To commute or not to commute?
It's raining hard and the temperature has plummeted but I've worked up a sweat and I'm travelling swiftly along the back roads to my home in Manly. Work is already a distant memory and the pressures and stresses associated with teaching have melted from the memory. The ride home is cathartic and I'm enjoying the workout even though conditions are far from ideal. I turn left and accelerate up a slight incline in the road. Approaching on a side road to my left is a small,silver car. The female driver is distracted by a young child and they are arguing vehemently. The rain is falling faster and harder. I hear the car, which is now behind me, accelerating. Suddenly, I am launched high into the air while my bike is propelled sideways towards the kerb. As I return to terra firma, I twist awkwardly and there is a loud popping sound. I scrape myself off the road, the heart pumping and my mind in a daze. Details are exchanged and I remount my bike somehow dragging my shocked and injured body back to my final destination. My left knee is severely swollen and the pain is much worse. Little did I know then that this was to emerge as the road accident which was to change the course of my life.
The date was Monday 13th March, 2000. Two months later I am operated on. My Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is repaired but most of my medial meniscus and part of my lateral meniscus is removed. A week later, I begin my rehabilitation on a stationary bike, lifting weights in the gym and swimming. Less than a year later, I ski for the first ever time, spending time in Grindelwald, Switzerland and Courcheval, France.
My days playing rugby league are over as is my beach sprinting, distance running and soon I reluctantly give up Brazilian Jui-Jitsu. I begin boxing training with Jason DeLisle - aka 'The Nailer' (Jason took Danny Green to 9 rounds in one of their two fights and was IBF Pan Pacific Light Heavyweight Champion), and continue boxing for a year.
My days playing rugby league are over as is my beach sprinting, distance running and soon I reluctantly give up Brazilian Jui-Jitsu. I begin boxing training with Jason DeLisle - aka 'The Nailer' (Jason took Danny Green to 9 rounds in one of their two fights and was IBF Pan Pacific Light Heavyweight Champion), and continue boxing for a year.
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In 2004, I start climbing and this leads to outdoor excursions to the Blue Mountains and other local crags and eventually to state bouldering competitions. In December 2006, I rupture the ACL for a second time and on the 20th December I undergo a second ACL reconstruction. I endure a thorough rehabilitation programme again. Throughout this period, my cycling time increases and I return to commuting with some confidence restored. The date is January 27th, 2009. In November of that year, I enter my first mountain bike race. As they say, the rest is history.
Commuting in Sydney is fraught with danger and is definitely not for the faint-hearted. Sydney drivers are generally more aggressive than drivers from other cities I have lived in. For a people known for their easy-going nature, why is it that when they get behind a wheel they morph into an impatient beast of magnified road rage? However, it would be amiss to stereotype all Sydney drivers in this way. I have a 5% dickhead rule and this allows me to keep my sanity and my cool on the road when confronted with acts of stupidity from certain car drivers.
 | Some near misses are simply due to hesitant driving or nervousness around cyclists. It's when you are riding as close to the side of the road as feasibly possible and you are told to 'get on the f***ing pavement' or overtaken at speed with barely a gnats dick between you and a Mercedes wing mirror. |  |
I used to retaliate and chase the imbecile, ready to jump off my bike and hand out my own form of retribution. Usually the recipient of my hate would disappear into the distance and I would be left stressed and frustrated. I have learnt to suppress this basic instinct and stay calm accepting that my actions will not alter the situation and will definitely not change the attitude of the driver of the Mercedes. It's the 5% rule that keeps me sane on my commutes.
I always find it amazing that normally sane, intelligent people can become so irate at the mere mention of cyclists. We hold up traffic, we jump red lights, we overtake parked cars at intersections and we terrorise pedestrians on pavements and shared walkways. We are portrayed like 'rats of the road', vermin to be crushed at any opportunity. Like in 2009, when a Sydney driver suddenly braked in front of a group of cyclists near the airport causing a 20-bike pile-up. The car driver was applauded for his reckless actions by the drivers that followed and the bruised and bleeding cyclists were insulted and told "go get a car, you tight arses".
Our distactors call for a road tax without realising that anybody who owns a bike (even if it just sits in the garden shed rusting) would be required to pay and that most bike riders own a car and pay road tax anyway. If this would stop the aggression to cyclists I would pay immediately but alas it is merely a war cry of the angry motorist.
Returning to the 5% rule, I think that the most likely group of drivers to occupy this unheralded position are:
a) Mercedes drivers - they are arrogant and have probably crushed people in their rise to the top and so a stupid little bike rider is not going to get in their way.
b) Ute drivers - God forbid they might lose precious work time in the morning.
c) Bus drivers - 95% of bus drivers are great but that minority stand out due to sheer numbers and the fact that a long stretchy bus squeezing you up against the side of the road is an extremely uncomfortable experience.
a) Mercedes drivers - they are arrogant and have probably crushed people in their rise to the top and so a stupid little bike rider is not going to get in their way.
b) Ute drivers - God forbid they might lose precious work time in the morning.
c) Bus drivers - 95% of bus drivers are great but that minority stand out due to sheer numbers and the fact that a long stretchy bus squeezing you up against the side of the road is an extremely uncomfortable experience.
It is hoped that the increase in the number of cyclists will somehow advance the awareness of the majority of Sydney drivers. 'Safety in numbers' certainly seems like a motto that holds true on our roads.
As Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore stated in June 2010, “The 1 per cent of inner-Sydney trips already taken by bicycle result in 25,000 fewer car trips every day. If people commute by bike for shorter distances they provide more capacity on the already overcrowded public transport services and speed up journeys for people who have to drive”.
The more people realise that bikes on the road means less cars and less traffic congestion the happier we will all be. In London, Boris Johnson has introduced bike friendly policies which have been welcomed by both cyclists and motorists. Cycling continues to gain popularity in Sydney and, like it or not, more bikers are hitting the roads, and benefiting from quicker commutes, increased fitness and cheaper travel costs. My weekly commute adds around 200 km to my training and provides a foundation to my fitness regime. Not only that, but commuting is fun, a challenge and is a natural kick-start in the morning and a mind-cleanser in the late afternoon. Halving journey times and passing stationary cars on major highways begs the question that once you start commuting on a bike is it really possible to stop?
As Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore stated in June 2010, “The 1 per cent of inner-Sydney trips already taken by bicycle result in 25,000 fewer car trips every day. If people commute by bike for shorter distances they provide more capacity on the already overcrowded public transport services and speed up journeys for people who have to drive”.
The more people realise that bikes on the road means less cars and less traffic congestion the happier we will all be. In London, Boris Johnson has introduced bike friendly policies which have been welcomed by both cyclists and motorists. Cycling continues to gain popularity in Sydney and, like it or not, more bikers are hitting the roads, and benefiting from quicker commutes, increased fitness and cheaper travel costs. My weekly commute adds around 200 km to my training and provides a foundation to my fitness regime. Not only that, but commuting is fun, a challenge and is a natural kick-start in the morning and a mind-cleanser in the late afternoon. Halving journey times and passing stationary cars on major highways begs the question that once you start commuting on a bike is it really possible to stop?
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