Western Australia – Page 8

Freeway Bike Hike 2011

March 15, 2011

If you’re in the Perth area it’s time to dust off your bicycle and get ready for the annual ride up the freeway to raise money for the Asthma Foundation of Western Australia.

This Sunday morning the southbound lanes of the freeway will be closed to cars as bicycles of all descriptions take over the road for an amazing community event, the Freeway Bike Hike for Asthma.

Cyclists will have a choice of distances to cover. For the keen there’s the 60km ride from Kwinana Train Station. The original 30km ride through the Tunnel from Belmont Park Racecourse is generally the most popular choice with a 10km family ride starting at the Greenwood Train Station. All three rides finish in the City of Joondalup where there’ll be plenty of food, drink, music, prizes, entertainment, and a whole lot more.

The inaugural event was held in March 2005. It was created as a unique fundraising event for the Asthma Foundation of Western Australia and has evolved into WA’s largest mass participation cycling event. After six years it is now a regular fixture on the WA sports and community calendar and in 2010 more than $113,000 was raised!

Now entering its seventh year, the annual HBF Freeway Bike Hike for Asthma will launch the 26th Cycle Instead Bikeweek 2011 – the State’s annual week-long celebration of recreational and commuter cycling. The HBF Freeway Bike Hike for Asthma is Western Australia’s largest single day cycling event and the third largest cycling event in Australia. With more than 8,500 participants in 2010 the Asthma Foundation of Western Australia is expecting great things in 2011.

I’ll be helping out on the day starting at Belmont to announce the start of that part of the event. I’ll then head to Joondalup where I’ll take on the duties of MC for various presentations.

If you’re taking part make sure you look out for me around the main stage area in Joondalup. I’d love to say hello.

If you’re a motorist who’s wondering how the ride will affect you, here are the road closures.

Kwinana Freeway

* Southbound lanes will be closed from Mitchell Freeway to Thomas Road from 4am until 9:30am.

Graham Farmer Freeway

* Eastbound lanes (including the Tunnel eastbound) will be closed from 4am until 10am.
* Eastbound lanes will be closed from the Mitchell Freeway to Great Eastern Highway during these hours.

Mitchell Freeway

* Southbound lanes will be closed from Burns Beach Road to Perth from 4am until 12pm (noon).

City of Joondalup

* Hodges Drive (eastbound) from the Mitchell Freeway will be closed from 4am until 2pm
* The intersection of Joondalup Drive and Grand Boulevard will be closed from 4am until 2pm.
* Grand Boulevard will be closed from the intersection of Joondalup Drive to Shenton Avenue from 4am until 2pm

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My Daily Temptation

March 8, 2011

by Rodney Olsen

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It’s just as well I enjoy working in radio because every day I’m tempted to just stay on my bike and keep riding all day.

Yesterday was a public holiday so I took the opportunity to take the ride to work a little easier with a few stops along the way to take some photos. I wanted to share parts of my daily commute with you so you might understand why I’m tempted to keep riding each morning. My ride takes me from one of Perth’s southern suburbs into the city and then out again to Como. It’s not the most direct route but it is quite wonderful.

You can click on each of the photos if you’d like to see a little more detail.

The first part of my ride takes me down a main road but it’s not without its beauty. The first photo is one of the man made lakes that mark the entrances to some of the housing estates just off the main road.

After several kilometres I come to this intersection where I leave the road and get onto a shared path that takes me alongside Roe Highway then along the Freeway shared path.

After quite a few kilometres I get to the Shelley Bridge where I get my first glimpse of the river with Perth city in the background.

Rather than staying on the shared path I head along The Esplanade in Mount Pleasant. The views along the river are wonderful.

I head past dozens of multi-million dollar homes.

Once I cross Canning Bridge I get back onto the Freeway shared path and enjoy more river views.

Being a public holiday the Freeway was very quiet. Usually I ride along the path past bumper to bumper traffic making slow progress into the city.

The grand old building here is the old Swan Brewery which sits below King’s Park and which now houses luxury apartments and restaurants.

Almost in the city now.

I cross over the Narrows Bridge and then head along the city foreshore. It’s great to see more and more of our black swans enjoying the river.

A quick look across to part of the city.

And finally I’m at work, ready to get behind the broadcast desk for another morning on the radio.

