Dear Pretend Road Riders of Newcastle, Please Slow Down on the Ferneigh Track.

spoozbucket

Likes Dirt
Today I felt a bit embarrassed to be a bike rider, here in Newcastle we have this nifty thing called The Fernleigh Track, after years of planning and saving our local councils and some Government funding turned an old train line in to a pretty damn cool walking/cycle path.

I went out for a nice leisurely roll along the Fernleigh Track and as usual had a few faster riders duck past which is cool, today however was different, it was as if I missed the sign that said I was on the Fernleigh race track. Riders were just being flat out stupid, overtaking in packs not caring if riders or walkers were coming in the other direction or weaving in and out of people whilst riding at almost race pace.

Sadly the return leg was much worse as there was a tail wind and many of the bloadies(bloated middle aged 'roadies' in lycra) must have realised that if they ride in a small peloton they may be able to slash seconds off their precious Strava time. After having a few riders pass by at sane speeds I cross at a crossing and go to ride around an older person when a group of riders blow straight through the crossing and past myself and the older person who was in the end almost hit by me as they were so freaked out from the other riders passing.

So yeah, today at the end of my ride I had a sort of (to quote Jackass) I'm not mad, I'm just ashamed, sort of feeling going on.

In my opinion riders really shouldn't trying to be improving their times or pro/elite level fitness on a public walk/cycleway when it is occupied by normal people out trying to enjoy some peace and quiet with their kids, dog or whatever, it just isn't the place, if you are too scared to ride the road go to the gym and ride a bike that goes nowhere.

Riders have whined about dangerous drivers for years and some are too fearful to ride on many roads, however on the bike paths they seem to be causing the same problems they face when sharing roads with motor vehicles.


This is all just my opinion of course, I apologise for the grammaz, I am no wordsmith.

EDIT- Oh yeah, and to the night riders, you don't need six billion lumens aimed 300m up the path to see where you are going, it sucks riding in the other direction!
 

mtboer

Likes Dirt
BLOADIES-Love it

I totally agree. The 'rule' of cycling is to be in control at all times.
These sort of guys may be in control for their own benefit, but there are other people out there.
I ran in a world masters Orienteering title and got to a control just before a Swedish runner and he pointed for me to go first. I noted his number and at the end, checked out who he was. He was the outright winner and a real world champion in my books.
Strava is rubbish anyway (too inaccurate and able to be tweeked) and those who live by it are fooling themselves.
Hope I've helped to rustle some jimmies.
 
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pharmaboy

Eats Squid
On fernleigh, dumb roadies are outnumbered by dumb pedestrians, particularly mums with small children and dogs. Almost impossible to ride safely on a Saturday morning at the busy sections , and that's at 25kmh on a mountain bike, let alone 40 on a roadie.
 

mtboer

Likes Dirt
No Bloadies Encountered

The Bloadies were on good behaviour today. The track is a bit thin in places. My first ride there.

Rode up and back from Belmont and 25k+ in Glenrock and all good.

I'm told 25kph is the limit when it is a shared path???
 

sammydog

NSWMTB, Hunter MTB Association
The Bloadies were on good behaviour today. The track is a bit thin in places. My first ride there.

Rode up and back from Belmont and 25k+ in Glenrock and all good.

I'm told 25kph is the limit when it is a shared path???
No speed limits on Fernleigh that I am aware of, but really, its a shared path. If people want to train, do it on the road. The Belmont end is normally quieter, but even then a bit of common sense should come into play.

The fernleigh on a weekend is chock full of kids, dogs, and random pedestrians. Riding flat out, your not going to be able to stop if a kid pulls a random direction change in front of you.

I ride it all the time, but only early morning when its empty. At other times, you really should be riding taking into account the other users on the trail.
 

johnny

I'll tells ya!
Staff member
Not normally a fan of this but when it's definitely warranted it may help.

Go on to Strava and flag the section as dangerous and it will become unusable unless people only use it as a private segment. Takes away the Strava angle, at least.
 

pharmaboy

Eats Squid
The segments will just get reset Johnny - it's futile, and it's not really what reporting segments was set up for either.

It's not dangerous except when a complete imbecile try's for a downhill segment on a sunny Saturday afternoon - at which time it is quite impossible to do a good time anyway - so it's a futile attempt
 

spoozbucket

Likes Dirt
I have found the number of dickhead drives has dropped a bunch in recent years, I hadn't done many km on the road for probably 6-7 years and found divers behave a lot nicer to bikes than they used to.

Last year I started riding 3-400km a week and could go a whole week without even a close call, then it could rain muppets for a day, but hey there's as many morons on bikes as there are driving cars but we enjoy pointing fingers at others just as moto riders do.
 

Pastavore

Eats Squid
Dear Mr Spooz ( and by the way, kudos on your elegant and refined choice of user name), did you actually read what the thread was about?
 

StanTheMan

Likes Dirt
I agree with spoon bucket. I've been commuting in Sydney. . And seriously the amount of idiot riders far outnumbers the douche drivers. The area I ride in you need to watch out for performance Audi Male Drivers. And Old ladies on roundabout. Year bike riders who are idiots perhaps have an Audi in the garage at home



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StanTheMan

Likes Dirt
Idiot riders at a park in Newcase most likely behave the same way on the road in Newcastle as well.


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harmonix1234

Eats Squid
And Old ladies on roundabout.*snip*
Just yesterday, coming into a roundabout, car coming in from the left. Tried to make eye contact as I came in with the right of way, I raise a hand, lady just coasted on through. Didn't even turn her head.

I followed her to the carpark where she parked and I signalled to roll down her window, when she did I politely added "Hello, I am not sure if you saw me. But you almost just ran over me on that roundabout back there"

The lady was so shocked she almost cried! She was apologetic and completely and totally unaware that she had just done that. "I just didn't see you" she said about five times.
I had a flashing light on the front, bright orange jersey. 'Just didn't see me'.

Keep in mind, you may actually be riding in someones saccade.

This is worth a read

http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/raf-pilot-teach-cyclists/
 

spoozbucket

Likes Dirt
Dear Mr Spooz (and by the way, kudos on your elegant and refined choice of user name), did you actually read what the thread was about?
Thanks, I am a classy individual, I only joined so I could see the pics on the trading area, you can't see them if you get banned ;)

I was not really replying to the OP which was, errrr........done.......by.....me but was aimed more at later posts.
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
The fernleigh track must run at a user rate of about 90% fucktard. In the very few occasions I have used it to traverse the once great mtb location known as glenrock lagoon (now just a bland wasteland of brake bumps, ruts, and eroded goodness) there is morons everywhere. People with dogs off the leash, little children poorly supervised, people attempting to exercise but still taking up a lot of extra arse room, and then there is the dickless pants magicians on bikes. A while back I was on the side of the track with a couple of buddies when the typical fat old guy on a kmart special rode past. He elected to abuse the 3 kids riding bmx away from the jumps/trail area we were at simply because he had to veer around their slow pace. And not just a little abuse!

Well me and my chums decided to have some fun and chased the fat fucker down. We rode along next to him repeating some of his choice expressions until the weight of our free ride bikes gave way to his Kmart speed demon machine. I hope he comprehended the situation, but I doubt it.
 
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