Bealach Events

BigG67

Looks like there's some issues with the two Bealach events for next year.

Hands on Events pushed back the entry date to 7 Dec from the 1st and there's still no dates for these two events. I hope that the community council NIMBYs haven't won the day :evil:

amaferanga

I think its all Hands On Events events, not just the Bealach's. Probably something to do with their online entry system.

wasabi_m

entry opens monday (07/12) check website.

for some ridiculous reason however they are insisting on riders wearing high-vis vests. not only does this look ridiculous,but it presumes that riders who can accend one of the toughest climbs in the uk do not know how to react in traffic. nothing to say that the significant parts of the event are on closed roads. once having climbed this monumental road, the descent is ruined by a piece of flapping plastic that kills speed and deafens any rider to the extent that approaching traffic would be totally unheard.

DaveMoss

The condition seems to have been imposed on the organisers , not thier decision.
Not clear if it;s just for the road closure section or if you have to have it on for the whole route. I suspect you have to keep it on and that it's to do with local nimbies wanting to feel powerful and important.

However, killing speed on the bealach descent is hardly an issue, I doubt that anyone would be mad enough to assume a full on aero tuck going down there, it's a white knucke hard on the brakes for most of it.

I think they will mange to come up with something fairly unobstrusive, maybe if yoiu ask nicely they will take 30 seconds off your time to compensate for the extra drag.

mattybeck

One can imagine the sort of local worthy that imposed the yellow bib requirement.
Forced to wear a yellow bib like some sort of imbecile - No thanks.

amaferanga

I wonder if the bib thing has been imposed because the numbies complained about cyclists being hard to spot near the top of the Bealach due to the low cloud this year? You could barely see a cyclist 20m up the road. Still makes no sense given that the road is closed, but might have been (yet) another reason the nimbies came up with to stop the event.

BigG67

It smacks of an effort by the Community Council to make things as unpleasant as possible.

IIRC their complaint was around the medical services getting to the guy who had a heart attack last year at the Bealach Beag, they claimed that cyclists wouldn't get out of the way.

I can't see how hi-vis vests would have helped that - it it was true - and think this is a punishment for closing "their" road for a couple of hours.

I think I'll still give it a go in '10 and decide after if it's a disaster.......of course now that the CC are all empowered they'll insist on stabilsers for future years :roll:

bompington

Are the nimbies smarter than we're giving them credit for, by imposing conditions that they know will put cyclists off?
Watch out this year for requirements for sportive participants to have plastic discs on their rear wheels; and for replica pro kit to be banned.

Suggestions please for what else would decimate the ranks, both of hardened club riders and us nouveau sportifs...

moonshine

well, i won't be entering because of that.

If the local community are that small minded and ungrateful, hell mend them & i'll vote with my feet and keep mu cash in my pocket. The area can kiss the £150 i would have spent on accom / food etc goodbye.

Jonr

Not sure but I think the bibs might have numbers on, one of the CC nimbies complaints was that riders could not easily be identified if they did not keep to the rules. Can't think what other logic there is to it. High visibility isn't an issue when the road is closed to motor vehicles.

As a side issue, I noticed last year some people carry small rucksac or camelback which would have to be worn over the bib/vest so limiting high visibilty and a number on the rear view (if I am correct in saying there will be indvidual numbers on them)

bompington

moonshine wrote:

well, i won't be entering because of that.

If the local community are that small minded and ungrateful, hell mend them & i'll vote with my feet and keep mu cash in my pocket. The area can kiss the £150 i would have spent on accom / food etc goodbye.

Ah yes, but you might have spent it in Shieldaig rather than Applecross, and that's much worse than not spending it at all. See also Pitlochry vs. Aberfeldy (Etape C) and probably a lot more besides.
But of course, there's a fairly good chance that the biggest nimbies (e.g. the retired journo who makes the biggest fuss about the Etape C, can't be bothered remembering his name) are retired, and so don't care a lot about their neighbours' need to earn a living.

moonshine

Very true and i have stayed in shieldaig the last couple of years.

Has it not been pointed out to the CC that the event has to provide medical cover and the fact the event was on probably meant that the village of applecross actually had an ambulance in the village already, rather than have to come from Inverness, perhaps leading to an increased response time to the alleged incident

Therefore the event actually brings extra amenity to the area.

mattybeck

moonshine wrote:

well, i won't be entering because of that.

If the local community are that small minded and ungrateful, hell mend them & i'll vote with my feet and keep mu cash in my pocket. The area can kiss the £150 i would have spent on accom / food etc goodbye.

Same here. Staying at the campsite and dinners/lunches/drinks in the Applecross Inn - Not this year. As someone noted above, i wonder if this is the intention of the CC? I'd hate to think it was and any non-returners were giving them satisfaction.

amaferanga

bompington wrote:

Are the nimbies smarter than we're giving them credit for, by imposing conditions that they know will put cyclists off?
Watch out this year for requirements for sportive participants to have plastic discs on their rear wheels; and for replica pro kit to be banned.

