| BREAKING NEWS Canadian Trail closures Works by contractors for Central Highlands Water on upgrading the Ballarat South Sewer Main are continuing along the Canadian Trail. From Monday 19th April, 2010 the section from Wainwright St to Geelong Road will be closed indefinitely. This effectively means that the Canadian Trail is closed to cycling from the north side of the Mercure Inn to the CBD at Llanberris Reserve. Cyclists should consider an appropriate alternative route to suit their riding skills. For those confident in traffic, Geelong Rd is the most direct alternative. For those wishing to avoid so much traffic, Larter St is an option. EVENTS AND RIDES LOCAL 24-27 September 2010 Australian Masters Road Cycling Championships 1 May 2011 Ballarat Autumn Day Ride (BAD Ride). 25, 50 or 100km routes all on sealed roads. Starts at Ballarat City Oval 9am. For details closer to the event, go to http://www.ballarat.com/bushwalking/ ELSEWHERE Snowy River Cycling Something to look forward to as winter closes in and the days get shorter: the Spring itinerary of tours from Snowy River Cycling:
East Gippsland Rail Trail Tour Thurs Sept 16 to Sun Sept 19.
Ride Around the River Tues Nov 2 to Sat Nov 6
Snowgums to Seaweed Mon Nov 22 to Sat Nov 27 Details of the tours below can be found at www.snowyrivercycling.com.au NEWSLETTER If you would like to subscribe to our newsletter (its free if you get it by email and is published two or three times a year) just email us at
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For recent BalBUG Newsletters, please click here. HELMETS -ARE THEY GOOD FOR BIKE RIDING? A health benefit model developed at Macquarie University and published in March 2009 suggests national mandatory all-age bicycle helmet laws incur a health cost to Australia of more than half a billion dollars every year. http://www.cycle-helmets.com/macquarie-study.html To follow a comprehensive debate on the effectiveness of bike helmets, including papers on the Australian experience that have been published in peer reviewed journals such as the British Medical Journal, go to http://www.cycle-helmets.com/index.html Alternatively, you could take a peak at Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_helmet For information on a recent peer reviewed research which puts a contrary view, see http://www.bv.com.au/bikes-&-riding/42381/ for information on the study "The effects of provincial bicycle helmet legislation on helmet use and bicycle ridership in Canada", conducted by four health academics, steered by Jessica Dennis, of McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, University of Ottawa. The study was peer reviewed and published in the Journal of Injury Prevention in June 2010. LOBBYING To peruse submissions made by BalBUG and to get an appreciation of our polciy positions, please click here. See the latest with the submission on Ballarat City Council's Draft CBD Strategy. If you would like to read a copy of the Ballarat City Council's Ballarat Bicycle Strategy 2008, adopted in August 2008, please visit http://www.ballarat.vic.gov.au/library/scripts/objectifyMedia.aspx?file=pdf/70/98.pdf&siteID=1&str_title=Bicycle Strategy.pdf Victorian Cycling Strategy March 2009 -Take a look at what the Victorian government is proposing to spend some of its extra $115M for cycling on (above the $32M announced in 2006 in Meeting Our Transport Challenges and the $4M pa from VicRoads for cycling and pedestrians). Note the two projects on p26 relating to Ballarat (Gregory St lanes, both sides; Gillies St bike path). Also note that a regional blueprint is due for release later in 2009. This Strategy tends to concentrate on Melbourne. To peruse copies of the Strategy go to http://www.transport.vic.gov.au/DOI/Internet/planningprojects.nsf/AllDocs/BE2AC61FA1099721CA25757D001EFBF0?OpenDocument MEDIA CLIPPINGS For Newspaper clippings, click here. For interesting articles click on the links below: Photos of bike riding diversity from around the planet http://www.abc.net.au/news/photos/#num=1&id=2972852 European Public Cycling Schemes -Anything like what we can expect from the Victorian Bike Strategy? Melbourne Age 4 April 2009 http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-news/power-to-the-pedal-20090401-9j1h.html European cycle-friendly cities. Melbourne Age 5 April 2008 http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/04/03/1206851076964.html | 
