how they are
nearly halfway there. What
surprised me most was their
dedication. He told me how
the council does not mow
the wild growing grass near
either side of the tracks and
how they have to fundraise
to get the petrol to mow
it! When asked how long it
takes them to mow the long
stretch of grass, he advised
eight hours! When asked
how much to hire bike, he
simply asked for a donation.
A donation?
So I gave $50 for what
was a splendid ride. They
are currently trying to get
the roof repaired at Koroit
Station and if anyone wants
to hire a bike down there or
is a train enthusiast, I am
sure your donation would be
much appreciated. I must
also add that the trail itself is
well sign posted.
—Caroline C
Bike balance
Ride On’s bike registration
article was a very balanced
article that articulates some
strong arguments against
any knee jerk reactions in
favour of implementing a
licensing and registration
system for bike riders. In
case anyone has not noticed,
how many children do you
see playing outside these
days? Whilst travelling
to various locations on
Christmas day there was an
absence of children playing
in the streets.
Unfortunately this has
become the norm, and
anything which acts as a
deterrent for people taking
up cycling will be a major
disincentive to engaging in
this form of physical activity.
We are already a society
which does not exercise
8
Ride On April-May 2015
enough. It is difficult to
dispute that lack of physical
exercise contributes towards
all sorts of health issues
which we all end up paying
for via our universal health
system. We need to see
more adults on bikes and not
less. Children will be more
encouraged to undertake this
activity as a result and it will
be more likely that they will
pass this onto their children.
Yes there are problem
between cyclist and drivers.
There is also a rogue
minority who flaunt the road
rules. However, you should
not design a system to cater
for a minority and punish
all cyclists in the process
without understanding the
consequences of a change in
policy. The article highlights
the need for better education
and understanding for
both cyclist and drivers. In
Australia we have not been
properly educated at an early
age to learn how to co-exist.
There is distrust between
both road users which could
be significantly rectified
over time by removing some
of the angst that currently
exists that gets in the way of
any mutual respect.
A recent study on cycling
injury trends in Melbourne
has revealed that behaviour
changes can have a positive
impact on injury rates.
This illustrates the
positive impact education
can have on behaviour
change.
The article blows away
most of the myths that
people quote to justify a
licensing and registration
system. As always people
are blind or ignorant to the
real facts and jump the gun.
It's unfortunate that we are
at this juncture and need
to reverse years of neglect
in our education of all road
users.
—Anthony Greco
Dodging traffic
I have recently had to
commute through Melbourne
a few times a week. My
normal commute is in and
around Geelong where
I live quite happily with
two teenagers and no car.
My favourite part of the
Melbourne commute has
involved traveling east west
along Southbank. Wasn’t
there a recent report in
(Melbourne newspaper) The
Herald Sun about the dangers
of riding through Southbank
and its incompatibility with
pedestrians? I am not a
fast rider and this may be
why Southbank is heaps of
fun. It beats a car racing
game on the Xbox or iPad
any day. Weaving between
pedestrians, following a
slithering chain of other
riders, braking to avoid the
meandering crowds, it gets
the adrenalin pumping. The
stakes are high though, your
car doesn’t miraculously
resurrect if you crash and
it isn’t about beating the
highest score. If you hit a
pedestrian, it is all over red
rover. Your fingers twitch
on the handlebars and
brakes as you approach a
wall of bodies, wait, a gap
has appeared and you dart
through.
Some spots are high
danger zones, the row of
marquees creates a squeeze
point, red flags go up if
buskers are in the area, and
then there is the one area
with clearly demarcated
zones for pedestrians and
cyclist, the Queensbridge
Road crossing. This is
blissfully ignored by
pedestrians that immediately
stand in front of the green
path with the painted bike
symbol. Go figure. Most
cyclists might not agree and
pedestrians probably hate us
but it’s my coffee fix for the
day and I suck at computer
games anyway.
—Kim Lim
EDITORIAL
Editor
Melissa Heagney
Riding editor
Simon Vincett
Associate editors
Margot McGovern
Iain Treloar
Graphic designer Karl Hilzinger
PUBLISHER
ADVERTISING
Ad sales manager Craig Dodson
[email protected]
(03) 8376 8814
CONTACT
[email protected]
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
To comment on articles go to
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
Level 4, 246 Bourke Street,
Melbourne, Vic, 3000
PLEASE NOTE
Prices and availability of products reviewed
may vary between retail outlets.
Goods and services offered by organisations
and individuals, content included and views
expressed in Ride On are not necessarily
associated with Bicycle Network.
PRINTING
Fairfax
02 4570 4872
The views expressed in these pages are
those of the writers, not Ride On. We often
publish comments that we don’t personally
agree with, but feel these pages should
reflect your views, not ours. We do, however,
reserve the right to edit letters when
necessary. The letters are a very popular
part of the magazine, and we value your
contributions.
Write to us at
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NOT EVERY ride needs lycra, and Melbourne
apparel manufacturer Creux are here with
another stylish bit of kit to to reinforce
this fact. The Urban Enduro Shorts have
a built-in chamois, water- and dirtresistant fabric and are designed with
the brand’s usual attention to detail.
CLIF SHOT BLOKS
THERE’S OFTEN something just a little
bit artificial tasting about cycling foods,
but the appetising Clif range is a rare
exception to this rule, making them my
pick for best sports energy products on
the market. With a substantial range
including natural-tasting bars and gels
(the chocolate and double espresso in the
latter are particularly good), the brand’s
Shot Bloks are something a bit different.
They’re both cleaner and easier to use on
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$2.99 (bars and gels), $5.99 (shot bloks)
velovita.com.au
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SWEATHAWG SHORTY SKULLCAP
HEAVILY-PERSPIRING riders will be used to stinging
eyes and salty splatters all over their top-tubes
and sunglasses. But it doesn’t have to be that
way. US manufacturer, SweatHawg, produce a
range of products designed to stop the flow of
sweat in its tracks. Worn under the helmet,
their shorty skullcap unobtrusively absorbs
perspiration from the head. The fabric of
the forehead band is extremely absorbent—
slurping up a claimed 10 times its weight.
$25USD
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A simple but clever design, the Tandem
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$29.95
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Photo: Joshua Nicholson
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HOT
PRODUCTS
Rudy Project Agon sunglasses
Ortlieb Commuter Bag
$229
$275
ITALIAN COMPANY Rudy Project have a long history in sports
eyewear, and cycling. I still remember getting my first pair of
Rudy Project Kerosenes back in the early 2000s; their reassuring
weight and adjustability spoke of quality, and they’d still be going
strong today if I hadn’t broken them in a crash.
The company’s range has continued to evolve and expand
since. The Agon that we tested is a cycling-specific model with a
slightly larger lens than the popular Rydon; the frame is available
locally in a variety of different colours and lens configurations.
Rudy Project claims that the Agon distils many of the best
features of their products into one package. Some of these are
obvious; others a little more subtle. The glasses feel bombproof,
with heavy-feeling hinges and metal arms; the earpieces are fully
adjustable, as is the nosepiece, which means that once they’re set
up they’re comfortable to the point of going completely unnoticed.
This means that they should also fit a broad range of face-shapes
and different ethnicities.
The lenses of our test sample were the techy-sounding
Impactx photochromic 2black. Impactx is Rudy Project’s
proprietary lens material, a virtually unbreakable, lightweight and
flexible substance of outstanding clarity. Photochromic particles
are incorporated into the lens, reacting to changes in light levels
and in this case giving a broad 65% transmittance range (74%
/ 9%). Photochromic lenses (also known as ‘transition’) are not
always fast reacting enough to deal with abrupt shifts from bright
to shade, such as when going into dense tree cover on a sunny
day, but this wasn’t an issue I encountered with the Agon. In
fact, on their big test outing at Peaks Challenge Falls Creek, the
glasses performed flawlessly from dawn to dusk, in shade and
sunlight. I have a personal preference for misanthropically dark
sunglasses and a green/brown tint, and found this lens tint ever
so slightly bright and blue, but your results may vary. Where the
Agon does excel is in eliminating fogging of the lenses; they can
be adjusted to a second position which leaves a small vent at the
top. It’s yet another nice feature on a well-considered, technically
advanced pair of riding
glasses.
RATING
For more info or to buy,
www.erudy.com.au
Function 36/40
Review by Iain Treloar
Quality 38/40
BRIEFCASE, SHOULDER bag, pannier—this is a very
versatile bag. And it looks good too. Ortlieb’s new
Urban line of products introduces a new fabric, new
clips and a chic new design aesthetic for this iconic
luggage company.
The top flap opens easily to reveal ample space,
including a good selection of zippered and easyaccess pockets and a laptop sleeve with a catch. I
particularly liked the key tether, which saves a lot of
fumbling. The light-colored lining helps for finding
other things. The natural-look fabric comes in pepper
or light charcoal colours. It is soft to touch but the bag
has good structure.
This bag is quite wide for a pannier (40cm) but
heel strike is readily avoidable with the adaptable
QL3 mounting system, which allows the bag to be
mounted well back or on a tilt if necessary. The QL3
system also situates the clips on your rack not the
bag, so they don’t dig into you when carrying the bag.
The Commuter Bag also comes in the QL2.1 mounting
system, however, in which the clips are on the bag, if
that’s your preference.
I briefly thought about dashing out in the rain to
test the waterproofness of the Commuter Bag before
quickly changing my mind. After all, waterproofness
is a cornerstone of Ortlieb’s monumental reputation,
so it’s unlikely that I’d catch them out with this new
design. The website declares the Commuter Bag’s
waterproofness to meet IP53 standard, which is
resistant to all rain and road spray, and I’m convinced.
A small criticism is that the smaller version (called
Medium) has all the same dimensions as the Large
except for the depth (10cm compared to 15cm). Less
width would be more useful to minimise heel strike for
riders of smaller bikes.
The capacity of the Medium is 14 litres and the
Large 19 litres.
More info www.
RATING
ortlieb.de
Function 39/40
Review by Simon
Quality 40/40
Vincett
Price 7/10
89%
Price Appearance 8/10
7/10
A high-quality and high-tech pair
of riding sunglasses.
12
Ride On April-May 2015
95.5%
Appearance 9.5/10
Nice new look, legendary Ortlieb
performance
White Industries T11 hubs
Jaggad Milk Bar kit
From $169 (front), $395 (rear)
Jersey $189.95, bibs $209.95
WHITE INDUSTRIES are best known for their hubs, and the T11
is their flagship road product. The brand has a reputation for
durability, particularly for heavy riders; the T11 is available in spoke
counts from 16 all the way up to 36 hole, giving wheel builders the
scope for a wide range of riders and applications from the hubset.
The gorgeously curvy rear hub uses a 6al/4v titanium cassette
body, available for Campagnolo or Shimano/SRAM. In the latter
case, this choice of material has real practical benefit; titanium
is significantly tougher than aluminium, which is normally used
for higher-end cassette bodies, so will be much more resistant
to gouging. The hub is 11-speed compatible; a spacer is included
to allow compatibility for 8, 9 and 10 speed gearing. When
freewheeling it purrs with an expensive-sounding gravitas; it’s
not crass like some hubs. The axle at the rear is steel, further
improving durability.
The hubset is light enough but not feathery, coming in at around
350g front and rear. Depending on spoke count and rim choice, a
wheelset build of around 1,400-1,700g could be expected. I paired
brightly polished alloy White Industries hubs with H Plus Son
Archetype rims and DT Swiss Aerolite spokes, with a build by wellregarded Brisbane wheel builder Craftworx (craftworx.com.au);
total weight came in at around 1,550g.
The immediate change I noticed from the T11 hubset was
an improvement in rolling speed; when coasting downhill, I
was gaining ground where I hadn’t before, with almost all other
variables the same. The T11 uses four Japanese sealed cartridge
bearings at the rear, two at the front, and they’re silky smooth. The
hubs build into a taut and laterally stiff wheelset that improves
acceleration and climbing, particularly out of the saddle. Delicate
laser-engraving adds some visual flair, and they’re available in
a number of anodised colours as well, making them one of the
prettier looking hubs on the market.
Retailing for north of $550 depending on colour choice, a pair
of T11 hubs aren’t cheap, but they’re actually quite reasonably
priced compared to their direct competitors—although note that
they don’t come with skewers, so budget a little extra for those. The
hubset is easily serviced
with standard tools, are
RATING
classy as anything and will
keep rolling long after the
Function 37/40
Quality 38/40
financial sting has passed.
Price 7.5/10
For details or to buy,
Appearance 9.5/10
granprixbicycles.com.au
Review by Iain Treloar
Jewel-like and durable hubset, suitable
for a wide range of custom wheel builds.
MELBOURNE SPORTSWEAR brand Jaggad has been through
a few evolutions over the years, but they’re now really hitting
their stride with a clean aesthetic and a premium product.
The driving force behind the brand’s new direction
is Melbourne cycling icon Malachi Moxon (ex-Northside
Wheelers), who’s taken the reins of product development. We
tested the brand’s Milk Bar jersey and bib-knicks to see if they
rode as well as they looked.
The jersey, made in Australia from a 30% Woolmark
merino blend, is a snug race-fit in a white/black Breton stripe
design. The long sleeve length is right on trend, stretching
to fit but providing reassuringly mild compression across
the bicep. Owing to its fabric, the jersey lacks the stretch of
more common synthetic equivalents. I found it firm but not
claustrophobic, and comfortable over more than 200 km.
However, the fabric did mean that the pockets were a tight fit
for food, spares and all the rest of it for these really long rides.
The bib knicks followed the lead of the jersey, with a
snug, supportive fit. The leg bands, firm and with two grippy
silicone rings, don’t budge over a long day in the saddle,
although it does take slightly longer to get the knicks on and
lined up correctly. The chamois is a multi-thickness model
of remarkable comfort, comparing favourably to many other
equivalently-priced brands that we’ve tested. Note, however,
that the chamois in the men’s knicks is relatively narrow. I ride
a wider than average 155mm road saddle and my sitbones
were towards the edge of the thickest section, although this
is unlikely to be an issue for the vast majority of riders—and
besides, I was only aware of any discomfort after six hours or
so, which is impressive. I own a pair of Jaggad’s previous bibknicks, and this new version is a vast improvement in every
possible way.
With the Milk Bar ensemble, Jaggad announce themselves
to the road market as a competitive local alternative to
premium international brands. The fit, although racey, is
carefully considered, extremely comfortable and wellfinished, and the styling
is subtle but of great
RATING
appeal.
Review by Iain Treloar
Function 35/40
92%
84%
Quality Price Appearance 35/40
5/10
9/10
Classy and high-performing road
kit from a local crew.
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
13
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PROFILE
NAME
STEVE VAN RUYVEN
AGE
50
LIVES
MOUNT ELIZA
JOB
MANAGING HIMSELF
An MS diagnosis hasn’t
stopped Steve van
Ruyven from reaching
some lofty heights on a
bike (literally). He tells
Melissa Heagney how
getting back on two wheels
has given him a new life.
16
Ride On April-May 2015
WHEN HE was in Grade 6 at
St Joseph’s Primary School in
Melbourne’s South Eastern suburbs,
it wasn’t unusual to see an 11-yearold Steve van Ruyven “hooning”
around on his bike with mates.
They’d often head to the beach
around Black Rock where he grew
up, checking out the scene. Riding
his bike was a great way to connect
with friends (and to earn money by
delivering newspapers on the side).
Fast forward almost 40 years
and little has changed. Van Ruyven
is still hooning around on his bike
with friends, but the background has
shifted from the beach to the hills
across Victoria.
Riding with his mates, van
Ruyven says he can almost fly across
the bitumen or trails, taking in the
sights around Mornington (near
where he lives) before stopping for a
well-earned coffee break to shoot the
breeze.
“The social side of it is so uplifting
it makes life a lot better,” van Ruyven
says with a smile.
While there’s a social side to his
riding, van Ruyven is anything but a
casual rider. He recently took part in
Bicycle Network’s Peaks Challenge
Falls Creek (and another hilly
challenge, the 7 Peaks).
While it may sound merely tough
to some riders, those close to van
Ruyven know that, for him, riding the
peaks is somewhat of a miracle.
That’s because in 1996 at age
32, van Ruyven was diagnosed with
MS. At the time he was working
as a Regional Manager at a big
company with a young family and
responsibilities.
“I was sitting at my computer
Ò
at my desk one day and I just
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18
Ride On April-May 2015
But when van Ruyven discovered
he couldn’t use his fingers to type at his
computer, he went back to the doctor. The
doctor sent him to a neurologist.
He was almost immediately diagnosed
with MS. Though it took six months of
strange symptoms to discover what had
been going on, in one short moment his
life changed forever.
“It was a bit of a relief really finding
out what was wrong. I knew nothing about
MS, so after I saw the neurologist I called
my sister-in-law who’s a nurse on the way
home from the neurologist (to find out
more).”
It was a tough time for van Ruyven who
had to retire aged 33 in order to deal with
some of his debilitating symptoms and
ensure he got the rest his body needed.
It wasn’t until eight years later, when
his son was 11, that van Ruyven’s life
would change again—this time in a very
positive way.
His son wanted to go for a bike ride, so
he decided he’d like to go riding with him.
“I dragged my bike out of the shed and
I found I could do a little bit of riding with
my son,” he says.
Those short rides grew to longer ones
on bike trails in and around Mordialloc
with friends.
Van Ruyven bought his first road
bike in 2010 “not knowing if I could ride
the thing,” he says. “I do have balance
concerns.”
Despite these concerns he soon found
he could not only ride a road bike, but do
quite a distance on it.
A few years later, building up his
fitness, van Ruyven decided to take
on his first cycling challenge, the MS
Cycle Melbourne—a 50km ride to raise
awareness and funds for MS Australia.
With the first challenge under his
belt, he wanted to conquer the next
mountain—literally. So he took on the 7
Peaks.
“I did the 7 Peaks quite by accident.
I started out with one with a friend and
ended up doing six others,” he says with
a laugh.
He followed up with the 7 Peaks again
this year, and not to be outdone, also rode
Bicycle Network’s Peaks Challenge Falls
PHOTOS COURTESY OF STEVE VAN RUYVEN AND MS SOCIETY.
started to feel dizzy—
disoriented—and I went to the doctor
and he told me I had an inner ear infection.
“After that I started getting other
strange symptoms—I was walking really
slowly, the whole left side of my body
became numb which was really weird,”
van Ruyven explains.
“So I kept going back to the doctor and
he said: ‘really, I can’t find anything wrong
with you’.”
Van Ruyven says his symptoms
started to become worse over the next few
months.
“My biggest problem was fatigue—I
guess it’s similar to something you have
with glandular fever or chronic fatigue
syndrome,” he says.
“I had responsibilities so I felt I was
letting my work colleagues down as I
couldn’t do much and I was letting my
family down because I couldn’t do things
with my kids.
Since the doctor couldn’t explain his
symptoms, van Ruyven says he assumed it
was nothing serious.
“I felt like a hypochondriac,” he says.
Previous page
and above:
Steve with the
Mount Martha
Hairy Legs
biking group
Left and right:
On the MS
Society Red
Ride, and with
Carol Cooke.
Creek in March.
Van Ruyven says these challenge rides
taught him valuable lessons about his
ability on a bike and his limits off it.
“I can’t train every day; I have to train
differently to everybody else,” van Ruyven
says.
“The people I (went) on the Peaks
Challenge with, they’re the elite types and
used to get me up at 5.30am to ride.
“I can’t do that; it has to fit in with my
rest routine,” he explains.
He says he knows if he’s been pushing
himself too hard because he starts to get
strange symptoms.
“The signal is that I get a zapping
down my neck like an electric shock,” he
says.
