Heya all,
I have  a bike that I have had for quite some time,  my dad suggested to me on the weekend that I should look into some more social riding rather than just riding as a means of getting around.

So… to keep my mind off exams (which happen to be in less than 24 hours /cries) I have been doing some research on the topic and have found out some really interesting things.

The first site that I would like to mention Critical Mass Sydney, the site contains some really handy safety tips on the do’s and dont’s of riding a bike. As a note the site has adapted their article from BicycleSafe.org, however at the same time they have adapted some of the details for Australian roads.

Upon reading the Critical Mass article  I actually found several things that I as a rider was doing which could put me in danger (without knowing), such as riding on the shoulder near parked cars. However I also found out details on a Hook Turn (an interesting method for cyclists for turning right from the left lane). So, it is something that I would really recommend a read of if you currently ride or are thinking of starting.

Another site I found was Bicycle NSW, now as a note I realise that the vast majority of these sites are aimed at people living in and around Sydney in New South Wales, Australia… however there is some great information on these sites regardless. Anyhoo back to it, Bicycle NSW brought up for me the interesting issue of public liability insurance for cyclists. I had never considered the need for a cyclist to take out public liability insurance (for those of you that do not know, public liability insurance covers third parties if you are the cause of an accident). As part of membership to Bicycle NSW, both personal accident insurance and public liability insurance (up to $20M AUD) is included. So I thought that this would be an interesting thing to bring up as perhaps something you should check out for in your local area.

The third and final site which I would like to bring up is one that is (once again) mainly aimed at people living in New South Wales, however you should do a web search for similar such sites/groups in your local area. The third site is PushOn, this site is a community site for people to meet up and organise social rides within their local community.  This includes the wonder of Bugs (Bicycle User Groups), which are each run by volunteers and are very much a mini community of cyclists. So if you are in New South Wales by all means take a look, or if not do a search to find a similar organisation within your local area (either inside or outside Australia).

Well, in the interest of keeping my blog posts short so that I do not bore you all to tears, I will leave you on this note… my wise words for the day are… When you go back to riding after not having done so for a while… you end up with a REALLY sore behind (I know because I am in that boat right now /cries).

LOL behave yourselves all, and I will be back to my normal posting schedule after exams this Wednesday.
Stuart