Etape Caledonia sabotaged
Comments
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dsoutar wrote:How come the communities on the continent, many of which are just as remote and rely on the roads (look at the Maratona as a good parallel), can cope with the road closures ? Is this just a bad example of a load of numpty locals ?
Sorry, I'll stick to where no-one is trying to maim cyclists, cos that's what could have happened today. No-one will ever be caught for this.
The TdF was sabotaged in 1996 by someone scattering nails on the Col de la Bataille in the Vercors.
I was sitting down the road near the Col des Limouches waiting to watch the tour pass.
The peloton split, with 12 riders getting away while most riders got their new wheels. A very cross Telekom team lead the peloton in pursuit, but failed to catch them.
The local paper the next day described the perpetrator as an "imbecile". Any chance of that sort of response from our local rags?___________________________________________
People need to be told what to do so badly they'll listen to anyone0 -
I had a great time at the Etape yesterday. The organisation was excellent and professional. I was up there with a group of 24 riders staying in the area for 2 nights. Only 1 of our riders made it round without a puncture. I had 2 punctures but got round in 4h15. Just got through before they closed the descent and shortened the course.,
I dont understand the logic about peoples movement being restricted. These folk choose to live there and im dam sure after snow in the winter their movement is restricted for more than 3 hours. Now the locals are going to be pulling tacs out their tyres for a while to come all because of some idiot/s. Even the support motorcycles where getting punctures. Also no mention of the couple of riders airlifted to hospital. Its always the minority that spoil it.
Thanks to all the supporters and bagpipers we encountered on the way round, it was a great atmosphere.
Here's to next year and some anti puncture strips
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All sportives in France are on closed roads without any trouble. But thats a civilized country.0
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shawman wrote:All sportives in France are on closed roads without any trouble. But thats a civilized country.
Beg to differ mate, having ridden the Morzine, Marmotte, Vaujany, Pyreneene and Picardy none of them were on closed roads. Let's not overreact."In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"
@gietvangent0 -
Re Church services being disrupted- there are Sundays in the winter when these roads would be impassable, and the two Church Services were marked on the info sheet hubby received beforehand- presumably to warn of extra pedestrians.
He raised roughly £400 in sponsorship by riding yesterday to raise funds for our local Church of Scotland. And whilst waiting for him to arrive, I attended Pitlochry Kirk (where I was given a warm welcome by the congregation despite being distinctly scruffy) and stuck a tenner in their collection plate.
The Kirks affected knew far in advance the roads would be closed, and yes, perhaps there would be fewer bums in the pews yesterday, but they could have held an evening praise service, or a house service. I'm pretty certain that if the Etape had been held in our (even more rural) area, the Kirk would have eagerly grabbed a marketing opportunity to open early and hand out water, jiuce, let people in to the loo etc.
(Apologies if the local Kirks did this. )0 -
Hello Peter,
I'm a journalist bases in Glasgow, and took part in the Etape yesterday. I wrote a short comment piece for the Herald which is on p3 of today's paper (http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/featuresopinon/display.var.2508736.0.Its_one_thing_puncturing_toiling_uphill_another_to_deflate_suddenly_at_50mph.php)
I just wanted to let you know how disappointed I was with the disruption to the event and to the ACRE campaign. I know at this point that the sabotage cannot be attributed to ACRE, but your role as the focus of the protests has to be brought up.
I was curious, even before getting to Schiehallion yesterday, that I hadn't seen a single protester on the route, compared with last year. Where on earth had they all gone? Had the good people of Perthshire suddenly embraced the Etape?
I guess my suspicions were confirmed when it emerged that the tacks had been spread over the road. What protestor in their right mind would stand at the side of the road with about 3,500 angry cyclists going past? The protestors clearly knew something we didn't.
I'm gutted for the people of Perthshire who benefit from the Etape's business, and I'm embarrassed by my country that we can possibly harbour such small-minded people.
I raised almost £500 for charity - for Macmillans Cancer Support. That's for CANCER SUPPORT (that's me shouting, now...). If I can get over the annoyance of my ride being disrupted, I cannot get over how someone would sabotage an event and put people's desire to raise money for a cause like that at risk.
I don't particularly expect a response from you, but I think you could do the right thing and instead of coming out with a pat response such as "ACRE doesn't condone such actions...but...." I think you should stand up and properly condemn the small-minded, selfish idiots who did this. Whether you know them or not.
As many others have said on cycling forums already, we are more determined than ever to come back for future Etapes, and for a few hours one Sunday morning, ride on these wonderful roads. They're as much our roads as yours, Peter. Just because you can afford to live in Aberfeldy doesn't give you any special rights.
I'm proud of our Scottish countryside, and want to share it. I think you should realise your campaign is futile, and learn to put up with one morning's disruption once a year.
