I'm surprised that this wasn't reported to a marshal at the time. I took part (in the cycling!) but did not encounter any unpleasantness bar the rider who squeezed between two of us, without any warning, with the oncoming lane free.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Sport
Audax + sportives 2017
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Posted 6 years ago #
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The Tour of the Borders seems to pee off a surprising number of the local residents, often to the detriment of other cyclists and events. There were a couple of venues that suddenly decided audax events would no longer be welcome to use them as controls. The negotiations for LEL were protracted and farcical at times (including being threatened with the police) until we convinced everyone we were nothing to do with the ToB.
Posted 6 years ago # -
It remains a mystery to me why closed road events on the Continent are welcomed with sense of pride and an opportunity for the local communities to celebrate. Whereas here it appear to be impossible for people to survive with their road being closed for a couple of hours on a Sunday morning. Bit like the city centre being closed I suppose.
As an aside the reporting and the reaction to this has been massively over sensationalist.
EDIT: Out of interest. What venues are turning down audaxes? Apart from Peebles itself & The Gordon Arms, I can't think of any other cafes etc on the route.Posted 6 years ago # -
Mrs LB saw the 'men with sticks' from a Herald post on Facebook.
The original Tour o' the Borders took a lot to set up - old shop next door to LB was office to John Anderson from Bicycle Works.
He planned out route and spent a lot of time meeting business people from the area. Local cafes were included and places like Traquair House were assured that roads would be back to normal by 11am. Event has become bigger since then.
I do wonder if marathon runners would have been greeted with sticks though. Are cyclists 'more use to aggro' so not in need of assistance?Posted 6 years ago # -
Uncensored photos:
(This censoring of miscreants' faces in the media has got beyond a joke now)
Posted 6 years ago # -
This event has obviously upset people somehow, but I can't help thinking that if the gentlemen with sticks had been younger they would have ended up in the ditch.
No fool like an old fool and these two fools have been very foolish.
Posted 6 years ago # -
'Struth Murun, will read maybe he says that as event wastes police time I decided to really waste police time too. I do hope the police keep him in the cells a few nights like they did with the tack saboteur. These slightly mad old guys do not like losing their liberty and even a few nights in the cells usually does the trick.
The farmer has admitted he was the ring leader, unlike the tack man on the Etape 2009 who spent all of the early part of 2009 banging on about how he was going to do it, then when lifted denied it.
If those farmers had any particular rush to get the harvest in you would have thought they would wait until the last rider went through and crack on. Instead of disrupting the event then runny away.
The comments on the road cc are however quite interesting. Several sensible people discussing the need for patience. For example, I wait for a particular herd of cows out by auchengray that come down the road. No problem I am out in the countryside all bucolic.
However some of the posters are as rabid about this as some drivers are about being held up by a cyclist.
Most cyclists are townies who head out to the country so we do need to shut gates, smell the shit etc.
Not condoning the farmers, as I would like them lifted and incarcerated over a weekend.
Just waiting until it gets lighter and I can go out to the country, I hear there are some closed roads over by avonbridge will go over and monitor the fermers
Posted 6 years ago # -
Is a strange world when tractor drivers start complaining about people holding others up on the road. Do they even pay road tax!
Posted 6 years ago # -
@acsimpson, they pay field tax?
Loose sheep at colzium thus morning and loose Cow at auchengray.
Carnwath still a mess and the Woolfords road past the dog trust and ned boulting's mum's house will be shut from 18/9/17 for thirteen weeks
Posted 6 years ago # -
Clearly this is a case of Local Roads For Local People.
I wonder how the local landowners would react to the Indignity of facing charges under Section 38(1) of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010.
I wonder if these are the same gang of Borderers who have been destroying speed cameras?
Posted 6 years ago # -
@acsimpson no, farmers don't pay VED on tractors or pay duty on their diesel. Should I mention EU CAP subsidy? Makes you think
Posted 6 years ago # -
Without knowing more about this it's impossible to tell if they represent common feelings or are just a pair of nutters. I see the countryside as an industrial space that happens to look nice. You wouldn't close Grangemouth or Mossmorran for the day because people wanted to base-jump from the cracking towers. Tractors may hold us up and we may hold up tractors but one of us is at work and the other at play.
Posted 6 years ago # -
"one of us is at work and the other at play."
Aye but it was a Sunday. Really the working farmers argument's a red herring: this is just Locals objecting to a bunch of Townies taking over Their roads for a couple of hours...
Posted 6 years ago # -
Aye but it was a Sunday.
This isn't how farming works, especially not at hairst time.
Posted 6 years ago # -
I can see how the T0B might have been inconvenient for some. Only for a couple of hours though, it's hardly a disaster. Having lived on a working farm as a lad I know that the timing of harvest is sometimes critical, especially when waiting for,certain crops to dry. It's rarely so crucial that it can't wait a couple of hours.
Whether the farming argument has any justification is not really the issue in any case. Was this ludicrous protest the appropriate response to a minor inconvenience? Was it even the best use of farmers' time if they are (apparently) desperate to get on with the harvest?
The whole thing reeks of special pleading and sheer irritability. A bit like when roads are closed to motorists for any reason at all, really.
Posted 6 years ago # -
How long were the roads closed for? Couldn't the farmers have organised themselves to actually be in the fields harvesting when the event was on?
No, this is just "cyclist" hatred by cantankerous buffoons.
Has any research been done on why "cyclists" are such a hate target (take a look at the comments in that Irish Independent article upthread; they're even worse than the EEN).
Posted 6 years ago # -
Couldn't the farmers have organised themselves to actually be in the fields harvesting when the event was on?
Harvest requires continuous access to the park, so that the combine can be emptied.
