Bathurst Plays It Safe As Rain Halts Bike Ride
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday November 20, 2000
Bad weather stopped 8,000 cyclists from finishing a charity ride from Sydney to Wollongong and led to record stoppages in the Bathurst 1000 race yesterday.
It was only the second time in 19 years the annual Sydney to the 'Gong Bike Ride for MS had been cancelled, and the first time 13 safety cars were needed at Bathurst.
Police ordered the bike ride be stopped at Stanwell Park about 10.30am, around three hours after it started at Moore Park, following consultation with organisers and the Roads and Traffic Authority.
A spokesman for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of NSW said heavy fog around Waterfall and Otford was the main safety concern, although rain had made surfaces slippery.
Several people had been injured in falls, but no more than usual, organisers said.
At Bathurst, heavy rain led to a congested field, numerous collisions, a slow pace and a late finish which threatened a 5.45pm deadline.
Another big charity event, involving Paralympians and Olympians, also was called off . The athletes were to join about 100 others abseiling down the south pylon of the Harbour Bridge to raise money for Royal North Shore Hospital's specialist spinal unit.
A hospital spokeswoman said an Army commando unit supervising the event had called it off because the stone pylons were too slippery.
``We also had visions of wheelchairs being bogged because of the damp," the spokeswoman said. The event will go ahead next week.
In Queensland, rain in the State's west and centre has been so heavy it has disrupted beef exports, according to Australia's largest beef processor.
Australian Meat Holdings has cancelled an afternoon shift today at its Dinmore abattoir near Ipswich because it cannot get sufficient cattle.
The abattoir's general manager, Mr Jim Yates, said: ``At the present it's impossible to get cattle mustered and there will be no rail or road transport from those areas which have experienced heavy rain because they can't get the cattle out of the paddocks."
Heavy rain fell over many parts of Queensland at the weekend, causing localised flooding, road closures and train delays.
Sydney can expect further showers and possibly a storm today, showers on Tuesday and fine weather by Thursday.
``We've seen the worst of it for a while, we think," a weather bureau spokesman said. ``By Wednesday it should just about all be gone."
© 2000 Sydney Morning Herald
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