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news
Lizanne Wilmot.jpg“Sydney is weird, there is a general hatred for cyclists”
A experienced competitive cyclist in Sydney has written an open letter to the city, saying its aggressive approach to cyclists has left her near breaking point.
Lizanne Wilmot, a UCI ranked track Sprinter, writes a blog about using a bike for ordinary journeys, but says ‘a series of incidents has broken my commuter spirit.’
She writes on her blog: “When I first started riding in Sydney 10 years ago, it was scary. Busses were my biggest concern, they seemed to pass with millimetres to spare. And cars, although careless and usually unaware of my presence, were not on a war path to see me off the streets.
“In the last 10 years, I have seen a lot of change. Numbers of cyclists have increased, cycleways have been built, new laws for my safety and protection have been put in place. But now, even more than never, I feel more vulnerable and fragile every time I ride.”
The cyclist, who doesn’t own a driving licence, but says she has learned the rules of the road, says that for her, cycling is a way to save money, get to places faster, and keep fit, but that “Sydney is weird, there is a general hatred for cyclists.”
She adds: “There seems to be a culture where everyone is that tightly wound and set in their ways, no one wants to give an inch of ground and the result is a simmering tension that is sitting at a rapid boil.”
She notes a few recent incidents that have given her a cause for so much concern.
In one, she said she was punched by a pedestrian as she passed him.
She wrote: “I stopped and angry said ‘you just f’en punched me! Why would you hit a girl?!!’ And he escalated it to how he would not respect me until I got a license and paid road tax.
“A few more expletives and he wished I would get hit by a car and die. It was a rapid escalation to a situation I needed to leave.
“This was a low point for me and cycling. As I sat on the side of the path in tears talking to the cops, not one person asked if I was OK.”
Another incident happened on a new commute to work.
She wrote: “One road in particular is uphill with a red light at the top. It is 1 lane, with cars parked on one side and a curb and gardens on the other. In the morning people are getting into said parked cars and flinging doors open.
“It is also not possible for me to ride in the door zone and a car pass me with 1m space. So, I take the lane. I do not do this to piss people off, I do this because I’m scared and I want to save myself from an accident.
“Then one day, this car was revving behind me. So I moved further into the lane to let them know I didn’t feel safe. At this point the car moved right inched closer, and hit me from behind while blasting me with the horn.
“It wasn’t enough to knock me off, but it was enough for me to wobble and move out of the way. 100m later at the red light I knocked on the window to ask ‘what gives’ I got a mouth full about how I always hold her up on her way to work and I needed to share the road and move out of the way. She said she wouldn’t have hit me if I shared the road.
“The cops were called again, they had a chat with her, and in the follow up I was advised that she was now aware of the law (although grumpy that she was at fault).”
The worst of all, though, was when she was hit by a truck.
She said: “I was cycling along one of the cycle friendly back streets bright clothing, reflectors, lights (and my bell) indicating I was turning right round a round about, when a truck failed to see me, I couldn’t stop fast enough, so I decked the bike and thank god, ended up between the wheels, under the truck.
“I saw the truck before the incident. I saw him slowing down, I though that was he saw me. In reality he was slowing for the turn, and was accelerating through the roundabout before he realized I was there. He said he didn’t see me.”
Just a week ago we reported how some residents of New South Wales (NSW), Australia, are selling their bikes and telling visitors not to cycle because “if it’s not the abuse from drivers it’s the fines” that make cycling too risky a prospect.
Fines for cyclists increased by up to 500% on 2 March, for misdemeanours such as not wearing a helmet (A$319), not carrying a bell (A$100), and ‘dangerous driving’ in a bid by Minister for Roads, Duncan Gay, to crack down on supposed dangerous cycling among anyone aged 12 and over.
Although the fines were, according to Gay, supposed to improve safety of people on bikes, academics believe it will make NSW the “worst state in the world” for cyclists.
One Sydney student who decided to sell her bike, said she couldn’t afford the risk of a fine, which would force her to choose between eating and paying up.
Natalie Synnott told ABC she preferred to ride on footpaths for safety reasons but was afraid of getting caught and fined, which would be a financial disaster for her: "I just know that I will get fined because I have terrible luck," she said.
"It would f*** me up... I actually live week to week. For the most part, I have $100 bucks a week to live and then the rest just goes to rent... I would just be f***ed".
Adrian Plius, a Sydney bar manager, sold his bike because he didn’t want to risk a $300-$500 fine for a 10 minute commute. He walks now instead.
He said: "A 10 minute ride has turned into a 40 minute walk so it definitely has changed my lifestyle.
“I don't mind walking but it is a bit sad not to have the option in a major international metropolitan city, to be scared to ride your bike for both financial and safety reasons”.
Latest Comments
- froze 5 hours 26 min ago
Just my opinion, but sorry that bike is UGLY! I can't see that sort of price for a completed bike, not alone for just the frame and fork!...
- Boopop 6 hours 4 min ago
I find it deeply jarring and disappointing that Sir David agrees with these people not wanting a cycle lane. Whenever I watch one of his excellent...
