Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

All this talk of eastbound riding, Ive never been on the M2, whats it like going westbound?
Im thinking of trying it to head out to the M7.

queequeg wrote:

Boognoss wrote:

biker jk wrote:Just a heads up for those illegally riding east of Pennant Hills Rd. I heard Ray Hadley having a spray at cyclists he's seen early in the morning riding the illegal section of the M2. He was going to pressure the police to do something about it.

That doesn't surprise me (the Ray bit particularly). From what I've read on BNA the police seem to be doing plenty and on sections I ride daily I see at least one police car on the side. The power of 2GB will no doubt have police brought in from interstate to halt the cycling scourge. (It should be noted that I don't ride on that section of the M2 but I personally don't think it's anywhere nearly as bad as I can only imagine Ray getting fired up about).

Maybe they could police the alarming number of motorists on their phones whilst in the traffic jam. You can see everything from the bicycle and if the police sent a few cycling patrols out, it would be like shooting fish in a barrel.

+1000

I stopped at one of the parked Police cars one day to report a lady in a Commodore that I had ridden past that was still on the phone. He didn't do anything other than still sit there with the rego computer/camera thingo turned on. Mobile phone usage isn't as dangerous as shock-horror a car that has lapsed rego!!

tez001 wrote:All this talk of eastbound riding, Ive never been on the M2, whats it like going westbound?
Im thinking of trying it to head out to the M7.

Westbound from Delhi Rd to the M7 (and beyond is fine). There's more glass than usual all over the shoulder for most of the length. That's a lot of glass!!!!
Eastbound from the M7 to Pennant Hills Rd is also fine.

tez001 wrote:All this talk of eastbound riding, Ive never been on the M2, whats it like going westbound?
Im thinking of trying it to head out to the M7.

It's easy. I ride from Naremburn, up the Epping Rd Cycleway to Delhi Rd, onto the M2, and off at Windsor Rd.
I've done it a few times, never had a problem. The shoulder/bike lane is wide enough that you don't have vehicles come within a couple of metres of you, its usually fairly debris-free, and well signposted. Just take care when crossing the entry/exit ramps.
I've just moved to an office just off the M7 at Richmond Rd so when it's cooler (and the M2 is open to cyclists eastbound) I'll be aiming to ride to work and back occasionally.

I do twice weekly morning commute on M2 Westbound from Delhi Rd to Pennant Hills Road. I saw at least one bike on the opposite side this 2 weeks. I thought M2 East is opened until I come across this forum...

Rode up from Browns Waterhole this morning and noticed that they are laying out form work for path out the gate that leads up to the M2 just before the tunnel. It also looks like they are just doing finishing work on the embankment. Hopefully open soon!

I hope your right, I cannot wait, will mean an extra 15 min sleep in each day

I rode out westbound early today (10:00 give or take) and it looks like the temporary barriers were starting to be removed. Can't wait!!!

Sounds like they might have had Christmas as a target date - makes sense, it's a great time of year to be testing out the new strip of road. Lots of riders, very few cars.

Looking forward to testing it
out. My records from Delhi Rd to Pennant Hills Rd is 14:44. I reckon heading the other way is a bit quicker, just need to test the theory

Bugger, only managed 16 minutes. Clearly need to try harder!

Really?

All the cool kids are under 14 minutes.

http://www.strava.com/segments/4912432?filter=overall

Heading east is mostly downhill and faster.

fingers crossed too.
yesterday eastbound, from the bus, i could see that there were sections of the road shoulder that still needed to be resurfaced.

hopefully they've done that by now.

The guy 9 th on that list is pretty awesome. So awesome he doesn't even know he was in strava.

rogan wrote:Really?

All the cool kids are under 14 minutes.

http://www.strava.com/segments/4912432?filter=overall

Heading east is mostly downhill and faster.

Is that with Rack, two panniers, mudguards, heavy tyres and a 46t big ring though?

trek52 wrote:The guy 9 th on that list is pretty awesome. So awesome he doesn't even know he was in strava.

Bit of a surprise?

queequeg wrote:

rogan wrote:Really?

All the cool kids are under 14 minutes.

http://www.strava.com/segments/4912432?filter=overall

Heading east is mostly downhill and faster.

Is that with Rack, two panniers, mudguards, heavy tyres and a 46t big ring though?

Obviously not. The cool kids would not...

Interesting article.

http://idonotdespair.com/2014/07/03/cyc ... xtremists/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He provides an outsider's perspective. Is it that unusual to cycle along a motor way? The M2 shoulder seems fine to me.

Reading other articles on his web site, he didn't even like Mona Vale Road (which I think is very good for cycling).

AndrewCowley wrote:Interesting article.

http://idonotdespair.com/2014/07/03/cyc ... xtremists/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He provides an outsider's perspective. Is it that unusual to cycle along a motor way? The M2 shoulder seems fine to me.

