Another Day in Paradise

So it looks as though I can call off my Tour de Phase One (of the bicycle master plan). All that work, training, blood doping, hiding blood doping from the ICU, turning Amish, all down the drain!

OK, so I hadn’t trained that hard, or actually done any planning, but I had thought about going on a reconnaissance ride to determine the current state of the projects outlined in the BMP phase one. However, it seems the work has been done for me by our good friends at the National, as they reported yesterday the Phase One Works (POW!) are due to be completed by mid 2010, i.e. they haven’t started yet. BTW, not sure why they changed the headline in the online version, but the print version was titled: "Dubai paradise for cyclists... one day". BAM! I should have thought of that one.

As I reported earlier, the POW! were supposed to be completed last December, with phase two coming in soon after and slated for completion in September of this year to coincide with the Metro opening. Ironically, they didn’t include the phase two works in POW! Because they wanted to get it done quickly and the phase two bits are basically feeders to the metro which could wait until the metro opened. But now, POW! won’t even be done until nearly a year after the metro opens, and who knows when phase two is coming down the pipeline.

Perhaps the RTA will decide that attracting cyclists to the metro stations will be priority number one and they will leapfrog phase two projects into the phase one box. I would imagine this would require some tricky acronym-ing, so may I suggest: Keep Usable Nearby Guideways Phase One Works, or KUNG POW! I know I love tasty chicken, so this would definitely make me want to ride to the metro stations.

On a slightly more serious note, there was a quote from the one and only Wolfi in the article that rankled my hide (and my hide is not keen on rankling). It seems Mr. Hohlmann believes cycling in Dubai may very well be illegal!

“As well as providing infrastructure there is a need to establish the rights of cyclists. Currently it can be dangerous to cycle in the city, especially when crossing junctions. Dubai’s code of conduct even states that cyclists can be find for using the roads. These factors need to be addressed if cycling culture is to be established"

First let me say I agree with quite a few things in that statement; we do need to establish the rights of cyclists – in the minds of motorists! It is at times dangerous to cycle in the city, and the junctions I believe he is referring to are large roundabouts as well as entry and exit roads from highways (which can be two lanes wide and contain high speed traffic). But I completely and totally disagree that cyclists can be fined for “using the roads” in Dubai. Completely 100% false. The only place a cyclist can be fined is where they are not allowed to ride, which is on limited access highways (the great wall of SZR and others), and footpaths. I know this because I have read the BMP and the Pedestrian and Cyclist Design Manual, both of which clearly state the relevant laws. Here is an excerpt from the BMP concerning the current laws with regard to cyclists:

Dubai law concerning cyclists

I have contacted the National in regards to getting a retraction printed concerning Wolfi's statement. Telling people it is illegal to ride is not a great way to get people to go out and try cycling.

In other exciting news, I am not the only white man cycling to work in Dubai! In fact, there is another person who lives in my very development who rides as well! I noticed him (not so hard to do) as I was heading out for a run after work. So here’s a shout out to my cycling neighbour, good on ya!

Also, a quick thank you to the motorists of Dubai for their rather non-Dubai-like driving these past two days. Perhaps someone is bugging my apartment and heard the tirade I unleashed last week after a particularly horrific ride home (I handed out 3 'proper driving behaviour around cyclist' fliers, and pretty much lost my top with a whack job in a white porsche. Oh well, I guess things balance out in the end.