- chrisonabike 6 hours 13 min ago
May need insurance, tax and a licence. No problem with the lights though.
- Simon E 6 hours 29 min ago
Yes, they look just like the Lezyne Zecto model. My club bought a couple of sets from the LBS for our midweek TTs so if someone turns up without...
- Hirsute 9 hours 55 sec ago
If you can't see a %^$&ing large tractor what ^%$£"!*ing hope is there that you will see a cyclist ?...
- chrisonabike 9 hours 18 min ago
Well if you *can* interview the original riders at all surely they worked, at least?...
- David9694 9 hours 47 min ago
Live: Car plunges over wall and lands on beach rocks...
- biking59boomer 9 hours 53 min ago
Looks like yet another bike share service that's going to fold because of selfish idiots.
- brooksby 15 hours 46 sec ago
And finally: I wonder how many of the "more than 3,000" signatures on that petition are actually locals, who live or work there (and are not just...
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65 comments
If you want to ride near Sydney go west to Penrith, best place for bikes in Sydney...
Bit bizarre/ Just head up the coast a bit to Byron bay and people happily ride round with no helmets and longboard down the main road at night.
Big city thing innit.
In my experience, Sydney is a place where the default attitude of anyone to anything is aggressive. I've actually seen a situation where you could hear the wave of shouting at a small group of cycle commuters as they made their way up a street! But Sydney-ites don't just pick on cyclists; they'll pick on anyone who's not mainstream. The bridge, the harbour and the opera house are pretty; there's nothing else good about the place.
It's such a shame that the powers that be in Sydney are so narrow minded and short sighted. While other places are doing their utmost to encourage cycling in order to reduce pollution and congestion, it seems Sydney's administration has embarked on a regressive policy to discourage cycling.
I suggest L. Willo is not expressing genuinely held views. This commenter is a troll, pure and simple. Their account should be deleted. There is an email address for road.cc at the bottom of the page, and I suggest genuine readers of this website use it to ask for the account to be removed.
Just because they don't agree with you doesn't automatically mean that they don't genuinely hold those views rather than creating a position just for trolling.
That said, I do find that I disagree with L. Wills on most points. But I don't think that they should be actually banned from the site. Not yet, anyway.
@L.Willo
I hope you appreciate the effort I've taken to log in and call you a nobhead.
Your a nobhead.
Indeed... just seen his comments on the CM article. This burger is prime troll.
There seems to be a seething hatred for cyclists in Anglo-Saxon countries not found in other western countries. I wonder why that is. As a swede I'm having a hard time understanding how one can behave so agressively against fellow road-users. It's almost like these motorists don't even see cyclists as human beings. Scary to say the least.
Agreed, but I think it's merely a symptom of something else. We notice the symptom more easily because we're members of the hated outgroup in question. I'm not sure what the underlying cause is, but whatever it is it shares a lot of traits with plain old bigotry. And yes, it does seem a lot more prevalent in English-speaking countries.
Who all watch Top Gear.
I really doubt that that's the reason. More like another symptom for the same thing. If I had to guess I'd be tempted to say it's to do with a notion of status, a selfish need to elevate yourself above others and to cling to perceived entitlements, probably one of the nasty things induced into society by consumerism. But I'm not a psychologist, so my guess is as good as anyone else's.
There is no concept of "lagom" in Britain and its former colonies. What we have instead is a sense of fair play, as in adhering to the rules of the game. Those rules are often unwritten - we're not Germans - but the sense of what is "not cricket" definitely exists on the roads, although it does evolve over time. You probably think it is odd that the driver who almost ran over this cyclist told her she wasn't "sharing the road." They didn't mean, as most cyclists and Swedes would, affording equal rights to a common resource, so that everyone gets where they are going safely and sufficiently quickly. They meant that they wanted to beat the traffic lights at the end of the road - that was the challenge that this particular street represented - and the cyclist, by using a slower form of transport which the majority have rejected, got in their way and thus unfairly denied them that little victory. They may have felt they needed the win because they were on their way to a probably tedious and possibly demeaning job, which they don't complain about because that wouldn't be playing the bigger game, of success and social climbing, that their boss is currently winning. So instead they bully people more vulnerable than them, which is weirdly not against the rules of the game, even if it is sometimes against the law. To top it all, the cyclist then proceeded to catch the driver up at the lights, despite not having spent a lot of money to buy and run a powerful vehicle, thus was most definitely cheating in their eyes.
This sums it up perfectly. Everything else - helmets, 'road tax', hi-viz etc - is just window dressing that obscures this underlying cultural issue.
Since when has Aus been Anglo-Saxon?
are you maybe imagining we're living in the 8th century? - if so, all I can say is...
...bloody Danes, comin' over 'ere with your rounded dipthongs and your historically progressive concept of social democracy!
New South Wales sounds like it's full of idiots obsessed with cars.
I think you'll find that that is just "the whole western world "
I think you'll find that that that that this article (and my comment) is refering to NSW. You tit.
