Point Cook to CBD Cycle Route

About a year ago I posted about the ever growing transport problem in West Melbourne, and a race at the time between bicycle, car and public transport to the CBD from point Cook as part of a "Get Wyndham Moving campaign. (the bicycle won). I was quite critical of the campaign for using a bike on their logo, when the initiatives in their brochure seemed more geared towards the motorist. At the rate of our population growth out west, I personally can't see anything other really quite drastic change as having much of an impact - for example I wonder how many new car parks would have to be built at Williams Landing to accommodate the population growth for say, the next 5 years? Getting people out of their cars seems to me to be the only sustainable, if a little unrealistic option.

So on that note, something  a little more proactive that I have meant to do for a long time, and that is share some decent information about the beautiful cycling option we have out west here. And this is also a great day trip with cafes etc at Altona and Williamstown.

As often as I can, I cycle to work. It is faster, cheaper, and more reliable than a car, bus or train, and I arrive to work on time and with a clear head and having done something to get off my butt. It is a fantastic ride - largely traffic free on shared bike/pedestrian paths, and is very quiet and safe as far as city commutes go. The only real hazards are the odd over excited dog off leash, and a few short sections on the road with some traffic...on a clear morning with the first glows of the sun pouring over Port Philip Bay, it feels like the best commute in the world!

Entry points

..or skip this and look at the route on a map

There are a couple of options for starting this depending on where in Point Cook you are based - but try to avoid the Point Cook roundabout by the Sanctuary Lakes Shopping Centre, which is a major hazard. Point Cook road is seriously dangerous for cyclists despite the intermittent bike lane. Bypass this by:

1. If coming from the Laverton end, join the path down Skeleton Creek somewhere - there are numerous entry points. If starting from Skeleton Creek / Seabrook below, add 3.7km:

2.If coming from Salt Water Coast (+5.2km), head down the prom and turn right onto Spencer street. At the end or Oprheus street you can wheel your bike up a small embankment (don't ride it, you'll damage the landscaping) and then connect. up with Sanctuary lakes. You can also use the later part of the route if come from West Point Cook/ Featherbrook/ Alamanda Estates:

From Sanctuary Lakes

Assuming you've done either one of those, the route starts from Beach Walk off Sanctuary Lakes Boulevard. Cross the footbridge over the creek - on cool and crisp winter mornings there are stunning sunrises, and I make a special effort to stop for a minute - this sure beats sitting in a traffic jam!

Winter Sunrise

Cross the bridge here and you are now traffic free for the next 5 or so km along the wetlands on the shared path to Altona

Cheetham Wetlands

This section is usually pretty calm in the mornings if it's a southerly, or a bit harder if it's a northerly. Either way the coastal breeze is normally stronger in the afternoons so enjoy the sweet ride in. In the afternoons, a sea breeze picks up pretty much every day. More often than not from the south-west, and because it is pretty exposed here it can be a bit tougher coming back home.

Part of the route

Another great spot for photos is the small hill at 100 steps, just before Laverton Creek if riding towards the city. Head up to the top of the hill if you are into photography.
The route then pops back out onto the road along the Altona foreshore. In the mornings, this road is totally dead from traffic and its another beautiful section of the ride, with more great sunrises!

Altona Foreshore

Keep following the road, it degrades badly as you start to run parallel with the railway briefly just past the Alton Boat Harbour, in winter make sure you have decent lights here so you can see the potholes. There is a river ford are Kororoit Creek which is only a problem if it's been raining seriously hard...on those days there may be 1ft of water here but in summer it's totally dry most of the time.

The path then snake around Jawbone reserve - in the mornings here there are people out walking, especially from a nearby old peoples home - so remember it is a shared path, slow down and let them know you are there before passing. I have seen snakes here too, 4 times in 2 years, but nowhere else on the whole route. All 4 times it was on the first hot day in Autumn when they are most active..around October-ish.

