Sportive Safety

Ron Stuart

Is there anyone else out there that also has a concern about the riding standard of certain participants in Sportives in particular.
I have been noticing there are a growing amount of new participants in these types of events that have nice bikes, kit and are well informed by the media about how to get reasonably fit for the events.
However it is becoming increasingly obvious that ride etiquette, along with basic do’s and don’ts whilst riding in particular large starts and bunches is woefully inadequate. There are basic safety issues that cause me great concern.
This was highlighted whilst I was riding in the recent Motion in Mercia sportive. I was riding along towards the front of a bunch of maybe 15 riders on the flat at maybe 18mph when a rider in the middle order dropped his pump, he immediately slammed his breaks on and a pile-up ensued. This was reported to me by my ride buddy a little later, I suggested that he like me kept towards the front of what was now a depleted bunch.
There was a nasty head on with a car later on this ride, luckily the guy was seen actually walking about later on thank goodness.
Do you like me think that some of the agencies that are benefiting financially from the sportive boom could do more to inform the new comers as to actually ride safe during the events?
There are currently to articles on the BikeRadar site relating to Training For A Sportive.... http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/arti ... ive-33724/ and also Preparing For A Sportive... http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/arti ... ive-33725/ neither of the articles mention anything regards rider etiquette and other safety related issues that relate to this type of event just this bit of advice “The more comfortable you are riding in close formation, the more time you can save.” Nothing about watching wheels, what happens to the bike in front when the rider gets out of the saddle, if you have to single-out because of a vehicle do you go in front of the neighbouring bike, etc, etc.
It isn’t just BikeRadar that should be in on this safety drive but also the sportive organisers and British Cycling who are trying to take a growing slice of participants doing this growth cycling.
We are unlikely ever to be 100% safe but there is a lot more to be done to try and get somewhere nearer I feel.

prawny

Totally agree, didn't someone get forced over onto the wrong side of the road at Motion in Mercia and hit a car head on?
There were a lot of people oblivious to the fact there were other riders coming through and I think a few expected the cars to stop at roundabouts.

It's put me off sportives a bit.

Edit: Just re read you're post missed the reference to the head on, I heard someone swung out of a line into his path and he swerved onto the wrong side of the road to avoid them.

Mendip rouleur

Totally agree.

On one recent sportive I noticed that riders were flying by me at crazy speeds and in tight situations, blind bends etc. with no warnings, as if they were sprinting up the Champs Elysees or in the velodrome. The basic message :calm down it's really not a race, doesn't seem to get through. I like to challenge myself on these rides but I also fear that sooner or later my collarbones or worse, are going to be wrecked by an idiot trying to knock a second off his time for 100 miles by inappropriate riding.

A lot of riders have no experience of riding in groups, and so when faced with riding in a bunch for the first time they do not know what to do when the unexpected happens. Some basic rules or standards would go a long way to improving safety and sportive organisers and bodies such as BC etc. could do more to promote this.

jibberjim

Mendip rouleur wrote:

bodies such as BC etc. could do more to promote this.

BC are barely involved in sportives, and when they are they have enough trouble enforcing the simple to enforce rules about not publishing a list of results in time order, let alone start helping out with riding skills.

chipperleenie

Yes Ron there are lots of people who have no experience of riding in a group. Generally they are riders who like you say have nice bikes, decent fitness but I doubt have ever been a member of a club and actually been shown how to ride in a group. The only way to learn how to ride in a group is by riding with a group with people who do know.

There is not a lot sportive organisers or BC can do to help people learn to ride. It is usually pretty easy to spot the people who cannot ride in a group and therefore easy to avoid them. Which, I think, is the only answer, if you think someone is unsafe in a group get out of their way and/or tell them what they are doing wrong. How they will take being told how to ride, I guess, will vary from rider to rider. There are a lot of experienced riders who do ride sportives, from ex TDF riders and ex pros to others who have ridden plenty of road races, but this will change in time as each year more people must be riding sportives than road races now.

