Trawling the Blogs to find info on Cycling and Disabled Sport I occasionally come on some great ideas. Just about all the Photos I post are the result of others efforts and perhaps they also owe thanks to other sites, whatever their source I hope that the thanks I offer is reward enough. I have a “digital camera which I got through eBay several years ago and at present it will not work on vista home premium which I use, it appears to have been made in the east. Perhaps it had a dvd , I don’t recall using this but the white folded pamphlet came within the “aqua green coloured box with the camera and supposedly can be used as PC camera also. Whatever anyone can do to locate the replacement Cd info would be appreciated!
Cycling tips is a Blog I occasionally look at and they recently observed a Blog on SBS Cycling Central and related that item in the body of their Blog but added a really good set of photos which create the essence of the story in a way that would be hard to surpass.
Having viewed these photos you like me will understand how patient the normal motorist has to be to cope with the daily trauma of traffic snarls. In past years I enjoyed living in the inner west suburbs of Sydney and where possible would drive west for my early appointments or made sure I was parked in Darlinghurst/East Sydney before 8am enjoying a coffee in those places that the “Movers & Shakers” used to enjoy. I wonder if “No Names” coffee shop is still run by the same family. First went there in 1967 when upstairs was a queue on the stairs and $3 was the usual charge for a surprisingly filling meal with byo facilities, those were the days!
On moving to the North Shore I would be at North Sydney Pool before 6am in the Winter and Lane Cove Pool in the Summer with the result that I was at the North Pylon before 7.10am to avoid the start of the “parking station syndrome”. Breakfast on Thursdays was the “Swap Meeting in the Hilton” where like minded were able to network and hear “motivational speakers on a variety of subjects”. The internet indicates these meetings continue in a number of locations and whilst I no longer keep in touch since 2000 often wonder about some of those who attended in my time there. Like everything time moves on and so too with the Daily Crawl to work. Any reasonable person with a fixed starting time at their workplace knows to the minute how much time to allocate so as to arrive on schedule each day of the week as each day has varying traffic conditions.
Why is it then that these “reasonable people” become “merchants of terror” when they find themselves behind a cyclist? People get behind the wheel in various moods and “strap on a personality” which is entirely different to that in the house or workplace, is the only conclusion that I can come up with. In Europe driving in France & Italy you will find the car behind “tailgating” so close that they could sit in your back seat but rarely will they pass on your “inside” but overtake they will even if only to slam on the brakes for the next lights. But when they get behind a cyclist they will patiently wait for a “Safe point” to pass and will Not Hammer their horn to let you know of their attitude.
Vuelta Espana 2001 in Barcelona I had been riding the rest day with the Race Teams and as we headed back to the “T-Mobile Team Hotel” we were overtaken by this Spanish mini car and out hopped a little fat bloke with a tyre lever in his hand shouting out
“Whatever”.
.
One of the guys asked “Sprecken zie deutsch” and that and the laughter deflated him and he slunk back to his “tin can” and took off. So the point is that whoever or wherever you are you can expect to find “an inferior ego that has to vent their Stupidity”! A story in another Blog illustrates the situation that occurred at the Athens Olympic to Michael Rich, even though there was ample evidence to lock up the Greek Mongrel nobody was willing to take the time to pursue the action needed to gain a result.
Police action these days needs several sets of eyes to remove the suspicion of collusion, you are reporting an “idiot” because you don’t like the colour of his car? Or you are in a bad mood with nothing better to do than kick your heels in the Court Waiting Room so as to “Give Evidence” about for the Court a “trivial incident that had not led to death and is thus of little merit in their time table”!
We all read reports of “rapists” being let off so it should come as no surprise to hear of a “motorist being let free of a conviction for damaging a cyclist and subsequently reappearing for the same offence. This happens all the time with drink drivers, let off the first time with a fine and perhaps a ban then reappearing after with same condition only an injury or death added to the circumstances being related in court.
Several Blogsites have appeared in recent years which are carrying “Video evidence” of incidents which the Police choose not to use but the day will come when this added to other evidence will cause the convictions to be passed down. Over the years as I ride I have found myself being forced around a corner by a vehicle which has come alongside and turned with no consideration for my welfare, fortunately there has not been a curb to bring me to a sudden stop. Gestures have not resulted in the driver stopping and it is possible the action was deliberate on some occasions.
Some Blogs advocate giving a friendly piece of advice to erring cyclists after catching them after they run the stop sign or red lights, but unless you are thick skinned it is a waste of breath. Gesturing your thanks to a motorist again can be provocative as this can be taken by some as provocation with an unintended result. Best to say thanks if you catch up at the next lights or in traffic but by that time they will have already forgotten the incident.
Paul Crake was the unlucky victim of a crash in the Tour in New Zealand but there are many others who are wilfully injured or killed by driver negligence!
The courts seem to think that a small fine and a limited driving ban suffices to resolve the outcome. This is as much a nonsense as giving a drink driver the benefit of the doubt when up in front of the bench. Loss of life is permanent and the offender in many cases is contrite as far as the exit door where life returns to normal. Pity about the Parentless family who have lost their way of life, or the childless parents who doted on the lost child. Too little thought is given to the relatives of the victim, compensation even of large sums are worthless compared to the space left in their lives.
Many “Disabled” are victims of accident and time and again I come across lone “Handbikers” pursuing their form of cycling, some get along quite quickly so it surprises me why they do not get invited to participate in group weekend rides, they would enjoy socialising now just as much as when they were “normal” before their accident. Perhaps it would be a great idea if clubs made more of an effort to invite these people to join in and same applies to the Tandem riders as I can tell you some are difficult to keep pace with when they are on the flat.
With the Paralympics fast approaching and in the northern hemisphere spring also now is the time to make the offers of participation. Who knows you may find yourself cheering these same people as they compete at the 2012 Paralympics in London.
In closing it is sad to view the loss of an athlete in any sport but what are the qualifications required for entry into some of these dangerous sports. Eddie the Eagle was race skiing then moved across to Ski Jumping but is there a junior level of competition for the Luge where the participants get years of experience. Skiing & Cycling amongst other sports have a variety of lower levels of competition that you have to progress through. I could not imagine lying on what amounts to a tray doing about 150kph with my feet in front let alone head first in the “Skeletons"!Scary Sports!
