![](../../Rides_Stuff/22_Sunday_rides/maps/Cowan/ELEVATION-Cowan_Spencer_Wyong-127km.gif)
Climb to Mt White. Continue elevating to
Peats Ridge. Descend to Spencer after 70km. Climb back out of
Spencer. Climb up and descend Bumble Hill. 18km flat stretch to
Wyong - 129km
Civil Liability and Personal Responsibility ACT (NSW) 2002,
in particular
Division 5 Recreational Activities, obligates
the
Inviter to
Provide A Risk Warning
to an
Invitee(s) when participating in a
Recreational Activity
which involves a
Risk of Harm
Sufferable due to one or more of the
Three
Types Of Risks
About
7 years ago,
Guy aka Lawyer,
ended up in North Shore Spinal Unit requiring surgery on his neck after pulling
up quickly due to an oncoming vehicle getting close, whereupon a subsequent
Muggs' rider,
Greg aka ArchitectToo,
clipped Guy's pedal and they both took
nasty falls.
Three
years ago, on the final leg to Hornsby,
Tony aka
Yorkshire,
ended up in RNSH
after being slow to react to
Kevin aka TexDubbo
and
David aka MountainGoat
breaking upon seeing a red traffic light signal ahead. Tony acknowledged
that he was slow to react and upon seeing Kev's imposing rump, coming up real
rapid, Tony instinctively slammed on the brakes and cart-wheeled over the handle
bars, with the inevitable Noggin going gyro head-first into the tarmac, smashing
his helmet, which may have otherwise ended in brain damage.
Fortunately, after
RNSH trauma unit (in Emergency) doing chest,
shoulder and neck X-rays, head CT scan, and abdominal ultrasound, and blood
tests, all within 2 hours of admission, Tony was released within 6 hours.
Tony was told that he was the third cyclist that day in Emergency. Bank Teller understands that Tony was at least one bike length behind
TexDubbo.
Over
four years ago, at the behest of the Editor of
Push On, Jenni G_rmley,
Bank
Teller researched Regulation 126 “Keeping a safe distance behind
vehicles” of the
NSW Road Rules 2008,
namely whether a bicycle rider (designated as a vehicle under Regulation 15) is
required to travel at a safe distance behind another cyclist. Jenni
published
Bank
Teller's research findings in
“Is riding in a bunch illegal?”.
No one has ever disputed his assertions therein, that cyclists are braking the
law when not riding at a distance whereby a cyclist can pull up to avoid hitting a
bicycle (vehicle) ahead.
As night follows day, a cyclist
ahead will successfully litigate a cyclist behind who cannons into him/her which
causes the cyclist ahead to suffer a serious injury, unless the cyclist ahead
has agreed to the cyclist behind drafting him/her, whereupon the cyclist ahead
is obligated to alert the cyclist(s) behind of pending obstacles.
For
this reason
Ride Participant Liability Acknowledgment includes:
(x)
As a
Ride Participant, I –
(d) accept
that Muggs' credo is climbing steep hills with gusto; and
i) I will not draft less than
one bicycle length from the bicycle in front of me for more than 20 seconds
without the agreement of the rider in front [who pursuant to sub clause
(ii) below, then accepts responsibility to warn of pending obstructions (eg.
glass, potholes, grids)] due to increased likelihood of wheels touching,
particularly on the flats and down hills, and consequent falls where
the road always wins; and
ii) if I am leading a
small consensual bunch, I will -
+ warn
Ride Participants
behind me, using both hand
signals and loud audible warnings, of upcoming potholes, grids etc;
+ scream-out real loud, real fast if I
need to deviate in speed or direction due to something that I see within my
pathway - "like a good fly-half, I will keep my outside backs informed"
Hence, if you are riding with Muggs and you -
a)
draft within one bicycle length of a rider ahead for more than 20 seconds and
you do not seek permission to draft that rider, and you cause the rider ahead,
or another rider(s), to suffer a serious injury(ies), you had better have
reliable third party public liability insurance with a lot of zeros in the
liability amount; or
b)
agree for another rider to draft within one bicycle length of your rear
wheel, and you cause the rider behind, or another rider(s), to suffer a serious
injury due to not warning them of a pending obstruction, you had better have
reliable third party public liability with all those zeros,
especially if the person(s) that your negligence causes to be seriously injured
is/are self-employed with three kids, a wife at home and a huge mortgage, and
they are unable to continue working in that profession and suffer a future
income loss.