Caer caradoc

Sportive safety is a concern. Late last year, a senior police officer informed me that they were becoming increasingly concerned with these type of cycling events and were taking a view on whether a future action should be taken - including prohibition of those events who publish finishing times (thus falling under the Racing on Highways Regulations).

Ron is perfectly correct that something needs to be done. However, by whom? As Jibberjim indicates, BC is barely involved. As such there is no regulatory regime (either self regulatory by the industry or externally imposed) that could encourage organisers to promote the highest standards of cycling by participants. As such:

- accidents can only be dealt with by Highways Law and Code;
- HSE legislation may be relevant in some cases;
- insurers may refuse to cover events due to the high risks involved;

Ron Stuart

I was going to sit back for a bit longer before coming back on this but I feel I need to clear up a couple of misconceptions first.
That relates to British Cycling’s involvement in Sportives.
BC is very interested in increasing their membership hence half price membership to entrants on last years Etape Cymru this then gives BC a bigger voice upping their influence in Parliament and other areas where prestige by size (membership) may get support re funding etc.
It may be true that they are not so keen to take on the responsibilities of leading the organising of sportives nationally and may argue that it’s is not necessary.
However, if you look at the co-sponsors of a lot of the sportives you will see the British Cycling logo on the websites etc. This to all intents means it is a BC endorsed event and one would presume run under British Cycling’s ‘Non-Competitive On-Road and Off-Road events’ Guidelines.
It isn’t my belief that BC should be the only agency involved in giving out practical guidance regards riding safely whilst taking part in mass participation events.
Lastly to chipperleenie’s response :- I would contend that mass participation events are not the place to try a learn how to ride safe in a bunch but somewhere you can put into practise that which you have learnt prior to mass event riding. In other words start of reading and watching videos then try it for yourself in a small group and gradually develop your skills and knowledge, then start upping the anti. This info can and should come from the cycling media, organisers and cycling bodies to help give background guidance along with the practical experience gained by newcomers to our great sport, it should also be encouraged that newcomers ask questions regards this topic.

vorsprung

Ron Stuart wrote:

I would contend that mass participation events are not the place to try a learn how to ride safe in a bunch but somewhere you can put into practise that which you have learnt prior to mass event riding

I tend to always assume that this random group of people riding ahead of me are going to suddenly brake, swerve, drop a water bottle. I'd never - for example - descend at speed bunched in an unknown group of riders. And I only ride audax where (apparently - although I find this hard to believe) the standard of group riding is slightly higher.

Safety first, drafting second.

Buckled_Rims

Totally agree.

I was on the Northern Cyclone 2 years ago and couldn't believe the stupidity of some riders. As a result I now go on gone on a few "selective" sportives as I now hate the huge number of competitors (sic) in these races(sic).

I honestly don't think anything can be done as there it is now a "Jeremy Clarkson" type attitude of SPEED...POWER! I shake my head at how many inexperienced riders want a 11t sprocket coz they spin out downhill at 50mph! I crap myself at that speed and I've over 30 years experience of riding bikes.

So, once the red mist is in the eyes, I doubt nothing will stop our friends from risking life for that extra 5 seconds on a non race with the non-prize.

verylonglegs

You can put a lot of safety info out there but as suggested by others I think you'll struggle to overcome the problem that these days people are not interested in anything that suggests they are being told what to do and how to behave. Coupled with the fact that once there are guidelines some will then expect them to be observed as rules and the organisers are faced with trying to enforce them, which is why I suspect they until now have turned a blind eye to the subject.

Ron Stuart

verylonglegs wrote:

You can put a lot of safety info out there but as suggested by others I think you'll struggle to overcome the problem that these days people are not interested in anything that suggests they are being told what to do and how to behave. Coupled with the fact that once there are guidelines some will then expect them to be observed as rules and the organisers are faced with trying to enforce them, which is why I suspect they until now have turned a blind eye to the subject.

I am not suggesting that these are rules I am suggesting that the industry put more emphasis on the safety aspect relating to riding in mass events and publish advice to enable us all to be safer during our rides.

