Sportive Safety
Comments
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Seen the same thing on Exmoor, local lady driving her land rover downhill, narrow lane just leaning on the horn forcing cyclists off the road actually into the ditch. turns out she was just pissed off with being held up.!! As a sportive regular including loads of wiggle events including the new forest, I completely understand the annoyance to locals that mass event riders can cause but these are public roads, they are not going away so we need to all work together to sort it out some really good suggestions above. Re drivers, My own view, sorry but all road users need to obey the traffic laws, irrespective of the reasons for wanting to go fast, thats why we have blue light responders.0
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Ann,
Despite the good intentions of the driver, ie medical emergency, late for an appointment, etc, you cannot disregard the laws of the road. Certain people have some exemptions such as Police, Fire and Ambulance but these drivers are still subject to the Road Traffic act and have to justify why they went through the red light or didn't stop at the stop line. This can be evidenced by the amount of convictions that are given to emergency services drivers when it goes wrong (death by dangerous driving for one!).
The best way to notify other roads users that is an emergency is the blue lights and the trained driver. When you are running late or having to deal with what you perceive to be an emergency, could you justify your actions whilst 'gripping the rail' in Crown Court defending a charge of death by dangerous driving?
I live and cycle in the New Forest and there is bad cycling as well as bad driving but you can't justify bad driving because of your own emergency.0 -
After reading your last post Ann I'm afraid any sympathy I might have had for your points is now fully exhausted and in particular the second paragraph which is ridiculously biased. The biggest causes of hold-ups on British roads are other vehicles by an amount compared to bicycles that so great it's unbelievable. Your grandson maybe held up on an emergency appointment but it so much more likely to be a car, lorry or van that is at the route of the problem or as is increasingly the case just to many vehicles bringing it all to a grounding halt.
What's more having been the victim of a hit and run driver whilst out on my bike which resulted in an emergency visit to Hospital, I find this ranting bias towards cyclists quite nauseating.
We in this country have people in all walks of life that I find awful, the chances that there more idiots riding bicycles by percentage than idiots that drive cars, vans or lorries is hugely delusional.
Ann it's time to bail out of this thread and leave things to those of us that want to do something positive instead of just being divisive and getting peoples back-up.0 -
Thanks for your understanding so far. Now please understand that I am not biaised against cyclists, but against inconsiderate road users of all kinds. Blocking a road without thinking of the consequences is bad, so is forcing your way through the blockage. Reconciliation is my aim, but it seems this is impossible.
Please, everyone, get this wonderful sport on to a better footing before some really serious confrontation occurs. Over and out!0 -
Isn't this quite simple to answer? Care and consideration for yourself and others would be a start, knowledge, learning from good peers would be another, joining a cycling club with their huge depth of knowledge would finish it off.
Please don't be tempted to let BC get involved. They would only bring rules, regs, procedures and the rest with them.
It is difficult for riders new to the scene to think about joining a cycling club. The thought of cycling in a big group can look daunting at first, but once you are integrated into it, it comes easily.
LEAVE US ALONE, I JUST WANT TO RIDE MY BIKE!!!!!!
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Edward H wrote:Isn't this quite simple to answer? Care and consideration for yourself and others would be a start, knowledge, learning from good peers would be another, joining a cycling club with their huge depth of knowledge would finish it off.
Please don't be tempted to let BC get involved. They would only bring rules, regs, procedures and the rest with them.
It is difficult for riders new to the scene to think about joining a cycling club. The thought of cycling in a big group can look daunting at first, but once you are integrated into it, it comes easily.
LEAVE US ALONE, I JUST WANT TO RIDE MY BIKE!!!!!!
Ed,
Just ride your bike please, no problem your good to go.
Oh! and your too late mate BC have hired a man for just this issue name of Iain Phillips and he is in consultation with the major sportive organisers.
So bad luck old bean jobs done :P0 -
Oh yes, I do know that BC are already infiltrating the Sportive scene. They have obviously realised that there is a huge market to be tapped.
Do we really need to be told how to ride a bike. Do we need more rules & regulations.
Clearly from your tone you are an excellent cyclist who prefers others to toe the line.0 -
Edward H wrote:Oh yes, I do know that BC are already infiltrating the Sportive scene. They have obviously realised that there is a huge market to be tapped.
Do we really need to be told how to ride a bike. Do we need more rules & regulations.
Clearly from your tone you are an excellent cyclist who prefers others to toe the line.
There will be no more rules & regulations and no one telling you how to ride a bike. However for those that want to find out how to keep themselves safer whilst riding a sportive for instance, help (that's all) will be at hand (optional) so experts need have no fears of big brother interfering with their cycling.0 -
SOme very interesting points here, and as a newbie to Sportives, I have read with great interest. Tomorrow I'll be riding my fourth sportive, having done the Tour Ride Wales (118m), the Cheshire Cat (102) and the Motion in Mercia (60).
I wholeheartedly agree with the observations of some of the sheer idiocy I saw on both the Cheshire Cat and Motion in Mercia. Some of the risks I saw people taking, and the sheer lack of respect for other riders. I was overtaken by one chap when a car was coming the other way, if I needed to avoid a pothole or similar, I had no chance, and this was descending off Mow Cop!! Another thing is people coming flying past you stupidly close without warning you they are there, its pure and simple bad manners and dangerous. And these people all appeared to be experienced riders, they certainly had all the gear!
As for people drafting...... on the Motion, I had two punctures in the space of 5 min and ended up riding on my own to try and catch the group I was riding with, so I was riding pretty hard, and into a horrible headwind. About 10 miles from the feedstation I passed a group of about 10 riders, and one of them jumped straight off and sat on my wheel. After a few miles, I invited him to have a go on the front, and he had the arrogance to shake his head and sit there. I did another mile or so and invitied him on again, no, still having none of it. So I told him what I thought of him and sprinted away from him, hard. It hurt, but I didnt care. Cheeky sod. If hes on the Wild Edric tomorrow and tries it again, Im afraid Ill just stop. Do your turn or sod off!!
I;ve only been riding road for a year myself, and riding with my local club has been a massive help to me in terms of etiquette and simple riding skills and I urge anyone who is getting into sportives and isnt part of a club to go and speak to your nearest, it will do you a world of good.
Right, off to bed to get rested for the morning, happy riding all! Scott Addict R3
Boardman CX 20140 -
nothing wrong with passing riders at speed even if there is traffic oncoming as long as there is room to do so safely, maybe your not as good a rider as you think ;-) as for telling the guy drafting what you thought of him, dont forget its a sportive not a race, he can do exactly what he wants and if he wanted could sit on your wheel entire event :-) if it was a race may have been different as most riders would do their turn, dont forget you had the option to sit uop if you wanted, it was you who chose to sprint off.
By the way, i hope you dont swerve to avoid a pothole while descending !! Hop over them :-)0 -
EvidentlyTanukiRider wrote:So I told him what I thought of him...
...my local club has been a massive help to me in terms of etiquette...0
