So let's quadruple car rego

So we are constantly bombarded with the bicycle registration thing.
"We pay for car rego? Why aren't those cyclists paying their share. User
pays" and so on.

The fact the roads are not paid for in full by rego, not even close ($3.4 billion rego revenue, $15.7 billion in road expenses, source: Dept of Infrastructure) all taxpayers including cyclists foot the bill, doesn't seem to cut through. So I suggest in the spirit of user pays that car rego is quadrupled, so it goes at least close to recouping the outlay on roads. It's only at that point drivers will truly be able to say the rego pays for the roads, and they have a leg to stand on claiming their rego paid for the roads and asking cyclists to pay up.


So what say you drivers? Wanna quadruple your rego?

Pedal Choice when you decide to go down the Cleat Path

This last week in Townsville I borrowed a bike off a mate along with cleats and pedals. I usually ride Shimano SPDs on an A530 pedal. The SPDs are sometimes (wrongly) called a mountain bike cleat. I chose this combo as I like the idea of being able to ride in street shoes, something the A530s enable (see the pic below - they are reversible)

This week I rode SPD-SLs on R540 pedals. Clipping out was identical. Clipping in was clumsy, but was improving as the week went on. I still though reckon the SPD/A530 was a vastly superior option, especially for someone learning to clip in. With the SL/R540s you really battled to turn a pedal or get any traction without being clipped in. With the SPD/A530 combo you can easily get up to speed without being clipped in, as you have a shoes sole that is flat and a flat surface on which to pedal.. That's great for riding bunch or uphill starts, when wresting to clip in and get up to speed can create headaches and cause crashes.

R540 pedals:

I think labelling SPDs as Mountain Bike pedals is both a misnomer - many shoe styles are entirely road -and real shame for beginners. When combined with A530 pedals they offer a big edge over SPD-SL/R540s. And don't worry. There are a heap of other pedals in the SPD range if you want to go down the weight weenie path or get a more "pro" looking pedal.