So far I got this feed back:-

prawny...... "Totally agree"
Mendip rouler...... "Totally agree"
Caer Caradoc....."Ron is perfectly correct that something needs to be done."
Vorsprung......"Safety first, drafting second."

Just one other poster has suggested that “How they will take being told how to ride, I guess, will vary from rider to rider." Also a rant about ""Jeremy Clarkson" type attitude of SPEED...POWER!" and lastly someone wrote: "And I only ride audax where (apparently - although I find this hard to believe) the standard of group riding is slightly higher."
I would suggest to the last example that is maybe because Audax has been historically about long distances and hasn't had the large mass entries that Sportive organisers are aiming for and in my experience there is a much more laid back atmosphere, less bunch drafting as promoted by BikeRadar on the website. Also it isn't always easy to avoid unskilled riders when you start in groups of varying abilities/knowledge and then find you are penned in to the nearside of the road by traffic, there is a point into each event where because of the varying speeds and skills there will be overlaps and riders closing in on each other.

I am considering sending a link to this thread to BC and the major sportive organisers plus some cycling magazine editors.

JamesB

I often end up riding sportives either on my own or with a very small group. I have no prior knowledge of skills or etiquette of other riders who are unknown to me in eg pointing out road hazards, giving warning of any changes in pace etc. For sake of a few minutes, it not being a race, I feel uneasy about putting a lot of trust in a group of riders who may not be that aware of etiquette etc.
Basically take this approach as I too have concerns about sportive saftey having seen riders flying down country lanes, suddenley changing course, not giving warnings of pothole etc, so I ride very defensively on the whole

bompington

to sum it up, everybody wrote:

There are too many people entering sportives who are Not Real Cyclists. They should only allow Real Cyclists, even though we like to look down on sportives because they're Not Real Races

Tom Butcher

I confess here that I haven't ridden a UK sportive for a few years - so I may be out of touch - but when I did ride a few (Autumn Epic, Fred Whitton and one or two others) I didn't find the standard of riding to be that bad. That said there's been quite an explosion in sportives in recent years and some are now far bigger than they were (Fred Whitton was a 500 limit when I rode I think) and I can imagine more riders with less experience could be a recipe for trouble.

Anything that avoids the possibility of further regulation of cycling events (sportives or racing) is a good thing so yes why not provide a bit more advice on how to ride safely in a group - it's never going to make up for experience but at least it might make people aware that there are dos and don'ts.

Remember reading on a running/triathlon forum about one rider's experience of a sportive and she was objecting to riders passing her "too close". I found that interesting because most of these people were probably just experienced riders assuming she had the same group skills that they do whereas she interpreted the way they rode as being aggressive and dangerous.

NITR8s

As a beginer and only doing my first sportive on sunday gone, I find your comments interesting as I am coming from the different side of coin. Before Sunday I had never ridden in a group, so was the rider that you guys are referring too. Before hand I did read up about group riding as was extra causious on how I rode.

The one thing that suprised me was how anyone can start in any wave. I come from a running background and while the events in running are races, unlike sportives, I do like the fact that people are urged to start in groups of their ability. I think this should be applied to sportives, i.e different waves had different predicted time slots etc.

As for the comment about riders riding to close and she was objecting to them being so agressive. Occationally I did end up in groups where the other riders were riding very close to me, while I found this slightly strange at no point did I feel uncomfortable.

As for the power/speed comment, I fully agree with you it was so wet on top of exmoor and the speed some riders were flying down the decents was plain right dangerous. I personally didnt feel safe decending with the brakes constantly on, the worst part is I would often over take these speed freaks again when it came to flats/climbing so they are risking their lives and not even riding much faster that myself who was being causious on the decents

wallace_and_gromit

Interesting thread.

My view is that there's riding in a group of other riders and riding in chaingang/race situation, which are two totally different things.

