Cycling in Sydney

I used to cycle to and from work once or twice a week when living in Balmain, mainly because I had things to do when I finished and no car at the time so it was convenient. Having now moved house, had a baby and bought a car all since my last blog post things have changed just a bit... I now cycle to and from work 4 or sometimes 5 times a week mainly because it's the quickest way to get from Clovelly to Walsh Bay and back each day. It means I can leave work around 5pm (I know, but I have a baby to bath now) and be home in 30-40 mins depending on what gets in my way. If I'm lucky and ride fast I even get time for a dip in the ocean to cool off as well!

Anyway enough about me. Cycling in Sydney is not half as bad as everyone told me it would be and as I had expected. I find vehicles (especially buses) taking a wider birth from cyclists that they ever do when I'm driving by (my new) car. Let's face it, Sydney drivers are some of the worst in the world (from my experience travelling - which includes Buenos Aires, Argentina!!) for lack of patience and road-rage. Only once since starting to cycle approx 80-100km a week have I had a motorist deliberately cut me up - I get cut up just about every time I get in the car! The funny thing is, the prat in the Suzuki was just annoyed I was catching him up at every set of lights and getting in front of him again so proved the point he was (marginally) faster in his over sized motorcycle with 4 wheels by trying to knock me off - I'm deliberately careful to keep a good distance from cars as much as possible so it' wasn't as close as he would have liked I'd say!

So why are Sydney (and maybe it's Australia wide) drivers so aggressive toward other vehicles? You could hardly say it's the busiest city in the world for traffic, it just seems everyone is in such a hurry they lose all disregard for other drivers - I feel safest on a cycle or in a bus for sure.

One other debate between cyclists seem to be whether listening to music whilst cycling is acceptable? I personally do listen to my ipod everyday and would go insane without it but I have taken on-board friends comments and only listen through one ear now - leaving the other ear to listen out for trouble behind me. I'm pretty good at knowing what's going on all around when I'm cycling and keep a good eye left and right and behind regularly as well - but I guess a tooting motorist about to hit me could be a welcome warning some day!

Happy cycling to those who are brave enough to try, I can recommend it in Sydney but keep your wits about you, be careful and take it easy. To those who drive around Sydney on a daily basis - you have my pity but don't be a plonker, slow down, chill out and don't take it personally if I wizz by on my bicycle!

Cheers
Tim