When preparing for a ride like Peaks
Challenge, van Ruyven says he had to
come up with his own riding routine—
there was little literature on riding at this
level with MS.
“I had to discover these things for
myself, and learn that honouring my rest
routine is the way to go,” he says.
Another important lesson van Ruyven
learned was to balance rest with energy
and fluid intake to ensure attacks from
over exerting himself are kept in check.
As with many elite cyclists, diet and
hydration are the keys to making sure van
Ruyven stays in tip-top shape (and avoids
the dreaded bonk).
While “the bonk” can have drastic
consequences
for
many
cyclists,
the outcome can have very serious
consequences for van Ruyven and lead to
more MS symptom attacks.
“It’s (the bonk) happened to me and
it’s just horrible—it is the stress you’re
putting your body under,” he says.
“Now I’m using gels more frequently
than the others I ride with. I usually have
a gel or a bar every hour and I do drink a
lot of fluid.
“I carry two 750ml bottles of drink
on my bike so I’m keeping my fluids and
energy up,” he adds.
After riding these types of events it
can take days—sometimes even months—
to recover.
But he says the social side of being
on a bike makes the longer recoveries all
worthwhile. So too, the freedom it gives
him despite his mobility issues.
“Cycling hasn’t helped my MS, but it
has made my legs strong. I find walking a
struggle, for some reason it’s really hard
on me, but pedalling a bike is not as hard
as walking.”
It’s also the feeling of fitting in with
the crowd.
“With my lycra on, my helmet on, my
sunnies on, I look like anyone else—I don’t
look like I have MS.”
While he started riding again with his
son, he says his kids aren’t as into bike
riding as they once were.
“My son (now 18) packed it in once he
discovered girls—and my daughter (21),
she rides with me occasionally,” he says
with a laugh.
Despite the fatigue and the rest
needed to recover from challenge rides,
van Ruyven is still signing up for events.
Next up is the MS Cycle Melbourne on 19
April.
He’ll be riding with his partner,
Lianna.
“She’s not a regular cyclist but it’s only
50km and it’s a really social day—a nice
pedal around Melbourne,” he says.
His mates, he says, will be coming
along for the ride, too.
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
19
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BIKE
TEST
Giant Propel Advanced 2
Aero’s the buzzword of the moment; Iain Treloar puts a
prominent example of the style to the test.
22
Ride On April-May 2015
of the pursuit of aerodynamic advantage.
The most immediate concern is severely
compromised brake-feel. The brakes
are effectively a mini-V brake, mounted
behind the fork on the front to reduce
drag. Rather than a consistent braking
force, these brakes give a distracting
shimmying sensation, especially at
lower speeds; it’s like the brakes are
being applied and released again and
again. This isn’t what I’d describe as
‘reassuring’, and although you get used
to it, it’s still far from ideal. The process
of trying to adjust them to improve their
sub-par performance is quite fussy as
well.
The Propel’s also distractingly loud;
internal cable routing throughout the bike
rattles on all but the smoothest surface,
particularly along the top-tube. A noisy
bike is one of my pet peeves, not least
because it tricks the mind into thinking a
bike rides rougher than it actually does.
In reality, it’s a reasonably
comfortable bike, although it does lose
a little in this respect to the TCR. The
frame’s stays are quite slim, although
the front triangle is bulky, with the
bottom bracket area in particular
occupying some significant real estate.
It’s unsurprising, then, that the bike
accelerates efficiently, although hard
efforts did uncover a minor amount of
torsional flex—either through the top
tube or the cockpit. Our test model is
the cheapest of the Propel family, so I’d
expect this problem, and others, to be
eliminated as one travels upward through
the range.
Componentry is largely Shimano’s
new 11-speed 105 groupset, although
there is a non-series five-bolt compact
crankset. Gearing at the rear is an 11-
28t cassette, giving a suitable range of
gearing to get up most climbs in comfort
without capping top-end speed too much.
For an aero road bike, these ratios are a
bit unusual, but I think they make sense
at this end of the market.
The Giant Propel’s been touted as
among the least compromised aero road
bikes, and that may well be the case.
But I also think it’s a case of the search
for marginal gains at the professional
level being pushed as a solution for a
problem that is of minimal consequence
to recreational riders (which is, most
likely, who will be buying this particular
model). It evidently hits all the measures
related to performance, and we’ve got
no reason to doubt its credentials in this
respect. But it does fall down somewhat
in real-world functionality, and for my
money, the Propel’s stablemate the TCR
offers a better-rounded experience in a
broader range of conditions. Perhaps I’m
just lacking that need for speed.
Advanced-grade composite, Electronic ready
FORK Advanced-grade composite, alloy steerer
GEARING Shimano 105 5800
BRAKES Giant SpeedControl SL
CASSETTE Shimano 105 11–28t, 11-speed
CRANKSET Shimano RS500, 34/50t
WHEELS Giant P-A2, Aero
TIRES Giant P-R3, 700x23
SIZES XS, S, M, M/L, L, XL
RRP $2,499
FRAME
77
%
Function Quality Price Appearance 30/40
32/40
8/10
7/10
For more info, giant-bicycles.com
PHOTO THOMAS JOYNT
IT USED to be so much simpler when
everything was about getting a road
bike to the lightest possible weight. But
then aerodynamics came into play, and
all of a sudden the road bike market
splintered into thirds. Road bikes weren’t
just road bikes; all of a sudden we had
race, endurance and aero road bikes, and
endless fragmentation of what was once
so easy.
The Giant Propel was a relatively
late entrant to the aero market, but it’s a
significant one and by now its presence
in the market casts long shadows. Over
the past couple of years, the Propel has
slowly been displacing the company’s
excellent race model, the TCR, with
claims that in a majority of rides
aerodynamic benefit trumps absolute
light weight. The Propel is used by many
of the company’s sponsored riders in
mountainous races as well as on the flat,
although it’s worth noting a redesigned
TCR is tipped to make an appearance
mid-year.
From a performance perspective,
there’s a lot to like in the Propel, which
is in the top two or three quickest-feeling
road bikes I’ve tested at Ride On. We
don’t have a wind-tunnel to quantify if it
is exactly as fast as the marketing would
have us believe, but it certainly does feel
that way, especially into a headwind.
From the front, it’s a noticeably slim
shape. The frame is quite flat through
the downtube and seat-tube in profile,
meaning the Propel suffers a little in
cross-winds as a result, but it’s not
unmanageable; the overall impression
the bike gives is of speed.
Which is all very well and good, but
the Propel’s not a machine without its
flaws, many of which are a direct result
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BIKE
TEST
Bombtrack Hook
Iain Treloar discovers there’s more to this chromoly cyclocross bike than meets the eye.
24
Ride On April-May 2015
over a couple of months the Hook won
my heart. The frame, beautifully finished
from headtube to Breezer-style dropouts,
was consistently plush regardless of
whether the obstacle was rocks, treeroots, speed-bumps or potholes. But it
wasn’t just the ride quality that impressed
with the Bombtrack; there was a kind
of barreling momentum and feeling of
permanence to it that, especially off road,
was extremely reassuring. Many other
cyclocross bikes I’ve tested over the
years have felt flighty and uncertain on
rougher terrain, where the Hook had me
feeling just as comfortable on my local
singletrack as I am on my mountain bike.
One of the major marketing stunts for
the release of the Hook was Bombtrack’s
entry of the bike into a mountain bike
stage race across the Alps. As skeptical
as I was of this, after taking the Hook offroad, I could almost see the logic behind
this audacious feat.
It’s not an overly light bike, coming
in around 10.5kg in our test model, but
it hides it well. Credit should go to the
frame, which is stiff enough to allow
you to punch up inclines; there’s also a
thrillingly whippy nature to the bike out
of the saddle that makes for an engaging
ride when you’re going hard, balancing
the comfort when you’re travelling at a
pace more sedate.
Careful selection of components
complement a quality frame. SRAM
gearing is my personal preference, so
it was a foregone conclusion that I’d get
along with the 22-speed Rival groupset
on the Hook. I’ve had patchy luck with
mechanical disc brakes of late, but the
Avid BB7s on this test sample got on
with the job in a squeal-free and efficient
fashion. The contact points throughout
were pretty conventional own-brand
aluminium bits, but I particularly enjoyed
the bars, which had a 12 degree outward
flair to give an extra couple of centimetres
width in the drops, providing greater
stability and improved handling. The
wheelset—French brand Mavic’s entrylevel CrossOne—was surprisingly decent,
and handled some pretty unsubtle riding
without a hiccup. The only spec-choice
I took particular exception to was the
tyres, a Continental ‘cross model that
rolled quickly enough but struggled to
find traction on dusty corners; I’d swap
to something wider with a little more bite
for off-road use. There’s decent clearance
for wider tyres, and eyelets to mount
mudguards, although some prospective
buyers will be disappointed about the
absence of rack mounts.
Although relatively obscure, the Hook
is a nice demonstration of the fact that
careful design still has its place; it’s a
bike that’s clearly designed by bike riders,
with numerous little choices, aesthetic
and practical, that over time quietly unveil
a bike of increasing loveliness.
FRAME FORK GROUPSET BRAKES WHEELSET TYRES RRP 88.5
%
Columbus Cromor double butted cromoly, pressfit BB30
Carbon w. alloy steerer, 1 1/8 – 1 1/5” tapered steerer
SRAM Rival 22
(46/36t front, 11-28 rear)
Avid BB7-road S mechanical disc brakes
Mavic CrossOne
Continental Cyclocross Race folding, 700x35c
$2,399
Function Quality Price Appearance 35/40
38/40
7/10
8.5/10
For more details or to buy, pushie.com.au
PHOTO THOMAS JOYNT
VERSATILITY IN a bike can only be a
good thing, but there’s more versatility
in most bikes than manufacturers or
riders give them credit for. Which is why
the Bombtrack Hook is a bit of a rarity;
it’s ostensibly a straight-down-the-line
chromoly framed cyclocross bike, but its
manufacturers don’t cap its ambition.
It’s almost a new genre unto itself—the
adventure cross bike.
Bombtrack’s a German brand of
Taiwanese manufacture, who until this
model had built their reputation in fixies
and other urban styles. That’s not to say
that the Hook’s off-road credentials are in
any way watered down; it’s a rugged and
highly capable machine, on-road and off.
The brand’s parent company is the BMX
brand Wethepeople, so it makes sense
that the Hook can take some knocks.
Based around a double-butted
Columbus Cromor frame, with modern
trimmings such as a BB30 bottom
bracket and oversized headtube, the
Hook is a beefy looking machine with
adventure in its blood. Designed by Dutch
bike-designer Olaf Wit, the geometry
of the Hook is relatively traditional; its
dimensions are pretty close to square—in
our large-sized test bike, a 55.6mm top
tube and a 56cm seat tube.
On my first couple of rides on the
Hook, the bike felt a little unwieldy
for its dimensions, despite the frame
measurements being all but identical to
my usual preference. This was traced
to the stem—long at 120mm—and the
relatively long reach to the levers at the
bar. After swapping the stem to a 90mm
we had lying around the office, I was
amazed at the difference that this simple
change made to the character of the Hook.
Cyclocross bikes often make for great
all-rounders—and commuters—and
BIKE
TEST
Corratec 8-speed Coaster
A bargain Bosch ebike has arrived in Australia courtesy of no-frills
distributor Reid Cycles. Simon Vincett tests and reports.
BOSCH MOTORS are the centre-piece
of the premium ebikes of today, so it’s
exciting to see the first bargain ebike in
Australia using this pedal-assist system.
A price close to three grand might not
immediately seem like a bargain, but
similar ebikes are about one thousand
dollars more on average, and the
components of this bike compare well
to them and stand up well to the riding
expectations most people would have for
this bike.
Corratec is a German brand with a
solid reputation in Europe that makes a
full range of bikes from time-trial road
bikes, through downhill mountain bikes
to city and trekking bikes. They produce
ebikes in mountain bike, city bike and
trekking bike formats. This 8-speed
Coaster fits into the city bike category.
Notable features, apart from the
Bosch Active Line motor, include
hydraulic rim brakes (Magura HS11), a
Shimano internally geared hub (Nexus
8-speed) and a 400 watt-hour Bosch
Powerpack 400 battery. The bike also
boasts a headlight powered by the
battery (Axa Pico 30E), a quality rear
luggage rack (Racktime Bosch e-bike
carrier) including a wired-in rear light,
quality SKS Chromoplastics mudguards
and Continental tyres. Parts of this
calibre are sure markers of a practical
and reliable bike.
The frame comes in a traditional
diamond or a step-through version and
an adjustable stem (from Zzyzx) allows
customisation between a very upright
position and a more forward-leaning
position, like riding a mountain bike.
The Bosch motor operates in pedal
assist mode, meaning it comes in when
you pedal. The strength of its assistance
depends on what level you choose: Eco,
Tour, Sport or Boost. You can switch
between assistance levels as you go with
a press of a button on the handlebars, so
you can call on more assistance when
you need it. The motor cuts out when you
don’t pedal and immediately if you apply
the brakes.
The different levels of assistance
draw more or less from the battery, with
Eco drawing the least and Boost the
most. Lots of uphill riding or headwind
also drain the battery by requiring
more from the motor. The display on
the handlebar continuously updates the
range you have left in each assist mode.
A full battery will take you up to 140km in
Eco mode or 40km in Boost.
The battery is easily removed from
the bike to be plugged into a charger that
operates off 240v mains power. A full
charge takes three and a half hours and
partial charges don’t harm the battery.
A display on the side of the battery tells
you how much charge it has.
The bike is not without flaws though,
with the major one being in the bike’s
gearing, which is too low. The Nexus
hub gear is designed to provide eight
different speeds, with three low, one that
is one-to-one with your pedalling and
four that are high gears for travelling
at high speed. The problem here is that
the sprocket for the chain at the Bosch
motor (with 18 teeth) is smaller than the
sprocket at the hub gear (with 21 teeth).
This provides something more like four
low gears, one one-to-one and three
high gears. The effect is that I often
found top speed a bit frustratingly slow.
It is a few kilometres per hour slower
than other Bosch ebikes in Australia.
This can be fixed by changing
the sprocket on the hub, which is an
operation a competent home mechanic
could complete successfully. Otherwise,
it’s a simple operation for a bike
mechanic.
Another complaint from me concerns
the back-pedal brake, which is annoying
and redundant. The annoyance is that
you can’t pedal backwards to set the
pedal before taking off. The redundance
is that the Magura hydraulic rim
V-brakes are very good—one of the
highlights of this bike—so it seems silly
to add another braking system. But
that’s how they like it in Germany and at
this price you can’t expect these bikes to
be tailored to Australian tastes.
6061 aluminium in diamond or step-through
FORK RST Sofi Fork suspension
GEARS Shimano Nexus 8-speed hub gear with Revo Shift twist-grip shifter
BRAKES Magura HS11 rim brakes and back-pedal brake
TYRES Continental Touring Plus 700x42mm
MOTOR Bosch Active Line
centre drive
BATTERY PowerPack 400
SIZES Sm, Med, L, plus XS in step-through
WEIGHT 25.25kg
RRP $2,799
FRAME
83
%
Function
Quality Appearance
Price
32/40
34/40
7/10
10/10
For more info and to buy
www.reidcycles.com.au
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
25
Warming to winter
T
he first properly cold day of
the year always catches me
unawares. I get too wrapped
up in autumn’s charms: the
days turning crisp around the edges,
bringing welcome relief from the late
summer heat; leaves maturing from
youthful green to gold and ochre before
they fall and flurry beneath my wheels;
smoke from the first wood fires hanging
on the air and the sky beginning to
brood. It’s the perfect time for exploring
scenic rail trails and seeking out farmers’
markets and cellar doors. For a while it
seems these amber-hued days will last
forever, and then, without warning, the
romance of the season is drenched in an
icy downpour and winter settles its pall
over the landscape. By some cruel trick
of fate, I am inevitably on my bike, ill
prepared and many, many, kilometres
from my heater when this phenomenon
occurs.
Last April was no exception. It was
a cool morning, but not cold enough to
warrant anything more substantial than
a gilet over my summer kit. Knowing our
days of mild-weather were numbered
and wanting to make the most of them,
my friends and I extended our Saturday
morning ride from Mordialloc to
Frankston, adding a little over 30km to
our regular Beach Road loop.
The ride started well. The day was
cool and crisp, with the promise of
26
Ride On April-May 2015
late morning sun and the temperature
expected to climb to the low twenties.
But Melbourne weather is notoriously
fickle. We pumped our legs against the
early morning chill and delighted in
the tailwind that ushered us down the
coast. I noted the grey swell of the sea,
the angry slap of the waves against the
sand and the telling darkness around the
edges of the sky. Clearly the sun would
not be forthcoming, as we had hoped,
but I was confident the storm would hold
until we were all safely ensconced in our
living rooms. In my hubris, I considered
how satisfying it would be later that
afternoon when, sleepy with post-ride
fatigue, I would curl up on the couch
with a good book and listen to the rain
come down.
By the time we reached Frankston,
the tailwind had picked up and carried
a distinct bite, but nothing that couldn’t
be overcome with a few minutes’ hard
pedalling. We lingered over our coffee
at the turnaround point, glad to be
out of the chill and too absorbed in
conversation to notice the rapidly
darkening sky.
When we finally returned to our
bikes, the temperature had dropped from
‘cool’ to ‘icy’. The wind howled, heralding
the arrival of the storm, and with grim
determination we began the long grind
back to Port Melbourne. I rode hard,
spurred by the promise of a hot breakfast
and kidding myself that we could still
make it to café number two ahead of
the rain. We hadn’t gone more than five
kilometres before it began to spit.
The wind iced the rain; it felt like
hail on my skin. The downpour worsened
with every pedal stroke, thwacking an
incessant tattoo on my helmet. I began to
shiver. My body did its best, withdrawing
warmth from my fingers and toes and
redirecting it back to my core. My feet
and hands went numb. Where I should
have felt the pedals and handlebars there
was only a dull, aching chill.
The rain eventually eased, leaving
me soaked and shivering. The wind
gusted against my wet lycra and no
matter how hard I exerted myself, I
couldn’t get warm. My legs cramped from
the cold and my mood was dark as the
sky. With each train station we passed,
I was tempted to give up. But my fellow
riders were a supportive bunch, and with
their encouragement I persisted.
We arrived at Port Melbourne bluelipped and exhausted, but also proud of
our effort, and I swear, no cup of coffee
has ever been as reviving as the one I
enjoyed that morning.
The next weekend we came prepared
with arm warmers, booties, long-fingered
gloves, snoods and spray jackets. I was
still regretting the loss of autumn, but
now I was prepared for the cold months
ahead.
PHOTOGRAPHY THOMAS JOYNT
Margot McGovern recalls being caught unprepared in the first
storm of the season.
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






Shaws
Cycling Centre
Sol300
300 Lumens
The SOL300 is powerful and
compact, mesuring only 68mm
in length. A CNC machined body
with precision cooling features
allows for consistent Lumen
output with a burn time of 2hrs
on high.

Sol200+
200 Lumens
The SOL200+ has a compact
design and unique optical lens with
180 deg visibility making your
journey safer with style. Producing a
burn time of 4.5hrs on high mode,
the SOL200+ is an all round
performer
Cob-X
100 Lumens
The COB-X comes as a rear or
combo set, has tool free fitting and
has a 1.8hr quick charge through
micro USB. With a burn time of
4.5hrs on constant it also comes
in a range of colours.
Flipit
Tadpol
100 Lumens
The Flip It is a versatile front
safety light rated at 100
theoretical lumens featuring a
convienent, unique bracket and
clip for multiple mount options.