The former should surely be survivable on common sense, even for a novice rider. Sudden changes of direction or sudden braking are fairly obvious things to avoid for anyone with a brain, who actually wants to apply it. The problem is that some folk don't want to apply their brain to situations and no amount of "guidance" will change them. We can only hope that such riders give up before they cause damage to anyone else. As an experienced rider, if you are caught behind someone who is riding safely but "badly" (eg allowing gaps to form etc.) then you have to accept this, and indeed rise to the challenge of avoiding such riders. It adds to the experience of a sportive, I feel, as new/inexperienced riders are to be expected and encouraged in such events. (Even "gentle" club runs are a tough place to make your group riding debut for many.)

The latter (ie chaingang/race) is a different kettle of fish, as you need to have complete trust in the rider whose wheel you are mere inches behind, as well as all sorts of subtle skills to avoid gaps opening up etc. I would say that if you feel that you need to be applying such skills come what may in a sportive, then you're probaly taking it too seriously. A modestly skilled rider should be able to look after themselves amongst novices in a sportive in all but the most extreme circumstances such as the "emergency stop" referred to above, albeit at the expense of having to slow down and "lose contact" every once in a while.

Ron Stuart

In response to Wallace and Gromit on the point about "Sudden changes of direction or sudden braking are fairly obvious things to avoid for anyone with a brain, who actually wants to apply it."
There were a number of riders that were not stopping at the feeds in the Motion in Mercia 94miler; some had an extra biddon in rear pocket. This I presume is to get a possible 'Gold Standard' maybe, well when you hit the hunger knock and/or you blood sugar levels go then there is nothing quite like it for instilling 'Brain Fade'. :oops:

Omar Little

Group riding skills are obviously important but it is a difficult thing to learn if you are not in a club. However i'd say in the majority of sportives i've done the 'skill shortage' hasn't really been much of an issue. For one there hasn't really been much in the way of organised groups happening unless it is clubmates or friends riding together so in that respect i dont think is that big a problem. The Pedal for Scotland (like the London to Brighton) has a reputation for having some crazy riding going on - thousands of cyclists involved, many beginners and many trying to 'race' it - but anytime i've ridden it i've found it not to be too bad yet when i look at comments on forums or twitter after the event its full of people moaning about the standard of riding!

Most riders will consider themselves to be riding safely and when they see others doing it wrong or making a mistake think they are surrounded by idiots. However they dont usually notice all the mistakes and faults they will also making from time to time - to someone else you will be the idiot. Its the same with driving as virtually everyone will consider themselves to be a good driver surrounded by knobends but all these knobends will think they are good drivers too!

As for the comments about people descending too fast and maybe taking risks - yes that can be a problem but so to is people descending too slowly and braking too much that can be just as dangerous for the other riders in a group.

Stedman

I have to admit that I came into cycling later in life; however this occurred twelve years ago before the current mass wave of new cyclists on carbon bikes occurred.

When I started non-competitive road events were much smaller in numbers, you were much more likely to ride with disciplined and experienced groups of riders and because it was apparent that your group riding was not as good as the others, you were coached. I was fortunate in that I was coached by a very senior member of the cycling establishment in the art of close to other riders. Although mass cycling events took place then, they were never called sportives and you were much more likely to be given a route sheet, you did not have a number and you were not timed. To us the objective was to complete the course.

I do find it difficult to provide a clear model of where and how we have arrived at the current situation that we are in, however the best (quick) analogy I can give is that cycling is now marketed through events like the Tour de France. Cycling is a quick way of getting fit and the current trend is towards nice road bikes. The corporate hospitality industry has lost its market and therefore is looking for new opportunities. If you put the two together you have a new income stream for these companies and quick way for these new cyclists to engage in a sport. To some extent it is a bit like track days for sports car owners.

Unfortunately we have arguably arrived at the situation were sportive scene has become are a parallel sport because it has never been in the commercial interest of many organisers to be connected to the established cycling scene.

