I rode along the M5 for the first time, heading towards town from Henry Lawson Drive to King George’s Road. It was good riding on a wide shoulder. In the last section the shoulder was officially closed, but I rode on it anyway. One unexpected thing happened. I was tooted by many cars. Friendly double toots. Strangely the only cars to toot were 4WDs and cars with P Plates. After King Georges Road, I rode along the Linear Park, though looking at the map I now see that it extends further along the motorway. I then headed up and over through Hughes Park to the Cup and Saucer Creek down to the Cooks River. This was an exciting route to follow in the dark as in many places you are in the dark and the only light is that from the trikes lights, which I am sad to say were not up to the task. At one time I was sideways going over some unseen lumps in the track caused by tree roots.
So, let P be the number of P Platers, F the number of 4WDs, V the number of vehicles per hour, p the proportion of P platers who too, f the proportion of 4WDs who toot and v the proportion of vehicles who toot. B is the number of beeps per hour. I travelled 8 km at about 25 kmh which is approximately 20 minutes on the motor way.
[pmath]B = (6*25/8)=pP*fF*v(V-P-F)[/pmath]
The section you thought was closed is always like that. The big signs saying it’s closed are only to deter cars from driving on the shoulder then exiting at King Georges Road. Perfectly legal for us bikes to be riding along there, the only down side is you’ve got to stray near the cars to go around the signs.
LOL, trust the police to do something like that. There was one I could get around on the left side. Really, if they wanted to stop drivers form driving in the lane they only need one barrier at the end. I left at King Georges road and rode down the linear park. But I saw you can continue along the M5. Have you done so? If you do, where can you or where do you have to get off?
Yep. When I ride to/from work I ride all the way along the M5 to Bexley Road. Then there’s either the easy option of the back way through Turrella, or the hard way up and over Earlwood. http://bit.ly/7F6ZBb & http://bit.ly/8pIGAM should show that section.
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OK, I have yet to go the back way through Turrella. It has been on my to do list for a while. I’ll try it. I followed the bike route which follows cup and saucer creek through to the Cooks River. Though I’d guess it also falls into the too hill category.
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