Williamstown Beach on a summer day

Once you escaped snake country, the bike path pops out at Williamstown beach. Not a bad stop for a dip on the way home when it is warm! For the rest of the ride in you'll be back on roads. You can either follow the road around Point Gellibrand, or to take maybe 1km off,  there is a path behind Williamstown station. You then follow the Williamstown foreshore with the option of the road (which has a good bike lane) or a shared path on the coast.

2 options to finish this off:

1. Jump on the cyclists ferry the The Punt which runs every 20 minutes just in the mornings and afternoons (timetable on their website) and takes a few minutes to short cut off a fairly unpleasant ride through the docklands industrial area by taking you across The Yarra. The punt is a small cyclist/pedestrian ferry with a bit of a community of like-minded people on board, and often has plenty of good banter going on. It is extremely reliable and I've never seen it not run, even in the direst weather. A $10 card will get you 5 trips + 1 free on weekdays (its more expensive on weekends) or $2 for one way.

The departure point for The Punt is below and before the Westgate Bridge.

The Punt. Just to set expectations: the one in the foreground...

2. Keep cycling around the docklands area. There is a bike path, and its OK riding with the exception of a few dangerous sections where the path crosses roads or over horrible gratings that will catch thinner wheels. Road cyclists don't use these sections. If you take this option, its +10km - I haven't added this on here but you can find it easily enough by using the bike path filter on Google Maps.

Assuming you took option 1, from the Punt landing point it is about more 5km to get into the city Head along Lorrimer St until you get to a left hand turn for Foundary Way. You can then get off the road and ride along the river for the last section. I've measured my route up to the Southbank directly opposite Flinders St station. Be very slow along the Southbank, cyclists have been getting bad press there for being a hazard and its a busy shared area.

And here is the route itself in full.

Summary

Distance: From sanctuary lakes to Flinders St its about 28km. This is not the fastest, most direct route - but I think it is the nicest.
Best months to ride: in Autumn the wind is calmer and it is still warm but not hot. My favourite cycling month is April.
Worst months: Spring is the windiest, I don't like October despite it getting warmer! In mid-winter you need good warm gear and good lights as there is NO street lighting on a lot of this route - but once you toughen up winter is no major problem.
Hazards: Dogs off leash. And they are totally invisible in winter. Also a bit of truck traffic in the docks area where you get off The Punt, although there is a lot space.
Cost: Less than $4 return. You'll need a decent breakfast.
Time: Depends on your legs and your attitude! About an hour and a quarter riding + 5 - 10 minutes on The Punt. You could be faster or slower.
Stress facto: Nil.

West Melbourne's Traffic problems

I live out in the West of Melbourne, and first of all, I must say, I love it out here. But there is a storm brewing here for commuters as the place rapidly grows. It's a problem that's been here for a while now, but gets worse with every new land sale. And, with major new developments appearing constantly things are not going to get any better any-time soon. 

There is a campaign which started soon to Get Wyndham Moving and this inspired me to have my say. 

When I first moved to the area, I was warned about it. Whenever you tell someone you live in Point Cook...the first thing they say is "oh how long does it take to get to work then? This is despite the fact that in terms of distance, it's actually closer to the city than many parts of Melbourne even remotely east.

Anyway, in order to commute to the city centre from here, these are your main options:

Option 1. Drive the whole way. Roll the dice, and hope for the best. You first major hurdle is getting out of Point Cook. With only 2 major roads leading on to the freeway, it can take an hour to crawl along the congested roads just to get to the on ramp, and then you have such delights as the Princes Highway and the West Gate Bridge to look forward too, if you get that far. You could try negotiating odd working hours with your employer but you are going to have to leave home before 6.30 am for that to be reliable enough.

Estimated Journey time:  60 - 90 mins at peak times

Cost: Fuel, parking, stress

Option 2. Drive to Laverton or Williams Landing, and then get the train. On the surface this looks fine, but the access roads to both stations share the same route as the access roads to the freeway (what madness of urban planning led to that?! Especially in the case of the brand new Williams Landing) . So it can still take an hour just to get to the station when things are really bad. Seeing as though its a little too late to build a separate, new access road to Williams Landing, the only thing I can think of is road widening and designating 1 lane of traffic for buses only. It would then be a very quick journey to the station and therefore more appealing than the traffic jam in your car.One more point here:  Parking at Laverton is not possible after about 7am unless you park in the derelict field nearby, at your own risk! Williams Landing seems to be OK still for parking.