The Flipit has 160 degree wide
visibility and up to 10 hours of
run-time.
The Tadpole is a perfect commute
partner that will stand the length of
time. A built-in interchangable lithium
battery provides 7 hours of run time and
a complete recharge takes 1.8 hrs.
Interchangable skin with 8 colours
to choose from is also available. G-mount
B-Copper
A copper made thumb bell that
can be installed on any bicycle,
the special clamp provides strong
clamping force, fits on both right
and left hands
KD Sport
KD Sport silicon grip is designed for
comfort steering and performance.
Washable, slip proof and not sticky in
the heat and a longer product lifetime.
Ph: 07 5445 1991
100 Lumens
I-See
The G-Mount is a slick lightweight
multi-bracketed lighting solution
that reduces handlebar clutter. Featuring
a USB rechargeable light with 4 LEDs
it also has an interchangeable bracket for
most systems of camera and cycle computer.
Made from full CNC machined aluminum.
Being seen is one thing, but
seeing around you is a different
matter in traffic. Our discreet,
lightweight mirror is optimised
for commuter life. Available in
different colour trim options.
Fax: 07 5456 4417
Email: [email protected]
MASSIVE
AUTUMN
SALE
It’s about time we had a sale, so here it is, our comprehensive list
of Specialized Mountain Bikes with big discounts applied and widely
available in different colours and sizes.
As always, all our bikes come with a FREE bike sizing and first service.
There has never been a better time than now to buy a
new MTB at Total Rush and Rush Cycling.
BIKES ON SALE
Camber FSR 29
Camber FSR Comp 29
Camber FSR Comp Carbon 29
Camber FSR Elite Carbon 29
Camber FSR Evo 29
Camber FSR Expert Carbon Evo 29
Crave 29
Crave Comp 29
Crave Expert 29
Crave Pro 29
Crave Sl 29
Epic FSR Comp 29
Epic FSR Comp Carbon 29
Epic FSR Elite Carbon 29
Epic FSR Elite Carbon Wc 29
Epic FSR Expert Carbon 29
Epic FSR Expert Carbon Wc 29
Fate Comp Carbon 29
Fate Expert Carbon 29
Jett Ltd 29
Jett Pro 29
Jett Sport 29
P Slope
P Street 1
P Street 2
P20 Pro
WAS
NOW
$2,299.00
$3,199.00
$4,299.00
$5,499.00
$3,499.00
$7,499.00
$1,599.00
$1,799.00
$1,999.00
$2,299.00
$1,549.00
$3,299.00
$4,499.00
$5,999.00
$5,999.00
$7,199.00
$7,199.00
$2,999.00
$4,499.00
$1,999.00
$1,599.00
$999.00
$2,899.00
$699.00
$799.00
$899.00
$1,999.00
$2,699.00
$3,499.00
$4,499.00
$2,799.00
$5,999.00
$1,299.00
$1,449.00
$1,599.00
$1,699.00
$1,249.00
$2,799.00
$3,499.00
$4,999.00
$5,399.00
$5,999.00
$6,499.00
$2,499.00
$3,499.00
$1,599.00
$1,299.00
$799.00
$2,199.00
$599.00
$699.00
$749.00
BIKES ON SALE
P26
P3
Rockhopper 29
Rumor FSR 29
Rumor FSR Comp 2
Rumor FSR Elite 29
Rumor FSR Expert Evo 29
Status FSR I
Status FSR Ii
Stumpjumper FSR Comp 29
Stumpjumper FSR Comp Carbon 29
Stumpjumper FSR Comp Evo 29
Stumpjumper FSR Comp Evo 650B
Stumpjumper FSR Elite 29
Stumpjumper FSR Expert Carbon 29
Stumpjumper FSR Expert
Carbon Evo 29
Stumpjumper Ht Comp 29
Stumpjumper Ht Comp Carbon 29
WAS
NOW
$999.00
$1,699.00
$899.00
$2,299.00
$3,199.00
$4,399.00
$5,599.00
$2,999.00
$3,999.00
$3,199.00
$4,299.00
$3,799.00
$3,799.00
$4,499.00
$7,699.00
$799.00
$1,499.00
$749.00
$1,999.00
$2,799.00
$3,799.00
$4,799.00
$2,199.00
$2,999.00
$2,799.00
$3,499.00
$2,999.00
$3,499.00
$3,999.00
$5,999.00
$7,699.00
$2,299.00
$3,299.00
$5,999.00
$1,999.00
$2,799.00
Total Rush Specialized Concept Store 345 Punt Road, Richmond VIC 3121 Ph. (03) 9421 0070
www.totalrush.com.au [email protected]
Rush Cycling 112-114 Carlisle Street, St Kilda VIC 3182 Ph. (03) 9537 0522
www.rushcycling.com.au [email protected]
LIGHTS
TEST
2015
WHAT PRICE
YOUR LIGHTS?
In our tenth annual test of bike lights, we recall the past, look
to the future but most importantly put the current crop through
their paces. Simon Vincett reports.
30
Ride On April-May 2015
among our recommended lights or in the middle or upper
rankings of the Top 40 table below.
Smart lights and a strong future
In some lights in this year’s test we see a new future in effective
visibility for bike riders—and the future looks bright.
Lights are beginning to include sensors to vary their flash
rate and intensity in response to different road situations. For
instance, in October
2014 Ride On reviewed a
light set from See.Sense.
out of Northern Ireland.
These very intelligent
lights use a motion sensor
and a light sensor to
automatically vary their
Above See.Sense
output in situations such
Below Fyxo B-Con
as when a car approaches,
you enter a tunnel, you
swerve or brake suddenly
or the sensors interpret
that you are going around
a roundabout. In our onroad testing we found the
lights to be very bright but
it was the change in intensity itself that was most eye-catching.
Another offering in this new paradigm of visibility for
bike riders is the Fyxo B-Con. This taillight also contains an
accelerometer. This senses when you are slowing down and
increases the intensity of the light with a solid red display, just
PHOTOGRAPHY KARL HILZINGER
T
en years ago Ride On began testing bike lights to provide
a comprehensive purchasing guide to the essential gear
of bike riding.
The idea remains, as it was from the outset, to find
the best value and best performing bike lights out there so that
every rider has the capability to ride in low light. With lights on
your bike there’s no problem riding home after dark, heading
in to work before sun-up or completing the journey as a storm
closes in.
The Australian road rules require bike riders to display a
front white and rear red light, both visible at 200 metres, when
riding in low light. This is because other road users need to be
able to see riders, and lights are the most effective visibility
tool.
The good news is that most bike lights available in Australia
are easily visible at 200 metres. However, this is a minimum and
many bike lights can make you stand out a lot more than that.
Moreover, for your hard-earned cash you want a light that’s
waterproof, easy to use and will last. These are the things Ride
On tests for in bike lights.
So what can you reasonably ask of a bike light in 2015? Well,
it will be remarkably bright due to continuing advances in light
emitting diode (LED) technology. It will also be very compact,
due to similar advances in battery technology. You can expect
most bike lights to be rechargeable via a USB port or mains wall
socket, saving the hassle and waste of replacing batteries. You
can expect that you shouldn’t need tools to put the light on your
bike, that the mount will be easy to use and secure. These are
the standard features of an average-to-high-end bike light these
days. Any lights without these features are unlikely to appear
LIGHT YEARS AHEAD
Believe it or not, when we started
testing bike lights in 2005 halogen bulbs
were still the leading technology for
vehicle headlights. However, LEDs were
overtaking the lower-output incandescent
bulbs as a much more efficient light
source, and this was certainly the case for
bike lights.
like a motor vehicle brake light.
Unfortunately, in some other design and construction aspects these two
lights did not stand up to rigorous testing. This is a common failing of many
lights coming to the market from small start-ups—often through crowdfunding—rather than from major established companies. While start-ups
offer great innovation—and these lights usually satisfy an otherwise unmet
need for bike riders—in design, these lights are often found to be lacking.
Dr Scott Mayson, researcher and lecturer in Industrial Design at RMIT
University, leads the design testing for the Ride On Lights test. He explains:
“The See.Sense. is too complex to use, with the twisting to turn on and off,
and its instructions aren’t easy to interpret either. It’s also poorly designed
for water resistance and it was damaged in durability testing.”
It was certainly not the only light to break down under rigorous
scrutiny. The other smart light in the test, the Fyxo B-Con, also performed
poorly for waterproofness and didn’t score strongly for its basic visibility. So
it seems today’s smart lights still need to work on their other strengths to
rise to the top of the field.
Cut the razzle dazzle
Bike lights continue to become brighter and brighter, without regulation of
their usage to prevent the blinding of other road users.
Standards Australia is due to revise the Australian standard relating to
bicycle lighting but it is awaiting the publication of a European Standard, due
in 2015. While it will be a voluntary standard, this guide to bicycle lighting
best practice is likely to be adopted by industry in the long term.
In Germany and Japan the rules for bicycle lighting are already
thoroughly defined. The Germany regulations, in particular, require that a
bicycle light does not spread above the ground ten metres in front of the
bicycle.
In anticipation of the new Australian standard following this European
lead, Ride On has adapted its test method this year to approximate the
German regulations. All lights over 200 lumen output were angled down to
focus at a point ten metres ahead. In this way the higher powered lights were
made a bit more equivalent to those 200 lumens and less.
In the meantime, we can only appeal to riders to similarly angle their
powerful lights down for the sake of other people. Otherwise, there’s the
simple but effective tip sent to Ride On to cover the top part of lens with blue
tack to create your own cap on the light and cut its upward glare.
The first lights Ride On recommended
were a pair of Cateye LED lights, the
EL120 front and LD600 rear. These
were high-end lights at
the time and Cateye
remains a
brand with
a solid
standing
in the
current
market.
Since 2006 we have engaged a panel of
judges for an on-street test of visibility.
Since 2009 we have relied on an Industrial
Design team at RMIT University for
assessment of the usability, durability
and waterproofness of the lights. Also in
2009, Choice attended the test for the first
time ahead of using the test data for their
own coverage of bike lights.
In 2011 we published our first top 50 list
from results accumulated over the years.
In 2012 we also tested the lights with a
lux meter but in the process affirmed that
people provide the superior assessment
of effective visibility in the realistic
scenario of a genuine on-road setting.
Since 2012 we’ve been calling for riders
to avoid blinding other road users with
overly bright lights. This is an issue that
continues to be a problem.
And we’ve been telling people about light
positioning for a full 10 years, with the
old joke about the light mounted on the
backpack alerting aircraft but not cars
featuring in the first general lights article
by Melissa Cranenburgh in 2005.
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
31
Effective visibility
The Ride On Lights test is all about effective visibility. To
that end, we test the lights after twilight, on an urban street,
with a bunch of real people in the judging panel to rate each
light compared to a control. Judges are typically drawn from
VicRoads Road Safety Unit, Victoria Police, Choice, RACV,
Bicycle Network, bike shops and cycling clubs. The control is
the top light of its type from last year.
The range of lights tested aims to cover all the lights
available to Australians riders. It includes lights designed
to illuminate the way ahead for riders, but we consider how
effectively visible they are rather than their output. We test
three aspects of visibility: front-on, angled and flash rate.
For the front-on test, judges are 200m from the lights, which
is the minimum distance the lights must reach, according to the
Australian road rules. For the angled test, lights are displayed
at 45 degrees to the judges. Judges are 50m away. This
simulates visibility at an adequate distance for a car travelling
at 50km/h to react and brake before hitting a bike rider.
Research shows that the flashing mode of bike lights is the most
attention grabbing to the human eye. For this reason, we test
the lights in the flash mode that we reckon is most visible of the
modes on offer. Usually this is one that's not too slow or too fast.
But more than the lights you use, there are good practices
you can adopt for maximum visible impact. Using a flashing
mode for your lights is one of those. Research also shows that
handlebar and seat-post mounted lights are the most visible to
motor vehicle traffic. So helmet-mounted lights are out on that
count—as well as because they are a terrible menace to other
road users—as are lights attached to backpacks and clothes. So
you should mount your lights on your bike.
32
Ride On April-May 2015
Check out the runtime of a light you’re
considering to buy to see how often you’ll
have to charge it. A light with a longer battery
life will probably cost more and be heavier
but you won't have to charge it so often or
run the risk of running out of light. Alternatively, you might
decide you’re happy to plug your lights into your computer after
each use to them charged up. Incidentally, charging via a phone
charger plugged into a wall socket will fuel your lights much
faster than plugging the USB cable into a computer.
Clever lights will have a battery level indicator to tell you
when your batteries are getting low. A good idea in any case is
to carry a set of back-up lights at all times anyway. Once upon
a time you could stop at a convenience store for more batteries
if your lights failed mid-ride but that doesn't work with USB
rechargeables.
Urban myths abound (in my geeky world, anyway) of lights
starting strong and gradually fading over the life of their
battery, and of manufacturers exaggerating the runtime of their
lights. For this reason, a new inclusion to the testing regimen
this year was a runtime test. We made a selection of likely
lights from a variety of brands and set them running at their
maximum output. We photographed the lights every minute for
500 minutes to have a record of how they behaved.
Most were true to the runtime stated by the manufacturer,
though there were some interesting variations. The Cygo
Expilion 850 ran at maximum output for 1h 25m, which is ten
minutes more than the manufacturer promised, but it then
remained on at a low output for another 5h 20m. The Fyxo King
Bright promised more than 4h and lasted an impressive 7h
39m. The Cateye Volt 700 was the other light in the selection
to exceed its declared runtime, going for 2h 16m when 2h was
promised.
On the other side of the ledger, the Specialized Flux Elite
lasted 1h 14m as opposed to 1h 20m promised and it also
took 10m of its total time to fade out. The Moon X-Power 600
modestly surpassed its 2h declared runtime with a 2h 9m
PHOTOGRAPHY KARL HILZINGER
Take charge
Time of fade.
64
80
Minutes
99
Moon X-Power 600
Serfas True 505
Specialized Flux Elite
Total runtime.
74
116 129
150
performance but it faded for the last 30 minutes. The Serfas
True 505 was most disappointing with 1h 56m achieved versus a
2h 15m runtime promised and it faded for the last 36 minutes.
Though there was a fan, the conditions seemed to be too
hot for some of the lights. The Full Beam Trail Torch turned
itself to Low mode from High in order not to overheat and went
on to outlast the camera battery, so we'll assume it lasted the
declared 12h for the low setting. The Lezyne Super Drive seems
to have dropped from Overdrive to Economy mode because it
got too hot. This happened after 10 minutes of Overdrive but it
fell short of the Economy mode declared runtime.
Overheating might also explain the strange behaviour of the
Serfas True 1200, which alternated between high and
lower modes. It was only ever on high for four minutes at a time,
followed by one to three minutes at a lower output. However, it
only ran for the declared runtime for High mode. Insufficient
airflow probably explains the behaviour of the Magicshine
MJ808E as well, which dropped to a very low output for a
minute every six or so minutes. Still, it ran for 3h 37m, which
surpasses its declared 3h runtime.
Best buys, best performers
Before we present our recommendations, a few further quick
explanations of the test are required.
Those familiar with the Ride On lights test might notice that
some lights previously listed have a different score this year.
This is the case for a couple of reasons. Firstly, we re-tested a
number of lights to approximate the German road regulation
(as explained above), which we believe is a good practice for
powerful lights. Secondly, as we were marking a significant
anniversary we thought it necessary to retrieve the raw data for
all lights to put it through the same calculations.
A quick look at the final scores of the lights might give you
the impression that none are very impressive lights but that’s
not the case. The scores are inevitably low because there
are so many aspects of the lights tested. The eight different
RECO
MMEN
DS
aspects (visibility head on, visibility angled, flash rate,
mounting, usability, power management, durability and
waterproofness) put together add up to a lot of lost points.
More relevant is to look at the lights ranking against
each other. A word of warning about that is that all the lights
included meet the legal requirements and are better than lights
that have dropped off the end of this list. If it’s on the list at all,
it's not a bad light.
Rear
Finally, batteries are so impressive these days that powerful
Knog Blinder 1 $29.95
lights are now very compact. So we no longer make a distinction
knog.com.au
between compact and high-powered front lights—they are
Ò
all just front lights, with some more expensive and brighter
than others.
BEST LIGHTS UNDER $50
Front
Ilumenox Shield 200 $39
diggari.com.au
BEST LIGHTS UNDER $100
THANKS TO OUR TESTING CREW THIS YEAR.
Front
Moon Mask $59.95
[email protected] for
retailers
Rear
ES Beacon $50
www.echelonsports.com.au
BEST VISIBILITY
Front
Lezyne Macro Drive $74.95
monzaimports.com.au
Visibility testing
Matthew Steen, Choice
Scott Mayson, RMIT
Sam Fuller, RMIT
Sarah Heimeier, RMIT
Hamish Maggs, RMIT
Richard Benson, RMIT
Dean Hislop, RACV
Michael Bogwitz, Bicycle
Network member
Caroline Newton, Ride2Work
Andy White, Fyxo
Patricia Bove, Specialized
Ji Ae Bak, Bicycle Network
Paul Sutton, Bicycle Network
Michael Hobbs, Bicycle
Network
Design testing
Scott Mayson, RMIT
Sam Fuller, RMIT
Sarah Heimeier, RMIT
Hamish Maggs, RMIT
Richard Benson, RMIT
Rear
Tioga Dual Eyes $39.99
www.bicorp.com.au
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
33
REPORT
OR
TOP 40 LIGHTS 2015
Light
RRP
W
V
F
Q
P
A
Find retailers
$59.95
36
86
35
37
9
8
Cyclewest Agencies [email protected]
Front
89
Moon Mask front
89
Cateye Nano Shot
$99.95
99
80
33
40
9
7
www.cateye.com.au
89
Serfas Raider USL-5
$59.95
40
80
34
39
9
7
www.velovita.net.au
88
Knog Blinder Arc 5.5
$129.95
152
65
31
40
8
87
Ilumenox Shield 200
$39
65
78
29
40
9
9
diggari.com.au
87
NiteRider Lumina 350
$119.9
170
71
32
40
8
6
www.jetblackproducts.com
86
Knog Blinder front
86
Moon Power 500 front
86
Knog Blinder Road 3
85
Lezyne Macro Drive front
85
Cateye Nano Shot+
84
Tioga Alien front
84
83
8.5 www.knog.com.au
$49.95
37
75
33
36
9
9
www.knog.com.au
$149.95
174
81
35
36
7
7
Cyclewest Agencies [email protected]
$99.95
102
59
28
40
9
9
www.knog.com.au
$74.95
109
90
29
40
8
8
monzaimports.com.au
$149.95
179
73
31
40
7
6
www.cateye.com.au
$29.99
67
65
30
39
9
6
www.bicorp.com.au
Giant Numen Plus HL1
$67.95
104
63
28
40
9
7
www.giant-bicycles.com/en-au
Lezyne Power Drive
$99.95
158
71
27
40
8
83
Light and motion Urban 550
83
Moon Comet front
83
Light and Motion Urban 400
83
Moon Meteor 100
$49.95
83
Serfas Thunderbolt front
$49.95
82
Magicshine MJ808E
$89.95
394
$29.95
16
$50
53
83
8.5 monzaimports.com.au
$200
113
67
30
40
7
7
www.jetblackproducts.com
$44.95
47
58
28
40
9
7
Cyclewest Agencies [email protected]
$170
111
63
29
40
7
7
www.jetblackproducts.com
74
69
27
40
8
7
Cyclewest Agencies [email protected]
48
65
27
40
8
7
www.velovita.net.au
73
29
40
9
5
www.magicshineaustralia.com.au
69
31
40
9
9
www.knog.com.au
81
33
37
9
8
www.echelonsports.com.au
33
36
9
8
Cyclewest Agencies [email protected]
Rear
89
Knog Blinder 1 rear
87
ES Beacon
86
Moon Shield rear
$59.95
57
86
Knog Blinder rear
$49.95
40
72
32
36
9
9
www.knog.com.au
85
NiteFlux RedZone8
$149
87
63
29
40
9
7
www.niteflux.com
84
ES Flare
$30
34
81
29
38
8
9
www.echelonsports.com.au
83
CygoLite Hotshot Micro
$70
43
58
28
40
9
7
www.bicorp.com.au
83
Serfas Raider rear USL-5R
$59.95
38
69
31
36
8
8
www.velovita.net.au
83
Lezyne Micro Drive rear
$54.95
73
69
28
39
8
8
monzaimports.com.au
83
Serfas Seat Stay Taillight
$29.95
37
73
29
39
8
7
www.velovita.net.au
83
Moon Comet rear
$44.95
47
58
27
40
9
7
Cyclewest Agencies [email protected]
83
Tioga Alien rear
$29.99
67
66
30
39
9
5
www.bicorp.com.au
83
Fibre flare Long Red
$34.95
84
60
27
38
8
9
fibreflare.com
82
Cateye Rapid X2 rear
$69.99
33
45
26
38
8
9
www.cateye.com.au
81
Tioga Dual Eyes USB
$39.99
81
85
34
34
8
5
www.bicorp.com.au
80
BBB BLS-Highlaser
$34.95
64
84
32
34
8
6
bbbcycling.com
80
Blackburn Super Flea rear
$59.95
33
68
25
40
8
7
www.blackburndesign.com
80
NiteRider Solas 2W
69
73
68
27
39
8
6
www.jetblackproducts.com
80
Skully 1W rear
25
12
81
29
34
8
9
diggari.com.au
79
Giant Numen+ Spark TL
$42.95
29
48
25
40
8
6
www.giant-bicycles.com/en-au
Table key: OR: Overall (/100) RRP: Recommended retail price W: Weight (grams) V: Visibility (/100)
F: Function (/40) Q: Quality (/40) P: Price (/10) A: Appearance (/10)
34
Ride On April-May 2015
BODY
TECH
MY FOAM FRIEND
For fast recovery for stiff, sore muscles and a quick return to top riding condition,
you need to get on a roll. Simon Vincett takes you through a full foam roller routine.
