Dangerous groups on Sportives

[Dave W]

Oh come on lighten up. This forum is rife with moaning old farts. Read the posts, I've never seen so much snobbery. I'm grumpy but never feel the need to moan about fellow cyclists whatever they ride. We're all part of a cycling community yet there's not much love to anyone different. Don't like sportives? Don't do them. Personally I don't like cycling in a very close group, never fancied touring with full paniers either, don't get the idea of being stretched out on a recumbent but whatever floats your boat.

But sorry if you are a DM reader then there's no hope.

[Dave W]

"Have to agree, always a relaxed event. And boy if every there was a motivation to overtake and sprint to the horizon it was the thought of following that mankini guy.... "

To be honest I don't know how he does it. I had a winter jacket on.

[Slasher]

Oh come on lighten up. This forum is rife with moaning old farts. Read the posts, I've never seen so much snobbery. I'm grumpy but never feel the need to moan about fellow cyclists whatever they ride. We're all part of a cycling community yet there's not much love to anyone different. Don't like sportives? Don't do them. Personally I don't like cycling in a very close group, never fancied touring with full paniers either, don't get the idea of being stretched out on a recumbent but whatever floats your boat.

But sorry if you are a DM reader then there's no hope.

LOL! I get grumpy too but nearly choked on my lunch at the DM jibe! Ouch..

However the original post confirms that some people on bikes can behave as badly as some people in cars. The wife was nearly put in a hedge yesterday by a dangerous driver. His window must have been down because his threatening behaviour afterwards (weaving and braking in front of us) was his response to our simultaneous vocal complaints! Police notified though I don't expect they'll be too interested.

[roberts8]

You should live near box hill in the surrey hills as we do. It happens nearly every week. Is there any law that limits sportives or require permission to ride.

The big problem seems to me that the marshals on junctions seem to think their job is to hold up the traffic to allow the riders through, we see many near misses and collisions which would all be avoidable if the entrants were slowed down or stopped at junctions.

It is getting us cyclists a bad name in this area and I am always saying we are not all this bad but it is a problem that needs to be sorted.

[100%JR]

You should live near box hill in the surrey hills as we do. It happens nearly every week. Is there any law that limits sportives or require permission to ride.

The big problem seems to me that the marshals on junctions seem to think their job is to hold up the traffic to allow the riders through, we see many near misses and collisions which would all be avoidable if the entrants were slowed down or stopped at junctions.

It is getting us cyclists a bad name in this area and I am always saying we are not all this bad but it is a problem that needs to be sorted.

I Marshall our CCs Two Sportives a year and we are instructed to do the exact opposite!
We're at junctions to advise approaching riders whether or not it's clear to proceed and NOT to stop traffic!
If it's clear we'll let the riders proceed if there's oncoming traffic we instruct the riders to stop.It's up to the riders whether they listen to our instructions or not.99% of them do.

[roberts8]

Apologies.



The club events are very good it seems the corporate and some charity events need to be a bit better organised. Obviously there is good and bad in all rides but I do wonder if there were a limited number of events then it would reduce having events week after week. Established events and local clubs should be first in line.

[Vorpal]

You should live near box hill in the surrey hills as we do. It happens nearly every week. Is there any law that limits sportives or require permission to ride.

The big problem seems to me that the marshals on junctions seem to think their job is to hold up the traffic to allow the riders through, we see many near misses and collisions which would all be avoidable if the entrants were slowed down or stopped at junctions.

It is getting us cyclists a bad name in this area and I am always saying we are not all this bad but it is a problem that needs to be sorted.

In general, organised rides require informing the police and doing risk assessments of the routes. While I don't believe police approval is required, if there are conflicting events or likely problems, the police may refuse to allow an event.

Marshals are not permittted to stop and control traffic unless they have received training under the Police Community Safety Accreditation Scheme and are certified by local police. They should carry identification that indicates they have certification, and they should have a stop / event sign (like a lollipop at person-controlled school crossings) and / or police signs. British Cycling certified race marshals, for example, carry identification with the BC logo and the certifying police authority. As far as I know, this is only allowed for road races, but certainly local police could authorise it for other events. Here's is some (dated) information about the BC scheme https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/zuvvi ... alling.pdf

If marshals are stopping traffic without training and authorisation, it may be a problem both for the event, and from a road safety perspective. It could be worthwhile discussing it with local police.

[The utility cyclist]

You should live near box hill in the surrey hills as we do. It happens nearly every week. Is there any law that limits sportives or require permission to ride.

