Park puts skids on cyclists’ pack mentality

CENTENNIAL PARKLANDS TELLS CYCLISTS: 'THIS IS NOT A VELODROME'

Report ANDREW LONDON

Tour de France-style bunch cycling at Centennial Park has done its dash. For more than 40 years cycling athletes have religiously used the 3.6-kilometre Grand Drive circuit to replicate the experience of road-racing.  But the practice of tyre-to-tyre riding in groups larger than 15 has been banned after claims "the pack" was abusing other park users. Park management said rangers had witnessed as many as 60 bunched cyclists lapping the circuit at speeds well above the 30 km/h limit, putting themselves and pedestrians in danger.

In the last 12 months Centennial Parklands has recorded 40 written complaints of speed, excessive bunch numbers and abusive behaviour. Racing cyclists strongly rejected the allegations."Centennial Parklands would have everyone believe that [we're] a pack of unruly louts who wreak havoc on park users," John Buckton, president of the Randwick Botany Cycling Club, said. "But these cyclists are barristers, company CEOs, and even two priests. We're not in the business of sticking our fingers up at people."

Mr Buckton said off-leash dogs and people sabotaging the roadway with logs and rocks were often the cause of cyclists' aggression. "The only time the bunch may respond by screaming at someone is if they endanger the bunch," he said.

Park management said it wanted to "educate and co-operate" with cyclists on a new draft code of conduct, and preferred not to enforce the 15 maximum rule of $100 fine for each rider.  Centennial Parklands acting director Marlene Krasovitsky said more than 5 million people visited the parkland every year. "It is there for everyone to share and no single group has priority," she said.  However, Cycle Centennial, the coalition of regional' cycling groups, claimed Centennial Parklands had back-pedalled on an earlier agreement to endorse bunch cycling as a legitimate recreational activity.

"Personally, I think they've burnt their bridges this time," Mr Buckton said. "We were being extremely helpful in getting a workable solution together and all of a sudden they say they're going to enforce the'15 rule'." Cycling groups will hand over a petition to Centennial Parklands and the NSWPremier, Bob Carr, opposing the rule changes.

Should bunch cycling be allowed to continue in Centennial Park? Have your say, e-mail: alondon@couriernews.com.au or fax: 9353 0983.

Hi Andrew,
Thank you for your article in today's Wentworth Courier.  Just out of interest, I can indicate to you that I do recognise a few of the riders in the "pack" who your photographer has captured.  Front left in the blue shirt is a 71 year old member of the Randwick Botany Cycling Club who is a retired CEO of a large company.  On his right in the red and white striped jersey is another member of Randwick Botany club who is 62 years old and is a Catholic Priest.  The only other rider who I recognise is the rider on the left hand rear who is in fact wearing Randwick Botany knicks.  He is the middle aged principal of a pest control company who has two teenage sons who regularly trains with them.  These people are hardly unruly louts who wreak panic and fear into the hearts of other park users.  These are dedicated athletes keeping themselves very fit in their later life.  Centennial Parklands however would have us believe that these people threaten and intimidate other park users.  Your article states,
"Park managers said rangers had witnessed as many as 60 bunched cyclists lapping the circuit at speeds well above the 30km/h speed limit."
 
I think these ranger's speed perception is sadly wanting.  They seem to completely miss the rat running cars who are endangering park users traveling at sometimes double the posted speed limit of 30kph but they would have us believe that 71 year old Ron and 62 year old Tony are driving the bunch along "Well Above" the 30km/h speed limit.  They would have us believe that these senior citizens intimidate and threaten other park users.  These arguments/assertions by Centennial Parklands administration are nonsense.

 
Regards
John Buckton
Delegate Cycle Centennial
President Randwick Botany Cycling Club

From: Fergus Neilson [mailto:fergus.neilson@dif.com.au]
Sent: Thursday, 31 July 2003 11:57 AM
To: alondon@couriernews.com.au; marlene.krasovitsky@cp.nsw.gov.au; jpanderson0@bigpond.com.au
Subject: BUNCH TRAINING IN CENTENNIAL PARK

 

Andrew,

 

Saw your article in today's Wentworth Courier. Thanks.

 

You asked for feedback ...

 

I am one of the four members of Cycle Centennial - alongside John Buckton, Phil McKnight and Robert Barnes. Cycle Centennial was elected almost two years ago ago to represent the interests of seven cycling clubs whose 1,390 members are keen users of Centennial Park.

 

You might take a moment to look at the attached petition - and focus on a couple of key issues.