Getting back to my original point, I do not feel that sportive cyclists are getting a fair deal by being isolated from the established cycling scene. Example of this is that they are not learning basic group riding skills or even how to peddle in a smooth style and there are a lot of other opportunities that they are missing out on such as cycling in double century (miles) day events, velodrome test events and I even had a trip to the Himalayas last year!

wallace_and_gromit

Ron Stuart wrote:

In response to Wallace and Gromit on the point about "Sudden changes of direction or sudden braking are fairly obvious things to avoid for anyone with a brain, who actually wants to apply it."
There were a number of riders that were not stopping at the feeds in the Motion in Mercia 94miler; some had an extra biddon in rear pocket. This I presume is to get a possible 'Gold Standard' maybe, well when you hit the hunger knock and/or you blood sugar levels go then there is nothing quite like it for instilling 'Brain Fade'. :oops:

I would include knowingly exposing yourself to mental frailty and thus being a risk to others simply to get a gold medal in a sportive as failure/unwillingness to apply common sense. Whilst suffering from "brain fade" you are less able to control your actions in a crowd, you don't get into this situation by accident on the whole. A sensible rider who gets hunger knock simply slows down, has a rest, pleads for food(!), gives up etc rather than carrying on full pelt for the medal.

It's not hard to avoid being a danger to others in a sportive, if you put your responsibilities to fellow riders and their safety above your own performance.

Cleat Eastwood

on eof the things i'm wary of is the people on flat bar bikes going up hill - the number of times i've seen people struggling to find the right gear - looking down to see if they have twisted the shifters correctly, first to the left shifter then to the right, but they keep looking at the shifters and refuse to look up and end up moving all over the road

KentPuncheur

Before my comments, a bit of background: I am a relatively new cyclist, having taken up the sport last August. I joined a club, and have gained experience riding in chaingangs/groups since then. I have ridden 4 sportives this year so far (and am aiming to complete 21 throughout the year for a charity fundraiser *shameless plug* http://www.justgiving.com/BenRothberg).

My biggest concerns during sportives are on ascents, where people get off their bikes and walk. They walk aside their bike taking up at least half of the left lane. This poses a problem for those cyclists who chose to actually ride their bike uphill, especially on narrow lanes (which a lot of climbs are on, such as last weekend's Sandown Cyclone Sportive on the Surrey Hills). On a few occassions I was having to overtake the walkers, putting me at risk of motorists trying to overtake me (as I was slow moving), or oncoming traffic in the other lane, fast-moving downhill. Many of the walkers did not look to see if a cyclist was coming up behind them and move out of the way onto the verge to let them pass. They would be better off walking into the traffic in the opposite carriageway as they can see what hazards are approaching and cease to be a hazard for ascenting cyclists. This, to me, is a basic road-safery principle.

Aside from those hairy moments I haven't felt too unsafe, and at least hope I haven't made others feel unsafe either. As for group-cycling in sportives, I think it serves a purpose to reserve energy and hide from the conditions (in wind and rain) as long as you're not grouping too tightly (just use common sense?). However, what bugs me is when a few cyclists get onto my wheel and sit there for 20km into a head wind without taking their turn at the front. As an inexperienced cyclist, even I know this is poor etiquette. I know its not a race, but when we are struggling to make the distance and you're having to ride on someone's wheel for the benefit of energy conservation, be considerate and share the work load! I rode Le Puncheur, which was in awful conditions of torrential downpours and strong winds, and approaching the finish on top of Ditchling Beacon was a good stretch of 15km relatively flat undulating road to prepare yourself for the climb. Unfortunately it was into a headwind, and two cyclist hung onto my back wheel and wouldn't take a turn on the front (despite my protests). Then half way up the climb, when I was hanging on for dear life, they pulled past me, and at the finsih were all smiles and banter about how they felt they could do another climb of the Beacon. Me, on the other hand, was nursing a sore windswept face trying to find my breath! *rant over*

NITR8s

I would have to agree to the cyclists walking thing, however I must admit that I did have to get off my bike for one hill after about 65 miles, although everyone was as it was so step but really short. I remember about 20 miles in when we hit a grade 3 hill on mapmyride and people started getting off their bikes and walking. Confused why they where doing this, I said the hills only just started? To which one of them responded its faster to walk up it than ride, this really confused me seeing as I was going about 4 times faster than them.