I know that, and I think you'll find that I was making a remark that it's not just NSW which is full of idiots obsessed with cars. You tit.
I think you will find that......It's not what you say, but how you say it. In your case, with pomposity.
I think we've found two tits that have found each other ...
Get a room!
Get a bra surely?
Interesting perspective but three anecdotes do not justify the blanket attack on Sydney in the headline. As the anti-helmet gang are so fond of telling us: the plural of anecdote isn't evidence.
Some thoughts: I would personally have Sharia Law for any grown man who raises his hand to a woman in anger, but if a pedestrian can punch you while you are passing him, you are riding way too close. A bit like if you can put out your hand and touch an overtaking car, it is too close and just as unnerving. Get off and stay off the pavement if that is where you were and on shared use paths, ride with consideration for the more vulnerable users.
Wow, you sound like a right tosser
How do you know the pedestrian didn't step out to punch her, maybe 2 steps, maybe ran up to take a swing? You don't but you sound quite happy to blame her any way, but its OK as she's on a bike and therefore less vulnerable than a pedestrian.
Might have to start riding with my gum shield in..
Er ... because I read what she wrote in her blog, not just the inflammatory titbits quoted here designed to provoke an All-Australians-Hate-Cyclists-Non-Evidence-Based circle jerk ....
She was overtaking a bloke from behind, he stuck out his arm which forced her to swerve, therefore she was indisputably trying to pass him far too close in the first place. His anger was absolutely understandable. Something silently and unexpectedly invades your personal space and you are likely to get a shot of adrenaline and want to respond aggressively to a 'predator' but a grown man ought to be able to control himself better than that and lashing out at a woman is beyond the pale.
The rest of her tale of woe is nonsense. I am sure that someone, sometime once had a misunderstanding with a truck in Amsterdam. That does not make it a rubbish place to go cycling. And perhaps she should try fitting a rear brake. It might make the difference between stopping safely and having to fling yourself under a truck in an emergency next time.
The article is pointless clickbait. If we want to discuss the impact of tough cycling legislation in Sydney, let us have a proper discussion based on real data: the number of cyclists on the road going up or down, effect on bike sales, accident rates, incidences of head injuries, effect on public attitudes to cycling assessed by a credible polling company etc ... not this anecdotal irresponsible piffle.
I thought she said that they were walking towards her on a shared use path? And she went to overtake them and one stuck his arm out, punched her and started screaming at her when she complained. But, hey, tomato/tomato...
Her blog is even more descriptive you want to quote then I sugest you quote what is written and not what you choose to make up.
She is not trying to prove Sydney is bad she has written a blog on her experience which on the face of it would not put Sydney is a good light for cycling around. Her experience is pretty much across the board reading other facebook commentries, new laws have placed more pressure on Cyclists with no benefits.
It would be good to see some numbers however I doubt you could get them so soon.
What happened below is outright assault girl, boy, on a bike off a bike whatever.
From her blog
This brings me to the first incident that made me loose faith in Sydney. So I was riding home from a hot day on patrol. I didn’t take my usual route, that day I decided to take the shared paths. I was tired, my legs hurt, and a just wanted to cruse slowly home in the shade. Then as I was passing Moore park I came across 2 guys walking in my direction, I waited for a bike to pass before changing lanes to go around them. As I went to pass, one dude put his arm out, so I swerved more and he lunged and collected me across my chest. I stopped and angerly said ‘you just f’en punched me! Why would you hit a girl?!!’ And he escalated it to how he would not respect me until I got a license and paid road tax. A few more expletives and he wished I would get hit by a car and die. It was a rapid escalation to a situation I needed to leave. First, the dudes mate was laughing at the situation, second, there was another group of guys, who saw the incident and choose to walk by.
Was that the part where she said they were coming in her direction and when she went around them they swung then lunged and hit her in the chest, if people are jumping towards you to give you a crack how many arms distance should you give them?
As for the truck incident, hmm...
Fixed that for you, just in case you didn't know you were victim blaming. OTIO.
I reset my password just to login for this completely asinine comment. That's about the most knobheaded thing I've read in a while! How about: but if a pedestrian shot you while passing, you are riding within striking distance. Assault is assault mate and there is NO justification for that. I'm f'ing sick to death of pedestrians and drivers who lash out at cyclists for no reason other than plain resentment and a general state of unhappiness.
I ride up a steep hill in Sydney on the (wide) path because it's a 1 -way in the opposite direction. I do the following to avoid consternation : ride wide around people, wear a helmet, use flashing front light, use a polite sounding bell well ahead of passing, and ride slowly around pedestrians. I thank people who kindly step left or right to help. Yet there are STILL assholes who even though I'm no where near them will bark at me or worse. (usually because they are startled after barrelling out of a shop, or around a corner without looking, or they are walking with their noses in their phones. )
I hate Sydney for cycling. Ive had a bottle , a can and a cup of ice, thrown at me while riding on shoulders. Next arsehole will get video footage sent to the police. Thank God for action cameras, and fly6's.
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