On Tuesdays I normally ride to Heidelberg to meet and ride with the Banyule BUG harder ride group at 9am (another name for it is the early group, though it’s hardly that – it’s just earlier than another group I ride with on Fridays and which also rides on Tuesdays). This last Tuesday, 19th July 2011, I had arranged to meet them near Flemington Bridge Railway Station at 10am because they were riding out to Newport Lakes.
So, I left home, intending to generally follow Pascoe Vale and Mt Alexander Roads. Within 2 kms of home, on Hanson Rd at the roundabout with Kingswood Drive, a vehicle approached from behind and pushed past me at the roundabout. It was so close I was able to knock on its windows with my gloved knuckles. I yelled out for it to stop, wanting to have a word with the driver, but it proceeded south along Hanson Rd, half in the bike lane! All I could do then was shrug my shoulders and keep going.
No drama going through Roxburgh Park, onto Pascoe Vale Road. I thought Barry Rd could be too busy to easily cross, so I stayed in the Pascoe Vale Rd bike lane instead of crossing at a railway pedestrian level crossing to Longford Crescent in Coolaroo. I could always cross the railway at the pedestrian crossing at Girgarre St, to get to Railway Crescent, but I was so enjoying the ride that I didn’t remember I was going to cross until I had just passed the crossing. Oh well, never mind, especially since a train was also passing at that time which I would’ve had to wait for anyway.
I kept riding along Pascoe Vale Road. Getting a bit busier now, but before long I was beside the railway through Jacana. That section of south-bound Pascoe Vale Road has a concrete verge that is reasonable for riding on, just have to be careful of some drains. No problem.
Over the bridge, and into the Glenroy Shopping Centre. Taking it slow because of the congestion, and a pedestrian walks out across the crossing against his light. Big enough distance between us though, so no real risk, but the lights then change so I have to stop anyhow and wait for other pedestrians.
Keep going, downhill from Glenroy, keeping up with the flow of the traffic so sometimes I claim the lane to avoid the possibility of bumps and cracks beside the kerb. Through Oak Park, past Strathmore, a beautiful run, then get to Moreland Road just past the bend. Traffic lights of course, and cars and vans banked up and so far left they could be called commies. I squeeze through, weaving around cars as necessary and it’s the same again at Fletcher St, but this time a large truck at the front decides at the last second to turn when the lights change to green. Just as well I had played safe and stayed behind it.
This is where the trams come out onto Pascoe Vale Road, so trams were also caught in the traffic. From Buckley St, the next street, the traffic had to travel on the tram lines – why there is no clearway along there to the Junction beats me! This means I had to pass parked cars, always a danger (but it wasn’t parked cars that were dangerous in this story). A cyclist on the footpath appeared to me in a gap between parked vehicles, much like Jesus Christ might appear to some people. I thought, “What a crazy cyclist, riding on the footpath. Oh, that’s Frank!” I can imagine he was thinking, “What a crazy cyclist, riding on the road in this traffic. Oh, that’s Kevin!” I don’t know how much resemblance there is between Frank and Jesus Christ, but Frank does have a beard.
I yelled out my greetings to him and we stopped. I mentioned the email I had sent about the Essendon Football Club at Melbourne Airport and he acknowledged receiving it. So we went on our merry way.
One minute, maybe two minutes, later, I was passing the banked-up cars and an oncoming car started turning right, in front of me. What is the purpose of bike brakes if they won’t stop you in time? To make you pedal faster and harder! That’s what I intuitively did, while weaving to the left, racing the car before it actually crossed my path. I watched the driver as I was doing this, his head was turned to the right - he was looking back the wrong way down the street!
I didn’t bother stopping or verbalising and didn’t even look back to find out how he was coping with his near-miss. I made it through the Moonee Ponds Junction without drama and onto Mt Alexander Rd. The bike lane at some points along here could be better, but it was all manageable. Past the tram depot, where they appear to be making a new driveway, for cars to enter or exit without using the tram entrance.
