Hi, anyone going along for this? Mrs splitshift is " connected" with the banking group and I might take along the junior and grand junior splitshifters. Be good to put faces to names , maybe!!
Scott
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
HSBC city ride
(82 posts)-
Posted 7 years ago #
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This replaces the SkyRide - and today we had the Glasgow one - very poor with publicity - and late notifications of the event.
2 Christiania PA's riding around - sponsored by Cyclehoop (that man has a connection to everything cycling..) Nice arrangement to use a tadpole as the bass reflex port faces forwards and the sound projects ahead of the bike (with a tweeter/midrange parked on top.
Personalised tabards, spoke clutter beads, bulb horns, tinsel fronds for bar-ends, PA man was asking how far folk had ridden to event - If I come through to EDB might suggest I did 48 miles from Glasgow
I suppose it might be fun to get a tabard with your forumite name on?
They have a VR wattbike set-up where the bars and saddle are on what looks like DC stepping motors - feels weird especially as the VR sequence keeps swapping
Posted 7 years ago # -
Found another 'advertising' sign, hardly encouging people to join in -
Though of course the road closure is for the 'main event' rather than the 'people's ride'.
Posted 7 years ago # -
I'm having problems 'engaging' with this.
I'm a bit 'allergic' to advertising HSBC and wearing a yellow jacket.
The fliers put through residents doors hardly sell this as a 'reclaim your street' or freedom from car dominance.
Very much a corporate event where the general population is allowed access?
Someone persuade me why my lack of enthusiasm is misplaced!
Can we be sure that the majority not wearing safety jackets and just wanting to cross the road will be catered for? I know - I should volunteer to help out HSBC, Halfords et al.Posted 7 years ago # -
From the pics I have seen of other events, the yellow jacket is not mandatory. I will happily take one to stuff in my bag for possible future use but I'm not pedalling around like a billboard in broad daylight.
Corporate event or no, a huge amount of civilian cyclists making use of the city streets is a good visual for decision making types.
I don't imagine foot traffic will be corralled or particularly inconvenienced apart from the Meadows and probably Chambers Street from looking at their plans.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Is it a 'closed road' event in the sense that you need a ticket to get to the closed bit, or can anyone enter the melee to sort of tag along for the fun of it?
Posted 7 years ago # -
No one seems to know for sure. It's implied that one must register, however it would seem impossible to prevent the non-registered joining en route.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Unlikely the TRO says 'no bikes unless riders wear approved clothing'...
Posted 7 years ago # -
They're involving the fashion police?! D: I'm doomed.
Posted 7 years ago # -
'no bikes unless riders wear approved clothing'
The terms & conditions I have agreed to don't mention approved clothing although they do suggest that under 18's must wear helmets. I normally don't put helmets on the little ones when they are in the trailer but perhaps we can take the tag-along and bike seat instead.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Having registered months ago we have been emailed start times. Given that they are 2 hours earlier than we can be there I guess we'll be joining the unregistered masses too.
Posted 7 years ago # -
@ac - what time did you get?
The website says 11am-3pm, so we're planning to be in for the ToB start and then do a couple of laps before lunch and heading away.
Our email says noon, but I don't expect us to hangabout for an hour before setting off.
It may be to prevent what happened in Glasgow last year, which was also after the ToB start. They had a big tannoy announcement for everyone to get to George Sq for the massed start. We were in the event village at Glasgow Green enjoying the atmosphere, but left it to make the start, only to have to wait 30mins before we could go as they were trying to break us up into groups with large gaps in between.
The poor compare was trying to do his best to keep people interested but was struggling - he even got the crowd to sing me Happy Birthday, although it wasn't my actual Birthday. And by taking so long the first group had joined the back of the queue and it would have been a never ending task.
I registered mainly to help with showing that lots if people will turn up rather than for their marketing purposes.
Posted 7 years ago # -
"Having registered months ago"
Where have people been hearing about it?
Posted 7 years ago # -
I've only seen it through British Cycling related communications/Social media.
ERC are helping by running go-ride coaching sessions on the Meadows for younger riders...
Posted 7 years ago # -
Where have people been hearing about it?
IIRC it was Mrs acsimpson who told me about it, I'm not sure where she heard about it but would guess facebook. Checking my emails I can see that month's ago was actual only 2 months ago.
hankchief, yes 12pm here too. If you turn up at 11 and we turn up after 1 then our average start time should be fine.
Posted 7 years ago # -
I heard about it cos The Bike Station shared it on Facebook a month or so ago.