KentPuncheur

I obviously don't have an issue with people deciding to walk (although walking that early (as in the people after 20 miles) into a clearly advertised "hilly and challenging route" is simply pathetic!), but when they do so they should tuck themselves right in against the verge (or on the verge itself) or walk up the other carriageway, which is safer for them anyway.

Ann Cakebread

Very interesting to hear that some cyclists are beginning to be concerned about safety. Inhabitants of the New Forest have been raising this problem for several years, as the tiny, steep, narrow lanes of this smallest, most pressurised National Park are being more and more frequently overrun by very large, supposedly non-competitive, commercially profit-making cycling events. Riding "like bats out of hell" round blind bends is dangerous not only to the riders, but also to the other users of these little roads.

Dave Lloyd and Marc Laithwaite have recently posted a coaching article on riding in bunches on the web. This gives good tips on group etiquette, avoiding crashes, etc., but makes no mention of riding in accordance with the Highway Code and, indeed, of instructions issued by some event organisers. Unfortunately riding in a bunch to take advantage of drafting means that competitors (sic) are either unaware of traffic stuck behind them on narrow roads, or else simply unwilling to go single file.

Competitors come from all over the country to use the New Forest. They seem to have no idea that these little, often single-track, lanes are working roads, used all the time by hard-working, non-profit-making "commoners" to care for their free-ranging stock. They do not realise that the wonderful scenery they are supposed to be enjoying (but a sizeable proportion miss by racing!) has been created, and is being maintained by, this centuries-old way of life. Putting it simply, without the animals the New Forest National Park would not exist. Cycling blogs contain complaints about having to "dodge" animals, ignoring the local bylaw which gives the animals complete PRIORITY. Riders should not be upsetting the animals by "dodging" through them but should stop, or slow right down, and allow them to pass. Ridicule is heaped on commoners who say bikes can endanger their beasts, because obviously a car is much more likely to kill them, but the riders who spook them must recognise they have some responsibility for the welfare of these all-important, gentle creatures. And a commoner driving his tractor to feed his animals deserves courtesy and respect, rather than the abuse normally experienced.

Very little courtesy is shown to other folk going about their normal - and, remember, frequently urgent - business such as getting to hospital, taking kids to other important sporting events, etc. Thus accidents can be caused by desperate motorists overtaking a "peloton" inappropriately. Yet cycling blogs often show a gleeful delight in holding up motorists for miles.

Residents of the New Forest try hard to cooperate with cyclists, and many of them are themselves riders. The commoners even rearrange the date of their annual round-up to avoid very large events, and when people are aware in advance of the routes they try to find another way round to give the race as clear a road as possible. But the explosion of commercially-organised events, with disruption most week-ends, is making this cooperation more and more difficult. Sooner or later the danger is that there will be confrontation - which is my main reason for writing all this.

Tom Butcher

The New Forest does get rammed with motorised traffic at certain times though - that must be a far greater inconvenience than a few sportives. I'm afraid if you live in a picturesque part of the country to a certain extent you pay the price that it attracts visitors - I'm not condoning people breaking the rules of the road but at the same time a large volume of cyclists will delay people just as a large volume of cars will. I live near a city centre - I get delayed by people commuting into the city all the time - it's just one of those things. The commoner driving his tractor you mention is probably holding up traffic too - maybe even people on urgent journeys taking their kids to sporting events !

KentPuncheur

I sympathise with most things you have said, but this:

Ann Cakebread wrote:

Very little courtesy is shown to other folk going about their normal - and, remember, frequently urgent - business such as getting to hospital, taking kids to other important sporting events, etc. Thus accidents can be caused by desperate motorists overtaking a "peloton" inappropriately. Yet cycling blogs often show a gleeful delight in holding up motorists for miles.