Downhill, but not able to go too fast because of the traffic and congestion. Tram stopped, cars banked-up beside it, do I need to stop? No, tram doors are shut, kept riding. The bike lane ends before the intersection with CityLink, with a bike symbol stencil but no line – there’s a sign saying it’s a bike lane only at certain times, and I was later than that. Not that it really matters, it was just something that got my goat.
At CityLink, I’m wondering what I should do to cross over to the railway station side. Then I remember the Moonee Ponds Creek Path passes under Mt Alexander Road. The footpath is a shared path from this intersection, so I rode up onto it, avoiding the cyclist coming the other way. I make it to the path under the road, and it’s blocked. “Still??” I moaned to myself, taking a photo of it. “That was meant to be open ages ago.” I had to double back the hundred or so metres to the intersection, and while doing that I watched the cyclist crossing there. “Well, he knew it was shut!”
It was a slow intersection to cross while obeying the lights, crossing only when the green man was lit. However, while waiting for my little Martian to appear, a man and a very young girl with a pink day pack gets off a tram onto this section of median and crosses against the light. “Bad example, hope she didn’t realise the man was red.”
I cross, and make it to the rendezvous point under the railway bridge. It’s only a few minutes past 9:30, I’m very early because traveling on Pascoe Vale and Mt Alexander Roads was the quickest way there, though I hadn’t intended to do it completely. I texted the ride leader to let him know I was there, then decided to ride around while waiting.
I took a photo or two of the works happening under the road, wondering why they didn’t warn cyclists coming down Mt Alexander Road, and rode around to the high rise housing commission flats to have a gander there. I rode through that, onto the footpath of Racecourse Rd and up the Moonee Ponds Creek Path back to the meeting point. I decide I’ll go around again, a bit different this time, a bit further. I enter the commission estate on a footpath, see two cars that must’ve been dumped there they were parked so close they were touching sides. “What if I go over there?” I ask myself, looking across the car park. “This footpath goes over there, I’ll follow it.” It crosses one road, winds through the median garden with a bit of sharp turns, and crosses the road on a hump. This road crossing hump path is made of bricks, and I discovered they get slippery when wet! I was only riding very slowly because of the twists and turns through the garden, but I went down, no doubt with a bang. Or maybe even a yell or scream. There must’ve been a noise, because as I sat myself up I saw two woman quickly look over to me and then go on their way. They appeared to be of African descent and, from either living there or living at the commission flats, had learnt to mind their business and not get involved.
I picked up my water bottle and rear light cover and batteries, looking around to make sure nothing else had come flying off. I leant my bike against a pole and gave it a quick once over, as well as my phone which was in my right jersey pocket. Lights can be difficult to put the cover back on, with the seal often getting in the way, and that happened here. It was good enough though, with the light still working. My arm was a bit sore, but I had to meet the group so rode back to the meeting point to give myself and the bike a better checkout while waiting.
Just as I was stopping my phone’s Sports Tracker app (which was still recording), the group of 6 Banyule BUG cyclists rode up, down from the railway station. Greetings were made, and I explained I would like to check myself out having had a fall off my bike. Looks of shock and horror all around – “Is the bike ok?” “Yeah, I think it is” I said, while rolling up my sleeves to look at my elbow. I had suffered only a small red graze, and everybody waved it off, including myself. “Rightio, let’s go.”
We proceeded past the estate where I had come off and, on changing gears to commence an uphill run towards Newmarket, my gears clanked a bit. I continued, always looking down at the derailleur and cassette to work out what was going on. On reaching the top, I took off to get in front and stopped to check it out. Others stopped, and it was agreed the derailleur needed to get pulled out, so I did that a bit. It improved it, but wasn’t perfect – I suspect, for the rest of the ride, it was making noises.