W
ithout the benefit
of a masseur like
the ones pro riders
enjoy, the next best thing
for bike riders is selfmassage with a foam
roller. In fact, the roller
gives you a great deal of
control. You can find and
gently massage areas
of soreness, trigger
points and knots, and
by varying how much
weight you apply, you can
moderate the intensity.
Massaging your muscles
promotes circulation
and, therefore, muscle
repair. The effect is that
it reduces aches and
stiffness. You can use
the roller straight after
a ride but it’s probably
most effective the next
day, when your muscles
have started stiffening
up. You can also roll
before stretching, and
then roll after as well.
Try pausing at the
sensitive points,
maintaining the pressure
and bend from the knee
and straighten again.
Don’t spend too long on
sensitive spots—you’re
not trying to fix anything,
just to promote recovery.
Don’t roll over your
joints—this is massage
for your muscles and
the pressure could
aggravate the tendons
where the muscles
connect to the bone.
To do the full routine
below, allow at least 35
minutes.
For the best program for
your individual needs, see
your doctor or a fitness
professional.
36
Ride On April-May 2015
CALVES
Start from heel end and raise your body off the ground.
Roll up the calf 10cm, then back 5cm, then roll side to
side. Repeat this process for the length of the muscle.
Use other leg on top, or not, to provide as much extra
pressure as you like. At pressure points or sensitive
spots, hold and rotate your foot through its full range
of motion, one way and then
the other.
Spend at least 3 minutes
on each calf.
HAMSTRINGS
Start from the knee and keep your legs straight by
extending through the inner heel. Work your way up the
hamstring, rolling up 10cm and back 5cm and rolling
side to side to massage. Massage the full length of the
hamstring—it doesn’t matter if you overlap the glutes.
Roll both legs at the same time or
cross one leg on top of the other
for more pressure.
Spend at least 3 minutes on
each hamstring.
GLUTES AND PIRIFORMIS
Roll both gluteus maximus together by sitting squarely on the roller. Make sure you
apply pressure right up to the top of the muscle where it connects to the pelvis just
before your lower back muscles. Stay off your spine though.
For the gluteus medius, tilt over on to one buttock and roll from the top edge of the
pelvis right down to the bony outcrop of the thigh bone, called the greater trochanter.
The piriformis is a narrow muscle deep inside the buttock that helps rotate
the leg. To find it, cross your leg over your knee and roll that buttock.
Crossing your leg shortens the piriformis and provides the
sensation when you apply pressure. Gently roll
back and forth to massage.
Roll out both buttocks and spend at
least 6 minutes on this group of
muscles.
QUADS
Start with both legs on the roller, which is just above your knee caps. Have your toes
splayed out for the first roll and move slowly up 10cm and back 5cm. Work right up to
the hips to get the full extent of the muscle. For a second roll, have your big
toes touching while you roll the whole
muscle up 10cm and back 5cm. You can
also roll one leg at a time, going and
rolling side to side to massage. You can
also apply more pressure by stacking
one leg on top of the other.
Spend at least 3 minutes on each quad.
INNER THIGH
This is for the hard-to-reach inner muscle of
the quad group, vastus medialis. It’s the teardrop shaped muscle that starts from the knee
and extends a third of the way up your thigh.
Start from the knee and roll along 10cm and
back 5cm for the full length.
Spend a minute on each.
ITB (OUTER THIGH)
Iliotibial band is a long band of tough connective tissue running down the outside of
the thigh from the hip to the outside of the knee. It’s often a site of niggling pain in
bike riders, particularly at the knee, and it’s a sensitive area to massage with the
foam roller, so take it easy.
Start towards the top of the thigh and slowly roll along
10cm and back 5cm all the way along between the
greater trochanter, that bony projection at the very
top of your thigh bone, and the knee. Control how
much weight you apply with your other leg and
the arm you’re balancing on.
Spend at least 3 minutes on each leg.
TFL
UPPER BACK
The tensor fasciae lata is a short
muscle that connects to the ITB
between the greater trochanter and
the outmost bone of the hip, the iliac
crest. The TFL assists in stabilising the
pelvis during movement. Put your hips
down on the roller and tilt to one side to
put pressure on one TFL. Roll the full
length of the muscle. Spend a minute
on each.
Place the middle of your
shoulder blades on the roller
and interlace your fingers behind
your head. Lift to a plank position
and hold your elbows high. Roll
carefully from the base of your
neck past your shoulder blades.
Spend at least 5 minutes on this
area.
PHOTOS THOMAS JOYNT
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
37
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REPORT
Protecting the
vulnerable
As bike rider numbers
increase on Australia’s
roads, so too do calls
for law reform
to cater for
vulnerable road
users. Simon Vincett
investigates.
C
raig Saunders loved to ride. He was fit and confident—a
sensible road user. He knew the roads in Tasmania’s
Huon Valley, just south of Hobart, like the back of his
hand.
He particularly knew the dodgy bits, as did his equally
experienced riding companions.
Sadly the 57-year-old died on the roads he loved to ride.
On a straight stretch of road on 5 August 2013, in broad
daylight, Craig Saunders was struck from behind by a ute. The
driver, Michael Lee McCulloch, 50, of Ranelagh in the Huon Valley,
said he simply didn’t see him.
Last year, the case was brought before the Hobart Magistrates’
Court, where Magistrate Michael Daley was told McCulloch didn’t
swerve or brake before he drove his ute at 80km/h into Saunders
on the road between Huonville and Cygnet.
McCulloch told the court he didn’t see Saunders or his riding
companion, Steve Barrett, in the seconds before the collision. He
claimed the sun was in his eyes, but this claim was rejected by the
magistrate.
Magistrate Daley said the ­cyclists would have been visible to
McCulloch for up to 12 seconds before the crash and no blame
could be attached to Saunders. McCulloch was unlicensed at the
time and had a poor driving record and four prior convictions for
drink-driving.
40
Ride On April-May 2015
He sentenced McCulloch to four months’ jail, but suspended
the sentence on condition he not commit another offence or he’d
face a term of three years behind bars.
In his sentencing, Magistrate Daley said: “I must send
a message to the community that inattentive driving—and
inattentive driving in the case of cyclists—is to be taken
seriously,” he said.
McCulloch, a father-of-four, was ­ordered to perform 150 hours
of community service and was disqualified from driving for 18
months. The crime carries a maximum penalty of 12 months in jail
and a $1300 fine.
Craig Saunders was a popular figure not just for his passion for
riding and keeping fit, but for his community work.
The anger at his death came, therefore, not exclusively from
the cycling community but also the wider community aware of the
case.
Questions were asked—not just how someone could be cut
down like that, but why the man who killed him walked free with
only a suspended sentence and could be back on the road in 18
months.
The horror and outrage was repeated just months later when
another Tasmanian cyclist was killed on the West Tamar Highway
near Launceston on a straight stretch of a four-lane highway
where cyclists are frequent and visible.
Timothy Wayne Yole, 26, pleaded guilty in the Launceston
Magistrates Court to having caused the death of cyclist Lewis
Hendey, 21, by negligent driving and having driven without due
care and attention.
Hendey was on a training ride with his best mate when Yole's
utility ran into the back of him in perfect driving conditions at
Riverside at about 8.24 am on 29 December 2014.
Launceston Magistrate Reg Marron jailed Yole for four months,
wholly suspended for two years, and disqualified Yole from driving
for 18 months—the same suspension as Craig Saunders’ killer.
A review of the law
Bicycle Network’s Advisor in Tasmania, Garry Bailey, said that
despite the legitimate outrage over the sentences in both cases, the
reality was that these suspended sentences and licence suspensions
were in line with general sentencing history and principles in
Tasmania.
“If there can be a positive legacy from these awful episodes,
it is that Tasmania will initiate sentencing reforms that will allow
magistrates and judges to take account of the vulnerability of
cyclists, motorcyclists, pedestrians and other users that don’t have
the protection of a metal cocoon,’’ he said. “The suspensions are
far too light for crashes that result in the death of a person. Some
drivers should be disqualified for life, particularly those who have a
history of reckless disregard for others, as was very obvious in the
case of Michael McCulloch.”
“Bicycle Network is making a submission to the Sentencing
Advisory Committee on the treatment by Tasmanian courts of
persons convicted of serious driving offences, in particular where
those incidents involve cyclists,’’ Mr Bailey said.
“One of the foundations of that submission will be the
sentencing guidelines regarding causing death by driving issued by
the Sentencing Guidelines Council in the United Kingdom. Under
those guidelines one of the determinants of the seriousness of an
offence when sentencing is when the offender has failed to have
proper regard to vulnerable road users.
“In essence, the greater the vulnerability of the victim,
the greater the culpability of the offending driver. In the case
of Craig Saunders’, given the magistrate’s rejection of Michael
McCulloch’s excuse, he could have expected a much tougher, and
fairer sentence, in many other international and even Australian
jurisdictions.”
It’s not only Tasmania who are looking at whether the
punishment fits the crime when a cyclist is injured or worse after a
crash.
Queensland has considered law reforms following the release
of the report of the Parliamentary Inquiry into Cycling Issues
by the Transport, Housing and Local Government Committee in
November 2013.
The Committee recommended that the Queensland Minister
for Transport and Main Roads introduce a criminal offence of
“Infliction of Injury or Death to Vulnerable Road Users” based on
the model statute for a vulnerable road user law drafted by the
League of American Bicyclists.
Before the March 2014 Tasmanian state election the Liberal
Party announced that it would scrap suspended sentences, saying
this reflected a community view that there should be tougher
penalties for some crimes. Since taking government it has referred
the matter of suspended sentences to the Sentencing Advisory
Council, which will examine the use of other sentencing options.
Support for the reforms are coming from across the political
sphere.
Bicycle Network’s Advisor in Tasmania, Garry Bailey, said
Tasmania’s Infrastructure Minister, Rene Hidding, has indicated he
is also considering the recommendations of the Queensland report
with a view to road safety reforms to improve conditions for cyclists
on Tasmanian roads.
“We welcome that analysis and believe its many
recommendations can be comfortably applied in Tasmania without
the need for further exhaustive inquiry,” Mr Bailey said.
While the two Tasmanian cases are horrific, the reality is the
majority of collisions on roads do not result in the death of a bike
rider. But any collision with a motor vehicle has the potential for a
significant injury. Under the current system, significant injury can
play against their chance for a positive outcome in the courts.
Geraldine Collins, a Principal at law firm Maurice Blackburn
and an Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law, said cyclists
can struggle to gather the evidence they need after a crash.
“It is highly likely that the cyclist or other vulnerable road
user is the person who is worse off. If they are treated at the scene
or taken off in an ambulance, they are not in a position to gather
the details of any people who are around to act as witnesses.
They would, therefore, lose the opportunity to be able to get the
information that would be required to establish fault on the part of
the other person.”
The civil law system of Australia, which governs all cases that
are not criminal, requires the injured party to bring a case to
establish the fault of the other party to be awarded damages.
“If I’ve got the head injury and I’ve got no memory and I can’t
prove my case, then the other side, who might be completely at
fault, can just sit there with their arms crossed and they don’t have
to prove anything,” Ms Collins said. “They can say, you’ve failed to
prove your case and, therefore, you lose.”
To address this problem, some advocates are suggesting that
the principle of strict liability be introduced into Australia as part of
a vulnerable road user law.
“The concept of strict liability here means that the vulnerable
road user is always going to be found to be not at fault,” explained
Collins. “If somebody impacts with the vulnerable road user then
that means they are at fault, whether they are or not. The fact of the
collision is sufficient to satisfy any requirements for compensation.”
For a driver that collides with a bike rider, for instance, that
means their insurer would automatically be liable for damages to
the bike rider.
To Collins, strict liability would be a welcome addition to
the law for the protection of all vulnerable road users: “If that is
something that then causes everybody on the road to be more
careful and to be looking out and thinking that in a suburban street
you drive at 30km/h because there might be kids that dart out from
behind parked cars, well what’s wrong with that?”
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
41
Claims after a crash
Vehicle registration fees in most states in Australia
(VIC, NSW, Tas and SA) include a premium for
compulsory third-party insurance. This insurance
pays out costs for a collision to both parties regardless
of who is at fault, depending on certain parameters.
However, these systems also limit the parties’ recourse to common
law claims.
Ms Collins said in Victoria, the TAC (Transport Accident
Commission) has a scheme to help road users, including bike
riders, after a crash.
“The TAC scheme is a hybrid, it’s partly statutory benefits and
partly common law, so that even if I’m at fault in the TAC scheme
I still get an entitlement for medical expenses, for wages for a
certain period and I may have an entitlement for a small lump sum
depending on what my injuries are. If I’m injured sufficiently I pass
a threshold to bring a common law claim.”
In some respects the Victorian TAC scheme can be said
to resemble the strict liability laws that underpin European
insurance because the driver’s insurer—the TAC—is always
responsible. Furthermore, the rider can never be at fault in
Victoria, a feature that riders in Europe may envy.
Ms Collins’ professional assessment though is measured.
“The Victorian scheme in theory is very good, though there are
problems with that, such as that the threshold for common law is
very high. You have to have a very high level of injury to qualify: a
30% whole person impairment or a serious injury. So a lot of people
get injured but they don’t qualify for common law and that’s where
the Victorian system is unfair. The other area where it’s unfair is
that even though you’ve got coverage for your medical expenses,
it has to fit within the definition of covered expenses, and it’s still
subject to the TAC saying whether they will pay. Quite often they
cut off payments or services and then the person has to fight for it.
There’s a group that misses out and it’s people who may have very
significant injuries and they are not entitled to anything.
“Whereas if you had the entitlement for common law, with
strict liability, you yourself would be able to bring your claim, get
your lump sum and you are able to choose the services you want
and you don’t have to go through the rigmarole of dealing with an
insurer perpetually for the rest of your life.”
These no-fault statutory benefits do not exist in Queensland
or Western Australia. In these states, injured parties only have
recourse through the courts to claim damages, therefore, strict
liability would offer a swift resolution to an unfortunate collision or
a lifeline if fault was impossible to prove.
Some argue, notably insurers, that strict liability can cause
a failure of people to take responsibility for their own behaviour.
They favour a presumption of liability system, rather than strict
liability. With this system, those presumed liable can rebut their
liability, either completely or to claim contributory negligence from
the other party.
Ms Collins cautioned against this weakening of the concept.
“It may well be that—to draw an extreme example—somebody
is drunk and is weaving all over the road while they’re riding then
42
Ride On April-May 2015
they need to accept some responsibility,” she reasons.
“The capacity to establish contributory negligence
would appease insurers in that situation. It doesn’t
though protect the person who has the serious head
injury and there are no witnesses. That’s where the
insurer would rebut the presumption of strict liability on
the basis that we say that you can’t establish your case.”
Overall, Ms Collins said she sees benefit in strict liability in
the sense that it has scope to prompt people to take more care
on the roads. However, when serious criminal cases in Australia
result in such disturbingly unjust sentences as were seen in these
Tasmanian examples, it seems much more needs to be done to
protect vulnerable road users.
Solutions proposed by advocates include reforming the various
state statutory schemes to make them more like the Victorian TAC
system, reforming culpable driving-type offences and reforming
sentencing laws.
Reform of sentencing and culpable driving laws is the focus
for Bicycle Network’s Garry Bailey. This would ensure that killing
or injuring someone on the road has outcomes for the perpetrator
that better reflects the seriousness of the crime.
“The law around the world is moving on this issue,” Bailey
said. “Already in Australia this legislative reform has occurred.
In the ACT the Road Transport Act was amended this year with
a new section defining an aggravated offence—furious, reckless
or dangerous driving [Road Transport (Safety and Traffic
Management) Act 1999, Section 7A]. The section lists seven
definitions of an aggravated offence, including ‘when a person
drives in such a way that puts at risk the safety of a vulnerable
road user’,” Mr Bailey said.
Closer to his home in Tasmania, progress in the right direction
is being made.
“The Tasmanian Government already uses the term
‘vulnerable road users’ in its road safety literature and policy
pronouncements. That in itself is recognition that they are
different to other road users, such as cars, trucks and buses,” he
said.
“That clear recognition is starkly drawn in the Government’s
road safety campaigns. The message in those campaigns is simply:
share the road, take special care around vulnerable road users, be
patient, be courteous.
“Above all, these campaigns recognise that the consequences
for a vulnerable road user as a result of the negligence of a
vehicle driver are potentially fatal. Yet the law, when it comes
to sentencing, treats the vulnerable no differently to those who
have the added protection of that cocoon of metal, seat belts,
and airbags, not to mention the technology that makes cars safer
and easier to drive and more responsive in moments where quick
decisions are required or evasive action is taken.”
The Tasmanian Sentencing Advisory Committee is expected
to take until July 2015 to issue an interim report on a wide range
of sentencing matters referred to it and until the end of 2015 or
beyond to issue a final report.
By then the killer of Craig Saunders will be back behind the
wheel.