I am afraid I do not. Firstly, I don't understand what you are truely trying to say here? If desperate motorists are overtaking pelotons inappropriately causing accidents, then that is the fault of the motorists for overtaking inappropriately!

What cycling blogs are you talking about? Certainly not on here I hope as deliberately holding up motorists just for kicks is not big or clever, and shouldn't be encouraged but, linking back to the point above, motorists should equally respect the laws of the road that respect cyclists and overtake and pass them appropriately and safely. Personally, if I am cycling in a group on a narrow lane and we are aware of a car trying to pass we will single out so that it is safer for the car to do so (and by association, safer for us cyclists too). If you are trying to say that this is not done then you have a fair complaint, but a sweeping generalisation that we take joy in deliberately holding traffic up is a bit unfair IMO.

And classing taking kids to sporting events as urgent is a little exagerated IMO. If you find it is urgent due to time then leave earlier?! Don't use this as an excuse to overtake cyclists inappropriately, as you said (see above). What are these urgent sporting events anyway? Sportives I hope!!

But to return to sympathising with your comments, I agree in the most part. What I find astonishing is the amount of litter thrown on the roadside by sportive riders, such as energy bar/gel wrappers. Keep it in your pocket! Don't pollute and litter.

Ann Cakebread

Thanks very much for understanding most of my comments! Actually it is rare for the tiny Forest lanes to be "rammed" by car traffic - unless there has been a major accident on the M27 or A31. Unfortunately, however, sportives with up to 1800 riders can and do block them for several hours. For instance, fast riders can get up Blissford Hill (25%) quickly, but videos show it completely blocked with slower riders using the whole 2-lane width to "weave" up it , unsafely for both themselves and any motorists needing to use it. Great to hear you personally go single file when appropriate, but, yes, I do have a fair comment about bunches, or pelotons, or even just 2-abreast, ignoring traffic on narrow roads and holding up normal road-users for several miles - this is becoming a quite normal experience - though I thought my use of the word "inappropriately" would indicate that I most certainly do not condone the overtaking motorist's behaviour. I also hoped cyclists would sympathise with kids being encouraged to take up sport - sportives or otherwise - and if folk had the courtesy of a warning of the sportive they would try to take another route. I have contacted other websites about cyclists' self-incriminating comments - and they are usually quickly removed, but there are certainly enough to know that a good proportion of cyclists think they own the road and are pleased about hindering motorists.

Yes, all motorists get stuck in traffic jams and can be said to cause them, but they are normally just using the road to get somewhere they need to go - not taking over a beautiful area in huge numbers in a commercially run, profit-making event, thus destroying the very tranquillity of the area they are exploiting, and ignoring the needs of the folk who maintain the area.

Ron Stuart

My God Clarkson's got a wife :roll:

Tom Butcher

Ann - motorists just going where they need to go is no different to a cyclist getting where they need to go - even if where they need to go is the finish of a sportive.

Yes cyclists should show courtesy but sometimes weight on numbers will slow roads down - I could take a video of the road next to my house blocked by traffic every day - sometimes it delays me - that's life I'm afraid.

Stedman

I felt that Ann Cakebread’s posting was a well written and balanced one which gives an objective picture of other stakeholder’s views on our sportive scene.

I feel that strategically leaving this aspect of our sport completely unregulated and totally in the hands of the unlicensed commercial bodies is going to create lasting damage to the image of our sport.

I am keen that we do have mass cycling sport events and keen that we also develop a number of well organised closed road events like the Caledonian Etape.

What I am concerned about is that there are no clear parameters for sportives, the calendar is becoming overcrowded with too many conflicting events, there are too many reports of poorly organised events, there is no formal code of practice, for many sportives are becoming a cycle race in but name, I have heard that there are even events being organised without the necessary public liability insurance.

It is only going to be a matter of time before the police stops one of our events; this potentially becomes a ministerial matter or worse there is a serious incident.

I am sorry but I strongly feel there is a case for a leading and regulating body to take responsibility, handle sensitive stakeholder issues and promote this aspect of our sport.