Posted 7 years ago # -
The only place I saw it advertised was on the fancy new electronic billboard at the Gogar underpass.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Just had an email through saying my start time is now 11am...
Of course what we should be doing is encouraging non regular cycling friends and family to join us on the ride.
Feeder rides anyone...
Posted 7 years ago # -
On Princes St.
LATEST:
Mrs LB just overhead at 23 bus stop. New town woman."Just some excuse for men in lycra to cycle in circles round the city centre. Quite frankly I don't know why they etc etc ....." (!)
Posted 7 years ago # -
My latest email has changed me from 12 to 11 too.
Utter nonsense. I'll be there when I'm there and not a moment sooner or later.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Just heard about this and just signed the wife, kids and I up for it. Thanks!
Posted 7 years ago # -
I've been changed from 12:00 to 11:00 too. Guess there'll be a crowd on bikes heading to the Meadows after the ToB lot have set off.
Posted 7 years ago # -
We had 2 flyers for this through the door on subsequent days.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Anyone marshalling on this? I have been volunteered, as a cycling marshal but no e mail !! Maybe I can just do what I want instead?
Posted 7 years ago # -
We've registered, mainly because one weezette is a freshly-minted cycling convert and would love to cycle about his city with no cars. The other weezette may make a brief self-propelled appearance but will probably retire himself and his bike to the
sedan chairUA before long. Do say hello if you spot us.Posted 7 years ago # -
Feeder rides would be good. I was a ride leader for a feeder ride for the first closed road London ride (before it was Sky - sponsored by Hovis...). That was good fun, even if they made me wear a h*****
Posted 7 years ago # -
<rant>I started to register for this, then had a complete sense of humour failure with it, as the list of personal data (all of it mandatory) they were capturing from me just kept growing. I know they want demographic information, and I sympathise with that, but they don't need my exact date of birth, they don't need to force me to say if I'm male or female (without giving the choice of 'neither' or 'prefer not to say') and they don't need my mobile phone number (or if they do, they need to explain why).
With my grumpy head on, I'm wondering how this event gives any perception that cycling is 'normal', if they only way you can ride a bike on the road is by pre-registering, supplying all kinds of data, agreeing to several pages of terms and conditions (mainly about how dangerous it all is) and collecting a yellow bib before you can start.
PoP seems to manage fine without all this bureaucracy for the participants*.
</rant>
*I acknowledge (from experience) that there is a lot of behind-the-scenes bureaucracy for the organisers of PoP, but the participants just turn up and ride and it seems to work.
Posted 7 years ago # -
"but the participants just turn up and ride and it seems to work"
Quite, which is what CEC should want.
Or have they rented out these streets (perhaps even for negative income?)?
Posted 7 years ago # -
Greenroofer - that's maybe why I have failed to register so far.
HSBC wants a 'data harvest' as does Halfords. Compare and contrast with the inclusive nature of POP.
I have also heard that no local business can 'commercialise' this event in any way due to the exclusive rights of borrowing the city centre for this. That means no Spokes maps or any small business 'taking money' on the Meadows.
I could also say more about Halfords involvement.
Of course if you have a young family you should go as your children won't have a better chance and the commercial deals behind the event will be overshadowed by the joy of cycling side by side around the city.
I may just register as a micro-corporate entity and see what happens!Posted 7 years ago # -
A quick review of the Glasgow ride
1) Just turn up I think they were just grateful for anyone to swell the relatively small numbers - it was hardly crowded
2) No 'fashion' Police indeed a couple of proper enclosed chaincase upright bikes, he in a tweed jacket & flat cap she in sensible skirt riding sedately along
3) the tabards might scrub clean of the promo overprint but best is that you can get them personalised, so my suggestion is go for it and get your CCE forumite i/d on the back - then we can spot you - and you'll probably confuse the organisers/commentator ... IWRATS CHDOT ....
4) a big problem was the undersizing of the crossing points (for the volume of pedestrian traffic) and slight issues with the traffic marshals and their stop-go boards
5) Go-bike guerilla action to stage the 40 bikes in the space of 40 cars got rumbled and the official person chased them off the closed road (apparently well before the start)
6) if you want to feel a bit weird go sample the VR cycling experience - there should be a couple of bikes in the Edinburgh Branch during the week, and they move to the event on the day
Summary - turn up - might suggest a Mass Bromptonite gathering and perhaps @Kim will bring a Bakfiets brigade (or even Urban Arrows display) and @Laidback can mass-up a group of low riders.
Posted 7 years ago #
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