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EVENTS
CALENDAR
April
3–6
9–12 12 12 SA, Burra
Bike SA Burra Easter Cycle
bikesa.asn.au/EasterCycle
SA, Adelaide
Subaru NRS – Jayco Adelaide Tour
adelaidetour.bike
VIC, Woodend
Wombat 100 MTB Marathon
wombat100.com.au
France
Paris – Roubaix
letour.com/paris-roubaix
18–19 SA, Adelaide
Cycling Australia Para-
cycling Road National Championships
bit.ly/1BhY8Cn
May
1–3 2
2–3 2
9–11 TAS
Subaru NRS – Mersey Valley Tour
bit.ly/1wyyk1S
NSW, St Albans
Convict 100
convict100.com.au
SA, Cudlee Creek
Dirty Weekend, 24hr MTB Challenge
bikesa.asn.au/DirtyWeekend
WA, Northam
Rotary Team Challenge, 75/50/22km ride options
rotaryteamchallenge.org.au
QLD, Ipswich
Distance for a Difference Queensland Tour
bit.ly/1uVqMMN
19 19 SA, Flinders Ranges
Bike SA Outback Odyssey
bikesa.asn.au/
outbackodyssey
Netherlands
Amstel Gold
amstel.nl/evenementen/
amstelgoldrace
19 19 19 SA, Willunga
Bike SA Grand Slam Challenge Series #2, 100/50km ride options
bikesa.asn.au/grandslam
VIC, Melbourne
MS Melbourne Cycle, 50/30km ride options
msmelbournecycle.org.au
WA, Perth
Dams Challenge, 235/146km ride options
bwa.org.au/events/631
WA, Perth
Great River Ride
bwa.org.au/events/666
9–24
15–24 17 23 22 25–3May 26–30 Belgium
La Flèche Wallonne
letour.fr/indexFWH_us.html
QLD
Queensland Bike Week
bikeweek.bq.org.au
Gold Coast to
Port Macquarie
Ride to Port 2015 Cycle Challenge
bit.ly/1DcQtaJ
7–14 QLD, Cairns
Cairns Airport Adventure Festival
bit.ly/1H2WMnt
13–21 Switzerland
Tour de Suisse
tourdesuisse.ch/en/tds-2015
27–3 July QLD, Cairns
Cairns to Karumba Bike Ride
ridefnq.com
28 VIC, Melbourne
Melburn Roobaix
fyxo.co/melburn-roobaix
28 WA, Swan Valley
Cyclo Sportif Swan Valley
bwa.org.au/events
9–31
19
June
Italy
Giro d’Italia
cyclingnews.com/races/
giro-ditalia-2015
Vic, Mildura
Tour de Depot
bicyclenetwork.com.au/
tour-de-depot-mildura
DIARY
24 28–31 31 VIC, High Country
High Country Harvest
highcountryharvest.com.au
WA, Northam
Cyclo Sportif #1: Northam
bwa.org.au/events
Upcoming events
QLD, Cairns
Cycle for Hope
on.fb.me/15FdiZf
VIC, Whittlesea
Whittlesea Challenge 110/68Km ride options
bit.ly/1D0XuLB
NSW–QLD, Tweed Coast
Subaru NRS – Battle on the Border
battleontheborder.com.au
SA, Meadows
Bike SA Grand Slam Challenge Series #3, 120/60km ride options
bikesa.asn.au/grandslam
4–26 July
26 July
8 August
France
Tour de France
letour.com/us
QLD, Logan
Tour de Logan
logancitycharitybikeride.org
QLD, Gold Coast
Peaks Challenge Gold Coast
peakschallenge.com.au
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
45
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Sat 28 Nov – Sun 6 Dec 2015
Three, five & nine day ride options
Visit greatvic.com.au or call 1800 639 634
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RIDE
SIMPSON
DESERT
AUS
Desert dreaming
“T
here’s a corrugated highway leading
north from Port Augusta lined with
battered cars that didn’t rate a tow,
Salt plains out of Pimba, and your
eyes begin to stream…”
The song was circling my head, because we really were north
of Port Augusta and it always excites me to actually be in a song,
even though there are those who would question the classic
credentials of early eighties Redgum. We were heading for the
start of the 2014 Simpson Desert Bike Challenge. As an event, it
pretty much does what it says on the tin—a race 600km across
the Simpson Desert and yes, it’s a challenge for all concerned. It
begins at Purni Bore and to get there one simply heads 850km
north of Adelaide to Coober Pedy, then turns off the bitumen to
drive another 450km over increasingly rough roads to the start
line. “Rough roads” does stretch the Antipodean penchant for
understatement to the limit, given that one vehicle arrived with
a cracked fuel tank, last year one arrived not at all, and between
our two team vehicles we had lost driving lights (fractured
off the mounts), a differential, a fuel gauge, air conditioning, a
speedo, battery electrics, a fuel filter and my alternator was held
on with rope and a tent peg. Running a day later than planned,
we were primed and in fine condition to cross one of the Great
Southern Land’s more remote deserts. We didn’t tell the race
organiser about the condition of our cars; we had a hammer and
wire so were sure we could fix things as we went along.
The event is held to raise money for the Royal Flying Doctor
Service, so each rider pays an entry fee as well as committing
50
Ride On April-May 2015
to some light fundraising. They then need to arrive at the start
with a vehicle and driver capable of crossing the desert, all
their own water, food and fuel, spare tyres, tools, camping gear
and equipment for the crossing, plus of course a bike of some
description; road bikes need not apply.
Twenty-one riders fronted for this year’s soiree, and although
not technically a fat bike race, there was only one 26er, one 29er,
and the rest of the field had seen the light and were running four
inch wide tyres. Indeed, I suspect it was the largest gathering of
fat bike eye candy in the country. The five day race was divided
into two daily stages, one of 80km and one of 50km. Riders were
weighed before and after each stage and anyone who lost too
much weight on a stage was not allowed to start the next; with
temperatures around 35 degrees and sometimes peaking above
40 degrees each day, dehydration and cramps were a very real
danger. To help combat this, the morning stage began at 6am,
and the afternoon’s at 2pm. Riders had to travel at an average
speed of at least 12km/h, or they were “swept” by the official
vehicle following. Race results tracked either your time, if you
had dodged the sweep, or the number of kilometres completed
if mechanical issues, physical pain or quiet despair saw you
relegated to the support vehicle.
The terrain was a mix of sand dunes, gibber plains (rocky
surfaced plains), dirt roads and bush tracks, with enough
corrugations to cause the vehicle suspension to leap out of
the car and bounce down the track on its own. Combined with
the joyous sweaty heat, there were riders with ulcerated…
delicate parts, I kid you not, shaking hands with Mr Pain as the
extraordinarily brave medics applied tinctures and unguents
PHOTOS EUAN PENNINGTON
Euan Pennington takes us behind the scenes of a
quintessentially Australian off-road challenge.
to various regions in the hope of seeing the athletes through
the next stage. Truly that which doesn’t kill you can still really
really hurt. Meanwhile, support crews fettled bikes and nailed
equipment back together to keep the show on the road. A
challenge for all, not just the riders.
The joy of the challenge for me was that it brought everyone
together, especially in the support crew where I was lurking.
People were always ready to lend a hand, fix something or create
coffee so that whilst it was a race, it also became a shared event.
Race radio might put out a call for parts, and soon there would
be three teams armed with tools and hope trying to make a bike
work and keep a rider in the saddle. Not their rider, but it didn’t
matter. On the last day, one strong rider walked up to one of the
slower riders and said, “You are crossing the line with the group
today,” and then when her legs gave out he proceeded to push
her probably 40km until another rider who had already finished
rode back to take over so she could cross the final line with the
peloton. It was about the event as much as the racing, the sport
as much as the winning. Some riders were there to compete,
some to try and complete, and some just to have a red hot go
and challenge themselves, but I think all were brought together
by the heat, the emptiness and the stark beauty of the Simpson
Desert.
After five days of fun-filled 4.30am starts, desert sunrises,
sportsmanship, sweat, prickles, hot winds and joy, the convoy
reached Birdsville and the much anticipated finish line. The finish
was actually situated at the pub, once again proving the strong
link between sport and alcohol—and yes, the beer was a fine
thing. Nine riders completed the entire event, with legs and bum
Fatbikes on
the trail, the
convoy, the
Birdsville Hotel, Birdsville
Qld.
cheeks of iron, although congratulations go to all who were
brave and inspired enough to throw a leg over their velocipede
and embrace the undertaking. The whole shenanigan is held to
raise money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and this year
over thirty-five grand found its way to those stalwarts who look
after the remote areas.
As I turned the cruiser’s nose south for the three day drive
home to Melbourne there was another song in my head (by
Loren)…
“The desert in the moonlight, hot days cold nights,
I’ve never seen so much sky, and it’s a sight for sore eyes…”
Absolutely.
If you might like to be one of those that come from all
over the country and overseas to pit themselves against the
Simpson and all it has to offer, go to desertchallenge.org to
find out more.
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
51
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REPORT
54
Ride On April-May 2015
REFLECTING RIDES
Margot McGovern
and Iain Treloar
investigate the
best options to
help you be seen
in reflective gear.
IN LOW light conditions riders are legally required to run a
white front and red rear light, visible to a minimum 200 metres.
Some also choose to wear high visibility and reflective clothing.
But many riders have misconceptions about how effective this
clothing is.
There are two key materials that can be used to boost your
on road visibility: fluorescent (hi-vis) and reflective. Fluorescent
clothing enhances your visibility when the sun’s ultraviolet rays
interact with the brightly coloured fabric so that it appears to
glow. It can be effective in drizzly conditions and at dusk when
other colours are muted. However, it’s of little to no use at night
when there is no UV light present.
By contrast, reflective clothing is most effective at night,
when reflected light stands out against the surrounding dark.
However, it can only enhance visibility when illuminated by a
light source, such as car headlights. The most common type of
reflective fabric used in cycling apparel has microscopic glass
beads attached to each thread, which function as tiny mirrors.
When an incidental ray of light hits their surface, they beam this
light back in a reflected ray. Because the texture of the fabric is
uneven it reflects light in all directions, though most prominently
in the direction of the source.
Interestingly, the effectiveness of reflective material varies
depending on where on the body it is worn. According to research
from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), reflective
fabric is most visible to drivers when worn on the rider’s legs, as
Dr Philippe Lacherez, lecturer and researcher at QUT’s Faculty
of Health, explains: “Cyclists should add reflective strips to their
knees and ankles because the pedalling movement makes light
from headlights bounce back to the driver making it easier to
register they are there.”
He is quick to add that riders should take further precautions
to maximise their visibility to other road users: “Cyclists also
need to wear a reflective vest and, of course, have lights on their
bike to increase their chances of being seen in low light as well
as at night.” (bit.ly/17cdq3A)
Every so often there is a call to make high visibility clothing
mandatory for cyclists, most recently in 2013 from a New Zealand
Coroner, Ian Smith, as part of an inquiry into the death of Police
Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald, 57, who was killed while riding
his bike in Wellington—despite the fact that Superintendent
Fitzgerald was wearing clothing with reflective strips when the
incident occurred. Smith’s recommendation was overturned, but
such recommendations can promote the idea that visibility aids
are a kind of silver bullet, and shift the focus away from the need
for better bike infrastructure and traffic calming measures.
PHOTOGRAPHY THOMAS JOYNT
As summer days darken to invite in the
winter weather, riders spend more time
pedalling in the dark or low light conditions
and need to light up to be seen.
In fact, another study from QUT, conducted in 2009, found
that road users significantly overestimate the effectiveness
of high visibility clothing. As part of the study researchers
surveyed more than 1,400 cyclists and motorists and found
that both drivers and cyclists considered fluorescent vests to
be effective visibility aids at night, and rated a reflective vest as
offering more visibility than reflective strips worn on the arms/
legs (bit.ly/1NHeNbJ)
A follow-up study, conducted by the same research team in
2010 and published in the Journal of the Australian College of
Road Safety, proved these perceptions towards high visibility
clothing to be misleading. For this second study riders wearing
different visibility aids were positioned on a closed-road driving
environment at night. Drivers drove around the course and
indicated if and when they identified a cyclist. The basic results
found drivers recognised 90% of cyclists who wore a reflective
vest and reflective strips, but only 50% who wore only a reflective
vest, 15% who wore a fluorescent vest and 2% who wore black
clothing. The study didn’t accurately depict cyclists’ actual
nighttime visibility, as study participants were not equipped
with lights. However, it does contradict the cyclist and driver
perceptions recorded in the earlier study.
Interestingly, the 2010 study also found that, while younger
drivers recognised 51% of cyclists on the course, older drivers
identified only 27%. Researchers further explained that older
drivers particularly struggled to identify cyclists clad in nonreflective gear: “Older drivers did not detect any of the cyclists
wearing black or fluorescent clothing, and less than half of the
cyclists wearing reflective vests. Younger drivers performed
much better; however, they detected less than half of the cyclists
wearing black or fluorescent clothing.”
If bike riders act under the assumption that they will be
seen when wearing visibility aids, they may put themselves at
greater risk. QUT researchers explain that this is particularly
a problem for cyclists who wear fluorescent clothing at night:
“Cyclists and drivers rated the visibility benefits of fluorescent
vests to be high even under nighttime conditions; indeed, there
was little difference in their ranking of the visibility benefits of
the fluorescent clothing for either day or nighttime conditions.”
Given fluorescent material is not effective as a visibility aid at
night, “Cyclists who habitually wear fluorescent—as opposed
to reflective—materials may considerably overestimate their
visibility at night.”
Researchers further noted that it’s particularly important
for riders to minimise their risk at night: “Nighttime cycling has
been shown to be more dangerous than cycling in daylight, with
40% of cyclist fatalities occurring at night, despite much lower
exposure rates than daytime.” Reflective material can certainly
improve how visible riders are at night; however, the 2009 study
revealed that while most riders understand the benefits of
wearing reflective clothing only 35% wear it ‘always’ or ‘often’.
In addition to a reliable set of lights (see our lights test
on pages 30–34), those who regularly ride in the dark should
also consider investing in reflective gear, and many technical
garments and accessories now feature strategically placed
reflective details; our picks are right.
REFLECTIVE CLOTHING
Sugoi Zap
Canadian clothing brand Sugoi are one of the most
prominent manufacturers of reflective riding gear, with
their extraordinarily bright Zap range (including shoe
covers and jackets). The jacket’s neat trick is that it doesn’t
look like a reflective jacket—available in red and black, it
becomes completely reflective when light hits it. The range
will be available in Australia from late May, pricing TBC.
monzaimports.com.au
Rapha Brevet
Designed for long days, the Brevet from Rapha is a highly
visible two-piece product, comprising a vest and a merinorich jersey. Both have contrast-heavy designs and large
reflective stripes across the chest, with a stripe on the arm
of the jersey as well. $285 for the set, rapha.cc
Capo Padrone
At the premium end of the spectrum, Capo’s Italian-made
Padrone HiVis range features several products with
impressive reflectivity. Jerseys, knicks, vests and jackets all
get the treatment, ensuring that—if you’ve got deep enough
pockets—you’ll be shining like a disco-ball. capocycling.com
Volta reflective vest
Pictured left. Avanti’s house clothing brand, Volta, make a
couple of reflective products, but only the vest makes it to
Australia. It’s an impressive bit of gear, with a comfortable
athletic fit, subtle design and high-quality finish. A lot of
cycling clothing crosses our desks at Ride On, but this vest
had us cooing like pigeons.
$229.95, sheppardindustries.com
Zero insulated reflective bottle
Also pictured. Something a little more accessibly priced, the
Zero insulated reflective bottle features what looks to be the
same material as the Volta vest inside a clear outer layer.
Not only is the bottle reflective, but it will keep your drinks
cool for a little longer as well. Because of the insulation,
the bottle’s volume is a little smaller than the size would
suggest at 650ml. Priced at a very reasonable $14.99.
sheppardindustries.com
Chrome ‘Night’ series bags
Chrome’s backpacks and messenger bags are some of the
very best (and most durable) in the business, and the Nightvariants of their popular Mini-Metro, Citizen, Buran and Yalta
models utilise a stack of 3M reflective material to boost their
visibility.
chromeindustries.com or rushfaster.com.au
ProViz Reflect360 range
British-based ProViz have a vast range of clothing designed
to be seen, but their Reflect360 range is the real stand-out.
Rather than reflective panels, the entire product is designed
to reflect. Sizing runs a little on the generous side, but if
you can work that out, these are highly visible garments at
reasonable prices.
provizsports.com
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
55
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Long stays & cycling programmes
MY EUROPE BASE
in Rhineland and surrounds
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on the Mosel !
CASUAL
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myeuropebase.com
tel Ralph / Olga 0406 440418
OUTBIKE
Tackle the Outback by bike!
OUTBACK 'RAIL-ROAD'
All sealed road ride, Charters Towers to Charleville via Winton and
Longreach. In/out on iconic trains. Choose 4, 6, 9 or 11 days riding
plus rest days to Porcupine Gorge, Lark Quarry, Qantas Founders
Museum & Stockman's Hall of Fame. Camping.
Most meals incl. Confirmed. 25 June to 11 July 2015. Max 20.
MOUNTAIN COUNTRY
Choose your route each day, sealed or mixed. Spectacular 9 day
back-roads circuit of the Brisbane Valley (option to ride B.V. Rail Trail
full length), Bunya Mountains, Darling Downs & Scenic Rim.
Start/end Ipswich (rail from BNE Airport). Camping, b/fasts & lunches
incl. Confirmed. 15 to 23 Aug 2015. Max 20.
Outbike first est. 2004, is back in 2015
with founding operator Ralph Jackson
tel Ralph 0406 440418
[email protected]
Seeking ride leading
FR / DE speakers.
Suit semi-retired.
OUTBACK HIGHWAY (NEW)
All sealed 7 or 12 day road ride up the Landsborough Highway.
Roma to Longreach 7 days x 90-120 kms.
Longreach to Mt Isa 4 days x 120-180 kms.
Stay in Mitchell, Morven, Augathella, Tambo, Blackall, Barcaldine,
Longreach (rest day), Winton, Kynuna & Cloncurry. Transfer incl from
Brisbane. From Mt Isa fly to BNE / train to Townsville / or ride on our
bus to Alice. Camp in towns. Max 12 riders. 1-13 Sep 2015.
BIKE 'n WHEELS EXPEDITION #4
Our epic 2200km adventure rides again in '16! Ride Gulf-to-Gulf
ACROSS Australia: Pt Augusta to Karumba in 30 days via Flinders
Ranges, legendary Birdsville Track, Channel and Gulf Country.
Camping, most meals included. Max 20 riders. Apr-May 2016.
TOUR DE FRONT 1916-2016
Take in the tragedy of WW1 in the Somme centenary year.
21 days, 1000km (mostly back-roads) traces the Front Line
from Belgian coast to Swiss border, including key ANZAC sites and
memorials. Varied terrain from Flanders plains to Vosges Mountains,
highest point The Grand Ballon 1424m. Many character accoms.
CASUAL CREW!
Ride leaders, driver/cooks,
FR/DE speakers for Europe!
outbike.com.au
Suit semi-retired. Good pay.
REPORT
CLOSING THE GAP
Margot McGovern
takes a look at the
long road ahead for
women in the world
of professional
road riding.
LAST YEAR Marianne Vos (Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team)
made history when she defeated Kirsten Wild (Giant–Shimano)
in a nail-biting sprint finish on the Champs-Élysées before a
roaring crowd and millions of television viewers around the
world to become the first ever winner of La Course by Le Tour.
Vos had been a strong advocate for La Course and her win
symbolised a larger victory for women in the sport, as it was
the first time they’d competed in a UCI sanctioned race on that
most famous of stages. However, it also served as a reminder
of how much work remains to be done to close the gender gap
in cycling—after all, a criterium through the streets of Paris is
impressive, but hardly equal to the grand scope of La Course’s
better known parent, the Tour de France.
