murraythomas

Dear Imaanm Hassen Walele am so sorry to hear about what happened to your son. It is with relief that i read that no physical harm came of him. Please post pics of the bike. Always good to have extra eyes looking out.

Ja right under wetton bridge where Belper Road goes into a dead end. While i might have had my guard down that day, i have safely passed under that bridge hundreds and hundreds of times. Yes, hyper vigilance would be a big help. But, like wearing a covid-19 mask all the time, it is hard to maintain hyper vigilance all the time. I certainly can't live life trying to think "security" every waking second of the day. Not designed like that. To coin PJ O'Rouke, "unprotected sex, open heart surgery and divorce is expensive and/or dangerous". So is cycling in SA

Thanks for the kind words. I wont stop cycling, rather just make a lifestyle change. Instead of doing what i really want to do - which is commute - i will wake up earlier, cycle out and back from home on a safe route, then burn the planet up faster by commuting to work in my car. There are many people in our country much worse off than they were before Covid-19 came around. If my stolen possessions can be generate some cash, and that cash used to buy basic necessities, then i am happy with the trade, nothwithstanding the fact the trade was done at gunpoint.

on the subject of cycling safety, last wed at 5pm i was cycling home and under Wetton Road Bridge in Wynberg i was ambushed by 4 people, and at gunpoint traded my life for my bicycle, phone and rugsack.

Stolen: Titan Whopper 2015 When: 4 November 2020 Where: Cape Town, Western Cape mugged by group of 4 men, one with a handgun. traded my life for the bike, rugsack and phone Get further details about the incident in the Stolen Bikes section

Hi Odon My City bus leaves Civic Centre every 20min, starting on the hour. You gotta look at the published time table so see ETA at the station of your choice. Just a bit of maths to work out your cycling timing so that your wait time is minimized. Last night i got it almost right, and ending up waiting only 8 minutes for the bus, which is not the end of the world. Hi Hairy. Thank you for your offer to join your work commute group. For practical reasons, and in order to get to work in time, i gotta leave home in Milnerton at 6h30am sharp. And on my home commute, i enter Mi City cycle lane at about 17h45. Too late for you guys ... As far as doing renovation on the existing foot path alongside the N1/R27, i was thinking more of the " rather beg for forgiveness than ask for permission" route. Just go there with some spades and stompers and renovate. of course the huge irony would be to employ the homeless (living on the other side of the N1) to do the grunt work. Wouldn't that be funny. A quick way of making a parallel footpath next to the existing one, is to ask a mate with an enduro motorbike to ride alongside with front brake on. The spinning rear wheel knobbly will dig out another path in no time at all. And yes, whatever was done in the way of informal refurbishment would still only render the path ok for MTB and/or gravel bikes.

Thanks for the link Hairy. Just to let you and other commuters know, i have come up with a part safe solution, and it goes like this ... I feel very vulnerable between the Paarden Island bridge, and Woodstock bridge. Simply avoid this section by catching the My City bus, with your bicycle. And ride along Marine Drive Service Road on the section between Paarden Island bridge and Car Boot Sale site. Some time ago the PPA advocated changing the cycle lane to run through the harbour instead. This is not going to happen any time soon... Another solution could be by forming an informal work party and upgrading the rough, existing foot path/single track that runs alongside the N1 from town, and alongside the R27 up to the Paarden Island entrance to the harbour. Upgrading could include compacting parts to make it less bumpy, and putting in a parallel foot path/single track to accommodate cycle traffic in both directions.

Hi there i commute on the My Citi cycle route, and this morning stopped to chat to the Law Enforcement Cops that were standing by in a vehicle, just near the Paarden Island Bridge. They are as frustrated as me regarding the safety of this route. the Cops say their supervisors will not act on any feedback they give. In other words, if the Cops say, "hey boss, the fence on the My City route have been pulled down and need repairs" - well this type of feedback falls on deaf ears. The Cops say the only way is for cyclists using the route, to write (e mail) with their concerns. Which leads me to the question; does anybody know the appropriate e mail address for voicing safety concerns on this route?