Reading other articles on his web site, he didn't even like Mona Vale Road (which I think is very good for cycling).

It is a 3m wide shoulder (more in some places), and the adjacent traffic in peak hour is mostly limited to 30km/h due to congestion. It gives an almost flat 10km trip for me between North Ryde & Pennant Hills, no traffic lights, and only interaction with motor vehicles is crossing the ramps.
The alternate route is a nightmare, up and down hills through back streets, adding a lot of extra km.

I found it odd that the author felt it necessary to access kuringai Chase National Park via Beecroft Rd and Pennant Hills Rd. It is easily accessed via backstreets through Beecroft (Sutherland Rd) and then down through Browns waterhole. I would never use Pennant Hills Rd in peak. I ride the footpath from the M2 off ramp to Castle Hill Rd.
The M2 shoulder is perfectly fine, but in most other countries there is no cycling at all on motorways.
The recently opened Hunter Expressway also features a road shoulder cycle lane, and it looks pretty nice. I guess this is just an Australian thing!

AndrewCowley wrote:Interesting article.

http://idonotdespair.com/2014/07/03/cyc ... xtremists/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He provides an outsider's perspective. Is it that unusual to cycle along a motor way? The M2 shoulder seems fine to me.

Reading other articles on his web site, he didn't even like Mona Vale Road (which I think is very good for cycling).

If there was a separated cycleway, its likely no cyclist would ever have died on the M2. Sadly that is not the case.

The irony behind that cycleway garbage is that people have been dragged off the M7 cycleway in ambulances without a car in sight. The vast, vast majority of riding is safe and fine, and accidents are not done on purpose. We wouldn't get out of bed if zero risk was the goal.

Has there been many cycling deaths on the M2 cycleway?

Also given the length of the trip and the fact it doesn't connect at all well with the city, one has to feel that it's a trip that would only ever be done by the more hard core of commuters. Not sure it's worthy of a full on dedicated cycleway.

AndrewCowley wrote:Has there been many cycling deaths on the M2 cycleway?

Also given the length of the trip and the fact it doesn't connect at all well with the city, one has to feel that it's a trip that would only ever be done by the more hard core of commuters. Not sure it's worthy of a full on dedicated cycleway.

It's shorter than the M7 though, and does provide a vital link between the city and the North West.
There was no real technical reason a Cycleway could not have been put in, there was just no political will or votes in it.

As far as danger goes, I rank it a lot safer than many sydney suburban roads. That is because the m2 at least has a 3m shoulder, whereas a lot of Sydney roads have no shoulder at all, exposing you directly to B-Double trucks.

Xplora wrote:The irony behind that cycleway garbage is that people have been dragged off the M7 cycleway in ambulances without a car in sight. The vast, vast majority of riding is safe and fine, and accidents are not done on purpose. We wouldn't get out of bed if zero risk was the goal.

A bit of irony! I commute on the M2 every day for years. End of November I had about 8mm steel rod, 1 metre long wrapped around the front wheel. It had broken spokes and dug in and jammed in the hub.

Garmin showed it happened just before the tunnel. I was there for one hour. Apparently a car stopped and called an ambulance. I don't remember anything that day.

Got out of it pretty cheap. Dislocated clavicle, torn ligaments in shoulder, torn bicep. Broken wheels, damaged brifter, scraped saddle. Jersey and Knicks cut off me. Helmet cracked. Woke with bruised forehead and black eye, surprisingly small amount of scrapes. Headaches, vagueness and lethargy.

In saying this, I'm alive without major damage to me or the steed. People have asked if I'll commute again. I got to get back on the horse of course!

That's precisely where we manage the risk Scott. I wear my prescription glasses all the time despite lack of eurocool because I just can't afford to ride the way I do (fast and hard) and not be able to see the road well, for the reason you mentioned. The chunk of metal in the hub could be sticking out of my friend's chest if we are doing TTT style down the M2 at 50kmh, so I make sure I'm wearing my specs.

I actually don't worry as much in the car, simply because you don't need the nuance as a driver. I mostly wear my glasses to ID other cars if the need arose

I'm not a fan of subjectivity to determine objective risk. I can think of 4 bad mistakes on the bike that have resulted in bad injuries for me - arguably all preventable by more patience and care. Doesn't mean it is a legit reason to stop riding hard and fast - just learn to be more alert, and manage your risk aggressively to ensure you aren't outside your ability to cope. Accept that you will hurt yourself eventually if you refuse to behave

Yes, i accept to manage ones own risk.

To assume visioning, aggressiveness, ability or behavior is out of line.

I am a commuter for many years. I commute, not race. I have Double Ayups, the best lights I know of. I keep meticulous care in maintenance. I am conservative with tyres. I never draught when commuting.

If ya don't believe me, ill race ya, M2, end to end. The winner wins this thread!