While women have been extolling the virtues of riding a bike
for decades (in 1896 suffragette Susan B. Anthony was quoted
in New York World declaring that cycling “has done more for
the emancipation of women than anything else in the world”)
it would seem little has changed since then when it comes to
women’s professional cycling.
Elite women riders have long been served a raw deal. Men’s
road cycling featured at the first ‘modern’ Olympic Games in
1896—the same year Anthony saw feminism riding on the saddle
of a bike—but the equivalent women’s event wasn’t introduced
58
Ride On April-May 2015
until almost a century later
in 1984.
Similarly,
the
first
men’s UCI Road World
Championships were held
in 1927, while the women’s
event made its debut 31
years later in 1958. Even the
season-long UCI Road World
Cup, which was first run for
men in 1989, didn’t include
a women’s competition until
almost a decade later in
1998. While women’s cycling is slowly building its portfolio of
high-profile UCI sanctioned races, including the Ladies Tour of
Qatar, The Friends Life Women’s Tour, the Giro Rosa and, most
recently, La Course by Le Tour, these events are still considered
secondary to their brother races and, for the most part, fail to
attract widespread media coverage.
As Ride On pointed out in its last edition, ‘Classic viewing’
(bit.ly/1CGza2t), we’re fortunate enough to be spoilt for choice
when it comes to televised men’s road races—it’s not a question
of what races are televised, but how many European classics and
grand tours you can feasibly stay up for before sleep deprivation
impacts too heavily on your daily life. Fans of women’s road
riding have no such problem—you’d be lucky to find a broadcaster
screening the highlights, let alone the entire race.
But could this change? Looking at Australian population
figures alone, there are more women than men - 7.43 million
women compared with 7.3 million men (ABS 2011). And, as
other sports like the AFL and NRL are discovering, women are
turning away from watching men’s professional sports.
While the reasons are myriad, one is definitely the lack of
professional women’s teams. There are now female AFL and
rugby teams competing on the playing field - however like
cycling, they’re yet to attract the eye of popular media.
One sport that has is tennis. The Australian Open tennis
shows how popular the women’s pro tour has become—they
are given prime time TV and are some of the most popular
sportspeople on the planet with big sponsor endorsements
and after decades of struggle, pay comparable to their male
counterparts.
With the popularity of cyclists like Australia’s recordbreaking champion Anna Meares, one could surmise women’s
professional racing in Australia can no longer be ignored by
mainstream TV.
It may be a slow road to the small screen. Because women’s
road cycling isn’t as widely-publicised as men’s, it offers less
visible role models to aspiring female athletes and attracts
significantly less funding from both governments and sponsors.
This means that professional female cyclists are paid far less
than their male counterparts, if they are paid at all. Instead, they
must rely on alternate sources of income, either by attracting
individual sponsorships or by working a second job. This leaves
them less time to train and fully realise their potential, which,
in turn, makes them less attractive candidates for pro teams
and hinders the development of the sport. Given the lack of
media coverage, women’s teams also find it harder than men’s
teams to attract sponsors, meaning they can’t afford to support
developmental squads and other important resources necessary
to develop a higher calibre of athlete. As recently as January
this year, Cycling Australia shut down its women’s European
Development Program due to lack of funds. The program was
instrumental in helping Australia’s top cyclists transition from a
national to international level of competition.
Even if female riders are lucky enough to secure a spot on
a UCI pro team, they may not be able to afford the opportunity.
While male UCI pro team riders receive a minimum-wage
annual base salary, for women, there is no such guarantee.
When current UCI president, Brian Cookson, first took office
in September 2013, he promised to introduce a minimumwage for women within his first year, saying: “If the UCI is to
become a modern and progressive International Federation, we
must ensure that there are rules specifying teams guarantee a
minimum wage for women pro riders, and proper, modern terms
of employment.” (bit.ly/1zbHjYe) Cookson failed to make good on
his promise. Even if he had, it might not have been a good thing,
as many teams would not have been able to pay their riders, as
he explained in The Guardian: “These women riders will not
suddenly get a big pay packet every month. They will lose their
positions and most of them—or a number of them—would reregister as amateur teams.” (bit.ly/1zbPsvY)
It may seem like all bad news, but there are some positives.
While the UCI has failed to implement a mandatory minimum
wage for female pro riders, at the end of 2013 it formed a Women’s
Commission, headed by Tracey Gaudry, first female UCI Vice
President, “to advise the UCI and other commissions on all
matters relating to women’s cycling.” Cookson also appointed
at least one woman to all other UCI commissions “to ensure
a certain gender balance in discussions of all commissions”
and “to promote a constant exchange of information between
the Women’s Commission and all other commissions.” Key
on the Women’s Commission’s agenda is boosting media and
communications around women’s cycling, and the women’s UCI
World Cup was fully televised for the first time in 2014.
Meanwhile in Australia, pro rider and Wiggle Honda team
owner, Rochelle Gilmore, teamed up with Victorian Institute of
Sport women’s cycling coach, Donna Rae-Szalinski, in January
to launch the High5 Dream Team (www.high5dreamteam.
com)—an elite squad of eight women selected with the intent to
dominate the national road racing scene and in doing so, build
the riders’ abilities and profiles to make them attractive to UCI
teams. Essentially, High5 is a professional team that fills the
gap left when the women’s European Development Program got
the chop. There’s also talk of the Santos Women’s Tour and the
Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race being granted UCI status
in 2016.
The fight for gender equality in sport is perhaps being helped
most by the decentralisation of the media and the hard work of
the athletes themselves. While televised women’s road racing
is still largely limited to occasional highlights, an increasing
number of cycling websites, such as Peloton Café (pelotoncafe.
com.au) are giving significant (if not equal) attention to
women’s racing. The Unofficial Unsanctioned Women’s Cycling
Blog (bit.ly/1zBfVEn) hosts highlights from key races and lists
links to live streams, and official event websites, such as Giro
Rosa (girorosa.it/video-tappe.html), also host race footage and
give fans the opportunity to watch their heroes in action. More
journalistic websites, such as Ella on website Cycling Tips,
further provide a platform to build discussion and community
around the sport. As Ella’s editor Jessi Braverman writes: “The
current readership of CyclingTips is predominantly male. Ella
is part of our approach to give women’s cycling the attention
it deserves and to give female cyclists a place that feeds their
passion … It’s a place where we hope to build a virtual (and in
some cases real-life) community of women bound together by
their passion for the sport. We want women to arrive on this site
and immediately see something of interest to them regardless of
where they are on their cycling journey.”
Professional female riders are also taking advantage of the
opportunities offered by digital media. They and their teams
are active on social media and work hard to promote their sport,
their teams and themselves as athletes. Many are also dedicated
bloggers, writing personalised race recaps for both their own
sites and online race news outlets. Chloe Hosking’s (Wiggle
Honda) blog, chloehosking.wordpress.com, with its humorous,
down-to-earth style, is a personal favourite.
While change needs to happen, more needs to happen for
equal opportunity for men and women both. Cycling bodies
must continue to develop the visibility and profile of women’s
professional road cycling, both for the women currently
competing at an elite level—making teams attractive to
sponsors and funding bodies and, in doing so, ensuring they can
pay their riders a reasonable salary—and for those who aspire
to compete professionally—providing visible role models and
clear, well-supported pathways for development.
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
59
RIDE
GOLD
COAST
QLD
Golden Peaks
Brutish hills and spectacular views await those willing
to take on the challenge of the Gold Coast Peaks
discovers Andrew Demack.
O
kay, should we get this bit out of
the way first? Bicycle Network
and Bicycle Queensland’s newest
ride—Peaks Challenge Gold Coast (part
of the Peaks Challenge series)—is going
to be super, super hard, and the first climb
of the ride, Henri Robert Drive up Mount
Tamborine, is a total brute.
I set out recently to test ride some
sections of the Peak Challenge Gold Coast
course with four friends, all of whom are
better at riding up hills than me.
But although the first climb to Mount
Tamborine is a bit nasty, the overall ride
was brilliant.
The Gold Coast hinterland is always
green and pleasant, but after a rainy late
summer, including the remnants of a
cyclone dumping plenty of water on southeast Queensland, the countryside looks
spectacular, and the Peaks Challenge route
takes in some of the most picturesque
roads in the region.
We started in Nerang, and warmed up
on the gentle ascent of Beaudesert-Nerang
Road. After about 14km, we turned onto
Henri Robert Drive. The climb could best
be described as Pyrenean. Thankfully
after 2.5km of 18% average grade, the road
flattens out.
Unfortunately, after a couple of
kilometres of respite, it does kick up again
to the aforementioned 18% for another 800
metres.
60
Ride On April-May 2015
I'm not ashamed to say that the reason
I use SPD mountain bike shoes and pedals
on all my bikes is because sometimes you
just gotta walk up a hill.
I rode my cyclocross bike on this day,
shod with road tyres, and a 36 x 28 low
gear. Others in the group had 34 x 27, and
one unlucky or masochistic rider had 39 x
27.
It didn't matter. We all struggled.
Those of us with a BMI in the high 20s
didn't make it without some walking, and
even the skinny mountain goats had to stop
for a breather halfway up.
It's an interesting question as to what
effect this hill will have on participants
in the Peaks Challenge Gold Coast. If you
have to walk some parts of the first climb,
will that put you under pressure to meet
time cut-offs later in the day? I suspect it
will.
Once on the Tamborine plateau, heart
rates returned to a more normal operating
range, and discussion began about the best
route.
The Peaks Challenge will descend from
Mount Tamborine on the northside, down
to Tamborine Village. But on this day, we
took the quicker, more direct route down to
Canungra, on Tamborine Mountain Road.
The reason? The author of this article
didn't want to use up lots of his energy
along the valley floor from Tamborine
Village to Canungra ... he thought he might
need it for climbs later in the ride.
This road, known to locals as The Goat
Track, suffered some damage during heavy
summer rain a couple of years ago. The
silver lining is that the rebuilt sections are
far safer than earlier versions of this road.
We negotiated the descent and arrived
quickly in Canungra, home of the Outpost
Cafe, where the coffee is passable (order a
double shot, even if that's not your regular)
and the food is filling.
By now it was a typical late summer
day for this part of the world. That means
a temperature in the low to mid 30s, and
a level of humidity that causes buckets of
sweat.
Our route took us east from Canungra
a short distance towards the coast, but
then we took the Beechmont turnoff, past
the Kokoda Army barracks, and beside the
upper reaches of the Coomera River.
Sharp Park River Bend is a sensational
camping spot on the river, and Brad and
I stopped to take photos while the others
motored ahead towards the Beechmont
climb.
There was respite from the heat of the
day only in the shaded sections off-road up
this longer climb. The climb to Beechmont
is 6km, averaging about 6.5%, but it gets
steeper towards the top.
In comparison to the first climb of the
day, Beechmont was a cruise for most of
our group. But in reality, for this rider, it
He
nr
i
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este
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eser
aud
Be
Ro
b
Mount Nathan
er
ts
Dr
Nerang National Park
Clagiraba
Nerang
Canungra
Clagiraba National Park
Lower
Beechmont
Withren
Advancetown
Lake
Be
ech
m ont
Rd
tR
chmon d
Bee
was more of a slog than a cruise.
But the good thing about all climbs
on all bike rides is that time passes, and
at some point the climb is over. And when
we got to the Beechmont plateau, it was
oohs and aahs all round as we admired
the views, enjoyed the lack of traffic and
snapped photos of each other and our
surrounds.
Perhaps the principal danger was
that if you stayed in one spot too long the
vegetation would engulf you.
Beechmont would be a beautiful part of
the world to live in, but I already complain
about how often I have to mow my lawn
in Brisbane. I imagine homeowners in
Beechmont give their lawn a trim in the
morning, and then by the afternoon it has
the appearance of a hairy man with a five
o'clock shadow.
Beechmont Road traces a 14km circuit
around the plateau, and then points you
back down towards Lower Beechmont
(downhill, hooray!) where there's a shop
for a final refuel.
And for us there was a further descent
back down to Nerang. Our ride on this day
was a mere 76.5km, less than a third of
what Peaks Challenge riders will face.
Two of our group have entered the
event, and finished this ride planning to
come back and ride a couple more of the
Gold Coast climbs very soon, as part of
their build-up towards the event on the
first weekend of August.
With Mt Tamborine and Beechmont
under their belts, the next target will be
a ride from Mudgeeraba which takes in
Springbrook and Natural Arch, diving down
to Chillingham for a frozen choc-coated
banana and returning via Murwillumbah
and Tomewin.
The Peaks Challenge Gold Coast
is a harder ride than any event Bicycle
Queensland has been involved with
thus far. We look forward to seeing both
Queensland locals and interstate visitors
tackling the massive challenge that it
entails, and enjoying the satisfaction that
meeting such a challenge brings.
For more info about Peaks Challenge
Gold Coast: bicyclenetwork.com.au/peakschallenge-gold-coast
Tamborine
Mountain
Numinbah National Park
Beechmont
The climb up Henri Roberts
Drive to Mt. Tambourine.
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
61
REPORT
Recumbent incumbent
Adam Butler provides an overview of recumbents and their many permutations.
I
arrived home one Friday afternoon and sat in my garage
lamenting my stiff shoulders and neck from my week’s
commuting. Exhausted from strong headwinds on my way
home I sat there thinking “there’s got to be a better way”.
I had seen recumbents over the years, usually piloted by
older looking gentlemen with beards, and I always thought they
looked comfortable but ungainly. This day, however, I decided
enough was enough. I was sick of having my cycling bliss stifled
by being hunched over handlebars and holding my head up all
the time.
In the beginning I was clueless about where to start.
Recumbents come in a vast array of configurations and styles,
and as such, it’s very easy to be overwhelmed. Ultimately
though, the choice can be narrowed down by thinking about the
intended use and your riding style. There are two main types of
recumbent: 1. Bicycle and 2. Tricycle.
As a group, recumbent bicycles make up an eclectic mix
of Long Wheelbase (LWB) and Short Wheelbase (SWB)
models, over- and under-seat steering choices, and large and
small diameter wheels (often different sizes front and back!)
In addition, there are important seat considerations; mesh,
carbon fibre, fibreglass. This is the tyranny of choice in action,
but being conscious of what you like and how you ride makes
selection easier. I think it would be great to own a full-carbon
SWB model and break all my Strava PBs, but it’s not really
practical for the type of riding I do (i.e. utility riding).
When it comes to recumbent trikes, the major decision is
whether you want two wheels at the front (tadpole) or two at
the back (delta), with tadpoles being most common.
It must be said that the similarities between riding a
conventional bicycle and a recumbent cease as soon as you
turn the cranks; they are two immensely different riding
experiences that use completely different techniques
and muscles to slice you through the air. To make direct
comparisons between “wedgies” (upright) and recumbents
is unfair to both class of bikes. For one, on a recumbent your
upper body is completely at ease, you are not hunched forward,
you don’t have something jammed between your nether regions
and you are not engaging all those back muscles like you do
62
Ride On April-May 2015
when riding upright. This alone results in a more relaxed
experience and for me, this is one of the most important traits
of recumbent riding. It’s quite normal for people to feel the need
to compare recumbents and uprights, but in reality it is like
comparing AFL with Rugby League; sure, they’re both sports
that use similar looking balls, but the rules, playing strategies
and objectives are totally different.
In the 10 years since my Friday afternoon epiphany, I’ve
owned three of the four main types of recumbents i.e. Long
Wheelbase (LWB), Short Wheelbase (SWB) and tadpole trike.
My first was a LWB recumbent, chosen because it had me
sitting more upright and eye-level with car drivers – something
I thought was important at the time but as it turns out doesn’t
RECUMBENTS
Bicycle
Tricycle
Short Wheel
Base
Long Wheel
Base
Tadpole
Delta
Responsive,
nimble
Average
manoeuvrability
Directsteering,
responsive
Indirect
steering,
responsive
Can be
“twitchy”
at walking
pace
Most stable
at cruising
speeds
Always
Stable
Always
Stable
Heel-strike
potential
No heel
strike
No heel
strike
No heel
strike
Usually built
for speed
but great for
commuting
Great
touring
bikes
Fast, great
all-round,
fantastic
tourers
Great for
touring and
commuting
matter much. The LWB style also lends itself to a more
relaxed pedalling cadence because they are built for cruising
pleasure and not acceleration and speed. I had also read that
LWB models are good for learning how to ride and handle
recumbents since the steering is more forgiving than SWB
models. I found this to be true, though it was always interesting
navigating some of Sydney’s bicycle path networks. LWB models
are like steering a truck—it’s a lot of bike to get around sharp
bends. Overall I found the LWB a fantastic introduction to
recumbent riding; it was everything I hoped it would be and
I have never had a stiff neck and shoulders again. Naturally I
wanted more.
My next recumbent was a SWB model I chose for its
commuting and touring qualities. One thing I was unprepared
for was its speed; it went like a rocket when I had the legs for
it. It was quite common to be effortlessly cruising on 30km/
h+ when the conditions allowed. There were major differences
between the LWB model I owned and this SWB model. I had a
much more reclined riding position which took a while to get
used to but I found it thoroughly comfortable, especially on
century rides. The steering on the SWB was more responsive
than I was used to which meant I needed more precise
handlebar control. My particular SWB model had front and
rear suspension which made this bike the best ride I have ever
had. Being a SWB there were issues with “heel-strike”; this is
when the heel of your foot hits the front wheel if you need to
make a really tight turn. The remedy is to plan the corner and
have your pedals in a 3-9 o’clock position. I was lucky enough
to do several long rides on this bike and I think this is where it
really excelled. After a long day lying down you simply are not
tired in the same way as on an upright bike. Many people often
comment about the difficulties of uphill riding on recumbents
but the honest truth is I don’t find them harder or easier,
they are just different. An old (wise) cyclist once said to me,
“I’ve never cycled a hill I couldn’t walk up.” I’ve yet to walk
up any hill while riding a recumbent and I’ve ridden plenty
of +10% grades. One of the best things about cycling in my
opinion is going down the hill you just conquered and I must
admit to being a little careless with my SWB recumbent. On
one downhill some years ago I was enjoying gliding into the
bends so much that I didn’t realise I was hitting 90km/h! The
aerodynamics were such that it allowed high top speeds and
negated most headwinds, although side winds are a different
story.
I reluctantly sold my SWB recumbent in order to try out
life on three wheels. I had this burning desire for some time as
they are the most common configuration for recumbents. This
was another learning curve because a trike is a trike! No more
unclipping of pedals at traffic lights, no more skittishness on
wet roads. The trike was a revelation and I now understand
the reason for their popularity; however, they’re not without
trade-offs. My trike is heavier than my SWB (18kgs versus
12kgs), its frontal area is larger than my SWB meaning it’s
not as aerodynamic and my seat on the trike (fibreglass)
isn’t as comfortable as the SWB (carbon). In spite of these
shortcomings, I love my trike. I love getting up on two wheels
around corners. I love
knowing I can never fall
off no matter how slow I
ride or how wet the roads
are. Not being able to lean
into corners does mean
I lose some momentum
around bends but I
consider it a small price
to pay for stability. Having
three wheels means you
are more aware of potholes and other road based
obstacles and finally,
trikes are typically low
to the ground. Counterintuitively, I feel safer on
my trike more than any other form of bicycle I have ever ridden
in 25 years of cycling. My experience has been that car drivers
give me a wide berth and they tend to slow down at the many
squeeze points on my commute. Being “low” has yet to cause
me any troubles at all. In fact, overall my cycling experiences on
recumbents have been safer compared to my “upright” riding.
