MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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just read on another site that bristol city council have decided to stop allowing cycling events on their land. Any one know anymore?
Not heard anything. Seems VERY unlikely.
Isn't Ashton Court owned by the council?
If so bang goes bike/oktoberfest but also all the cross races tun on council alover bristol, bristol bike festival,naked bike ride... There well be a mass influx of bombers being deliverd via bristols mail services
edit- how will this work with road events?
So much for a cycling city hmm
got a link op?
I only ask as a western league cross race this weekend has been cancelled and the reason given was the council, maybe i am misreading this though? Cancelled is a fraction strong, it has been relocated to Gloucester.
Maybe! That's quite a leap to assume it's ALL cycling eventsmaybe i am misreading this though?
Is that the hengrove one? I wa going to give it a try 🙁
Maybe! That's quite a leap to assume it's ALL cycling events
the wording was cycling events, rather than this event? hence the question,
yes the hengrove one.
Aw that sucks! Guess il have to ride the squishy bike.
Link please? British Cycling website has nowt on it. https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/82962/Western-League-Round-8
There was a problem with the regional CX champs the other year because the parks department asked for a rather large bond to cover reinstatement in the event of damage - completely out of proportion to the sort of dollar that local race organisers have at their disposal. Other than that, they've generally been very supportive.
Maybe we should go back to races on private land. Just watch out for pigs.
http://traumfahrrad.com/2012/11/08/more-cyclo-cross/
mr agreeable i can't give a link as it is on my clubs webpage, behind the membership screen.
Copy and paste? Just trying to get as much detail as possible as this could have knock-on effects for a lot of local events.
Due to the Bristol Council deciding not to allow any cycling events on council property we have had to find a new venue at very short notice. Thanks to * ****** we have got Gloucester Boating Lake. I am in the process of writing a letting to Bristol Evening Post, British Cycling and other Cycling press, I will keep you informed of my process. But in the mean time please find details of this weekends event.....18.11.12 Dream Cycling Cyclo Cross
Gloucester Boating Lake U12 10.30 Free
A417 Over Causeway Youth 11.00 £4.00
Gloucester S,J,V,W 11.45 £11.00
GL1 2TF
not alot of info.
Got to go to Zero G Cycles tomorrow with my C2W voucher. I'll ask Paul, boss man and organiser of Bikefest for first hand information and update you all. Hopefully will help prevent the usual internet rumours.
Feel for the organiser (Craig?) but the response is a bit flouncey. I've Tweeted at the Council, not really expecting a response though.
From chin wagging at previous western leagues*
The member of staff responsible for handling events in the parks didn't know what cyclocross was. Googled it and watched some video of an utter mudbath in Belgium somewhere. Put them off a bit, hence the price hike in order to cover any damage (that would unlikely occur)
*More than likely true, but you know what car park chat is like.
Sounds plausible. I helped to organise Bristol Cycle Festival, and we had similar problems when people started googling for alleycats.
Yep, seems to be the damage deposit issue again. Apparently local CX race organisers have received an email informing them that they'll need to provide a damage deposit of £2500 per race.
For an event which costs £10 to enter, and might have as few as 50 participants, that's a bit harsh.
What does this mean for the rest of the season/league? Does this effectively mean all cyclcross racing is banned on council land from immediate effect?
Is "normal" cycling permitted on said land?
Perhaps arrange a "group ride"?
Damage deposit?
How do they decide if enough damage has been done to lose the deposit?
I would like to see any proof that any money has been spent following an off road cycle event on council land?
How much damage deposit do the wendy ballers have to pay?
shirley it would be done on a common sense* basis, bit of land hardly anyone uses, race churns it up but plenty of time for flora to grow back no biggy. If you're running a race route right through the middle of the busiest bit of grassland in the busiest park of the borough understandable for council to be worried.
*massive assumption i know
This is outrageous. I've been looking forward to this season of races as i've built up my new cross build specially to race in the western league
Are British cycling getting involved?
Me too TD. Not bothered about it enough to travel to Gloucester or Swindon though!
How about contacting 'Red Trousers George' and getting his support. Handy bit of pro cycling news coverage for him..
That and the other Mayor candidates.
It's a Cycling Forum this Thursday, which is attended by a few Council higher-ups, so I've suggested adding it to the agenda.
Make sure any story is framed along the lines of "GB hopeful XXXX was left gutted when Bristol Council stopped races being held on their land. XXXX said, "This is a real problem and without these races I don't think I'll be able to compete at X (Brazil...) which has been my dream". Works especially well if it's a promising junior and there's a photo of them looking glum...
FWIW, it doesn't really have to be likely, just vaguely possible.
Just call me Mandelson 🙂
I was going to go watch and support clubmates, but now it's too far away... 🙁
Road.cc have picked up the story. Apparently it's not even about damage deposits any more... http://road.cc/content/news/70452-cycling-city-not-our-land 👿
Friend of mine just rung the council and they said
"Cost paid doesn't come close the repair cost they have incurred in the past"
I suspect they're muddling it up with other events. I'm not aware of any local CX race that's required reinstatement work to be carried out.
Oh dear, sounds like newly-installed charlie big-potato at the council is stamping his [s]feet[/s] authority.....
