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What is starting to become a problem in the Surrey Hills is that there's a sportive on pretty much every week, sometimes 2 or 3 on the same day, all completely independent of each other.
a sportive involving hundreds, potentially more, doesn't
Thats obviously got to be wrong.
Its just a ****ing bike ride, whats to worry about. Should motorbike clubs inform the police when they are doing a group ride?
Yes!
I think we should ban people from London and Surrey from riding bikes. Or just ban people from London and Surrey.
There is probably a case for tightening legislation on them. They are blatantly a workaround, but they are such a large part of grassroots road cycling that you'd basically kill the sport by banning them outright. Probably numbers of riders could be capped and maybe even demand road closures - but that would automatically cut the number of 'not-races' on the calendar considerably in itself.
So, no.
I think limited numbers an no timing would help improve the image to those who don't cycle
Ref Surrey - the council published a COP, which isn't unreasonable. But as discussed, without a regulatory regime it's of limited value.
No, a TT is a 'trial of speed' rather than a race
Not a distinction that the law makes:
"‘time trial’ means a race or trial of speed between bicycles"
Either way, it falls under the cycle racing on the highways regs.
Not a distinction that the law makes:"‘time trial’ means a race or trial of speed between bicycles"
Either way, it falls under the cycle racing on the highways regs.
Are you sure. I thought the whole reason why TT developed in the Uk as it was legal on open roads. Road races are not legal on open roads
racing on the road was banned (in the 20/30's IIRC), hence the tortured definition of "trail of speed", and the requirement to set off singularly. NIMBY-ism isn't a modern phenomena, bicycles were apparently a scourge then, as they still still are now clearly.
How the folk of France Belgium, Italy, Spain, and any number of other countries cope is beyond me....
We're a nation of fat ****s nick.....
I'm not sure fat pride is a thing in France and Italy
I bet there is an over representation of obese people among the anti-cyclist nimbys....
Are you sure. I thought the whole reason why TT developed in the Uk as it was legal on open roads.
Sort of. Racing of all kinds was banned, hence TTing developed because it could be done under the radar. It has since become legal under the Cycle Racing on the Highways Regulations. Not sure when it actually became legal, but the current regs date back to the 1960.
Road races are not legal on open roads
They can be. The regs differentiate between TTs and other kinds of races, and the conditions on non-TT races are somewhat more stringent and a Sportive would struggle to comply particularly with the requirement for no more than 80 or 100 participants.
what car for loading the full aero cervelo sportive bike
Or just ban [s]people from[/s] London and Surrey.
And we're done....
Can't see what all the fuss is about they are normally run pretty early in the day and over by 12pm. We also going to start banning marathons, 10ks and ParkRuns ( us some tits already done the last one). Also hope about we ban football matches cities are bloody murder when the local match is on.
Hell no. Don't let the NIMBYs win, as our relatives didn't die in the war so we could cave in to the anti fun fascists.
Shred the green gnar!!!
The green keepers get upset when you rag around their smooth grass on knobbly tyres.
Bans are rarely the answer.
Bans are rarely the answer.
I'm still not sure of the question. I think it is "how can I make sure the rest of society have no impact on my life".
Scrutineering. Fed up of seeing riders whose knees stick out further than their elbows, although this could be more the charity events and riders doing their one bike ride of the year.
I'm not sure fat pride is a thing in France and Italy
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I hope that fella is getting commision everytime his photo is used.
Ban them if the organisers fail to take down the sings within 36 hours - same with other "races" (cough). Surrey roads and countryside littered with bloody signs and markers.
I dunno why these events are run on the continent and they seem to be welcomed with open arms by all and sundry, including the locals, & including the faux racing aspect, but here they generate such opprobrium.
As for the OP I get the feeling the problem lies with issues you personally have around sportives rather than anything else. You might enjoy them if you could just chill.
For those of us who have got to page 3 without actually understanding what the ****ing point of a sportive actually is can someone explain?
I won't bother to explain as it won't make you sneer at them/their participants any less.
If it gets people out cycling, it's a good thing in my book.
People in all walks of life litter, any of it is annoying. I do think that perhaps if event organisers made a bigger deal out of it, maybe not issuing times to those caught littering it may make some think & stick it in their pocket but then it's likely the majority won't care, like those who chuck crap at the base of climbing crags, or trail centres, or public parks. Arseholes participate in all sorts of leisure activities.
This thread (bar the op's usual gentle trolling) just another example of how some people delight in whinging about things that they don't want to do & belittle those who do.
If you banned sportives you'd miss out on gems like this:
Gotama - Member
This boils my wee. We live in Peaslake which is about half way on the ride and the verges are covered in discarded gel wrappers after the ride London comes through.
Great rant, but totally ignores the fact that ride London doesn't even go through Peaslake.
My opinion on sportives - done a few, not massively impressed by them. Did the dragon this year as a challenge, but will always go for ride London as i really enjoy bombing through London on closed roads.
Sportives seem to have lost their way a little. It was only 10 years ago that they really didn't exist bar a few long running ones like the Fred Whitton (and even that was quite a low-key affair for hardcore club riders).
About 4-5 years ago there was a sudden drive to make them harder, bigger, more climbing, more gnarr but that seems to have died down a bit now as organisers have realised that the market for that isn't actually that big, it's essentially experienced riders only and they're gravitating more towards self-organised bikepacking, gravel-roading etc.
Some events are definitely heading down the pretend-race route, especially Etape Caledonia and RideLondon. EC has long been known as a race in all but name up the front end of it and, like RideLondon, the course is actually pretty easy so it's good for some fast times.
Some are trying to be different (introducing gravel or cobble sectors for example), some have tried things like timed hill climbs in the middle of them (again, the pretend-race bit showing through) but really the market has lost its way, it doesn't really know what sort of people it wants to attract or how to attract them and the people that are doing them are very much the "everything on a plate" brigade who assume that because they're in a pretend-race they can do whatever they want - the behaviour of a good percentage of Sportive riders is staggeringly stupid, the main ones being urinating in public, littering and riding as though the highway code doesn't exist.