I’ve been hospitalised three times whilst riding uprights and
not at all whilst riding a recumbent. I would also argue that
being closer to the ground means that even if you happen to
come “adrift” on a recumbent you don’t have as far to fall and
you are more likely to have scrapes than a broken collar bone or
wrist. Being feet first with head up has many advantages!
So if you are wondering what this recumbent caper is all
about, don’t wait to find out like I did. We are lucky to have
some of the best recumbent trikes in the world made right
here in Australia. Go on, do it—you owe your butt, back, neck,
shoulders and wrists a favour. I’ve caught the bug, and am
already planning my next purchase. Next stop? A velomobile.
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
63
Get back on ya bike
130KM | 85KM | 30KM
Commuting /Touring
Not enjoying
your bike rides?
Bad back,
neck or shoulders?
Poor balance or injuries
stopping you enjoying
cycling?
Try a recumbentcomfortable and
easy to ride.
14 styles to test
ride on our safe
multifacet test track.
Sport
SUNDAY 26 APRIL 2015
Seven Creeks Park, Kirkland Avenue, Euroa
Rehab
RECUMBENT & SPECIALISED CYCLING
St Ives NSW 0407 282 080
Spectacular Autumn in the North East can
be experienced on some of the prettiest rides
in rural Victoria. Choose from three distance
rides on offer – all commencing and finishing
in the foothills of the Strathbogie Ranges.
All rides are fully supported with a
complimentary BBQ and refreshments at the
finish. Euroa is an easy hour and a half drive
from Melbourne on the Hume Freeway.
www.recumbent.net.au
START TIME:
LEVEL:
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COST:
- Before April 17
- After April 17
8:00am (130km), 8:15am (85km),
8:30am (30km)
Hard & Recreational
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$50 (130km & 85km), $30 (30km)
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CONTACT
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[email protected]
ridetherangeseuroa
REPORT
Australia’s
scenic rides
From the coast to the mountains, Margot McGovern, uncovers
the nation’s top routes for picturesque pedalling.​
A
ustralia is home to some of the world’s most
spectacular and diverse landscapes: sunbaked
ochre desert, lush tropical rainforest, snowcapped
alpine ranges and pristine coastline. Our diverse native
flora and fauna makes Australia unlike any other place in
the world. And what better way to discover these natural
treasures than by bike?
From leisurely trundles along Australia’s great rail trails
to challenging multi-day odysseys, we asked you, our readers:
what are Australia’s most scenic rides? Among your responses
were many old favourites: the Great Ocean Road and South
Australia’s Mawson Trail were overwhelmingly popular, with
Bright and the Victorian High Country, Hobart’s North South
Track and Western Australia’s Munda Biddi Trail not far
behind. But there were surprises too, with many riders sharing
stunning, self-devised commutes and loop rides. The list
below is a selection of the most popular rides in each state and
territory, with a few lesser-known gems thrown in.
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
65
1
Akuna Bay and West
Head Loop, NSW
Distance:
Difficulty: Surface: bit.ly/179L6Po
40km
Moderate
on road
GET AWAY from the urban
crush with this punchy loop
in Sydney’s north taking in
the native flora of Ku Ring
Gai Chase National Park and
sweeping views of the Pacific
Ocean, Pittwater and Palm
Beach.
3
5
8
2
Barry Way (Australian
Alps), NSW
Distance: 71.6km (One way)
Difficulty: Hard
Surface: On road (sealed and
unsealed)
bit.ly/1CBQ5U5
WINDING THROUGH the
unspoilt wilderness from
Jindabyne to the Victorian
border (where it becomes
the Snowy River Road), Barry
Way offers spectacular views
of the Snowy River Valley
and the Australian alps. The
first 27km of the ride is on
bitumen, then unsealed track
from Ingebirah Gap.
3
4
5
6
Lions Road Loop, NSWQLD
Sydney to Forster,
NSW
Simpsons Gap Bike
Path, NT
Cairns to Cape York,
QLD
Distance:
Difficulty:
Surface:
bit.ly/179MjGo
Distance:
Difficulty:
Surface:
Distance:
17km
Difficulty:
Easy
Surface: Sealed off-road path
bit.ly/1vOap5b
Distance:
Difficulty:
Surface:
bit.ly/1AGQuFH
EASILY ACCESSIBLE
from Alice Springs, and
meandering from Flynn’s
Grave to Simpsons Gap
through desert bushland,
the Simpsons Gap Bike Path
offers riders of all abilities a
taste of the Red Centre.
A TROPICAL odyssey through
Australia’s far north taking in
native rainforest, mountain
ranges and pristine coastline,
this is one for the wellseasoned bike tourer. For a
taste, try the shorter 65km
coastal leg along the Cook
Highway from Cairns to Port
Douglas.
120km
Hard
On road
STARTING FROM
Rathdowney on the
Queensland side of the
border, the Lions Road loop
travels through serene
rainforest teeming with
birdlife and offers views of
the towering climbs to come.
66
Ride On April-May 2015
280km
Hard
On road
TAKE A big gulp of mainland
Australia’s east coast on an
epic adventure traversing hill
and dale, river and harbour as
you travel north from Sydney
to Forster via Gosford and
Newcastle.
1,600km
Moderate
On road
10
12
7
4,000km of vertical climbing
and a 12 hour deadline, riders
have to work hard to earn the
views.
9
Bike SA Annual Tour,
SA
Distance:
594km
Difficulty:
Moderate
Surface:
On road
bikesa.asn.au/annualtour
EACH SPRING Bike SA
selects a different region of
South Australia to explore
for its Annual Tour. This year
the ride will take in the scenic
climbs and rolling vineyards
of the state’s spectacular
wine regions, including
the Barossa Valley, Clare,
Adelaide Hills and McLaren
Vale.
7
8
Cycle Queensland, QLD
Peaks Challenge Gold
Coast, QLD
Distance:
Difficulty:
Surface:
cycleqld.bq.org.au
560km
Moderate
On road
HELD ANNUALLY, Cycle
Queensland is a fully
supported multi-day ride
exploring a different region
of the sunshine state each
year. In 2015 the ride heads
to the Darling Downs on the
western side of the Great
Dividing Range.
10
Mawson Trail, SA
Distance:
235km
Difficulty:
Hard
Surface:
On road
peakschallenge.com.au
Distance:
900km
Difficulty:
Hard
Surface:
Unsealed track
southaustraliantrails.com/pdf/
mawson.pdf
bikesa.asn.au/outbackodyssey
THE SECOND event in the
newly-expanded Peaks
Challenge Series, this
one-day ride heads up
Mount Tamborine and the
Beechmont, Springbrook,
Natural Bridge and Tomewin
climbs to showcase some of
Australia’s most spectacular
scenery—but with over
STRETCHING FROM the
outskirts of Adelaide to
Blinman in the Flinders
Rangers, the Mawson Trail
traverses forest and farmland
before delving into the
outback on an epic, diverse
journey through the heart of
SA. Bike South Australia runs
a biannual Outback Odyssey,
giving riders the opportunity
to conquer the trail as part of
a supported ride.
11
Channel Highway Loop,
TAS
Distance:
Difficulty:
Surface:
app.strava.com/
routes/1438021
156km
Hard
On road
A ‘LUMPY’ ride with 2,500
vertical metres of climbing
from the 100km mark, this is
one for keen roadies. Take in
views of the Derwent River,
Bruny Island and the hills of
Wellington Park while giving
the legs a thorough workout.
12
Darlington to Haunted
Bay (Maria Island),
TAS
Distance:
20km (one way)
Difficulty:
Moderate
Surface:
Unsealed track
bit.ly/1FIo1yY
MARIA ISLAND was declared
a national park in 1972 and
offers riders the chance
to explore a truly remote
landscape teeming with
native flora and fauna.
The island is accessible by
plane and ferry, with basic
accommodation available at
Darlington, and campsites
dotted throughout the island,
but visitors must be selfsufficient.
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
67
22
13
14
East Coast, TAS
Distance:
Difficulty:
Surface:
bit.ly/1AtjDWe
Variable
Variable
On road
WHETHER YOU explore a
small section or take an
epic trip from St Helens
down to Hobart, Tasmania’s
spectacular east coast is a
must for every serious bike
tourer’s bucket list.
14
North South Track,
TAS
Distance:
Difficulty:
Surface:
bit.ly/1FggoTa
DESCENDING FROM The
Springs halfway down Mount
Wellington to Glenorchy, the
North South Track winds
through lush rainforest and
unique rockscapes, offering
riders sweeping views of
Hobart, the Derwent River
and Storm Bay.
15
3km
Hard
On road
CLIMBING 245M in 3km,
Arthurs Seat is one of
Melbourne’s toughest, and
most rewarding climbs.
With each switchback you
68
Ride On April-May 2015
conquer, a little more of
the Mornington Peninsula
is visible through the
surrounding bush, offering
a sneak preview of the
sweeping view that awaits at
the top.
16
Bass Coast Rail Trail,
VIC
Arthurs Seat, VIC
Distance:
Difficulty:
Surface:
bit.ly/1EfuIaQ
13
23km
Moderate
MTB track
Distance:
17km (one way)
Difficulty:
Easy
Surface:
Rail trail
bit.ly/1v83LWJ
ONCE HOME to the State
Coal Mine, Gippsland’s Bass
Coast has again become a
site of natural beauty infused
with historic interest. Take a
leisurely cruise along coast
flanked by booming surf and
rolling farmland. Cross the
historic trestle bridge over
Bourne Creek and pass by
stands of pine and wetlands
teeming with native birdlife.
17
Grand Ridge Road, VIC
Distance:
132km
Difficulty:
Moderate/hard
Surface: Sealed and unsealed
roads
Grand Ridge Road:
bit.ly/17cbBDF
Grand Ridge Rail Trail:
bit.ly/17cdq3A
MEANDERING THROUGH the
lush forests of the Strzelecki
Ranges, Grand Ridge Road
is famed as one of Victoria’s
most scenic roads. Mostly
unpaved and serving little
traffic, it’s an ideal way to
discover Gippsland. For those
seeking a less challenging
ride, the 13km Grand Ridge
Rail Trail beginning at
Mirboo North is a great way
to experience a taste of the
region.
18
Great Ocean Road, VIC
Distance:
243km (one way)
Difficulty:
Moderate
Surface:
On road
www.visitgreatoceanroad.
org.au
ARGUABLY AUSTRALIA’S
most famous coastal road,
the Great Ocean Road is
WINDING FROM Wangaratta
to Bright, and taking in
Rutherglen, Beechworth and
Myrtleford along the way,
the Murray to Mountains Rail
Trail takes in snowcapped
mountains, native forest
and inviting riverbanks.
Numerous side tracks branch
off from the main trail taking
riders off the beaten track
for a truly unique tour of the
region.
18
21
Noojee to Mount Baw
Baw, VIC
Distance:
Difficulty:
Surface:
bit.ly/1wrE443
47km
Hard
On road
NOT FOR the faint-of-heart
or the weak-of-leg, Mount
Baw Baw is one of Victoria’s
toughest climbs, reaching a
20% gradient at its steepest
point. However, the lush
native forest on either side of
the road distracts from the
pain and the view from the
top is well worth the trip. For
a detailed report on this ride,
see p76-77.
also the world’s largest
War Memorial (it was
built by returned soldiers
following World War I). From
breathtaking ocean views
to the dense forest of the
Otway Ranges to landmark
sites, including the iconic
Twelve Apostles, the Great
Ocean Road takes in some of
Australia’s most spectacular
sights as it winds from
Torquay to Allansford.
On road
LOOK OUT across rolling
vineyards to the hazy
mountain ranges beyond,
then climb through
towering native forest and
lush bushland to discover
breathtaking hilltop vistas
on a challenging loop ride
showcasing the diverse
beauty to be found north-east
of Melbourne.
20
19
Kangaroo Ground,
Yarra Glen,
Healesville, Kinglake
loop, VIC
Distance:
Difficulty:
Surface:
bit.ly/1EyBoEI
90km
Moderate/hard
Murray to Mountains
Rail Trail, VIC
Distance: 100km (depending
on side trips)
Difficulty:
Moderate
Surface:
Rail trail
murraytomountains.com.au
22
Peaks Challenge Falls
Creek, VIC
23
RACV Great Victorian
Bike Ride, VIC
Distance:
Difficulty:
Surface:
greatvic.com.au
540km
Moderate
On road
FOR 32 years the RACV
Great Victorian Bike Ride
has travelled around Victoria
taking riders through some
of the most spectacular
landscapes the state has to
offer, from the Great Ocean
Road to the High Country.
This year the ride heads to the
Goldfields of central Victoria,
rich in native bushland,
ironbark forests and historic
townships.
24
Albany to Frenchman
Bay return, WA
Distance:
Difficulty:
Surface:
bit.ly/17JrJgZ
60km return
Easy
On road
ONE FOR beach lovers, this is
a scenic trundle along quiet
roads taking in some of the
highlights of the Rainbow
Coast, including Princess
Royal Harbour, Frenchman
Bay, the Salmon Holes and
the Blowholes. If you’re lucky
you may even spot a whale or
two frolicking off the shore.
Distance:
235km
Difficulty:
Hard
Surface:
On road
peakschallenge.com.au
7peaks.com.au
25
VICTORIA’S ALPINE
region offers some of
Australia’s most spectacular
landscapes, as well as some
of the nation’s most grueling
ascents. Peaks Challenge
Falls Creek offers riders
the chance to tackle three
of the region’s toughest
climbs—Falls Creek, Mt
Hotham and Tawonga Gap—in
one go. Alternatively, pick
up a 7 Peaks Alpine Ascent
Challenge Passport and take
all the time you need.
Distance:
1000km
Difficulty:
Moderate/hard
Surface: MTB trail (with some
technical sections)
mundabiddi.org.au
Munda Biddi Trail, WA
STRETCHING FROM
Mundaring to Albany, the
Munda Biddi is the world’s
longest continuous bike path.
It passes through an everchanging landscape, from
towering eucalypt forest to
vibrant bushland teeming
with flora and fauna not found
anywhere else in the world.
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
69
REPORT
POWER
AND
PASSION
In the city of Taichung, Iain Treloar
sees two very different sides of the
Taiwanese bike industry.
A
s one of the largest manufacturers of quality
bikes in the world, Taiwan is dotted with factories
devoted to the production of frames and their
components. These can be in somewhat out of
the way locations—a small two-storey brake-part factory on
the side of a highway, surrounded by rice paddies, was one of
my favourite sightings—but a significant proportion of the
Taiwanese bike industry is clustered around Taichung, on the
west coast; as much as 90% of the island’s total bike production,
and 80% of components, according to one report.
Taichung is a bustling metropolis, but like many Taiwanese
cities sprawls out into industrialised sub-municipalities. It’s in
these that the bulk of manufacturing occurs – understandably
so, because a lot of these factories have a massive footprint.
70
Ride On April-May 2015
countries including the USA, Switzerland and Italy.
Giant’s one of the world leaders in carbon production, and
the only bike manufacturer to have their own carbon factory
and weave their own products. Carbon production is a highly
intensive process, frequently mischaracterised as machine
driven. The reality is surprising; carbon frames aren’t woven by
robots, but put together by human hands. Like a patchwork quilt,
swatches are laid over each other, one by one.
There was plenty that I wasn’t allowed to photograph in
the Giant factory, and my repeated requests to take pictures of
various stages of the carbon production were politely rebuffed.
What I can tell you is that the scale of the facility was vast;
hundreds of high-end frames, in various stages of assembly were
passing through the factory in front of my eyes.
The carbon area of the factory is squeaky clean; the frames
need to be millimeter perfect, after all, and it’s important to
limit the risk of outside contamination. The company strives
PHOTOGRAPHY IAIN TRELOAR
GIANT
The biggest bike manufacturer in the world is the fittingly named
Giant, and their high-end bikes are made in the Taichung facility.
It’s a vast complex on the city’s semi-rural fringe, dwarfing the
rest of the neighbourhood with multiple aeroplane hangarsized buildings. Standing over all of them is the company’s
nerve centre, a seven­
-storey tall cream office building with
the company’s logo, four storeys high, written across the side.
Walking from the visitor parking into the building, there’s an
enormous foyer, with bikes like Marcel Kittel’s multi-stage
winning Giant Propel on display. Just off the foyer is a lecture
theatre, where visitors listen to a polished presentation from a
couple of impressively-multilingual employees who do this as a
full-time job. This is a big company, doing big business.
Outside of the main office building, the factory forecourt
is busy with trucks coming and going. I’m led towards the
carbon production facility first; outside the building are racks
of unpainted frames sitting in wait for the next stage in their
production. These aren’t always Giant bikes; the company
builds under contract for numerous other famous brands from
Clockwise from left:
Wheelbuilding in Giant
factory; Giant progress
board; Giant’s bartape
experts; Rikulau’s
immaculate, bipolar May
Snow; Rikulau founder
Chengnon Hsu; Rikulau
build board.
for perfection for the end consumer,
putting a sample from each production
batch through at least seven different test
procedures (including X-ray). If any flaws
are identified, production is halted while
the problem is investigated, and the entire
batch may be discarded.
One area that the camera was allowed
was in the assembly line, which was a real
eye opener. The astonishing efficiency
with which the bikes were dressed in
components made the efforts of even the
best home-mechanic look rudimentary;
my highlight was the team of women
wrapping handlebar tape, racing through
both sides in the virtual blink of an eye.
RIKULAU
Down a side street of a side street in a satellite suburb of
Taichung, there’s a small warehouse. The surroundings aren’t
glamorous or impressive in scale, but inside lies one of Taiwan’s
most progressive—and anomalous—bike companies.
The Taiwanese bike industry is typified by high-volume,
high-turnover. Rikulau are the antithesis of this. In volume, it’s
difficult to imagine a sharper contrast to companies like Giant;
Rikulau produce between 400–700 bikes a year, the same that
Giant churn through in about half an hour. Rikulau’s favoured
materials aren’t carbon fibre or aluminium; their bread and
butter is boutique materials like titanium and stainless steel,
producing both standard and custom geometries. They’re one of
relatively few frame builders using the fiendishly difficult to work
6al/4v titanium, and one of the true innovators in the emergence
of stainless steel as a frame material, having developed with
Reynolds the now popular 931 tubeset.
The bespoke frame building trade is undergoing something
of a renaissance, with brands like Firefly, Baum, Independent
Fabrication and Speedvagen, to name but a few, driving a
renewed interest in boutique steel and titanium. Rikulau is rare
as an Asian representative in a movement
dominated by western builders, but
there’s a pride in their origin that’s
seldom seen in an industry that plasters
Italian tricolours all over everything, and
hides ‘Made in Taiwan’ stickers under the
bottom bracket.
Rikulau’s elaborate frame finishes
draw on Taiwanese indigenous culture;
the brand’s name translates to ‘clouded
leopard’, the spirit animal of the Rukai
tribe, and graphics of various models reference Taiwanese
fauna, flora and mythology. One such finish, pictured above,
is the ‘May Snow’—a romanticised name for the Tung flowers
which carpet the valleys of Taiwan during spring. Apart from
the perfectly masked outlines of the flowers—which show the
polished titanium underneath—the bike is half white, half black,
playing off the two faces, good and evil, of traditional Taiwanese
puppets. Another frame, exhaustively dot-painted, is a tribute
to family members of company founder Chengnon Hsu, living
in Australia.
The company’s more subdued designs also have a beauty to
them; I’ve been fortunate to review a couple of Rikulau bikes
over the past couple of years, and I’m lucky enough to be the
owner of one of their titanium models, in a very, very shiny
polished finish. It rides like a dream, and is virtually guaranteed
to be the only one in any bunch.