See you next year.
Best regards,
Richard Goslan.0 -
This is the 3rd year running that I've ridden the event, and as I was coming down the south side of Loch Rannoch I was starting to think I wouldn't bother next year. It's not the sort of race that fits with the other things I compete in and I was getting fed up of towing 40+ riders who wouldn't come to the front. However, having thought about it this morning I have to agree with a lot of others here, that I'll be damned if a handful of small minded nimbys are going to stop this event. I'm going to enter again just on principle - don't care what it costs or whether I get a good time, but I am going to turn up to show that I'm not going to be put off them.
For those of you who travelled a long way for this, I can only say how sorry I am and how embarrassed everyone form the area is that you had to contend with these morons. I took my Perth United club shirt off when I got over the line yesterday - it's the first time I've ever felt ashamed to be associated with my town and area. :oops: I know it's a fairly unapealing prospect to come and ride again with this kind of nonsense going on, but if we allow this event to be destroyed think what it does for cycling in the UK. It gives the message that we are 2nd class citizens and that road access is the exclusive right of car drivers.
I'm just adding up my costs from yesterday. 2 inner tubes, one tyre, possible damage to the rim (ran virtually flat for the last 10m), entry fee, travel costs, etc. Thinking it would be interesting if everyone did the same and presented an invoice to Mr Hounam and his group for inciting yesterdays attack.0 -
Took part this year.
Gonna take part next year.
See ya all there!!
PS Respect to all the supporters en route and especially those two wee pipers just below the summit of the Schiehallion road. Hard core!!0 -
With respect to the lack of protests: Another interesting thing I noticed , especialy on the bit after Aberfeldy . There were a number of people standing in their driveways, not supporting, not looking cheeerful.,. Just videoing us going by. You have to wonder what they were doing. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but did they know what was going to happen, and were they trying to get evidence of 'anti-social ' behaviour by p**** off cyclists?0
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A familiar term used in Mid-Wales too. I would put money on it, having known a fair few. They move to a pretty area then complain because it's not the bucolic life they thought they had downsized to.bompington wrote:I still can't work out where ACRE are coming from, I do actually suspect it's mostly "White Settlers" (local racist term for English OAPs/second home owners) who don't rely on the tourist trade.
Why can't this group cope with one single road closure for a few hours? The road past my estate was shut for 4 hours after an RTC but nobody I know mentioned the 'inconvenience'. On the Isle of Man closures happen for the best part of a day in TT race week, which is a lot noisier. The residents who aren't fans of the event either go away for the fortnight or just keep out of the way.
Norman Beedie's blog article / letter is really scraping the barrel for excuses and if Mr Bright feels that potentially life-threatening sabotage is "the only avenue of protest left" then he is effectively condoning this dreadful behaviour over something they merely don't like. Goodness me, it's a sporting event, not a Satan-worshipping or rape-and-pillaging Viking raid, for half a Sunday in May in a particularly rural part of the country! Has anyone counted the number of people who claim they couldn't get to church? The bible-bashers can surely exercise their faith at home - they can pray for bad weather, which should ensure Perthshire gets a heatwave for the whole of May next year
The BBC news report says last year's event boosted the local economy by £417,000. If I was in business I'd want a slice of that. As already said, the best thing entrants can do is book for next year, giving a big middle finger to the Nimby group.Aspire not to have more, but to be more.0 -
kend wrote:PS Respect to all the supporters en route and especially those two wee pipers just below the summit of the Schiehallion road. Hard core!!
Agree with you on that one - there were pipers at 3 or 4 points round the course. Really gave you a lift and added a lot of atmosphere. Just shows how many locals really were were behind the event.0 -
Sadly I couldn't make to this year’s event. I rode it last year and it was fantastic.
If anyone is successfully prosecuted for sabotaging the event then surely riders would be able to pursue a civil claim for damage to property through the courts.0 -
True enough but that action was part of a 'political' protest, not the result of a load of Nimby's trying get the race stopped.Dudu wrote:The TdF was sabotaged in 1996 by someone scattering nails on the Col de la Bataille in the Vercors.
The amount of publicity surrounding the Tour and other big events makes them attractive targets for those trying to get their protests into the news. Recall the scenes in the classic 'A Sunday in Hell' film where linotype workers who were being laid off scattered newspapers across the road. Usually there is a tacit agreement between the organisers of such protests and the race organisers not to do anything that would adversely affect the results. That 1996 incident was an exception and the Society du Tour de France sued the organisers of the protest in court for damages, the only time in the history of the race they have ever taken such action.
