It's all about R E S P E C T
Written 7 October 2009
Recently I've been feeling like I'm sounding like my grandfather. �One of his favourite things to say to my brother and I was this: "You have two ears and one mouth, you should use them in that ratio". �I always found that to be a little mean but he probably had a point. My brother and I to this day should probably heed that advice every now and again. �Anyway I digress...
He also believed in old fashioned manners, and doing things the right way. �Or at least the way they had been in his day. �Subsequent years/generations have seen a shift away from such rigid and well defined views of what constitutes appropriate behaviour. Behavioural norms within cycling have seen a similar shift, but in a much shorter time frame, and on an increasingly frequent basis I have started to "lose my rag" (as my Mum calls my little tantrums) at the lack of etiquette in the Auckland cycling community.
I believe the recent 'cyclist-versus-car debate' has been largely brought about by four contributing factors:
1. An explosion in the number of cyclists
2.�The consistent lack of a decent public transport system in Auckland
3.�A cultural shift in the sport from a majority who race with their local club to a majority who enter fun rides as races
4.�The breakdown of simple cycling etiquette
While nothing excuses the behaviour of the young girl who failed to stop last weekend, and whose actions have left a man still in a critical condition, an examination of each of the above factors should leave no one surprised at the angst now felt between the anti-cycling factions and those of us who brave the roads.
The explosion of cycling
I feel like this website is full of my grandfatherly rants about what cycling was like "in my day" but it has been incredible to watch the sport over the last 14 years. When I started in 1995 it was really a minority sport. �So much so that when you saw a rider on Tamaki Drive you always flicked them a wave as you either knew them or knew of them. �With the focus in the 1990's and into the 2000's on health and fitness coupled with the success and profile of Lance recovering from cancer to win seven tours, people have taken to cycling in their droves. �Running had its time in the 1980's but cycling is suitable for so many more people than running is. It's low impact, you can ride in groups and chat away and you get to explore new roads and new places. �It's far nicer than the gym! �Bike NZ estimates that last year more bikes than cars were sold in New Zealand. �For motorists this means there are simply far more of us than there ever used to be.
Lack of alternatives
Add to the increasing number of cyclists the increasing number of drivers. The lack of viable public transport options for most Aucklanders means that nearly all of us rely on our cars to get places, resulting in Aucklanders considering their right to drive as sacrosanct. �The roads, in the eyes of the average motorist, belong to cars and are not to be shared with bikes. �This is not so in Europe, Japan or even Melbourne, where roads are comfortably shared between all forms of transport. With this ingrained attitude, New Zealand motorists are against us from the start, even before a breach of the road code (what I call cycling etiquette) has even been committed.
Racer or fun rider
Probably more important than the numbers of cyclists, or the number of drivers, is the types of cyclists we now have and the way they ride. �In the old days (there I go again) you were either a commuter, a person who rode for fitness, or a racer. �A racer meant that you were licensed and raced with your local club; not so anymore.
User pays events like Lake Taupo and the Speights Coast to Coast have been added to by swags of other events with people now able to enter and ride/race in an "event" around New Zealand at least once a month. The intermittent and expensive nature of these event races results in these pseudo-racers treating every bunch ride like a weekly race. In the old days racing was kept for races, where there were marshalls and quiet roads, and training was for training!
A bunch used to be for riding in a group in an orderly way, with the possibility of a crossing sprint at the very end. A large majority of bunches are now treated as a weekly race ride, and this is, perhaps, why they treat the road and other road users as if they are simply in the way. A bunch that is racing will often be four abreast, will jump red lights and will not stop for pedestrian crossings. These are all common complaints from your average motorist. Which leads me to the next problem.
Simple cycling etiquette
This is where I really will start to sound like my grandfather. �I simply cannot believe what I have seen recently from cyclists on local bunches and around town. I recently had a Saturday off the bike and went down for breakfast at around 9am to Caf� on Kohi right on Tamaki Drive and right next to a pedestrian crossing. �I witnessed one bunch of older men fail to stop for a young family with a small girl on a trike and worse, another group came within a whisker of knocking an old lady off her feet. Cycling etiquette must extend beyond consideration for your fellow cyclist and include courtesy to all other road users.
The vitriolic comments on the Herald website about some bunches are probably justified. Only two weeks ago, on the 7.30am bunch I was on, the tail of a 40-person group whose front two riders went through an orange light at a major intersection, effectively dragging the rest of the riders through a plainly red light and leaving motorists angry and vocal. �It has become so much the norm on bunches like these to follow like sheep through red lights, that even those who know better are too scared to speak up to correct it. From the cyclist's perspective - if they lose contact with the bunch ride that's their weekly race, or hard ride, 'down the tubes'.
As more people take up the sport they will now only learn these bad manners and bad habits from those who think they know best. It is little wonder drivers have become so angry and intolerant.
The way forward?
I am by no means an angel all of the time when it comes to etiquette, but at least I recognize when I do something wrong. �Somehow both sides of the debate have to become more accepting. �The cycling community needs to recognise its faults and show a little more respect for the road rules. �The motorist needs to learn to accept the cyclist as a vehicle of the road and treat the cyclist with some common decency.
I still try to remember my grandfather's rules and use my two ears and one mouth in that ratio, so if anyone has any comments on this piece let me know. I'd be intrigued to hear your thoughts. In the meantime, if you hear me ranting on in your local bunch ride maybe give some thought to how good life would be if we all followed some old fashioned courtesies.
(Disclosure: I am a motorist too!)
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