No, this is just "cyclist" hatred by cantankerous buffoons.
To be clear, I do think this is true, but I sympathise with people who feel that they weren't consulted properly and as a result felt they were unable to do their jobs at the most important time of the year for them.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Drove past the site of the Great Borders Idiocy yesterday. No sign of a combine or harvesting of any kind nowhere.
Chat from knowledgeable source is that all participating Fools have been identified and matter is with the Bobbies.
Posted 6 years ago # -
There is a small chance these old boys are so barmy that when polis call to give them the hard word they maintain their position re. We were merely walking down the queen's highway two abreast with draining rods doing our harvest dance when we were assaulted by bearded hooligans. I do hope so and then polis can do them. However, I imagine they will play along, yes officer, no officer and just get a ticking off.
Posted 6 years ago # -
With the weather at this time of year, farmers will be desperate to harvest crops that are ripe on the very odd days that conditions allow. And most unharvested cereal crops should be ready now. It can be very difficult when the weather is like this and can be seriously important to farm income.
Having said that I wouldn't have thought there's much in the way of cereal crops on the route of the ToB?
The apparent behaviour of these men sounds dangerous and irresponsible though. But I never really understand the appeal of these closed roads events.
Posted 6 years ago # -
"I wouldn't have thought there's much in the way of cereal crops on the route of the ToB"
Indeed, pretty unlikely. Most cereal crops are in East Lothian. Maybe some oats or barley in the Borders, but not much due to all the hills. Tweed valley more likely as an arable farming locale.
Posted 6 years ago # -
It is interesting to hear that interview. It is so reminiscent of a certain PG in terms of half truths and irrelevant 'facts'.
As far as I could see. It was a pretty feeble attempt to stop the event. There certainly wasn't any attempt at dialogue at all. Just two old blokes standing, holding their sticks out & saying nowt. While it is possible that it kicked off behind me, I very much doubt that anything of note happened. I don't think the (otherwise excellent) organisers of the event did anyone any favours by overreacting to this.Posted 6 years ago # -
http://pedalforscotland.org/2017/09/tacks-reported-on-pedal-for-scotland-route/
"It is with regret that we have received reports of tacks on the Pedal for Scotland route.
A Cycling Scotland spokesperson said:
“Nearly 8,000 people had a fantastic time cycling with Pedal for Scotland. Friends, families and colleagues were raising money for charities close to their hearts and there was enthusiastic support from spectators in most towns and villages along the route. We regret that the action of an idiotic individual or group of people has caused problems for event participants and risked serious injury to people. It has also slowed us down in opening the roads again. The operational team helped remove the tacks as soon as they were reported. We would ask anyone with information about who committed this crime to report it to Police Scotland.”
If you have any information on this, please report to Police Scotland by calling 101."
Posted 6 years ago # -
But I never really understand the appeal of these closed roads events.
I've now done a few closed road events, including the TotB this year (although I was far enough back to be unaware of the contretemps at the head of the field) and as someone who also enjoys Audax events, I hope I can explain the appeal that (to me) goes some way towards justifying the cost.
It's only on closed road events that we can experience the joy of cycling a respectable distance at a brisk pace, without having to worry about motor vehicles. No fear of oncoming cars while letting rip on a fast descent; no stress caused by revving motorists desperate to overtake, or resulting close passes; peace and quiet apart from the whirring of freehubs and the whoosh of wind in spokes. And no delays at junctions, to the extent I was able to ride 120km without even unclipping. To be honest, closed road events are the only kind of commercial sportive I would now consider. One a year is enough, given the cost - the rest of the time I'll stick to Audax, which has a very different ethos with a different kind of challenge. But I can enjoy both kinds of event in their own way.
I stayed in Peebles for the weekend with Mrs Panyagua and some friends who were also riding the event. We spent money on accommodation and in cafés, and my better half ended up buying some more high ticket items in the local shops. Others there for the event were doing the same. Some of the entry fee will have gone to local suppliers. Multiply what we spent by about 1000 and it's clear that the TotB makes a significant contribution to the local economy. While I understand the frustration of some local people trying to do their jobs, they knew about the road closure for at least a year beforehand, so you would imagine some planning around it might have been possible; or failing that, they could at least have used the opportunity to raise objections through the right channels without trying to take the law into their own hands.
Posted 6 years ago # -
My O/H did TotB last year and would second what panyagua says about the pleasure of riding closed roads. He particularly mentions the ability to blast through junctions where you would normally have to stop!
Posted 6 years ago # -
Amateur road races and time trials are run on open roads. But it's usual to ride, or at least drive the circuit beforehand to get an idea of the dangerous bits. That's a bit impractical for a sportive.
The only closed road event I entered revealed that entrants had to present their bikes for scrutineering the day before. Rather than commit to a second day (and another 170 mile round trip) I didn't go so perhaps that soured me on closed road events!Posted 6 years ago # -
TBH I'd be just as scared of poor cycling on a closed road sportive as bad driving. The combination of lack of training combined with drive for time along with the sheer numbers of cyclists up the risk factor. And many of the roads used have very few vehicles.
Could be my age though!
Posted 6 years ago # -
@amir
While it's true that there is a risk from poor cycling, at least all the bikes are heading in the same general direction and at roughly similar speeds. By leaving a wide enough berth (generally easy when the roads are closed) it's possible to minimise the risk from others' poor etiquette or bike handling. And even thought the roads are typically very quiet, on open roads you still have to be prepared for a possible oncoming vehicle around every blind bend or summit. Take away that fear and the whole thing becomes much more enjoyable. And I'm fairly sure I'm at least as old as you... :)
Posted 6 years ago #
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