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Riverdance 2011

March 7, 2011

by Rodney Olsen

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It’s been eight years since the pounding feet and swirling music of Riverdance tapped its way across Australia. Since Riverdance burst onto the world stage it has thrilled millions around the globe.

A national tour opens in Perth tomorrow before heading to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Since Riverdance began performances in Dublin in 1995, the show has played more than 10,000 performances, been seen live by over 22 million people, played in over 350 venues in 40 countries across 5 continents and played to a global television audience of over 2 billion people.

Riverdance – The Farewell Tour 2011 is set to thrill long time fans as well as new admirers. Today in the studio at 98.5 Sonshine FM I spoke to the two lead dancers of the current tour, Maria Buffini and Padraic Moyles.

They were absolutely delightful and it was a wonderful opportunity to hear about the journey of Riverdance over the years. You can hear our conversation by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

Riverdance will be at the Burswood Theatre in Perth from the 8th to the 13th of March.

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/MOR030711_1136.mp3]

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You’re a Freak

March 1, 2011

by Rodney Olsen

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The clouds got awfully dark yesterday afternoon. Around 3:30 the weather bureau sent out a severe weather warning for sections of Western Australia, including metropolitan Perth.

I looked out the window and decided that I should head off a little early to try to beat the storm home.

We’ve had a record heat wave in Perth this summer with what seems to be an endless string of very warm nights. The idea of some bucketing rain seemed quite attractive. Anything that would freshen things up a little would be welcome.

I headed home as quickly as my legs would pedal. The breeze was generally on my back so that made things a little faster. I almost made it.

About three kilometres from home the dark grey clouds caught up with me. That’s also when the wind became a little confused and began blowing from different directions, throwing leaves and other debris at the side of my head. A number of random gusts nearly blew me off my bike but I was nearly home so I kept going. As I turned into a major road about half a kilometre from home the wind was coming directly towards me. I was using all the strength I had to move forward. The rain started getting heavier.

Thankfully I made it home and got inside. The rain kept building and we had around ten minutes of bucketing rain.

The strange thing about this freak storm is that there were many areas of Perth that got absolutely no wind or rain. We got plenty of both but it wasn’t too damaging. Other areas has localised flooding with trees destroyed and power lines down.

A while after the rain had stopped we lost power. I had to continue cooking dinner without power. Thank goodness we have a gas cooktop. Power was restored to our home around two hours later but there are still over twenty thousand homes without electricity this morning.

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Commuting Driving Up Stress

February 17, 2011

by Rodney Olsen

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I was very interested to see the front page story in today’s copy of our local newspaper, The West Australian. While it’s talking about a local issue I’m sure that it’s one that people can relate to in cities right around the world.

According to the story Commuters suffering traffic stress, three quarters of Perth commuters are getting stressed out during their daily drive to work.

I couldn’t put myself through that day after day. I very rarely get caught in peak hour traffic and I hate it. Having to do that ten times a week, five times to work, five times home, would convince me it’s time to make a change.

Three out of four Perth commuters become stressed and frustrated during their daily drive to work, with most blaming rude and aggressive drivers and stop-start traffic.

A major survey of commuters across Australia, to be released today, also found that Perth commuters were the highest users of private vehicles in the country.

Seventy per cent of Perth commuters opted to drive their car to and from work.

The details come from a major survey of commuters across Australia. It also seems that Perth commuters are the highest users of private vehicles in the country with 70% of Perth commuters choosing to drive their cars to and from work.

Perth commutes are generally shorter than in other Australian cities but we’re still getting stressed.

It found that 97 per cent of Perth drivers spent less than an hour commuting to work, with an average one-way trip of 27 minutes – the lowest in the nation.

Yet 73 per cent said they experienced stress during their daily commute, with 28 per cent saying it had a negative impact on their health.

It’s interesting to see that in a related story, Workers dodge freeway frustration, The West is highlighting cycling as a way to beat the traffic blues.

With the amazing conditions we have in Perth I’m surprised that more people haven’t switched to two wheels. One of the highlights of my day is zooming along the freeway bike path while people sit stuck in traffic. It’s not that I delight in seeing people experiencing the stress of peak hour traffic, it’s more that I know that what I’m doing is actively driving my own stress levels down. Well, that and the fact that I’m having an enormous amount of fun every morning.

How’s your daily commute? Do you feel stressed as head to work and home each day? Would you consider cycling to work? What would it take for you to make the switch?

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