The big problem seems to me that the marshals on junctions seem to think their job is to hold up the traffic to allow the riders through, we see many near misses and collisions which would all be avoidable if the entrants were slowed down or stopped at junctions.

It is getting us cyclists a bad name in this area and I am always saying we are not all this bad but it is a problem that needs to be sorted.

I Marshall our CCs Two Sportives a year and we are instructed to do the exact opposite!
We're at junctions to advise approaching riders whether or not it's clear to proceed and NOT to stop traffic!
If it's clear we'll let the riders proceed if there's oncoming traffic we instruct the riders to stop.It'a up to the riders whether they listen to our instructions or not.99% of them do.

This has to be the most logical approach, giving certain types any inkling that they can ride without any boundaries encourages anti-social and dangerous riding in exactly the same way motorists act at present.
Making it clear that anti-social and dangerous riding WILL be dealt with by organisers harshly and that dangerous riding is likely to end up in the hands of the police (like the OPs), would have a dramatic effect on behaviour particularly at the larger events IMHO.

[RodWatts]

Thank goodness the sportive lot haven't discovered the wonders of an Audax.
Oh the joy of getting lost in the middle of nowhere on a cold and frosty morning or following someone who is riding the 200k when you only wanted to do the 100k! Plus there will still be enough cheese tosties, beans on toast and (last year) blackberry and apple pie with custard.. Marvellous stuff!

Rod

[Heltor Chasca]

Thank goodness the sportive lot haven't discovered the wonders of an Audax.
Oh the joy of getting lost in the middle of nowhere on a cold and frosty morning or following someone who is riding the 200k when you only wanted to do the 100k! Plus there will still be enough cheese tosties, beans on toast and (last year) blackberry and apple pie with custard.. Marvellous stuff!

Rod

[emoji106]I did my 1st event a few weeks ago. And for all the above reasons I'm smitten. Don't worry: With Audax, not you Rod[emoji6]

There were a lot of 'the usual crowd' (sportive riders) as they can see Audaxing's appeal. It's very inclusive. You know the reasons. Their speed and the technology between their legs was admirable, but boy was their navigation hopeless. Large groups of them stuck at junctions waiting for one of the 'old guard' to arrive and help them on their way was amusing.

Audaxers and tourists are way ahead of the game in this sense [emoji6][emoji106]

[ANTONISH]

Thank goodness the sportive lot haven't discovered the wonders of an Audax.
Oh the joy of getting lost in the middle of nowhere on a cold and frosty morning
Rod

Or a wet and windy night

[landsurfer]

I never have issues with dangerous riders on Sportives ..... their all in front of me !!!!!

[mjr]

I never have issues with dangerous riders on Sportives ..... their all in front of me !!!!!

When I did some, one problem was that the system encouraged slower riders to set off first to give us more time of reaching the finish before it closed, so we spent the first ten miles or so being overtaken badly by underskilled healthier/younger/underpacked people, then we'd keep leap-frogging some of them as they had to stop for longer due to mechanicals, poor skills at fixing them (including having to wait for a support vehicle), hiding out of rain too heavy for their lightweight clothes or simply being unable to eat and drink on the move, unlike most of us old plodders.

In other words, they didn't start in front and even once they got in front, enough would end up behind us at some point to be annoying!

[Heltor Chasca]

I never have issues with dangerous riders on Sportives ..... their all in front of me !!!!!

I think, maybe like me on an Audax event, you would be surprised how well you would do.

I was consistently 'popping' out of lanes in front of the sportive lot. They really didn't seem to get a handle on not having marshals showing them which way to go. I had a couple of 'compliments' (ahem) handed to me by frustrated race-snakes. The touring lot have the edge on navigation.

I did the event in horrific weather and was much better off on my Surly DT than I would have been on a carbon frame. Comfort, handling and robustness came into it's own.

[Richard A Thackeray]

Bloody blokes who are inexperienced group riders nee to get it into their heads that they have a responsibility for keeping other cyclists safe and riding in a way that neither endangers or unnerves other cyclists, regardless of their ability levels.

Hope this is visible. but it's what I saw at the 'Tour de Yorkshire' Sportive last year
http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/nearly ... st-3903613

It's not mentioned in my comment there, but I was told later about an absolute nutter, who was so far over the double (solid) whites, that he had to pass between the opposing vehicle & the kerb, to avoid a head-on


Some of 'us' are our own worst enemies

I used the word 'us' with regret in this case