Rikulau is a quiet rebuttal to the dominant Western
perception of the Asian bicycle industry, and a reminder that
passion and a love of bikes transcends linguistic or cultural
differences.
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
71
BIKE
TECH
BIKE SAFETY: THE ‘M’ CHECK
IT’S EASY to be overwhelmed by the many
parts of a bike, but this simple and speedy
bike check draws the eye through all the most
important areas.
Whilst more useful as a diagnostic aid, the
‘M’ check helps you to become aware of
many of the most critical issues that might be
affecting your bike.
Several of the fixes for potential issues
uncovered in an ‘M’ check are fairly
straightforward, and may be covered in
greater detail at the Ride On website https://rideonmagazine.com.au/categor y/
maintenance/. If you don’t feel confident with
your mechanical abilities, touch base with
your friendly local bike shop.
FORKS AND
FRAME
SADDLE
Check it’s secure
Correct height - it should
roughly be in line with the top
of your hips
Check the seat post - the
max extension mark should
not be visible
No cracks or holes
No wrinkling
paintwork or rust
Align with front fork
No movement or
swaying
BRAKES
All components are tight
Cables are not frayed
Brake pads clear of the rim
No excessive pull required
with the levers
Brake levers easily accessible
GEARS
Derailleur clear of spokes
All gears can be selected
Ensure gears don’t slip
72
HANDLEBARS
CHAIN
BOTTOM BRACKET
FRONT WHEEL
TYRES
Chain remains in sprockets
No excessive play in the
chain
No sign of rust or stiff links
Hold crank arms and check
there is no side-to-side
movement
Check wheel nuts or quick
release are secure and the
wheel centralised in the fork
No spokes missing or loose
Wheels roll smoothly
Rims running free
Check the condition
(not worn or
cracked)
Check pressure (the
correct PSI is on the
side wall of the tyre)
Ride On April-May 2015
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VIC
There’s a reason why Mount Baw Baw
is so feared, Iain Treloar discovers.
S
ome climbs are worse than others, and in Australia there
are few worse than Mount Baw Baw. This isn’t hyperbole;
it’s a statement of cold, hard fact. Baw Baw doesn’t care about
easing you into it. Baw Baw is a tarmac wall. It’s a mountain that
seems purpose built to take your psyche to very bad places.
Note that I’m leading with this. I’d heard all of it before and
arrogantly dismissed it, and I don’t want you to make the same
mistake. Go ride Baw Baw, sure—but don’t underestimate it.
This ride was on the cards from October last year. After
writing up a ride report on the Acheron Way, just out of
Warburton, an email from an acquaintance pinged into my
inbox. There was a ride in Gippsland, Neill reckoned, that was
“even more remote, even less cars, and very picturesque... plus
you get to do Baw Baw which is arguably the hardest hill in
Australia”. My fate was decided; there was some suffering to do.
Mount Baw Baw’s too far from Melbourne to be a return ride;
Noojee, the starting point of our loop, is about an hour and a
half’s drive east down the Monash freeway. There’s a riverside
park with a public toilet and carpark that makes for a good
starting point for a 100km ride to Baw Baw summit and back;
those looking for a briefer ride can start from Icy Creek (70km
return).
After stocking our back pockets and assembling bikes we
rolled out of Noojee, a small town of about 280 residents, past
a couple of small shops and the local pub. It didn’t take long to
clear the outskirts, and soon any pleasantries were well and
truly over; after passing the old Noojee train station the road
pitched up onto Vesper Hill (5km at 7%, with a 3km stretch
at 9%). “Don’t go out too hard,” Neill advised. Too late; I was
searching the horizon for a reprieve well before the crest.
Luckily, the crest came, and I recovered over a merciful
76
Ride On April-May 2015
descent of a couple of kilometres. It wasn’t long before the road
pitched upwards again, setting up a pattern of rolling hills for
the remainder of the road until the climb proper. As it turns
out, there’s barely a stretch of straight road the entire way; it
squiggles and worms its way through forest and farmland, up
and down and side to side, like a liar’s polygraph.
The road gets more scenic and isolated the further you travel
from Noojee. Pastures of sleepy-eyed cows at the occasional farm
along the way come to a stop just after Icy Creek; pretty quickly,
it’s kilometres between signs of human life, and there’s virtually
no road traffic to remind you that you’re not the only person left
on earth. I think about the hermetic lives that people out here
must lead, and reflect on what a big, empty country Australia is.
The road bucks and rolls again and again, ceaseless little
climbs of 2–4km that don’t really allow any respite. It’s not
terrain you’d reasonably describe as ‘easy-going’, but it feels a
bit soft to mention this given the brutality of what lies at the
end of the road. The road becomes increasingly narrow, until in
places it’s not much more than a lane wide with bark and leaves
encroaching on the shoulder. Ferns line the sides of the road and
the valleys off to the side; for what feels like hours it’s just red
clay and rock and towering gums and damp foliage and nobody,
nowhere. At one point we see a lyrebird shyly scratching to the
side of the road; a few kilometres later I accidentally run over a
very twiggy-looking baby snake and feel awful about it for the
rest of the day.
Tanjil Bren is the last outpost of civilisation before the
summit of Baw Baw, and it feels eerily abandoned in summer.
There are a number of ski lodges off the side of the Baw Baw
road, and apparently there’s a store as well, but we don’t see it.
The road pitches downhill for four or so kilometres after leaving
the town (and boy, won’t that be a treat coming back the other
way), with a couple of hairpins thrown in.
At the base of the descent it’s go time, with the final ascent
to Baw Baw beginning at the crossing of the Tanjil River. It’s
PHOTOS NEILL STANBURY / IAIN TRELOAR
A wall
of
tarmac
M
tB
aw
Noojee
aw Tourist Road
wB
Ba
Mt
easy to feel complacent at the beginning of the climb, which
maintains a fairly manageable gradient of around 5% for the
first 5.7km. But just when you’ve settled into a rhythm, there’s a
sign announcing ‘The Gantry’, and the road rears up to a frankly
stupid gradient.
Neill’s fresh off a strong-showing at Tour of Bright and
reckons he’s got a good Strava-time up his sleeve (he’s right), so
we separate. He disappears up the road, climbing away from me,
out of the saddle, like I’m standing still. Which I basically am;
my speed quickly drops into single digits and doesn’t return.
The brain thinks of some funny things over a climb like this.
Several of them are violent acts I’d like to inflict on the road
engineer responsible for this stretch of unremitting badness. I
also wonder whether the road slides down the hill in a gloopy
tarmac slick on hot days. But mostly I just have to think, one
pedal in front of the other. It will all be over soon enough.
The nastiest stretch of the climb is Winch Corner, which
reaches a gradient of 20.6%. I can’t say I particularly noticed
this milestone; it was a really steep bit in amongst a lot of other
really steep bits. How steep? The average gradient of the second
section of Baw Baw (6.7km) is reported to be 13%; the best way
I can describe that gradient in relatable terms is to imagine
riding up the steepest driveway you can picture, for an hour.
Neill rides back down the mountain to meet me and check
I’m still alive. I’m glad to see him, but I’m also relieved that
I’ve been able to plod up the majority of the climb in solitude.
There’s something about needing to stop every kilometre to
catch your breath, head hanging over your handlebars, that’s a
less humiliating solo activity.
Ba
w
Mt Baw Baw
Alpine Resort
To
uri
st R
oad
Noojee – Mt Baw Baw return Vertical metres of elevation gain 97km
2,553m
Finally, mercifully, the
Baw Baw village appears,
complete with a café to
recover from the efforts
of the ride. What with
my decidedly non-record
breaking ascent, the day’s
getting on, so we don’t
stick around for long. The
descent off the mountain
is extremely quick and at
times quite scary. I was
glad I installed new brake
pads the day before, as
I had the brakes on and
was still over 60km/h most
of the way down; by the
bottom my shoulders and wrists were on fire. Take it easy down
here; this isn’t the right place to try and beat any speed records.
We trace the same route back to Noojee that we came out
along, and it’s just as beautiful in reverse, but feels harder this
way. The climb up to Tanjil Bren is particularly unforgiving,
although nothing compared to Baw Baw.
Somewhere not long after this, I run out of steam in a fairly
major way, and Neill coaxes me to the end. Luckily, from the
summit of Vesper Hill, there’s a beautiful flowing descent back
to Noojee, and we’re home and hosed. It’s been a great ride, but
I’ll be happy not to make a return visit to the tough slopes of Baw
Baw any time soon.
“It’s easy
to feel
complacent
at the
beginning of
the climb”
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
77
HEALTH REPORT
Hugs for health
When should
kids unplug?
For children aged five to 17 years
the Australian Department of Health
recommends no more than two hours’
daily screen time—but is this a realistic
limit for the digital age and, given
increasing amounts of our work and
leisure time revolve around screenbased activities, how can we ensure
kids still get the recommended 60
minutes of physical activity a day?
According to researchers from
the University of Western Australia,
the majority of Aussie kids exceed
the recommended screen guidelines.
Researchers surveyed more than 2,500
students aged eight to 16 years and
found that 47% of boys and 43% of girls
in year three exceeded the guidelines,
and that this jumped to 70% of boys
and 92% of girls in year nine.
However, researchers say this isn’t
necessarily a bad thing, explaining:
“Current recommendations on screen
use do not account for the number and
type of modern devices and how they
have permeated everyday life. Nor do
they consider the potential benefits of
screen use.” To ensure kids balance
sedentary screen time with physical
activity, researchers recommend
parents set clear boundaries: “You
can limit your children’s screen time
through household-based rules that
suit your family … If you are putting
rules in place that limit their screen
use and encouraging them to do
physical activity, sit less and physically
be with their friends, you’re doing
alright.”
Study link: bit.ly/1A8uBPb
78
Ride On April-May 2015
If you know someone who’s
experiencing high stress levels, giving
them a hug could help protect them
from catching a cold. Researchers
from Carnegie Mellon University,
Pennsylvania, have found that those
who receive more hugs and perceive
they have a high level of social support
are less likely to get sick.
Researchers conducted a study
involving over 400 healthy adults who
recorded their interpersonal conflicts,
perceptions of social support and
how frequently they were hugged.
Participants were then exposed to
the common cold virus. Those who
perceived that they enjoyed high levels
of social support and frequent hugs
were at a reduced risk of infection and
suffered less severe symptoms, even
when they experienced higher levels
of interpersonal conflict.
Previous research has established
links between stress and the
Shifting
the weight
A series of literature
reviews conducted
by researchers from
McMaster University,
Ontario, and published
in CMAJ Open journal,
have identified key
gaps in weight control
and obesity research.
According to the reviews,
existing studies have
immune system, but the idea that
hugs could boost health is new, as
lead researcher and professor of
psychology Sheldon Cohen explains:
“We know that people experiencing
ongoing conflicts with others are
less able to fight off cold viruses. We
also know that people who report
having social support are partly
protected from the effects of stress
on psychological states, such as
depression and anxiety,” he said.
Researchers are not yet certain how
hugs further this protection. “The
apparent protective effect of hugs
may be attributable to the physical
contact itself or to hugging being
a behavioural indicator of support
and intimacy,” Cohen said. “Either
way, those who receive more hugs
are somewhat more protected from
infection.”
Study link: bit.ly/1utIR4a
found that educational
programs that focus on
a combination of diet and
exercise are somewhat
effective in helping
children and young
people shed excess kilos
and maintain a healthy
weight. Similarly, adults
who participate in
weight loss treatment
typically enjoy short
term results. However,
many people struggle
to keep off the weight
they’ve lost and further
studies are needed to
determine whether
existing programs
and treatments offer
long term success, as
lead author and study
coordinator, Leslea
Peirson, explains:
“Future research should
look at longevity of
weight loss and study
the health consequences
of repeated cycling of
weight loss and gain.”
Study link: bit.ly/1GdMqja
HEALTH REPORT
Ease into
exercise
Two-thirds of Australians
are failing to get the
recommended 150 minutes
of moderate physical activity
a week. However, recent
research published in British
Medical Journal has found that
for many sedentary people,
switching from doing little
or no exercise to meeting
physical activity guidelines
is too daunting. Instead,
researchers are encouraging
sedentary people to start
small and work their way
up to longer, more intense
periods of exercise. Professor
Neville Owen, head of the
Behavioural Epidemiology
Laboratory at the Baker IDI
Heart and Diabetes Institute
Switch off
for better
sleep
says that finding ways to work
incidental exercise into your
daily routine is key. “It can
be as simple as spending
more time on your feet, and
just moving around,” he
said. “Regularly standing up
or taking a walk about the
room can make a worthwhile
difference compared to
sitting and sitting and
sitting.” Professor Owen
believes this kind of exercise
is an ideal place to start as
Red wine helps you
remember the good
times
Previous studies have shown that drinking
red wine in moderation can reduce the risk of
heart disease (even if it increases the risk to
your liver). Now researchers have discovered
that resveratrol—the compound responsible
for boosting heart health—may also improve
functioning of the hippocampus—the part of
the brain that controls memory, learning and
mood.
The research, published in Scientific
Reports, found that resveratrol had a positive
effect on learning ability, memory and mood
in older rats. Researcher Ashok Shetty,
professor of molecular and cellular medicine
at Texas A & M University, explained the
results, saying “For the control rats who did
not receive resveratrol, spatial learning ability
was largely maintained but ability to make
new spatial memories significantly declined …
By contrast, both spatial learning and memory
improved in the resveratrol-treated rats.”
Professor Shetty further explains how these
results may help humans: “The study provides
novel evidence that resveratrol treatment in
late middle age can help improve memory and
mood function in old age.”
For those who aren’t red wine drinkers,
resveratrol is also found in red grapes,
peanuts and some berries.
it doesn’t require special
equipment or a significant
change to routine. “This is
the kind of thing people can
do without having to make
special arrangements or
plans, without putting on
their walking shoes and all of
that. It’s something that can
happen in the normal texture
of domestic life and even
working life for some people,”
he said.
Study link: bit.ly/190Ee8b
Bad news for tech-savvy
book worms: if you read
before bed, your e-reader
may be disrupting your
sleep. Results from a
recent study undertaken
by researchers from
Pennsylvania State
University and Harvard
Medical School indicate
that light emitted from
e-readers can suppress
the release of the
hormone melatonin,
which controls our
circadian rhythms.
For the study
researchers monitored
the melatonin levels
and sleep cycles of
participants who read
from either an iPad or
a printed book before
bed. They found that
those who used the
e-reader took almost ten
minutes longer to fall
asleep and had shorter
periods of REM sleep.
According to Anne-Marie
Chang, researcher and
assistant professor of
biobehavioural health
at Pennsylvania State
University, a little less
sleep can have farreaching effects. “Our
most surprising finding
was that individuals
using the e-reader would
be more tired and take
longer to become alert
the next morning. This
has real consequences
for daytime functioning,”
she said. “We live in
a sleep-restricted
society, in general. It
is important to further
study the effects of
using light-emitting
devices, especially
before bed, as they may
have longer term health
consequences than we
previously considered.”
Study link: bit.ly/1vcfG0o
Study link: bit.ly/1IzlvAu
www.rideonmagazine.com.au
79
LAST
WORD
THE LONG
ROAD TO
RECOVERY
It takes time and patience to get back on the
bike after injury or illness. Melissa Heagney
takes a look at the frustrations of an
impatient, recovering bike rider.
S
even months ago, I was
sitting in the surgeon’s
office uncontrollably
jiggling my leg. Waiting while he
stared, silently, at my x-rays. Each
small jolt radiated pain around my
right shoulder reminding me why
I was here.
Months of this unending
shoulder pain, visits to several
doctors, physios and unsuccessful
treatments called “hydro
dilatations” had all led to this.
I was hoping beyond hope
there would be a miracle cure—a
simple tablet to fix it all. Not just
because it would be a great relief,
but also because it would mean I’d
be able to get back to riding my
bike.
It had been a long time since
the pain started in my shoulder,
and it seemed even longer since
80
Ride On April-May 2015
I’d been able to reach forward
and hold the handlebars on my
beloved cruising bike and fly over
the roads and bike paths near my
home.
Now, my bike was sitting alone
in the garage, collecting dust.
Despite trying many times,
whenever I tried to hold the
handlebars or use the brakes,
whenever there was a bumpy part
on the road, in fact whenever I
tried to get dressed to go riding
there was an almost unbearable
stabbing, burning pain in my
shoulder.
Now I was nervously waiting
for the surgeon’s verdict – was
there a cure? Could I go home and
start riding?
“Well, you don’t have arthritis
in your shoulder, the bones look
fine. If it was there’d be evidence
of wear on the bones – it’s not
there,” the surgeon said in his
softly spoken doctorly manner,
breaking the silence.
OK, I thought, so it’s not that
bad.
“What you do have is adhesive
capsulitis - a frozen shoulder,” he
said.
“It’s not unusual for women to
have it – in fact women are twice
as likely as men to have a frozen
shoulder - especially in their 50s
or 60s.”
Right, my mind ticked over, it’s
totally common for women, good
– I’m in my 30s so not 50s or 60s
…did he think I was in my 50s or
60s? OK, it’s sounding not too bad.
Cure should be around the corner.
“A frozen shoulder means
there is lots of inflammation in the
joint – and no-one really knows
what causes it. It can just go away
on its own - but since you’re in a
lot of pain surgery may be your
best option,” he explained, “I’d
recommend it.”
My stomach flipped.
“Ohhhhhh … OK,” I replied. My
hopes of an immediate cure were
dashed and a flash of my blue
bike entered my mind, covered
in cobwebs, sitting alone in the
garage at home, starting to rust
solid from a lack of use.
“So when will I be able to do
stuff again – you know, like ride a
bike?” I asked shaking myself out
of the movie moment.
The surgeon took out a pen
and drew a hill-like shape on
the typed report from the x-ray
results.
“It’s like you’re on a journey”
– he pointed to his sketch - “and
it can take anywhere from 18
months to five years to get
through it.
“You start out with a little
pain, it gets worse and then,
without explanation, it gets better.
“It just depends where you
are on your journey – and that
depends how long it takes for your
shoulder to start moving again,”
he said.
“Pity the journey’s not on a
bike,” I thought.
“Having the surgery will help
with the pain side of things, but
it won’t get your movement back
– that will just take time,” the
surgeon added.
“Look you’ll get back on the
bike eventually - you just need to
give it time. It may take a while so
you need to be prepared to wait.”
“Ok,” I answered meekly,
feeling the familiar throb of
shoulder pain as I slumped
forward in despair.
On the way out of the
surgeon’s office I started googling
for a cure for frozen shoulders.
I was determined that between
now and the time my surgery was
booked I’d find a way to ride again.
The “cures” included raw food
diets (very hard to stick to when
they didn’t include rice crackers
which I love), various exercises
(from painful to extraordinarily
painful to do), drinking collagen
(I wasn’t sure where to start with
that one), and a strange machine
that looked like some sort of
medieval torture device to get
your arm moving again.
Alas, I suspected none were
the miracle cure I needed, so I had
to undergo the surgery.
Fast forward seven months
and I’m still on the road to
recovery. Sadly, my journey to
get back on the bike hasn’t been
quick and there have been a
few setbacks along the way. My
shoulder is still frozen (though not
as painful) and though I’ve tried
many times, I can’t get back on the
bike yet and not be a risk to other
road users (or myself).
My beloved bike is still in the
garage but I’ve started dusting it
– after all it’s good exercise for my
shoulder – and it’ll be ready to go
when I am.
*This is an interpretation
of the writer’s recollection
between her and her surgeon
and may not be entirely accurate
– after all she did undergo an
anaesthetic
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