 

We acknowledge that 'bunch training' results in groups in excess of 15 in number and speeds, going downhill from the canon, in excess of 30kph. This is the inevitable result of gravity and the 'drafting' effect (whereby it requires 20/30% less effort to cycle behind another cyclist than to cycle alone). We also acknowledge that we are in Centennial Park to train in safety and, as athletes, that does mean that we push hard. As we would on any road. As cyclists we are merely asking to be allowed to 'run' rather than just 'jog'.

 

Our concern with Centennial Park Administration is, above all, a concern with their approach to resources management. Their approach seems to be to manage for all users using the Park at the same level, seven days a week. Our suggestion is that they recognise the reality that different users use the Park at different levels at different times and on different days of the week. We believe that Centennial Park Administration should focus a lot more on managing its available resources by time separation of activity, rather than by seeking ways to eject an activity that is not only under immediate threat on the open road but is long established through custom and practice in Centennial Park.

 

Bunch trainers are simply asking that their activity be permitted at limited times through the working week. At times when other activities are at a low or declining ebb. From 5:45 to 7:00am on Tuesday and Thursday morning. And from around 4:15 to sunset on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon (or later if lighting can be added along Grand Drive - see below). This adds up to around only 7% of available daylight hours through the year.

 

We are asking that Centennial Park Administration consider closing the Park to motorised traffic until (say) 7:15 on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Not only will this reduce the incidence of 'rat running' commuters. It will also provide a better environment for joggers, walkers, roller bladers/skaters and horse riders. This should not limit motorised access to the Park for legitimate park users as we are suggesting that:

• parking be allowed inside the Park at these times along Carrington Drive (along the top of the Park); and
• parking be encouraged just outside the Randwick Gates opposite Randwick Tech College.

We are also suggesting that Centennial Park Administration add low level lighting around Grand Drive so as to extend its recreational use after dark in winter (and that this lighting be paid for with the money saved from not carrying out certain works suggested in earlier phases of the Transport and Access Management Study).

 

We believe that the Park is there to share. We believe that it is time for Centennial Park Administration to take a more imaginative approach to park management. We even hope that one day Centennial Park might emulate Central Park in New York which is closed to motorised traffic from 6:00am through 10:00am every weekday morning.

 

The Park is for people. Not for cars.

 

Regards,

Fergus Neilson

fergus.neilson@dif.com.au

Email 31 July 2003

Andrew,

To ban bunch cycling in Centennial Park would make Sydney a joke in the eyes of recreational and competitive cyclists worldwide.

We are quick to applaud the seven Australians who competed in Tour de France along with 180 other world class cyclists.  Baden Cooke won the 'Green' jersey (sprinters jersey),  Robbie McEwan wore the 'Green' jersey during the tour and  Bradley McGee wore the 'Yellow' jersey (overall leader) in the first week of the tour.  This is a tremendous result from a small cycling nation.

One of the reasons why these and other Australian cyclists have been so successful on the world stage is due to safe training venues like Centennial Park.  Most of the training bunches use the park at 'quite' times, eg early in the morning or weekday afternoons.  They are not training during busy times like Sunday afternoons, when the park is full of picnickers.  To train on Sydney streets is simply too dangerous.

Now the Centennial Park Trust wants to ban bunch-training rides, because they can't work with local cycling groups to develop practical guidelines for park users.  Where will cyclists train if they can't use the
Park?

Centennial Park is promoted as one of the major tourist attractions in Sydney.  What will visitors think when they are told you can no longer hire a bike to ride and train with local riders in a bunch around one of the
most beautiful parks in the world.

The Trust needs to wake up and start working with park users to ensure fair access and rules for all.

Tony Horneman
Maroubra NSW 2035

CYCLE CENTENNIAL

Box 154 Kensington NSW 1465

Email: cyclecentennial@hotmail.com

Marlene Krasovitsky

Acting Director

Centennial Parklands

Locked Bag 15

Paddington NSW 2021

4^th August 2003

Dear Ms Krasovitsky,

Cycle Centennial and the issue of bunch training in the Park

It was with interest that I read your press release issued on Friday 1^st August and its most visible result in Alex Mitchell’s article in the Sunday Herald. Our interest focuses mostly on what seems to be a rather one-sided view of the issue and a not entirely accurate presentation of the facts. Our aim is to get Cycle Centennial back together around the negotiation table where the options are more considered than the suggestion that “maybe cyclists should just do their training on Driver Avenue”.