Estimated Journey time: 60 - 90 mins. 'Normally' about 75.

Cost: $12.12 return for the train + fuel (From Williams Landing) or $7.16 Return + fuel From Laverton, which is a zone closer.

Option 3. Get the bus to Williams Landing or Laverton, and then the train to the city. Same traffic problem as above. No parking hassle at least! No buses after 9pm, so don't work late or go out after work.

Estimated Journey time: About 90 minutes via Williams landing if the traffic is busy, but moving.

Cost: $12.12 return or $7.16 Return + fuel From Laverton, which is a zone closer.

Option 4. Cycle to the train station and get the train to the city. Not a bad option, but you first have to survive the seriously scary access road also shared by all the traffic above. There are possible alternative routes that will be far less direct depending on where you are in the Point Cook (From Sanctuary Lakes for example, you can ride alongside the creek bike path to the East). There is no dedicated cycle route that goes the whole way. Also at Laverton there are no spots left in the cycle cage after about 7:45am in summer.

Estimated Journey time: This is by far the fastest option. You can ride past the stationary traffic and be at work within an hour.

Cost: $12.12 return or $7.16 Return + fuel From Laverton….both with the possibility of getting hit by a car en-route

Option 5. Cycle to the Westgate punt, and then into the city. My personal favourite of course - but it requires a reasonable degree of fitness. It takes about an hour and a quarter including the punt depending on your pace and the wind. The route is wonderfully mostly traffic free, along the coastal estuary shared bike/pedestrian path. The only hazards are dogs off leash and the wind.

Journey time: About 80 mins depending on the wind and your fitness.
Cost: $10 will get you 6 trips on the punt. So $3.33 a day return...though you'll need a shower at work and a decent breakfast for fuel.

The Altona bike/pedestrian shared path is beautiful

I was hoping, perhaps with blind optimism, that Get Wyndham Moving pushes for better commuting options that don’t involve a car. Personally I'm a bit of a ‘freak’ that doesn't mind a 60 km+ round trip on the bicycle, riding the whole way into the city. For me, I arrive at work exercised, refreshed, on time and free of stress. I'm a huge advocate of the health and environmental benefits of taking this option, and there is a small but growing group of fellow West Melbourne residents who also do this and utilise the brilliant Punt service to shorten the journey. Of course, I have to be realistic and accept that this level of peddling commitment is not for everyone. But surely more people would at least consider cycling to the train station if there was a safe, but still reasonably direct route available to them ?  And enough safe storage space at the train station for their bike? Any solution to the traffic problems that involve driving, seem only likely have short term benefits at best, because road infrastructure can never keep pace with the population.

As for cycling to the local train stations...here's an example of the peril involved:

The issues with this road are:

-         Cycle lanes are only present at intermittent intervals  along Point Cook road. In some places, they disappear quite suddenly, forcing the rider out into the traffic where there is already very limited space. Having no cycle lane at all may actually be safer in that at least the rider is then on a direct, and predictable line. The worst areas for this are: South of the Sneydes Rd intersection , and north of the Sanctuary Lakes roundabout before the Dunnings Rd intersection

-         The roundabout at the freeway entrance near Laverton is still seriously dangerous despite a recent upgrade. The Sanctuary lakes roundabout also pretty intimidating and a regular accident site for cars. What is the safest route here...into the left hand turning lane, but then go straight?!

-         South of Syndes road there is a bus stop with a section of unsealed road pushing out into the lane. Cars travel along here at 70 km/h are expecting the cyclist to stay in a straight line which they can’t do. The road here is also not wide enough.

-         Cycle access to Williams Landing does not seem to have been considered? Though there are bike cages there that get used a little bit, I wonder how you are supposed to get across the freeway over-bridge safely and directly without riding on the pavement which is illegal in Victoria unless you are under 12 years old.