So, we continued on, through to the Salesyard Bike Path, over the Maribyrnong and into Footscray. It was a nice ride, an area I hadn’t previously ridden, or some I hadn’t even been. We stopped for a look at Whitten Oval. I hadn’t been there since the mid ‘90s, it must have been, when Fitzroy played their last, or second last, game in Melbourne. There’s a nice shared path along the railway line there, too.
We made it to Newport Lakes for a rest stop. Before long, we were back on our bikes, heading over towards Spotswood and into Yarraville. The bunch was spread out through here, having to beware of some cars on the residential streets. A car in front of me turned into a property, and the house and garage was amazing! I’m not sure what it was made of, but it reminded me of weatherboard. It was a very dark brown house, sounds terrible I know, but looked good, and the driveway lead to a “hidden” door that looked totally like part of the house facade – there was only a thin line outlining the garage door. It was obviously architecturally designed and not a typical design. I don’t know exactly how it happened, but somehow I rode into a cyclist from the bunch which had stopped to check our progress. I think what might’ve happened is that they had started to proceed but then stopped or slowed right down, waiting for the cyclist in front of them to go. Anyway, my front wheel became hooked on the rear cassette or derailleur of a bike. It was very embarrassing, with me obviously being at fault for having gone into the back of the bike in front. It was also very fortunate there was no damage to either bike.
I insisted the cyclist check out his bike, but he continued riding and the group spread out again, with some having to wait for traffic to clear before crossing Francis St. Eventually, I found to time to profusely apologise to him, while we were safely waiting at lights a fair way away. He took the opportunity to look over his bike, probably just to allay my concerns and shut me up!
We continued, past Footscray Station and onto Dynon Rd which has a shared path along it. We turned up Lloyd Street, which twists and goes under a railway line. It’s a very narrow section there, under the bridge, and a vehicle was trying to pass me, so I was concentrating on that. Next thing I know, I’m bearing right down on the group of cyclists, so slammed by brakes on. I think I skidded even. I don’t know how I managed to come upon them so suddenly, they each must’ve slowed right down on coming out from under the bridge without realising the next cyclist was still having to cope with the bottle neck. And me with a vehicle right there beside me!
Well, I swore under my breath at my near-miss. The day had been crappy. I decided then and there I would leave as soon as we made it to Royal Parade, or whichever we were going. The group was riding back to Heidelberg (maybe not all of them, but the bunch was), but I thought it better for me to go my own way. We had an interesting route to Royal Parade, going along private roads and through gates in private estates, with the many apartments having bikes locked up in front of them.
Anyway, at Royal Parade, near Melbourne University, I bade farewell, saying I'd leave them in peace, "hopefully one piece", and rode up Royal Parade. I went onto the Upfield Bike Path and continued all the way along that, through to Broadmeadows and onto Craigieburn. I had a meeting on Tuesday evening, of the Craigieburn Community Renewal Steering Committee, and wanted time to prepare for that. But I also tried to quickly fix my bike. I wasn’t successful, but it was rideable, so I decided to wait until Wednesday. As it turned out, on Wednesday I took my bike to Glenroy Cycles and had it fixed there. Picked it up on Thursday afternoon. It cost $8, but as I had only a few dollars in coins on me I had to pay by card, and the minimum for that is $10, so I said, “What’s a couple of dollars? You probably deserve it anyway. Go for it.”
The bike’s ok, running good, and the chain and cassette are at least a lot cleaner than before! I have small grazes on my right elbow, thigh and knee. Maybe a bruise as well, but I’m not looking for it – I’m tough! My thermal wear top now has a hole in the elbow. Oh dear, tears are welling in this tough guy’s eyes.
So, that was my Tuesday ride. I’m glad it’s over. As for the meeting that night, well, let’s just say it wasn’t as good as I hoped. I wasn’t given the assistance I required, to understand what was being said. It wasn’t just the riding that was crappy that day, but at least I did get to meet Joan Kirner!
