Update to "Tharwa Bridge IS safe..."

asp, sorry for putting words in your mouth.

Vic Bitterman, thankyou for your intelligent rebuke 🙂

Cyclists are tax bludging drains on society. When they start paying their fair share of taxes, of which mine pay for their unused cycling lanes, I may take them seriously.

Until then, they can jam their seat poles up their lycra clad arses. Which, I’m sure most of them being gay, do behind closed doors anyway.

As to the original pic, love it. Love local photoshops 🙂

asp: when walking do you cross the road to use the footpath for 20m ?

Openyourmind,
Thanks for trying to say what my original post was about. But the primary subject WAS the bridge. The introduction of cyclists and the debate over cycle paths was the result of a comment by j dawg (“you forgot to add a nice brand new bridge in the background with the “Pedal Power!” logo on it, and smug cyclists riding across it.”) that suggested.

I feel strongly about how cyclists sometime stupidly use the road when a dedicated cycle path runs parallel to it. So incorporated such an opinion into the design. I was not taking a swipe at cyclists or condemning cyclists who use the road where not practical alternative (such as a parallel bike path) exists.

Thumper, the original posting was not really about the bridge, it was having a go at cyclists. As with similar postings, I’ll respond.

Firstly, let’s clear some misconceptions. The annual direct funding for cycling facilities in the ACT is incredibly small – especially compared to the road budget. Secondly, cars don’t pay their way in the community, they cost. Road trauma alone from motor vehicles exceeds all motoring revenue collected (Sunday Canberra times had an article about it – sourced from Govt transport/Health figures).

You do realise that the majority of that rego you pay is in fact third party person insurance because car drivers keep killing and maiming people?

Why not stop and thank a cyclist for being considerate. Just think, they are reducing your traffic congestion, not polluting, not using the last of our fossil fuels, not taking that last parking place you were hoping for, being healthy-thus costing less to our health system, and not running through child centres, bus interchanges etc. and killing others.

Now, I know there are climate sceptics and peak oil sceptics on this blog and I’m wasting my breath on the most ardent of those, but I’ll add a little back into both of these arguments.
Firstly, are you aware of some of the recent signs of global climate change – eg. Northwest Passage opening up? glaciers melting etc. If you don’t think the 12,750,000,000 litres of oil we burn every day is contributing to this, you are kidding yourself.
Now to oil, the price of oil is now running over $80 a barrel and recently even an ex Shell executive acknowledged that the World is running out and demand is exceeding supply.

So, I’ll finish my rant by encouraging you to thank a cyclist and cheer whenever a cycling facility is constructed.

stuff the cyclists and their lycra , let them carry their bikes over the water if they want to get exercise.

I thought they wore lycra because it helps to keep all the body parts together whenever they are cleaned up by a 20 tonne truck?

By the way, I don’t wear lycra: a barrel doesn’t look good clad in lycra! 🙂

It is expectable that a Cyclist will attempt to place themselves in mortal danger when wearing lycra. This is a medically proven certainty, as lycra restricts the flow of blood around the body, and thus to the brain. The more lycra they are wearing, the more dangerous their behaviour.

Don’t worry Mr Evil, there are wanker drivers everywhere. Usually goes that the higher the vehicle, the bigger the wanker.

The only time I have ever had a safety issue whilst riding on the road has been when some moron (with a forest on their shoulder!) has swerved out of their lane and onto the verge to scream “get off the road” at me.

I should point out that to my knowledge, cyclists are entitled to use the road.
Though for their safety and other road users, why cyclists would use the road if a bike path is available right next to the road is anyone’s guess.

Thanks for the tips Kramer, but I think my issue isn’t of a sexual nature, it is the fact that fluro yellow tight outfits went out of style in the 80’s. In fact, I don’t recall stating the sex of the cyclist at all. You can leave your homophobe gay jokes to your fellow primary school mates.

I don’t have a problem with cyclists on the road as long as they stick to their lane. I have often seen cyclists holding up a line of traffic because they aren’t in the bicycle lane. Not to mention the fact that they only follow the road rules if it suits them. When a light turns red, suddently they are a pedestrian, if it is green, they demand the same rights as motorist.

There is a reason they have bike paths, and that is because its safer to ride there. I pay taxes too, and they also pay for your bike paths, so does that mean I have the right to drive there? Get realistic.

People, I understand often, bike paths don;t go where we want to go (I do ride by the way). But if you read my post, I am talking about time when cyclists are riding on the roads, when just a few meters to their left or right it a proper bike path that was built at great expense.
On Tharwa Dr, there are often cyclists riding on the two lane road when there is a cycle path running along side the road just a few meters away.

The joke in the image is there is the old bridge that motorists will have to use, and along side, a brand new bridge for cyclists which will be used by only a few. The other will probably use the old bridge.

hingo – Cyclists share the paths with walkers, runners, skaters, etc. I quite often see cars and motorbikes either driving in, obstructing or parked in cycle lanes on the side of the road. Besides cyclists are legitimate road users even when there is no cycle lane.

If it makes you uncomfortable seeing cyclists arses clad in tight lycra, then maybe you should have a good hard look at your own sexuality.

ASP I doubt you have ever commuted on a bike, let alone ridden on a bike path. Bike paths meander all over the place, are kept in worse condition than the roads, and are inhabited by walkers who wander along the middle, right, or left side of the path oblivious to the bikes approaching at high speed.

Insisting cyclists commute on bike paths is akin to insisting cars travel from tuggeranong to belconnen through suburbia (and not on the parkway).

Yay, the same old crap about cyclists having no right to use the road argument again!

I don’t own a car, but I can almost certainly guarantee that a percentage of my taxes go to fund roads and bridges; so I’m quite happy for the average law abiding cyclist to use the road if they choose to do so.

JD114 ,

If cyclists have their own path to ride on, then why do they need to ride on the road? I don’t particularly want to see their spandex arses. You don’t see cars driving on the cyclist’s paths.

Why should vehicle users subsidise the building of a bridge for cyclists convenience only ?

Perhaps if the ACT Government were to put a caveat on the repairs of the bridge of when ACT Cycling has fundraised for the entire amount to repair it, then they will go ahead ?

Likely outcome, spectacularly, would be that the bridge would collapse from neglect…

Why shouldn’t a cyclist ride on the road?
All good roads have room for both
Never been inconvenienced by a road rider
Knee jerkers like you should think a little
Each to his own, some like paths, some like roads
Really, you should read the first letters…

Hahaha thats great. Love your work asp.