Finally, I was a little disappointed in opening up "what we need" section of the website that there wasn't one single mention of cycling or related infrastructure. Is the green bike logo on their cover just for decoration? Hopefully something more specific comes from this as the campaign gets started. The 'race' sounds interesting at least. 

I'll be sending this in to Get Wyndham Moving to see what they say...

EDIT: The big news only the day after  posted this, is the public transport announcement that Zone 2 will be scraped. It will be interesting to see what the effect of this is, but will surely push more people towards the newer and further out train station here. The problem of course still exists I of how to  actually get to the train station! And will a fare increase for zone 1 end up funding this? The budget details are "yet to be revealed".

10,000 km - Done

Today I pedaled my ten thousandth kilometre for the year! My wife joined me for the milestone which was a lovely moment, and fitting we should do it together! I'd set myself a target of 10,000 km last January, not so much as a New Years resolution, but more a specific cycling goal. So today, at the finish of 2013 I have ridden 10,026.5 km...with two day's to spare!

This was an interesting challenge. Most of my previous goals in any sport have required commitment over a shorter time period. I found the sustained nature of this challenge made it easier in some respects, but harder in others. On one hand, I could afford the odd 'bad month' provided I was able to make up the time later. At the same time, it was hard in that it works out as having to ride a minimum of 27 km a day, every day...for the whole year..so any slack time meant more work later. As it turned out, I lost a lot of momentum over winter - and I found switching jobs always contributed to that lost momentum, so had to really dig hard for November & December to make the total distance:

A lot of the distance came from commuting. Over the course of the year I had a couple of different jobs, and the closest to home was still 31 km away - so riding that both ways at least a few times a week would mean lots of km's done. I supplemented this with fairly regular weekend rides in the warmer months, and 1 long tour from Adelaide to Melbourne. When I got behind, it felt better to break down the 10,000 into smaller weekly targets and focus purely on hitting that. Losing momentum is your biggest enemy...it's really hard to get started again when you stop, so the key for me was making it part of my daily routine - then your body actually starts missing the pain when you stop pushing yourself hard. I also got plenty of motivation form cycling forums where plenty of others had set similar goals.

Melbourne's Eastern Bays: The path is great for slow training. Take the road to ride quick.

Apart from the physical challenge I've had great health benefits returned from being active. I weigh less now than I did 10 years ago (I also changed a few bad eating habits mind you), and after a cholesterol warning from my doctor at the start of the year, look forward to my next test results to see how much its all paid off.

Perhaps one of the most inspiring news articles I read all year, was the news that bicycles outsold cars in Europe last year. And not just in the big cycling countries with a long history of bicycle friendly services, like Holland, Denmark and France....but we are talking just about ALL of Europe. Most articles I've read about this tend to cite financial recession as the main driver for this, but I wonder if this keeps up long enough, we might even see an impact on not only our population's health, but our planet's too?

All the more reason to get off your ass. Have a happy New Year! And good luck with setting tough, but possible goals...

Ride to Work Day 2013

Its been a fair old while since I've posted on here. I have been riding a fair bit, but lost momentum over the tail end of winter when I switched jobs. Pulling another excuse: It's been bloody windy lately! If I want to make my 10,000 km target for the year, I'll need a really big effort in Nov/Dec with just under 3000 km still to cover. It's not impossible...

Today was National Ride To Work Day and it was just the motivation I needed! I was really impressed at the amount of effort and scale, that went on to make the event a cool day. On my route from the west, the punt was free, and full of atmosphere. With shared tales of woe battling the northerly gale enroute.

On the city side of the punt, a coffee van was set up

...with free goodies: juice, water, & these very tasty buns

The accordion player there was playing a lively sea-shanty style tune that made me think: they should combine ride to work day with "talk like a pirate day"? For punters taking the nautical route to work, its a perfect fit. As for everyone else: Ya lilly livered land-lubbers! Daaargh.

In any-case, for my commute I'm very fortunate to get views like this at dawn and dusk:

I hope to keep blog going a bit more with summer just around the corner, so see you soon...