£1.40 a minute to race in Docklands

ju5t1n

Just picking out a few races for next year and found a 2nd Cat crit that's £35 to enter and lasts just 25 minutes. Shall I enter?

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/event ... iums#entry

skinnyrider

If you get a top 5 your seeding free into the main event in june.

ju5t1n

why is it so short though?

Thick Tester

You may find that its a lot more per minute. I gave up and ended up ordering a pint before the end of the support race I was in at the 2008 salford nocturne.

Somethimes showpiece events are a great specatacle, but crap to take part in. You just dont know what the course will be like.

#justsaying

Copy of e-mail sent to face partnership september 2008 post Salford Nocturne :

As a event i thought the production levels were fantastic and provided a great public spectacle and i applaud you for putting the event on. We need more high profile events like this to raise the profile of the sport.

However the course was frankly unsafe, dangerous and i'm very very suprised that no-one was seriously hurt or at least put out of action for a few weeks.
The quayside benches being 'protected' by cones was a joke, All it was going to take was a clash of wheels to send someone skidding into an iron lump or worse still through the railings and into the shipcanal.
The area furthest away from the Lowry and the turn around the building had an parked car that was not cleared in time for the event.

The surface itself was off camber around corners which where also very mossy and slippy. The run up to the finishline could only be called patchwork on the surface and the area up the ramp on the return leg saw many riders going 'airbourne' some nearly made contact with the railings.

I know one rider who very nearly did not start the event because he felt it was so dangerous.
We all have jobs, families, to think about and whilst its fair to say whilst as racing cyclists we are not risk averse, the majority of riders in the support race felt that it was the riskiest course they had ever seen ( and that opinion was formed from the warm up laps! ).

I feel wholehartedly disapointed that having spent the most i ever have on entry to a race that safety was not the prime consideration. I'm very suprised that XXX would sanction a race on such a course.

I would be very interested to hear your comments on what i consider to me constructive feedback. Please dont consider this to be an attack on what i feel was a well run event - Its a simple plea - ensure that its safe - Could you imagine the headlines had one of us sustained an injury or gone headfirst over the railings into the canal?

ju5t1n

did you get a reply?

Thick Tester

Nope,
Just let it lie

GiantMike

I sent a similar email to the organisers of the Nutcracker MTB races in N Yorkshire to inform him that his pre-race publicity on the BC website was wrong and that, as a result, I'd unwittingly entered a 90min minute race rather than an expected 5 hour race. His reply basically said that he didn't need this kind of sh!t and that if I didn't like it I shouldn't enter any more of his races.

So I haven't. Neither has my wife or the 3 guys from work who were planning to compete in next year's series.

ozzzyosborn206

ju5t1n wrote:

Just picking out a few races for next year and found a 2nd Cat crit that's £35 to enter and lasts just 25 minutes. Shall I enter?

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/event ... iums#entry

I am tempted mainly in the hope of getting a ride the the London Nocturne in June, but it is very early to even think about racing so would probably go like a snail

shockedsoshocked

Thick Tester wrote:

You may find that its a lot more per minute. I gave up and ended up ordering a pint before the end of the support race I was in at the 2008 salford nocturne.

Somethimes showpiece events are a great specatacle, but crap to take part in. You just dont know what the course will be like.

#justsaying

Copy of e-mail sent to face partnership september 2008 post Salford Nocturne :

As a event i thought the production levels were fantastic and provided a great public spectacle and i applaud you for putting the event on. We need more high profile events like this to raise the profile of the sport.

However the course was frankly unsafe, dangerous and i'm very very suprised that no-one was seriously hurt or at least put out of action for a few weeks.
The quayside benches being 'protected' by cones was a joke, All it was going to take was a clash of wheels to send someone skidding into an iron lump or worse still through the railings and into the shipcanal.
The area furthest away from the Lowry and the turn around the building had an parked car that was not cleared in time for the event.

The surface itself was off camber around corners which where also very mossy and slippy. The run up to the finishline could only be called patchwork on the surface and the area up the ramp on the return leg saw many riders going 'airbourne' some nearly made contact with the railings.

I know one rider who very nearly did not start the event because he felt it was so dangerous.
We all have jobs, families, to think about and whilst its fair to say whilst as racing cyclists we are not risk averse, the majority of riders in the support race felt that it was the riskiest course they had ever seen ( and that opinion was formed from the warm up laps! ).

