Specialized Helmet Amnesty

Win a trip to Tour De France 2012 with Garmin

Buy any Garmin product between 15 Feb 2012 and 15 May 2012

and go in the draw to win.

There are two trips for you and a friend to be won to see the Paris stage of

the Tour de France with flights, five nights accommodation

and spending money included.

Terms and Conditions
Only open to Australian & NZ residents aged 18+ who can travel from 20/7/12 to 27/7/12. Retain original purchase receipt/s & original Garmin product packaging (showing serial no.). Promotion commences 15/2/12 and ends 5pm AEST on 15/5/12. Draw: 4/448 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004 on 18/5/12 at 9.30am AEST. Winner published in The Australian on 21/5/12. Prize: trip for 2 adults to Paris valued at up to AU$12,100 depending on departure point. Promoter: Garmin Australasia Pty Ltd (ABN 85 129 153 448) of Unit 19, 167 Prospect Highway, Seven Hills, NSW 2147. See www.garmincompetifor Terms and Conditions. NSW LTPS/12/144, VIC 12/77, ACT TP12/104, SA T12/65.

Safe Cycling Guide Tips

Safe Cycling - a guide to safer riding

Tip 1. Avoid trucks

Never wait between a kerb and a truck at a junction. If the truck turns left, the driver may not see you. Stay well behind or preferably in front where you can be seen. And wear a helmet, unlike the cyclist in the photo!

Tip 2. Stay clear of the kerb                                                         The kerb is not your friend. Ride clear of it so that drivers steer around you. Hugging the pavement invites them to try and scrape past.

Tip 3. Show your face

Looking at drivers at junctions helps them to view you as a fellow road user they would rather not run over. Do the same to vehicles on your tail.

Tip 4. Use your neck

Learn how to look over your shoulder without wobbling and do so regularly- particularly before making a manoeuvre, when you should also stick out an arm

Tip 5. Obey the Code
Some may argue that it is safer, say, to jump a red light than wait in a truck's shadow but flouting the law endangers you and harms the image of cyclists

Tip 6. Overtake Buses
If you are approaching a bus at a stop, look over your shoulder, and move to overtake. If you can't, wait behind the bus. Never undertake.

Tip 7. Be Bright
It's more important to show your face and position yourself well, but bright clothing, strong lights and reflectors will help you get noticed.

Tip 8. Plan your Route
It stands to reason that your'e probably more vulnerable in three lanes of traffic doing 60kph than on a residential side street.

Final Tip 9. Find a friend
If you are new or lapsed cyclist, venture out with a more experienced friend. Keep a good distance behind and watch. Then let them follow you and take their advice.

Hi Vis clothing vs Road Positioning

Want to cycle safely?

Stop focusing on high vis!

Found this interesting blog on hi vis clothing on the London Cyclist Blog.

By Andreas on 16/02/2012 in Safe cycling in London

You want to wear high visibility clothing? That’s fine, by all means, it’s a good idea and I hope you continue doing so. My argument here isn’t against high vis clothing. My argument is: Don’t just rely on high vis clothing.

There is something that far surpasses the power of high vis. Road positioning.

At around 8.40am, a lady in her 30’s was on a cycle hire bike cycling near a lorry. Suddenly, according an eyewitness report, she found herself sandwiched between two wheels as high as her head. Fortunately she managed to make a break for it by jumping over the handlebars.

The incident occurred during daylight hours when the rider should have been visible. However, as the below TfL video demonstrates, there is an enormous area where bikes are completely invisible to lorry drivers.



No manner of high visibility clothing makes a difference in the above scenario. However, taking your time and positioning yourself behind the Heavy Goods Vehicle would be a much safer place to be avoiding all sorts of nasty head injuries and even worse.

Sending out the right message

It’s not just around Heavy Goods Vehicles where road position can have a far bigger impact on safety than high visibility clothing. Take for example a ride I took a couple of days ago to Camden on a Cycle Hire bike.

Along the route I maintained a position away from the kerb. This signalled a number of crucial things to drivers.

1. The first is the distance that I feel comfortable with someone overtaking me. By giving myself extra space on the left I indicate that they should give me a similar amount of space on the right.
2. The second is that they shouldn’t overtake me when there isn’t enough room to do so. Along the route there are a number of pedestrian crossings with a small section of pavement in the middle of the road. If a car overtakes me here then they’ll have to sandwich me on the left or worse. However, by maintaining a good road position I indicate that it isn’t safe to overtake me.
3. The third is that a driver is naturally acquainted with spotting large vehicles in front of them. If I cycle too far to the left I am in the corner of their field of vision rather than closer to the centre.

When I came to a halt at the traffic lights I took a position in the middle of the lane to indicate that a driver will have to wait for me to move, before they can continue forward.

I strongly believe these actions contribute far more to my safety than wearing high visibility clothing.

It is a little too easy as a cyclist to get a false sense of safety by riding next to the kerb. I often find myself doing it but try to remember that this isn’t what cycle safety trainers recommend.

Female Sponsored Team Race report - VES- Round 1 - Ballarat 11/2/12

In the week leading up to the first round of the 2012 Vic Enduro Series, the weather forecast for Ballarat went from ‘probably perfect’ to ‘possibly pouring’. Resigned to the idea of a wet race (against an all-star field), we headed to Ballarat early on Saturday morning with one goal: to have fun!

We arrived in Ballarat in light drizzle to find an almost dry track. After a couple of laps, the drizzle cleared and the track was fast and grippy. It was hard not to grin through the flowing descents, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It wasn’t until the skies opened at the 5.5 hour mark that we started looking forward to the end of the race – the track turned into a bit of a river and the grippy corners started to get slick.

But we finished happy, if somewhat muddy, in third place (out of three!) with 10 laps in the bag. It was a privilege to be racing in the same category as Jess Douglas, Amity McSwann, Melissa Ansett and Josie Simpson (even if both pairs did manage to lap us twice!).

All in all it was a great day out, and many thanks to the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club for such a great event.