Commuting Parkhurst to Auckland Park

[stevenbl]

Hi everyone

I'm relocating to Johannesburg from CPT in a few months, and keen to find a way to continue urban commuting and riding as much as possible.

I would love to ride my kid to school - most likely in Auckland Park, while we will most likely live in Parkhurst. 

Any thoughts on this route and am I missing any opportunities to take greener/quieter/safer routes? https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/5141218813/

And would you ride it with a kid on the back? Thinking of safety in all its dimensions, road and criminal...

Road safety wise, I have question marks over whether Rustenburg Rd around melville koppies has a pavement to avoid riding on the road on that busy section, and would dismount to cross Kingsway Avenue...but other than that it's either in green space or residential streets, so hoping.....

Thanks for any insights or others that ride any parts of this route with or without kids in tow! I'll ride it alone myself in end September but in the meantime wanted to collect some intel as we decide where to live.

[Nico van Loggerenberg]

I could give you some advice but the link is not working at the moment. 

[wolf1969]

I ride around the areas you mention (Parkhurst, Greenside, Emmarentia, Melville, Richmond, Auckland Park, Westdene etc.) most days on my own, but early in the day (like 5am). There are a few considerations - road surfaces (which are horrible), traffic (which might be horrible depending on your timing) and hills (depending on your route going into Melville is about 10%). I wouldn't worry about safety too much - it might be something to think about if you're riding in the dark but otherwise you should be fine. I can't see your route, but I am sure you can find something that'll work ok for you. Good luck with your move - Jo'burg is cool.

[stevenbl]

20 hours ago, Nico van Loggerenberg said:

I could give you some advice but the link is not working at the moment. 

Sorry, have changed sharing settings now: https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/5141218813/

[stevenbl]

9 hours ago, wolf1969 said:

I ride around the areas you mention (Parkhurst, Greenside, Emmarentia, Melville, Richmond, Auckland Park, Westdene etc.) most days on my own, but early in the day (like 5am). There are a few considerations - road surfaces (which are horrible), traffic (which might be horrible depending on your timing) and hills (depending on your route going into Melville is about 10%). I wouldn't worry about safety too much - it might be something to think about if you're riding in the dark but otherwise you should be fine. I can't see your route, but I am sure you can find something that'll work ok for you. Good luck with your move - Jo'burg is cool.

Thanks for the tips! Here is the route map now properly shareable (oops): https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/5141218813/

[Nico van Loggerenberg]

Looks like an OK route. There are two pretty steep sections on it - the start of Melville as well as the part where you leave Emmarentia Park. Nothing insane but enough to cause a glow in summer. 

 

I have marked the two spots where there have been attacks in the last few months. Tana Road is generally safe as there are lots of people but Rustenburg has had a few more incidents, so I'd be careful there. I think they may happen mostly further up and there aren't too many alternatives though. 

Edited August 10, 2022 by Nico van Loggerenberg

[stevenbl]

On 8/10/2022 at 6:59 PM, Nico van Loggerenberg said:

Looks like an OK route. There are two pretty steep sections on it - the start of Melville as well as the part where you leave Emmarentia Park. Nothing insane but enough to cause a glow in summer. 

 

I have marked the two spots where there have been attacks in the last few months. Tana Road is generally safe as there are lots of people but Rustenburg has had a few more incidents, so I'd be careful there. I think they may happen mostly further up and there aren't too many alternatives though. 

Thanks so much. Really helpful. Any advice where I can find up to date report incidents like the two you mentioned?

 

[Marcv]

The section from 1 - 2 is dodge during the week. There have been too many attacks (including a person in our small riding group) and its just not busy enough during the week, Rather stick to the quieter roads.

 

[Nico van Loggerenberg]

11 hours ago, stevenbl said:

Thanks so much. Really helpful. Any advice where I can find up to date report incidents like the two you mentioned?

 

You can look for the Spruit groups on Facebook or check through this if you want to lose your will to do it - 

 

 

Like Marc mentioned there have been attacks between 1 and 2, but you can easily bypass that by just sticking to the road and going around that way, not a problem. 

[stephenplumb]

I used to commute from Umhlanga to UKZN back in the 90s. After my third crash I called it quits on road riding. Every single one of my mates that cycled a lot had been hit by a vehicle at least once. 

Even back then JHB was in the top 10 worst cities in the world for cycling. Driving standards have become considerably worse in the intervening years and that excludes the possibility of attacks mentioned above. 

It can probably be done, but you can also play russian roulette and may survive some time, but the odds are not in your favour. You are better advised to get a MTB and stick to organised venues  that have some security. 

I am 5 mins drive from my office and would love to commute but it would mean crossing the R55 outside kyalami and given the number of drivers that wantonly drive through red traffic lights such I would not even consider it. 