I can well believe that 'white settlers' as one poster put it were behind this. The whole thing just goes to show how in the UK the 'right' to drive where and almost however one pleases is treated as being sacrosanct. Some of the comments on the various newspaper websites give a great insight into the mentality of many in the UK, with people saying things along the lines of 'If they think that was bad, just let them try closing 80 miles of road in Surrey for a load of cyclists and see what happens to them'.
All this at a time when the future of cycle racing in the UK hangs in the balance and the police and organisers are increasingly regarding full road closures as being the only way major cycle events can be run in the UK in safety.0 -
Some events like the Etape (and of course the major races) are on closed roads, but generally speaking Disgruntledgoat is right. However, given that in France drivers are less likely to blood-mindedly drive along road where a cycle event is being held because 'it is their right', one might be excused for thinking that one was riding on a closed road!disgruntledgoat wrote:
Beg to differ mate, having ridden the Morzine, Marmotte, Vaujany, Pyreneene and Picardy none of them were on closed roads. Let's not overreact.shawman wrote:All sportives in France are on closed roads without any trouble. But thats a civilized country.
Also, the view that 'roads are for cars' and must be kept open for car drivers at all times is much less entrenched in France than in the UK. I rode one small local sportive and the local mayor and police arranged for part of the course to be closed so the large body of cyclists setting off could enjoy using the whole of the road on the first big climb. I have also come across roads closed for village fetes, car racing and so on, and if you are lucky someone might have even put up a sign at the last junction telling you that the road ahead was closed!0 -
We were talking to one of the motorbike marshalls at the garage in Pitlochry this morning - apparently one of the lads at the top of Schiehallion as well as playing the pipes and filling people's bottles for them also saw a bloke on a bike earlier scattering something on the road - he recognised him and has given his name to the police, who are confident they can get a conviction.
If anyone gets a response from ACRE could they post it here please? Cheers.0 -
One of the chief protagonist for the campaign to keep the roads open is Norman Beedie DRSAM LRAM ARCM, http://tinyurl.com/r4rjxr for more details. Hi lives on the route (PH15 2LE) and clearly expects space and government funding for the arts but not the sports. A few letters to him might be appropriate to show the strength of feeling?0
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aurelio wrote:
Some events like the Etape (and of course the major races) are on closed roads, but generally speaking Disgruntledgoat is right. However, given that in France drivers are less likely to blood-mindedly drive along road where a cycle event is being held because 'it is their right', one might be excused for thinking that one was riding on a closed road!disgruntledgoat wrote:
Beg to differ mate, having ridden the Morzine, Marmotte, Vaujany, Pyreneene and Picardy none of them were on closed roads. Let's not overreact.shawman wrote:All sportives in France are on closed roads without any trouble. But thats a civilized country.
Also, the view that 'roads are for cars' and must be kept open for car drivers at all times is much less entrenched in France than in the UK. I rode one small local sportive and the local mayor and police arranged for part of the course to be closed so the large body of cyclists setting off could enjoy using the whole of the road on the first big climb. I have also come across roads closed for village fetes, car racing and so on, and if you are lucky someone might have even put up a sign at the last junction telling you that the road ahead was closed!
Agree with that Aurelio. I would say though, that the last 5 years I have seen attitudes improve a little on both sides. First year I did the Fred Whitton, for example, was 2005 and that day was marked by a bloke driving down Hardknott shouting at cyclists that he was going to kill them and swerving at them. This year I witnessed several cars that had decided simply to stop, delay their journey and enjoy the spectacle for a bit. Some drivers just don't know how to behave around a large group of bikes and panic. My girlfriend back in march, to my supreme embarrassment, nearly put a guy in a ditch in a race I was riding in! On the other hand, I've seen the CDNW bunch go from gesturing and shouting at cars to thanking those who move over and wait for us."In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"
@gietvangent0 -
The man is clearly somewhat of a gimp. Who puts all of their qualifications after their name other than insecure plonkers?<a><img></a>0
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aurelio wrote:
True enough but that action was part of a 'political' protest, not the result of a load of Nimby's trying get the race stopped.Dudu wrote:The TdF was sabotaged in 1996 by someone scattering nails on the Col de la Bataille in the Vercors.
The amount of publicity surrounding the Tour and other big events makes them attractive targets for those trying to get their protests into the news. Recall the scenes in the classic 'A Sunday in Hell' film where linotype workers who were being laid off scattered newspapers across the road. Usually there is a tacit agreement between the organisers of such protests and the race organisers not to do anything that would adversely affect the results. That 1996 incident was an exception and the Society du Tour de France sued the organisers of the protest in court for damages, the only time in the history of the race they have ever taken such action.
I can well believe that 'white settlers' as one poster put it were behind this. The whole thing just goes to show how in the UK the 'right' to drive where and almost however one pleases is treated as being sacrosanct. Some of the comments on the various newspaper websites give a great insight into the mentality of many in the UK, with people saying things along the lines of 'If they think that was bad, just let them try closing 80 miles of road in Surrey for a load of cyclists and see what happens to them'.
