Sign Sabotage

Tom Butcher

Reading about more sign sabotage in the Dave Lloyd event. I was wondering if there was something that could be done about this as it's something that spoiled the Cheshire Cat event for me a couple of years back and I've heard it affect other sportives too.

Maybe something like 3 different colours for left/right/on rather than or supplementing direction arrows ? Or a confirmation sign 100 yards after each turn - could be something not obviously a direction sign like a large C so locals don't think to remove them.

Maybe the solution is for organisers to simplify the routes where possible which allows more signs and marshalls to point the way at each turn and makes memorising key directions possible.

term1te

I like the idea of a confirmation sign. I've come across an ambiguous sign and decided to go up hill rather than down, a confirmation sign would have saved 20 minutes climbing for nothing.

One large event over here paints directions on the road. They have a stencil with BBB (baselbieter bike challenge, I know that’s 2 bs and a c, but BaselBieter is considered 2) and an arrow. The event is run every two years, it takes about 18 months for the signs to wear off. Not sure UK councils would be so understanding, but it would help limit sign sabotage.

ju5t1n

I rode the Embrun sportive in France a couple of years back and the signage/directions were sprayed onto the road with a paint that apparently wears off after a couple of weeks. This seems like a pretty good solution to me.

nickwill

ju5t1n wrote:

I rode the Embrun sportive in France a couple of years back and the signage/directions were sprayed onto the road with a paint that apparently wears off after a couple of weeks. This seems like a pretty good solution to me.

Unfortunately, I think it's illegal over here, otherwise it would make life a lot easier.

ColinJ

Just buy a GPS unit and have done with it!

I did one 200 km audax and got a bit confused by the route sheet and that was enough for me so I bought a Garmin Etrex and a copy of Memory Map. I usually program the routes myself, but many organisers are now supplying GPX files for their events. I think they should all be encouraged to do that now.

I've navigated about 5,000 km using the Etrex and the worst error I've made was to ride 2 km past a turn because I was talking to someone and not paying attention to the GPS.

roger_merriman

Nickwill wrote:

ju5t1n wrote:

I rode the Embrun sportive in France a couple of years back and the signage/directions were sprayed onto the road with a paint that apparently wears off after a couple of weeks. This seems like a pretty good solution to me.

Unfortunately, I think it's illegal over here, otherwise it would make life a lot easier.

i've seen road chalk on the surrey lanes to do with some sort of event not sure was bikes though.

fnb1

just rode the Trossahcs Ton, they had signage with their Logo in the corner, basic rule being that the logo should be the right way up therefore if a left or right turn was turned the logo would be upside down showing the tampering. Also at Roundabouts they had a simple schematic sign of the roundaboout before your enetered it showing your route thru rather than just arrows, which was helpful too

r3 guy

i always look at what the organisers have used to fix the signs with eg black zip ties etc, then if a sign has been stuck up with wire, string etc, then i know it has been tampered with.

Also on the dragon, a lot of signs were high up on the poles, great idea!

ugo.santalucia

At the Tour of Flanders they paint the RVV logos on the road with an arrow.
The good thing is that it stays on for about a month, so if you can't do the event, you can always ride it yourself at a later stage, as I did.

Of course it can be sabotaged, but it requires premeditation...

Jeff Jones

fnb1 wrote:

just rode the Trossahcs Ton, they had signage with their Logo in the corner, basic rule being that the logo should be the right way up therefore if a left or right turn was turned the logo would be upside down showing the tampering. Also at Roundabouts they had a simple schematic sign of the roundaboout before your enetered it showing your route thru rather than just arrows, which was helpful too

That sounds like a simple but effective solution.

Smokin Joe

I rode the Preseli Angel in Pembrokeshire on 3rd May and they had sprayed direction arrows on the road in case any of the signs were nicked. As others have said it was very efective. Unfortunately it didn't do me much good as I had an off, sprained my wrist and had to pack early on

Rich-Ti

The Lakeland Loop on Easter Sunday had sprayed marking on the road, as did some of the Dave Lloyd on Sunday - nowhere near enough on the Dave Lloyd though, hence the issues.

chuckcork

Went to a 200km event a few months ago in ireland, had plenty of signage up where it could be seen and also on the road.

Unfortunately there wasn't any pre-event briefing or briefing sheet (that I recall) so I didn't know that I should have been looking for it - until the end when it was obviously too late.

Just as well I knew 80% of the route anyway!

simonahfrost

the blue sprayed DLMC road markers on Sunday were from last year I think, the route was different in places this year, in major and minor ways, could have been misleading if following them or trusting them?. Mainly to be seen on the small roads where there had not been much traffic wear I imagine.