The opportunity to ride places that are not normally open to bikes, even if on road, is great. My question is, will I need body armour or should just the light elbow pads do?
Don't laugh - the crowds of... how to say... "Those not used to riding around lots of other riders" prove to sometimes be rather challenging 'terrain'. If you know what I mean?
Eg. Parent with child cruising along. Child suddenly decides to swerve randomly for no reason. Carnage ensues.
IIRC someone here ended up tangling bars with a random riders last year. They recovered, the random did not. Oops!
... from these events. While they are awesome fun, they have their risks. On my first Gong Ride I had a near miss, with an early teen going within millimetres of taking out my front wheel when he pulled out without looking and without warning.
A woman I used to work with had her bar knocked oout of her hand by an overtaking cyclist and hit her teeth on the stem in the crash. $5,000 worth of dental work later....
In case you think these events are rare, on the descent into RNP there were four ambulances tending to various crashes.
Submitted by MarkkyMarkk on Sat, 05/06/2010 - 09:25.
I've managed to do the Spring Cycle the last few years & its great fun.
Its awesome to have all those cyclists taking over the roads - with a festival atmosphere. You see all sorts of people riding every type of bicycle imaginable.
I agree, that it can sometimes get sketchy with the crowds & plenty of beginners, but if you take it easy & don't treat it as a race, you'll be fine.
There's not much detail on the website yet, but it appears that the organisers are changing the starting arangements this year - with different start time for advanced/intermediate/beginners. So that should help.
Although the website only seems to have the North Sydney-Homebush route this year. The last couple of years they had alternate rides from Liverpool & Parramatta (i think) that eased the congestion. Does anyone know if they've dropped the alternative routes this year, or have they just not posted the details on the website yet?
Hmmm, they also don't appear to have the 10-40-50km options on the website, either. Thats worrying....
Sounds interesting!
For those that want to know more here is a link: http://www.springcycle.com.au/
Post it as a ride perhaps?
The opportunity to ride places that are not normally open to bikes, even if on road, is great. My question is, will I need body armour or should just the light elbow pads do?
Don't laugh - the crowds of... how to say... "Those not used to riding around lots of other riders" prove to sometimes be rather challenging 'terrain'. If you know what I mean?
Eg. Parent with child cruising along. Child suddenly decides to swerve randomly for no reason. Carnage ensues.
IIRC someone here ended up tangling bars with a random riders last year. They recovered, the random did not. Oops!
... from these events. While they are awesome fun, they have their risks. On my first Gong Ride I had a near miss, with an early teen going within millimetres of taking out my front wheel when he pulled out without looking and without warning.
A woman I used to work with had her bar knocked oout of her hand by an overtaking cyclist and hit her teeth on the stem in the crash. $5,000 worth of dental work later....
In case you think these events are rare, on the descent into RNP there were four ambulances tending to various crashes.
Yeah i went on last years gong and they held up 5000-10,000 riders due to a guy going off on one of the descents.
I might ride my DH bike on this one as it is easy to go over "obstacles"
I had a ball with the family on last years Spring ride.
I totally forgot about the Gong ride. Last time I did that was in 94, if I remember correctly.
I'll be going to the Spring with the family again this year.
I've managed to do the Spring Cycle the last few years & its great fun.
Its awesome to have all those cyclists taking over the roads - with a festival atmosphere. You see all sorts of people riding every type of bicycle imaginable.
I agree, that it can sometimes get sketchy with the crowds & plenty of beginners, but if you take it easy & don't treat it as a race, you'll be fine.
There's not much detail on the website yet, but it appears that the organisers are changing the starting arangements this year - with different start time for advanced/intermediate/beginners. So that should help.
Although the website only seems to have the North Sydney-Homebush route this year. The last couple of years they had alternate rides from Liverpool & Parramatta (i think) that eased the congestion. Does anyone know if they've dropped the alternative routes this year, or have they just not posted the details on the website yet?
Hmmm, they also don't appear to have the 10-40-50km options on the website, either. Thats worrying....
Sounds like fun!!! ill give it a shot. i will just have to remember to try and get the day rostered off!!
As this is a road event, please post it up over here if you decide to stick in the calendar:
http://road.nobmob.com/
Your login works of course.