Category Archives: Health

e-Rideables Crackdown in WA

cycling, Health, regulation, Safety, , ,

Teenagers on a fat bikeIn the lead up to Christmas 2025, the NSW government announced a number of regulatory changes to the sale of e-Bikes, including reduced motor size, maximum top boosted speeds, and the application of throttles. This was in addition to an announcement of revised Federal import restrictions made earlier in the year.

The NSW Government is yet to announce how the regulations will be enforced in NSW.

However, Western Australia appears to be taking an aggressive approach to enforcement, with WA Police urging parents to closely monitor their children’s use of e-rideables, after an operation in Perth saw dozens of juveniles charged and multiple electric scooters and off-road bikes seized and destroyed.

Operation Moorhead was launched in response to community concern about dangerous and anti-social riding behaviour.

Read more at ABC News >>>

Improve saddle comfort (especially for the girls!)

cycling, Health, Safety, ,

Saddle sorenessCycling has a reputation for being a literal pain in the arse.

Saddle soreness, pain or discomfort from the pressure of the seat of the bike, affects many cyclists: from the everyday to the elite.

“It’s a problem for everyone, because you’re putting a lot of pressure on a pretty soft part of the body,” says Chris Steffanoni, a professional bike fitter based in the regional Victorian town of Gisborne.

Steffanoni says while anyone can experience saddle-related problems, they are more common in females.

Read the full story at the ABC >>>

Devils Cardigan 2024

cycling, Health

Cyclist on a gravel roadWhere would you choose to go for a ride on a country road in Australia in the middle of Winter?

Tasmania of course!

The 2024 National Gravel Championships, competing for the Devil’s Cardigan, were held around Derby, in north east Tasmania, over the past weekend. Two courses – 52 km and 106 km, all on gravel roads.

Gravel racing prizes aren’t known for being extravagant, and the Devils Cardigan event is no exception. Forget the shiny trophy with the name of the latest victor proudly engraved on a plaque – that won’t keep you warm as the post-race celebrations rage on through the cold Tasmanian winter’s night…..

The rider who claims the top step of the race podium is awarded a hand-made wooly cardigan with the name of each winner sewn onto it, along with a sack of Tasmanian potatoes, which will no doubt help fuel future rides.

High Country Rail Trail

cycling, Health, Rail Trails, ,

High Country Rail TrailWhile many of us are familiar with the Victorian Rail Trails around Beechworth and Bright, the High Country Rail Trail takes you on a scenic journey through iconic Australian landscapes in the Upper Murray region.

Stretching over 80 kilometres from Wodonga, through Old Tallangatta and out to Shelley, the High Country Rail Trail hugs the shoreline of the majestic Lake Hume.

Ride back in time to the 1950s when the town of Tallangatta was relocated, and the old town flooded by Lake Hume. Cross the sparkling lake over the bright red 600 metre Sandy Creek Bridge to visit the new and old town sites. Pack your panniers with regional produce for a lakeside picnic at Ebden, Ludlow’s or Huon Reserve, or take a refreshing dip while you simply soak up the serenity.

Explore the High Country Rail Trail >>>

Cyclists’ injuries at record high, riders blame aggressive motorists

cycling, Health, regulation, Safety

Safe passing signA record number of NSW cyclists – 2330 – were taken to hospital in 2021, the most since complete hospital records began to be collected in 2005.

Cyclist David Page has experienced at least 12 serious incidents of dangerous driving and abuse from motorists while on the road in Sydney.

“If you want to kill someone, do it with a car because you will always get off,” said Page, a doctor who lives near Turramurra.

Bike riders now represent about one in four (23 per cent) of road crash hospitalisations, and are the only road user group to report increasing injury numbers recently.

From 2005 to 2021, 173 bicyclists were killed and 29,464 were seriously injured on the state’s roads. However, many of these injuries were not reported to police and did not involve another vehicle, Transport for NSW said.

In the 12 months to the end of January 2023, 20 fines were issued to drivers in NSW for breaking the minimum passing distance rule, but none in the Christmas holiday period of December and January despite several statewide traffic blitzes.

In comparison, since 2016, cyclists have received about 55,000 fines for a range of offences, mostly for not wearing a helmet or not having it correctly fastened (31,402 penalties), riding on the footpath (5645 fines), riding at night without a light (5678) and not having a working bell (2476). There have also been 207 fines for “not ride on far-left side of road”.

Read more (SMH) >>>

Bike helmet review throws cold water on sceptics: they’ll likely save your life

cycling, Health, regulation, Safety, , , , ,

From the Sydney Morning Herald…

Cycling HelmetTampere, Finland: The largest review yet of bike helmet use by 64,000 injured cyclists worldwide has found helmets reduce the chances of a serious head injury by nearly 70 per cent.

Claims that bike helmets damaged the neck and caused serious brain injury were also found to be wrong in the study by University of NSW statistician Dr Jake Olivier, who presented on Tuesday to the international injury prevention conference Safety 2016 in Finland.