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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-42801721
Basically Highways England are trying to have bikes banned from the A63 out of Hull. It's a busy dual carriageway (the only real main route in and out of Hull) with quite narrow lanes and it's a really popular TT route. There's been a fatality a few years back (some poor chap went into the back of a caravan).
Did you really need to post it three times? 🙂
I saw it on the local news a couple of nights ago. Is there a viable cycle friendly alternative? There are already sections of other dual carriageways where bikes are banned - the ones I've seen are bad enough in a car let alone on a bike. Looking on Streetmap there's a marked cycle route from North Ferriby as far as South Cave, shortly after that the A63 becomes the M62
Its basically the M62, why on earth would you want to cycle on it?
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 12.8px; background-color: #eeeeee;">Its basically the M62, why on earth would you want to cycle on it?</span>
Isn't it something like the fastest 10k TT?
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; background-color: #eeeeee;">why on earth would you want to cycle on it?</span>
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">To get away from Hull?</span>
Why?
To get away from Hull.
Yup it's one of the fastest courses in the UK. There's a few riders in my club who travel up (from the South Coast) at least a few times a year to compete in Open TT competitions and see how fast they really can go.
Can we get clarification on whether the proposal is to:
i) ban cycles from using the road
or
ii) restrict the road from being used as a TT course
please?
Whilst for many those kinds of roads might seem madness to ride on, but statistically they’re very safe – just that the outcome of any collision is usually sever. If they’re trying to use the only know fatality to ban cyclists then that potentially will have a significant effect on all cycling in the UK.
No one should be racing on public roads, unless they're closed off.
Ban HGV's and the course wouldn't be as quick.
Joking aside though could set a dangerous precendent.
to my mind it's both or none, you can't stop a TT without full bike ban, I imagine the moaners just want to drive without having to bother with avoiding other road users that aren't cars
It's basically the M62 light. I wouldn't dare go on it. The drivers make no differential between the the M road and the A road.
The V718 A63 is officially the fastest 10 mile tt course in the UK. The record stands at an unbelievable 16mins 35 seconds so an average speed of just over36 mph including 2 roundabouts and 5 miles in either direction on the dual carriageway. When I used to do tts in Yorkshire,Team Swift ran a Wed night event on the course, the fastest times were when there was a certain tide in Hull which meant you had a tail wind going east and could slipstream the lorries coming out of Hull docks on the way back, scary stuff. To qualify to get on the start sheet, you already had to have a sub 20 min 10 to your name.
I've ridden TTs on it. Personally I prefer non dual carriageway courses but it's close to home so I had a go to see how fast I could go. It's not as bad as you'd think but I wouldn't lose sleep about time trialling moving away from that sort of road. However, I don't like the use of a TRO to force that and my concern is mainly about the precedent this would set - there are lots of roads which are statistically much less safe than that one and if the same reasoning starts to be used more widely then what happens?
Crap, I didn't think I'd managed to post this once, let alone three times - I do apologise.
As far as I know the proposal is to ban bikes completely, but I only know what I've read on the news sites. I don't really know much about TTs or the way they run to be able to form a particularly valid opinion, but I do know I wouldn't touch that bit of road on a bike. TTs are pretty much the only time you ever see a bike on there, and there's 'nicer' ways to get to where your going anywhere along the road, especially in summer.
I've ridden most bike race formats in the UK, including road racing on the open road. TT's on dual carriageways that feature spear junctions / slipways are awful - being aware of a car accelerating up your inside and not being sure if the driver has seen you or not is not pleasant. I drive home from work on the A3 near Petersfield and to witness TT bikes on there with traffic at near motorway conditions is madness.
TTing on national speed limit dual carriageway that is an extension of the M62? Dangerous to cyclists and drivers.
If cyclists have the right (not.licence etc) to be there...
I'm torn, on the one hand it could be the start of a slippery slope that ends in widespread restrictions on dual carriageways. On the other hand the speed differences do make it pretty dangerous, especially coupled with TTers having a habit of drifting well into the carriageway for a draft effect. I used to TT a lot as a junior and spent most of my time in the hard shoulder and even then didn't feel especially safe - I really do wonder at the mentality of shaving a few seconds off your PB being worth cycling over half way into the lane to maximise the benefit from overtakes (it really isn't about taking the prime position for safety when it comes to TTing).
No one should be racing on public roads, unless they’re closed off.
No, racing bicycles on open public roads is legal and governed by the various pieces of "Cycle Racing on Highways" legislation:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/all?title ="Cycle%20racing"
I've raced on the Hull course years ago and was a bit uncomfortable about the heavy traffic, but I think they've come to a sensible decision instead of imposing a ban.