Safety - The Old Road, an amateur drivers and an amateur cyclists opinion.

It is well known that cyclists and drivers have an uneasy relationship; drivers complain that cyclists take up too much of the lane, while cyclists complain that drivers are aggressive and resentful of cyclists.

This instagram photo illustrates drivers opinion of cyclists on the old road.

 

I live near a stretch of the Old Pacific Highway (Cowan – Brooklyn) that is a popular cycling route. The 10.8km stretch of windy road in my opinion is quite dangerous for both motor vehicle drivers and cyclists, as the road is located on the ridge of a national park the road is enclosed by cliffs northbound and rock walls southbound, the road also has extremely sharp corners.

Map of the Old Pacific Hwy (Cowan - Brooklyn)

I asked my sister, Tiffany her opinion on cyclists on the old road. Tiffany regularly uses the road she is on her P-plates. Tiffany says travelling uphill (southbound), the road isn’t that bad, because there are two lanes, which basically translates to the left lane dedicated to cyclists and the right lane for drivers to take over cyclists. North bound (downhill) however Tiffany explains due to the single laned windy road it is hard to see cyclists around corners and she has come close to having an accident before. Tiffany thinks there should be a bike lane on such a popular cycling route, she also thinks cyclists should be more considerate to drivers by not taking up so much of the lane.

Nathan by no means a professional cyclists has only ever ridden down the old road once, he says one time was enough for him. Nathan was initially really excited to ride down the old road and was enjoying his ride until cars started to pass him, especially around corners. Nathan explains that there isn’t much space on the road for both cars and bikes to drive on, as the cars drove past he felt unsure if he should veer off the road which would lead to him hitting the rock walls or to stay in the lane and get run over by a car. Nathans advice is do not ride down the road unless you are an experienced cyclists and willing to get very close to cars driving past.

So after talking to Tiffany and Nathan, I don’t really have any concrete advice to give to drivers and cyclists using the old road, except be careful! 

This is a youtube video, of a motorcyclist riding up the old road, the video shows you just how windy the old road is. 

Zoe