Suggestions please for what else would decimate the ranks, both of hardened club riders and us nouveau sportifs...

Could be the infamous competitive-cyclist-with-lots-of-experience-turned-recluse Tim Daplyn that's behind this one.

moonshine

from the minites of applecross CC - Sept 09

http://www.applecrosscommunity.org.uk/p ... _2009.html


Ali Macleod has attended two meetings concerning the Cycle Challenge over the last few weeks, the first was in Kinlochewe and included the organisers, police and the ambulance service. At this it was agreed after heated discussion to hold a further meeting before the September event to discuss how to improve safety for that event. Wider issues will be discussed at yet another meeting in a few weeks time.
The safety meeting took place in Lochcarron eight days before the event. Ali asked for several improvements (larger numbers to be worn by cyclists for ID purposes, more marshals on the coast road, and warning signs at all the most dangerous points on the coast road) but his requests were not met positively by the organisers.
He also attended the Shieldaig Community Council meeting to explain the reasons Applecross Community Council had withdrawn its support. Shieldaig CC is in full support of the event.
150 members of the community in Applecross have been asked their views on the Cycle Challenge. Ninety of these would like to see the events stopped, and of the thirty who are supportive, only nine were happy with the way the events are run at the moment. Another thirty expressed no strong views on the issue. If anyone who hasn’t already been asked wishes to express their views, please speak to any of the Community Councillors.
Tim Daplyn, who has a lot of experience as a cyclist competing at a high level, explained that serious cyclists don’t approve of this type of event, which is unlicensed and outside the remit of the International Cycling Federation or the International Cycling Union. At events under the control of these organisations
cyclists are always identifiable and can be disqualified during the race by a marshal or member of the
police for any misdemeanour. The cyclists are not insured by the organisers, but are advised to take out their
own insurance. Tim pointed out that this may not stand up in court, furthermore, a cyclist injured in suchan event may seek to sue not only the organisers, but also the Council and Community Councils which
had agreed to the events going ahead.
Community Councillors agreed that as it was clear that the majority of the community would like to see the
events ended, and the organisers did not seem interested in working with the community in a positive
way, they should make it clear that they would like to see the events stopped, especially in light of the
information Tim had just given.
Robbie pointed out that Highland Council would have to try to accommodate both sides, and to listen to
the views of the other Community Councils affected. Discussions on the future of the events will continue
over the next few months until 1st December when the organisers would start accepting entrants for next
years events, if it was agreed that they would be allowed to continue.
Alison M will write to Highland Council to explain the problems in full so that the Councillors and others
are well informed when the time comes to make the decision. She will ask the local doctors and the fire
brigade to give their views in writing too. [/url]

amaferanga

Entries are open

No Bealach for me though, the Cairngorm 100 instead....

suze

The minutes clearly show the event in a positive light. However this is still being described as a Race, it's a challenge ride just as other sportives are. Perhaps the people who want to "race" should enter proper races.



Minutes of Shieldaig Commnity Council Meeting held in Village Hall on 1st September 2009


Bealach Cycle Race: Nommie reported back from a meeting held in Lochcarron last week attended by members of local community councils, police and road services. The negative expressed by other communities did not reflect the experience of Shieldaig residents who have been very impressed by the race organisation where cars are efficiently parked and the streets free of litter post event. The police spokesman said that the police have received no complaints about the event. A risk assessment has been done by the police, TEC services and race organisers but this is not available to the public.
Ali MacLeod stated that the majority of people in Applecross did support the race in part because of perceived disruption and partly because the infrastructure cannot cope with the tourist demand generally. In contrast the Shieldaig community see many benefits from the race not least an enthusiasm from the young people in Shieldaig and Kinlochewe for cycling and other sports and the communities have also benefited from training support from the race organisers. Several local residents enjoyed participating in the event. The Kinlochewe community member said that the majority of Kinlochewe residents are also in favour of the event.
Shieldaig Community Council wish Applecross well but feel we must agree to differ on this occasion and continue our support for the event

amaferanga

Its the Applecross CC that object to it. The other CCs on the route seem to support it. There're probably one or two nimby types (Tim Daplyn is probably one of them) in the Applecross CC influencing the rest of the village.

You just have to look at the comments of Tim Daplyn posted by moonshine above to see the sort of nonsense he has been sprouting at the CC meetings.

With 330 entries so far it looks like the attempts to discourage riders has failed

Anonymous

Cycled around the Applecross Pininsula a good few times....each time seen no more than 40 cars on the whole route?

So don't think the Bealach events will be prone to much traffic aswell?