One. Cyclists are not avoiding meaningful negotiation with the Park

In September 2001, Cycle Centennial met with Park Administration (see Seeking Solutions in a Multi-User Environment), 19^th September 2001). One of the initiatives taken by Cycle Centennial at this workshop was presentation of draft Code of Conduct that sought improved communication with Park Administration as well as endorsement of bunch training at limited and specific times. We were promised a response to this draft code. That response, in spite of a series of requests by Cycle Centennial for further discussion on the matter, did not come until the end of June 2003. The Park response was a four page re-statement of the Australian Road Rules and the Centennial and Moore Park Trust Regulations, an explicit prohibition of bunch training and the suggestion that Bunch Training shift to Driver Avenue.

Two. Cyclists do constitute a meaningful interest group

The first round of access research by the Park implied that cycling constituted around only 5% of park activity. This apparent low level of ‘group pressure’ lead to a series of initiatives that placed cycling at the very bottom of any ‘pecking order. However, that research focussed on access to the Park between 10am and 3pm. It did not cover activity in the park in daylight hours. Our research which tracked activity through two full days (a Sunday and a Tuesday in August 2001) suggests that cycling constitutes at least a quarter of all activity on Grand Drive. A million cycles were sold in Australia in financial year 2002/03. We expect that at least 700 cyclists will sign a copy of our petition supporting Bunch Training in the Park. You already have a copy of the petition.

Three. Bunch Training does not dominate the Park

Our research shows that cycling in various forms (recreational, training in groups of five or less, and training in groups of five or more) constitutes at least 25% of activity on Grand Drive. However, cycling ebbs and flows. Between 7am and 4pm cycling constitutes only around 10% of activity. Between 6 and 7am on a Tuesday morning cycling constitutes almost 55% of activity and between 4 and 6pm on a Tuesday afternoon cycling constitutes almost 50% of activity. Bunch Training occurs only between 5:45 and 7:00am and between 4:15 and 6:00pm on Tuesday and Thursdays. In reality Bunch Training occurs for only 7% of available daylight hours through the year.

Four. Cycling is not understood by the Park Administration and its consultants.

The Park’s first round of proposals under the Transport and Access Study included a proposal for a ‘Contra-Flow’ lane. As was pointed in the Cycle Centennial Workshop papers (19^th September 2001) and in the Sydney Morning Herald (9^th August 2001), any head-on collision between cycle and car would therefore be 121 times more dangerous than a rear-ender (laws of physics e=mv²). More recent proposals by Park Administration propose parallel parking on the outside perimeter of Grand Drive. This proposal seems not to understand that to get from the outside perimeter to areas of high activity usage on the inside of Grand Drive – requires the occupants of 700 or more cars to cross Grand Drive. This brings us to the next point.

Five. Cars are the real problem

Your own record of reported collisions (Sinclair Knight Merz) shows 43 incidents between October 1997 and March 2001. Of these 16 were between cyclist and vehicle. Only 3 were between cyclist and pedestrian. Three collisions between cyclists and pedestrians in a Park that, in your own words, “has more than five million visits a year”. We have seen examples of your “numerous complaints about bunch cycling” and we would have to point out your incident reports mostly involve “a speeding cyclist” or “individual cyclists” or “three cyclists”. Not just bunches. Classically there is one incident report which states “I was running with the flow of traffic, leading two dogs on short leads, on the far right hand side of Grand Drive”, and another complaining of abuse from cyclists when the complainant was actually walking on Grand Drive with a dog off its leash. There are always two sides to any story.

Six. Bunch Training is seeking only limited time slots and cyclists as a whole are seeking cooperation with Park Administration

The petition now currently seeking signatures from cyclists will be presented to the Park Trustees and the State Premier this month. The petition does not seek anything more than a Code of Conduct that works for both cyclists and the Park. However, we are looking for initiatives to be taken that make the Park a better place for all users:

·          two car free mornings per week – with parking restricted to Carrington Drive;

·          low level lighting around Grand Drive – to extend recreational use in the winter; and

·          legitimisation of Bunch Training – at limited times when other uses are at low ebb.

We look forward to the next round of discussion with yourself and your key officers. We anticipate making contact once we have completed collecting our petitions and have presented them to the State premier and to the Park Trustees.

Yours sincerely,

Fergus Neilson

on behalf of Cycle Centennial, the seven cycling clubs that Cycle Centennial represents, and the 1,390 members of those seven clubs.

contact at (work) 02 9229 1521