AUSTRALIANS have quite a unique relationship with cycling. Competitive cycling has been the bearer of some of the nation’s greatest sports people, not the least Tour de France champion Cadel Evans, who will grace the national championships at Buninyong tomorrow for the last time in his illustrious career.
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Evans is a brightest of lights amid decades of drug cheating darkness at the elite level. A clean winner of the Tour – the world’s most prestigious cycling event – has been the exception rather than the rule.
His influence over a new generation of cyclists, not just in Australia but also across cycling, will be profound for his feats on the bike and for his dedication off it.
We are blessed in Ballarat to have secured the national championships not only to see close up the likes of Evans and elite grand tour riders such as Richie Porte, but also some of the world’s most promising young riders.
The battle between now two-time winner Steele Von Hoff and Caleb Ewan up Sturt Street for the final time in Wednesday night’s criterium – which kicked off the championships – was great sporting theatre, no doubt aided and abetted by a large and loud Ballarat crowd which has embraced the city centre event as much as Sunday’s signature road race event. The challenge is to capture the engagement and fervour which surrounds competitive cycling in Australia – and in Ballarat – and transfer it to recreational bicyclists.
Unfortunately, vehicle drivers generally despise recreational cyclists and the feeling is most often mutual.
For all the positive reflections cycling brings to our health, our economy and the external perceptions of Ballarat, there’s plenty who still grumble about the road closures and menace those on two wheels supposedly create.
It’s not enough just to host the national championships to proclaim a change in culture. This is why Ballarat needs to do more than talk the talk on becoming a real cycle city.
In the lead-up to last year’s state election, the RACV released a transport assessment document – unsurprisingly focused on major road projects – designed to provoke funding promises.
Titled Regional Growing Pains, what was possibly most intriguing was the reference to the potential cycling has in reducing congestion in regional centres such as Ballarat.
“RACV’s surveys showing that 56 per cent of regional Victorians own a working bicycle yet only 20 per cent ride at least once a week.
“Well located bicycle paths and lanes and safe places to cross busy highways and railway lines may encourage people to ride to town centres, school and train stations.
“Appropriate end-of-trip facilities like secure bike parking are also necessary. More people riding a bike has advantages for the environment, health and decreases the number of cars on the road.”
Ballarat City Council has embraced the notion of becoming more bike friendly, however, to this point, there’s few indications that funding or projects are coming to fruition at the same rate of the hype.
Ballarat will never be Amsterdam or Copenhagen but we can be a leader in Australia. We’re not talking about closing the roads for cars, just making the city more accessible, and safer, for cyclists
If we are really serious about capturing the excitement and benefits that a bike riding culture can bring, the fever needs to go on beyond a single sprint in January.
Preparing to climb the big mountains takes months, and unrelenting commitment.
andrew.eales@fairfaxmedia.com.au