All this at a time when the future of cycle racing in the UK hangs in the balance and the police and organisers are increasingly regarding full road closures as being the only way major cycle events can be run in the UK in safety.
Very familiar with this "right" to drive type of mentality here in the states. If you even hold a driver up for a moment of two, for safety reasons, you're most likely to get, at the very least, a cold stare, and on some occasions a visit from the police that said held up
motorist called to vent their anger. Our local club was even sort of forced to abandon
a 4 mile road course that we used maybe 7 times(no traffic closure) a year due to a local
resident who for reasons never quite clear couldn't stand the idea of a bunch of damn
cyclists using "his road". He almost always called the police and during the race would
mow his lawn, right next to the road, and when the riders came by he would intentionally
run the mower through some gravel or sticks so they sprayed out on to the road. It can be a strange world at times. Many was the night that I stood on the corner near his house, as a course marshall, trying to keep him from being a bigger idiot than he already was. Even having me to scream and yell at didn't seem to help his attitude and I tried to be as nice as possible.
I have to admit that closures are the worst. Some people are just infuriated that you would dare have closed a road that they want to use. This is why race "closures" are always with the full cooperation of the police.
Dennis Noward0 -
Yesterday was the 'Walk the Wight' event on the IOW, when about 10,000 walk to raise money for the local hospice. Several roads were closed & I had to commute at walking pace along one of my usual cycle paths - do people complain about that? Of course not, it would be totally insane - why is there always this morbid, obsesive jealousy from a few when cycling is involved?0
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I and my 3 friends got round without any punctures thankfully. Due to the late arrival and much arseing around from 1 of our group we set off virtually last about 7.50. We made some good time up round Lock Rannock and all of a sudden we came to a quick halt with possibly thousand of people stood in the road before the right turn to Schehallion. After around 30 mins wait we were shepherded into Kinloch Rannocch for around an hour until the powers that be announced that the road was reopened. (At least we got to see Sky Sports' Georgie Thompson fall off her bike!!) We were told that the road on the descent had been tampered with. We were all shocked at the amazing amount of people at the side of the road on the way up changing tubes. The climb itself is great. I powered up with no problems at all and the only downside was the wind when you got to the top, it spoilt what would have been a great descent!!
All in all the organisation and marshalling was superb and we were made to feel very welcome by everyone concerned. The idiots who attempted to disrupt the race have only deepened peoples resolve to say "Fuck you, Im coming back"0 -
Dr U Idh wrote:At the bottom of the hill around 1,500 others were held at the village of Kinloch Rannoch for two hours, where, as one cyclist, Annette Welch, 42, told me later, the local fire brigade opened up the station and invited everyone in for a cuppa – despite only having 50 mugs. "It was real Dunkirk spirit," she said afterwards.
Ah. I didn't realise some had been stopped that far back.
Yes and very boring it was too. i lost well over two hours there as was one of the first to be stopped and was therefore well back when we finally restarted. However, as the article says the villagers in Rannock were spot on, making tea and washing up in relays. Without this I would have been frozen solid.
I had to laugh (in a bitter way) at the fact that the result of this action was to extend the road closures and l feel sorry for the locals who will be finding tacks for weeks. It will impact on motorbikes, although probably not cars, as was shown by the fact that at least one of the tour bikes punctured.
Thanks to the many people lining the road in support - and who stayed to the end despite the delays.
Also well done to the organisers and the army cadets who did their best to clear the road.
I will be back next year because I want to do it properly.0 -
If you want to continue to support this event, and I for 1 think it deserves supporting even more now, entries for next year are now open at
https://www.clubsonline.com.au/event...569&orgid=1966
My entry is in - riding at speed in a large peleton is one of the best experiences I've had on a bike. Even stood for 40mins at the top of the climb and a puncture didn't spoil it. Although it would have been better without those holdups.0 -
My entry's in too! To hell with them!0
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Me too0
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This in from the Scotsman report:
Peter Hounam, a member of the Anti Closed Road Event group and local businessman distanced himself from the sabotage but called for the race to be held on open roads because it impeded churchgoers and farmers. He said: "Some people have brought up the idea of direct action but we have always been against it. We very much regret what has happened, but it is an example of the frustration felt when the local council does not understand the needs of local people."
I am not sure whether it amounts to condemnation.
I'm still waiting.0 -
It does show that the protestors see the problem as being with 'outsiders' rather than their seige mentality.0
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I'm in.
Hotel to be selected with care though. Wouldn't want to provide income to all those local businesses who don't approve of the event.
Ah, on second thoughts booking with such a business might be harder than I think. Where the neon madmen climb0