I feel wholehartedly disapointed that having spent the most i ever have on entry to a race that safety was not the prime consideration. I'm very suprised that XXX would sanction a race on such a course.

I would be very interested to hear your comments on what i consider to me constructive feedback. Please dont consider this to be an attack on what i feel was a well run event - Its a simple plea - ensure that its safe - Could you imagine the headlines had one of us sustained an injury or gone headfirst over the railings into the canal?

You should have rode the Velo29 Town Centre Crit. It was an "experience".

GiantMike

Or the Beverley crit in 2011 when there was a bad crash after about 10 minutes and the race continued despite there being a group of medics by the injured riders and an ambulance driving around the circuit. The race was then stopped while the carnage was cleared away, and then when we started again the ambulance was still on the circuit. I stopped at this point and went home.

Thick Tester

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

You should have rode the Velo29 Town Centre Crit. It was an "experience".

I need details......

shockedsoshocked

Thick Tester wrote:

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

You should have rode the Velo29 Town Centre Crit. It was an "experience".

I need details......

Extremely tight circuit, with a cobbled section kindly power hosed by the council to get the gaps between the cobbles gleaming and just the right size for bike tyres to drop in to. The parts on road were covered in diesel and coatings of rubber as it's an extremely busy high street with buses, vans, wagons etc. Sharp turns off the proper road onto a barriered section of the highstreet which is paved with those slabs that go shiny when wet. Include some road furniture, a bit more diesel on various parts of the course and the fact it pissed it down the entire time and you've got a good idea what it was like. I did one lap, then realised my bike and my epidermis were too precious to risk.

Here's a picture of the nice shiny highstreet:



Oh yeh it was also on a Friday evening so there was people from pubs hopping barriers to get across the road. And it was in Stockton.

Whinge over, I'M OVER IT.

racingcondor

Well the good news for the Bike Show crit is that the circuit looks reasonable (can't find the link to the circuit map though but it's not far off a triangle shape) and they have apparently been testing surface coatings to make sure it's grippy.

I guess the most obvious problems are the risk that crash barriers might not have proper padding and that if you do come off you might be sliding on sandpaper...

Rodrego Hernandez

Thick Tester wrote:

You may find that its a lot more per minute. I gave up and ended up ordering a pint before the end of the support race I was in at the 2008 salford nocturne.

Somethimes showpiece events are a great specatacle, but crap to take part in. You just dont know what the course will be like.

#justsaying

Copy of e-mail sent to face partnership september 2008 post Salford Nocturne :

As a event i thought the production levels were fantastic and provided a great public spectacle and i applaud you for putting the event on. We need more high profile events like this to raise the profile of the sport.

However the course was frankly unsafe, dangerous and i'm very very suprised that no-one was seriously hurt or at least put out of action for a few weeks.
The quayside benches being 'protected' by cones was a joke, All it was going to take was a clash of wheels to send someone skidding into an iron lump or worse still through the railings and into the shipcanal.
The area furthest away from the Lowry and the turn around the building had an parked car that was not cleared in time for the event.

The surface itself was off camber around corners which where also very mossy and slippy. The run up to the finishline could only be called patchwork on the surface and the area up the ramp on the return leg saw many riders going 'airbourne' some nearly made contact with the railings.

I know one rider who very nearly did not start the event because he felt it was so dangerous.
We all have jobs, families, to think about and whilst its fair to say whilst as racing cyclists we are not risk averse, the majority of riders in the support race felt that it was the riskiest course they had ever seen ( and that opinion was formed from the warm up laps! ).

I feel wholehartedly disapointed that having spent the most i ever have on entry to a race that safety was not the prime consideration. I'm very suprised that XXX would sanction a race on such a course.

I would be very interested to hear your comments on what i consider to me constructive feedback. Please dont consider this to be an attack on what i feel was a well run event - Its a simple plea - ensure that its safe - Could you imagine the headlines had one of us sustained an injury or gone headfirst over the railings into the canal?

No chance of a reply. They tried to rip a mate of mine off, it's all about the bottom line for them.

GiantMike

Thick Tester wrote:

You may find that its a lot more per minute. I gave up and ended up ordering a pint before the end of the support race I was in at the 2008 salford nocturne.