You then go and ride the Fred Whitton in the Lake District and thats the busiest mountain region by far in the whole UK....much more traffic and even smaller roads...and far more dangerous than Bealach event - no problem with ALL the communities/authorities there?

So whats the big deal with Applecross ? And why must a very popular sportive bow down to such demands from a crowd of nobodies?...and from my own experience a lot of them will not even be originally from there!

Hi Viz vests - nonsense!...usually hot enough climbing that beast with the most breathable of garments on.

I know its always a good idea to keep local communties onside with these type of events...and by the sound of things most communities are onside and supportive..except Applecross Community nobodies.....in this 'intolerance' case I really wish the Organisers would tell Applecross CC to GTF!

bompington

RICHYBOYcp wrote:

Cycled around the Applecross Pininsula a good few times....each time seen no more than 40 cars on the whole route?

40 cars? Bank holiday was it?

rhnb

I think Richyboy is about right - it's just that you see the first 25 on the road up to Achnasheen.
So, lets see - took me 6 hours, 40 cars, that's a whopping 6-7 cars an hour.

I had the pleasure to ride the first 2 events (2006/7) and I must say I'm quite shocked by all this. The one thing I clearly remember is all the support we got on the route. Coming from the Lakes, it's one of the first times that car drivers have actually waited in passing places for us to pass! Better than that they were applauding and shouting encouragement (well it sounded like encouragement to me).
Try riding up Wrynose or Hardknott on a nice sunny day! It's getting like the M6!

Be a real shame if the event gets dropped. Hell, it's only 2 days a year.

Allan.

bompington

rhnb wrote:

Better than that they were applauding and shouting encouragement

When I rode over the pass cars were stopping and waving us on, and shouting encouragement - and that wasn't even any kind of event. In fact quite often they would stop well up the road, even in places where they didn't need to - a bit of a pain in the butt as you're then under some sort of obligation to pass them quickly!
Only one vehicle was at all dodgy, a minibus (possibly a service bus in those parts) actually brushed my shoulder as I ground up the ramp inches from the crash barrier, I presume the driver must have got fed up behind me at 4mph :oops:

Tomcrom

Perhaps due to the inability of some of the entrants failing to let the B&Bs they were staying in that they had pulled out could be the reason for the animosity. Maybe they no longer want your alleged £150.
moonshine

Tomcrom

You may be interested to know that on the day the nearest ambulance was based in either Gairloch, Dingwall or Broadford, the only ambulance that the organisers had at their disposal was the MRT meat wagon and this was in Kinlochewe.moonshine
moonshine

Anonymous

Tomcrom wrote:

You may be interested to know that on the day the nearest ambulance was based in either Gairloch, Dingwall or Broadford, the only ambulance that the organisers had at their disposal was the MRT meat wagon and this was in Kinlochewe.moonshine
moonshine

And your point is?

Tomcrom

There was no med evacuation cover available as stated by moonshine.RICHYBOYcp
RICHYBOYcp

Tomcrom

This from moonshine;
Has it not been pointed out to the CC that the event has to provide medical cover and the fact the event was on probably meant that the village of applecross actually had an ambulance in the village already, rather than have to come from Inverness, perhaps leading to an increased response time to the alleged incident

Therefore the event actually brings extra amenity to the area.....................................

Better to be held in October if it wishes to bring anything to area, weather is much better then and it is out of season. Perhaps organisers should take note.
RICHYBOYcp

amaferanga

Tomcrom wrote:

Perhaps due to the inability of some of the entrants failing to let the B&Bs they were staying in that they had pulled out could be the reason for the animosity. Maybe they no longer want your alleged £150.
moonshine

Do you own a B&B in Applecross or are you one of the nimby Applecross CC members?

If this was the case then why on earth would it only have upset the Applecross B&B owners and not those in all the other villages?

dave_34

see below

dave_34

Tomcrom wrote:

You may be interested to know that on the day the nearest ambulance was based in either Gairloch, Dingwall or Broadford, the only ambulance that the organisers had at their disposal was the MRT meat wagon and this was in Kinlochewe.moonshine
moonshine

there is an ambulance in lochcarron.

Tomcrom

No don't own B&B in Applecross but know of three in Kinlochewe who were left empty thus denying others accommodation. The discourteous attitude of the minority sadly spoil it for the rest.

"there is an ambulance in lochcarron".
Sorry, omitted this one.
Lets not forget that the organisers are supposedly providing cover for the event, not totally relying on the stretched local medical services. It appears they are not prepared to pay Red Cross to provide cover but would rather do it on the cheap. Red Cross gave excellent cover on the first event where they were deployed to effectively recover a seriously injured participating cyclist from the rockfield on the sharp right turn on the Bealach down side. Perhaps the main problem lies with the organisers quest to become rich quick.