Wonderful day on Saturday participating in the Kinross sportif (red route), route well thought out, good marshalling, police proactive. Great feedstations. One gripe the number of gel wrappers discarded into the road and verges. Contentiously, the three persons I actually witnessed tossing away rubbish were all wearing club colours. Does being a “non-recreational cyclist” in the race zone excuse such behaviour? If I threw a few dozen McDonalds Fries boxes out the window of my Impreza at a local beauty spot I’d be branded a sociopath.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
Sportif Etiquette
(29 posts)-
Posted 13 years ago #
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I totally agree with you there mate!!! Bloody lycra litter louts.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Are you linking the wearing of lycra to being a tosser (of rubbish that is)?
Posted 13 years ago # -
Agree also 100%. And I've noticed this on sportives before coming from the wannabee pros. It doesn't take 1 second to pop a gel wrapper (or whatever you're eating from) back in your pocket. No excuse.
Perhaps some sort of amusing illustration required.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Imagine wildlife chewing on the gel wrappers and instead of choking they got all buffed up and full of NRG...... maybe I've taken that mental mage to far... soz!
Posted 13 years ago # -
Stoats are pretty handy to start with: pumped up they could 'ave anybody from the ERC.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Which would also make a superb illustration!
Posted 13 years ago # -
Slight tangent. I much prefer mule bar 'bars' to gels on the grounds that the wrappers don't end up unpleasantly sticky, and therefore my jersey pockets don't feel like pooh bear has been rolling around in them with a honey pot.
There's also the additional bonus that they taste much better.
Posted 13 years ago # -
TBH I see litter throwing from all quarters of society, posh, not so posh, cyclists, motorists, peds, sporty cyclists, commuters ... So please don't blame all of us lycra louts.
The problem on sportives is that the riders are en masse, passing through wilder areas that generally don't get litter (or cleaned), and eating those disgusting gels. I notice many throwing banana skins. These do not break down very quickly so please think about your actions.
For me one of the great things about cycle specific clothing is big pockets. So use em.
Posted 13 years ago # -
The best excuse they can come up with is that gel wrappers are sticky so they don't want to put them back in their pockets, poor loves. Solution: roll them up and pop them under hem of your shorts. Sorted.
However, I suspect these clowns are either trying to emualate the pros (although the pro races are cracking down on this with rubbish zones and leaders jerseys with extra rubbish pockets) or are the same inconsiderate tools who think nothing of throwing sweet wrappers/tabs/cans out of their car windows.
Best solution - have a word and point out it spoils it for everyone else as it simply becomes another weapon in the armoury of people who don't want to be inconvenienced by cycle races of sportives.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Roadie being savaged by gel-Hulked rodent?
"You've Created a Mouster"
I'm here all week, try the veal...
Posted 13 years ago # -
I make my opinions known if I see riders doing this. It is not acceptable behaviour.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Ahem. I believe there is a gel or NRG bar tearing/tossing scene in this timeless classic.
Posted 13 years ago # -
gels give me the boak!!
Posted 13 years ago # -
Jeez you should report 'em to their club. Mind you the clubs themselves you have rules on that kind of thing as basic CSR.
Posted 13 years ago # -
honey stingers are allright, but otherwise I completely agree!
Posted 13 years ago # -
I've ridden loads of sportives and only seen a few dropped energy product wrappers. How many are we talking about here?
Posted 13 years ago # -
47
Posted 13 years ago # -
Being serious, how many is acceptable? 5, 10, 372? Its a fairly pristine bit of countryside & the only litter to be seen in the non-urban bits was gel wrappers. Same as the last few Etapes. there is no excuse.
Posted 13 years ago # -
And to think I've been carefully hoarding me 'nana skins, jelly baby packets, and placcy NRG drink bottles in me Carradice for hunners o' miles (well a few anyway) on CTC/Spokes runs until a suitable bin type receptacle can be found. Only for Mr. "nae pockets" roadie to dump his gel packs all o'er the glens...
Posted 13 years ago # -
47? That's totally unacceptable. Mind you, I tend to notice bad behaviour more when I'm having a bad time on a long ride. On the Kinross last year I saw a rider go crazy at a driver who'd failed to indicate. And earlier I'd passed another who'd gone over a wall.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I always have a bad time on sportives (fat, old, having to wear ly*ra) so maybe I'm jaundiced.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I did the Caley Etape a couple of years ago and only saw two gel wrappers and a banana skin over the 81 miles. I think this is entirely within the realms of accidental or unintentional dropping and overall I was pretty impressed by the lack of litter.
There is no excuse for deliberately chucking litter away while riding. Keep it in your pocket till you get to a bin at the finish. It might well be people trying to emulate the pros by throwing all sorts of things all over the place. Wrappers, bottles with one sip taken from them. This has always been the thing I have disliked about pro cycling. That and all the drugs.
Posted 13 years ago # -
"I did the Caley Etape a couple of years ago and only saw two gel wrappers and a banana skin over the 81 miles"
- You were obviously up near the front concentrating on getting a fast time. Back with the gruppetto one tends to be staring at the road a lot & i spotted "many" wrappers in the couple of ECs that I did.
As for drugs- racing for a living is different than entering sportifs as a perverse leisure pursuit. Are Merycx, Coppi, Anqueteil, etc any less great cyclists for having resorted to chemical assistance?Posted 13 years ago # -
and I would add to that the crazy number of cars, motor-bikes, buses and lorries that support the riders. But re the Kinross; the organisers must be aware of that level of littering.
Posted 13 years ago # -
"As for drugs- racing for a living is different than entering sportifs as a perverse leisure pursuit. Are Merycx, Coppi, Anqueteil, etc any less great cyclists for having resorted to chemical assistance? "
I had to say that or someone would have picked me up on it.
I wasn't near the front but it is still possible the littering happened after me I suppose. Or for some reason I didn't notice it although I was keeping an eye out which is wht I remember.
Agree with Tom about all the cars and lorries!
Posted 13 years ago # -
Uberuce said "Roadie being savaged by gel-Hulked rodent?
"You've Created a Mouster"
I'm here all week, try the veal..."
PMSL!!!! gotta love the humor here...
Posted 13 years ago # -
I can't stand that Uberance guy, myself, but each to their own.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Something I too noticed at the Scottish Bike Show Sportive - breathtaking scenery and strewn wrappers?? I gave feedback about this to the organisers, they reassured me they do a clean up, really why should they have to?
The Etape you can be disqualified for littering:
Littering is both against the law and unacceptable behaviour, especially in an area of such outstanding natural beauty. Any cyclists identified disposing of litter other than in bins along the route will be disqualified from the event. Please adhere to both the Country Code and Highway Code during the event.
Posted 13 years ago #
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