Somethimes showpiece events are a great specatacle, but crap to take part in. You just dont know what the course will be like.

#justsaying

Copy of e-mail sent to face partnership september 2008 post Salford Nocturne :

As a event i thought the production levels were fantastic and provided a great public spectacle and i applaud you for putting the event on. We need more high profile events like this to raise the profile of the sport.

However the course was frankly unsafe, dangerous and i'm very very suprised that no-one was seriously hurt or at least put out of action for a few weeks.
The quayside benches being 'protected' by cones was a joke, All it was going to take was a clash of wheels to send someone skidding into an iron lump or worse still through the railings and into the shipcanal.
The area furthest away from the Lowry and the turn around the building had an parked car that was not cleared in time for the event.

The surface itself was off camber around corners which where also very mossy and slippy. The run up to the finishline could only be called patchwork on the surface and the area up the ramp on the return leg saw many riders going 'airbourne' some nearly made contact with the railings.

I know one rider who very nearly did not start the event because he felt it was so dangerous.
We all have jobs, families, to think about and whilst its fair to say whilst as racing cyclists we are not risk averse, the majority of riders in the support race felt that it was the riskiest course they had ever seen ( and that opinion was formed from the warm up laps! ).

I feel wholehartedly disapointed that having spent the most i ever have on entry to a race that safety was not the prime consideration. I'm very suprised that XXX would sanction a race on such a course.

I would be very interested to hear your comments on what i consider to me constructive feedback. Please dont consider this to be an attack on what i feel was a well run event - Its a simple plea - ensure that its safe - Could you imagine the headlines had one of us sustained an injury or gone headfirst over the railings into the canal?

It would probably be better writing to BC. The BC officials are as blameworthy as the organiser. Anybody can organise an event but it takes BC sanctioning to make it official. Safety should be BCs prime concern.

Rodrego Hernandez

GiantMike wrote:

Thick Tester wrote:

You may find that its a lot more per minute. I gave up and ended up ordering a pint before the end of the support race I was in at the 2008 salford nocturne.

Somethimes showpiece events are a great specatacle, but crap to take part in. You just dont know what the course will be like.

#justsaying

Copy of e-mail sent to face partnership september 2008 post Salford Nocturne :

As a event i thought the production levels were fantastic and provided a great public spectacle and i applaud you for putting the event on. We need more high profile events like this to raise the profile of the sport.

However the course was frankly unsafe, dangerous and i'm very very suprised that no-one was seriously hurt or at least put out of action for a few weeks.
The quayside benches being 'protected' by cones was a joke, All it was going to take was a clash of wheels to send someone skidding into an iron lump or worse still through the railings and into the shipcanal.
The area furthest away from the Lowry and the turn around the building had an parked car that was not cleared in time for the event.

The surface itself was off camber around corners which where also very mossy and slippy. The run up to the finishline could only be called patchwork on the surface and the area up the ramp on the return leg saw many riders going 'airbourne' some nearly made contact with the railings.

I know one rider who very nearly did not start the event because he felt it was so dangerous.
We all have jobs, families, to think about and whilst its fair to say whilst as racing cyclists we are not risk averse, the majority of riders in the support race felt that it was the riskiest course they had ever seen ( and that opinion was formed from the warm up laps! ).

I feel wholehartedly disapointed that having spent the most i ever have on entry to a race that safety was not the prime consideration. I'm very suprised that XXX would sanction a race on such a course.

I would be very interested to hear your comments on what i consider to me constructive feedback. Please dont consider this to be an attack on what i feel was a well run event - Its a simple plea - ensure that its safe - Could you imagine the headlines had one of us sustained an injury or gone headfirst over the railings into the canal?

It would probably be better writing to BC. The BC officials are as blameworthy as the organiser. Anybody can organise an event but it takes BC sanctioning to make it official. Safety should be BCs prime concern.

Fran Millar is one of the directors at face and is also on the BC payroll. No conflict there.

FransJacques

FInd out who signed off on the risk assessment and harass them with scary words like conflict of interest, governance structure, independence, liability, insurance, etc.

Someting wil finally get through to them.

wcrombie

I know it was expensive but it was great fun and the stuff on the corners made it far safer than expected....

bigmat

Well done on your win Wayne. Had to give my race a miss today as had other commitments in the end - gutted!