Yesterday, I cycled out to Plover Cove Reservoir as part of an attempt to improve on my personal best distance total for a single day. There is a dedicated cycle track all the way from Taipo to the foot of the reservoir’s dam, and when I reached this point, I couldn’t help but notice the sign at the foot of the hill leading to the crest of the dam:
Note the imperative. The sign doesn’t read ‘Cyclists are advised to…’. No! They must dismount. And here’s the joke:Cyclists must dismount and push cycles on the inclined road.
As you can see, it barely qualifies as a hill, so I took no notice of the instruction, as you might have expected me to do. After all, I routinely cycle up hills far steeper than this, so I wasn’t about to get off and push my bike (a mountain bike with 5cm tyres) up this pathetic ‘inclined road’.
The sign is repeated at the top of the hill:
…and the view of the ‘hill’ from the top isn’t particularly intimidating either:
In fact, I pedalled downhill—I never freewheel down hills unless I consider it dangerous to keep pedalling, or I can’t go any faster anyway.
However, there is a factor in this injunction to get off and push that I haven’t mentioned. Less than half a mile from the bottom of this incline is the village of Tai Mei Tuk, the principal business of which is the hiring out of bicycles. At weekends and on public holidays, huge numbers of people come here for precisely this reason. For many years, I’ve avoided all the places where I might encounter what, in Cycling in Hong Kong, I described as ‘weekend cyclists’, whose cycling skills range from rudimentary to almost nonexistent. It’s clear that the signs are aimed at these people.
The last time I came here, a couple of years ago, there were no signs, but from previous experience I can visualize the utter chaos that must have prompted the authorities to erect these peremptory warnings, which I felt fully justified in ignoring. After all, I could still manage Liu Pok Hill at the 115km mark on my ride:
…although I did have to drop to the small chainring.
I agree that a warning would be more appropriate – addressing the less able riders who come to enjoy this area, while leaving everyone to exercise adult discretion.
ReplyDeleteSadly an 18-year-old girl did die here last year, after losing control coming down the slope. The signs were already in place.
http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/realtime/breaking/20161210/56031010
I was sorry to hear about the fatality, but as you point out, there were warning signs, and I can’t help but think that it was therefore self-inflicted. Experienced cyclists don’t lose control coming downhill.
Delete