If your kids are young give serious thought to your chances to continuing to see them. Stick to dirt.

[117]

My 2c: 

From #1 follow the suggested blue line to #5 - this keeps you away from the parks, which is a good place for the crims to hide in. 

Olifants road (in yellow circle) that crosses the dam is popular with cyclists in the early hours of the morning, but its mostly used by the guys crossing from the west to east to do the coffee run to Croft

[The Ouzo]

16 minutes ago, stephenplumb said:

I used to commute from Umhlanga to UKZN back in the 90s. After my third crash I called it quits on road riding. Every single one of my mates that cycled a lot had been hit by a vehicle at least once. 

Even back then JHB was in the top 10 worst cities in the world for cycling. Driving standards have become considerably worse in the intervening years and that excludes the possibility of attacks mentioned above. 

It can probably be done, but you can also play russian roulette and may survive some time, but the odds are not in your favour. You are better advised to get a MTB and stick to organised venues  that have some security. 

I am 5 mins drive from my office and would love to commute but it would mean crossing the R55 outside kyalami and given the number of drivers that wantonly drive through red traffic lights such I would not even consider it. 

If your kids are young give serious thought to your chances to continuing to see them. Stick to dirt.

This kind of post gets under my skin.

Yes the dangers are there. But we need more cyclists on the road not less. The more on the road the more drivers become aware.

I've done many 10s of 1000s of km on the road without serious incident. You need to be aware that the dangers exist and mitigate as much as possible.  It not an ideal situation but it can be done. Telling people to stay off the road is in my opinion the wrong approach. Educate people to the dangers and mitigations that can be taken rather.

[stephenplumb]

Luckily we are all entitled to our own opinions. To advocate that more riders on the road will somehow make it safer is an intriguing leap of logic. Can you support it with some facts that demonstrate your proposition? 

I actually prefer road riding, and would happily ride all over most of europe because they actually know how to drive, have traffic rules for the most part, and have great infrastructure for cycling. 

SA has no road rules, highly inconsiderate drivers, no policing and in most cases don't even cater to pedestrians let alone cyclists. This before getting into the real threat of bikejacking! 

To propose that a young father should be on the roads to support an ideology is infantile. I would suggest that he educates himself on the risks and makes that decision for himself, but I would advocate that he faces reality and keeps himself alive for his family.

[The Ouzo]

41 minutes ago, stephenplumb said:

Luckily we are all entitled to our own opinions. To advocate that more riders on the road will somehow make it safer is an intriguing leap of logic. Can you support it with some facts that demonstrate your proposition? 

No Stats, but logic says if you have more of something around you're more likely to take notice of it.

 

43 minutes ago, stephenplumb said:

To propose that a young father should be on the roads to support an ideology is infantile. I would suggest that he educates himself on the risks and makes that decision for himself, but I would advocate that he faces reality and keeps himself alive for his family.

And right here in your first post you propose he stays off the road completely making it sound like he is taking his life into his hands just by being on the road

1 hour ago, stephenplumb said:

It can probably be done, but you can also play russian roulette and may survive some time, but the odds are not in your favour. You are better advised to get a MTB and stick to organised venues  that have some security. 

 

All I am saying is that instead of advocating and absolute, make aware of the dangers but also make aware that they can also be mitigated to an extent.

[Schnavel]

2 hours ago, 117 said:

My 2c: 

From #1 follow the suggested blue line to #5 - this keeps you away from the parks, which is a good place for the crims to hide in. 

Olifants road (in yellow circle) that crosses the dam is popular with cyclists in the early hours of the morning, but its mostly used by the guys crossing from the west to east to do the coffee run to Croft

I would agree with this route change - it is quite and a lot safer than going between areas 1 and 2.

[stephenplumb]

1 hour ago, ouzo said:

No Stats, but logic says if you have more of something around you're more likely to take notice of it.

 

And right here in your first post you propose he stays off the road completely making it sound like he is taking his life into his hands just by being on the road

 

All I am saying is that instead of advocating and absolute, make aware of the dangers but also make aware that they can also be mitigated to an extent.

You are probably right. I tend to view the world in black and white terms, so that is a challenge. just be glad you are not my wife! 

I still very much stick to my guns on riding in JHB roads being risky at best and pretty close to russian roulette. Cape Town is not Europe by a long shot, but they do tend to have a much higher degree of law and order around the city.

In KZN I was able to ride around relatively freely by MTB and hit trails almost straight from home in Winston Park. When I moved to JHB, my neighbour told me that he was shot at Mountain Biking and the neighbour on the other side was raped while running alone. The decision was quickly made that bike parks are the only viable option for me.

In short Gauteng is a long way from the WC but as you rightly said, the OP should make an informed judgement and see if risks can be mitigated.