Do you think they get the irony? BCC owns Ashton Court, which is the home to one of the most popular/well-used bike trails in the country?*
*this may not actually be fact, but you gotta love a bit of hyperbole 😉
What are these repairs they are talking about?
quelle surpriseWhen pressed by Denning, the Council stated that a wet summer, coupled with budget cuts, meant that they weren't prepared to put cycling events on and risk damage to facilities. When asked whether the suspension would also apply to football and rugby, the Council unsurprisingly confirmed that they'd be going ahead as normal.
Fuzzhead, there's no doubt that Ashton Court is one of the best-used trails in the country.
http://www.1sw.org.uk/experience/a-measure-of-success-for-ashton-court/
However they don't seem to be capitalising on that. Since it opened we've had no sign of the proposed bike shop and bike wash on site, just a new shell for the cafe and some rather odd bodged repairs. The estate manager's position was axed, leaving a couple of rangers in charge of one of the most popular sports facilities in Bristol. Dare I say they should be promoting it as much as possible and looking at ways it can generate them revenue, not neglecting it and suppressing small but successful grassroots events.
A bit late in the day, compared to RCC's proper job story linked above, but I've had a bit of a vent.
http://bristoltrails.tumblr.com/post/35638812603/crossed-out
So, are there any talented juniors around Bristol who race cross?
Couple of juniors here that race
http://www.dreamcyclingclub.co.uk/dream-race-team/
http://www.dreamcyclingclub.co.uk/race-results/
Well Joe looks like a budding Olympic champ to me and Bristol City Council are going to make that really hard to happen. A perfect story for a slow news day for the BEP...
Mr A, sorry to hear BCC seem intent of f*cking up the amazing opportunity gifted to them in AC 🙁
I did think it waqs taking time to get the bike shop etc up and running...
In true stw fashion I recall being told by a friend in the bike trade that there were quite a lot of conditions that needed to be fulfilled by any shop owner that wanted to operate at the new cafe although Mr. A will probably have a better idea of what conditions were being laid down.
Complaints should be directed through faircomment@bristol.gov.uk
This is more likely to lead to a response, which will impact on their performance monitoring.
Had a response from the evening post who want to talk to someone about this whole thing. Anyone happy for me to give them a mobile number to talk about what's going on.
Mr agreeable?
email in profile
Tricky, they're probably better off speaking to the race organisers - I'll ping you a couple of emails. Craig already said it perfectly on that Road.cc article though.
Racemonkey, I don't know anything about the tendering process for the new cafe except that a few local shops looked at it and passed, then it was awarded to a shop based in the Home Counties, then it fell through. And I can't believe we still don't have a bike wash. Grrrr...
cheers. Yes i got hold of craigs email and he's given me his number. Let's hope we get something good out of this
Oh god, I hope BEP don't get this wrong - they aren't exactly known for their pro-cycling journalism.
My feeling is it's going to come down to speaking to the right people at the council, rather than a populist campaign like the Railway Path thing.
I was thinking, what's the possibility of exploring using school playing fields for cross? I know some school playing fields get used in wales for cross races.
Is/will there be a Mayor in Bristol. Can see them getting involved if there's votes available?
[url= http://www.bristol1st.com/about-george/georges-vision-for-bristol ]George Ferguson[/url] Is the pro cycling candidate in the mayor elections
trickydisco - School grounds make for some great CX venues: plenty of playingfield peripheries, private roads, even steps and sandpits. Not to mention changing rooms, toilets, parking etc... I've tried and failed in the past to convince several local schools to let us hire their premises, even though they agree they'd make perfect venues.
Chard was mentioned as somewhere that's held playing field CX races in the past. The chairman of the Dean Trail Volunteers has got in touch with very reasonable rates for holding an event there (which would be amazing if SSEC was anything to go by. Hopefully Freeminer would supply the beer hand-ups.) All of which is appreciated.
Still though, it doesn't change the fact that a long-running race series which loads of participants could ride to has been axed, apparently on a whim, for the thinnest of reasons.
Still though, it doesn't change the fact that a long-running race series which loads of participants could ride to has been axed, apparently on a whim, for the thinnest of reasons.
I wouldn't go as far as saying the series has been axed, there are rounds in stroud, gloucester, cheltenham etc, Just the bristol rounds have been axed, which might be quite a lot though...
George Ferguson Is the pro cycling candidate in the mayor elections
They're all paying lip service to bikes but not many concrete policies. Jon Rogers and Marvin Rees also support the ****awful BRT2 scheme which will turn cycle lanes into bus lanes.
Was this the prompt for BCC's decision (or does this relate to a whole different sport / series of events)?
Mr Agreeable - Member
They're all paying lip service to bikes but not many concrete policies. Jon Rogers and Marvin Rees also support the ****awful BRT2 scheme which will turn cycle lanes into bus lanes.
Not sure I've seen anything from Ferguson which says he does or he doesn't. Come to think about it all I know from his campaign literature is that he's been to an awful lot of other cities.
mrmo, yes, technically I suppose it's true, however it'll mean less variety of venues and driving for over an hour to ride for 45 minutes.
matthewspb, class bit of stirring by the local rag there, but it sounds like things were sorted out sensibly, or why haven't Gloucs Council banned cycle events?
I suspect it's more of a knee-jerk response to the problems with this year's Oktoberfest instead, where heavy rain left the eventing field in a state. Oktoberfest gets thousands of participants as opposed to 50-60 and unfortunately there's no hard standing there to park cars on like there is at CX events.
Ditto for Brisfest, the Balloon Fiesta, the Love Food festival on Queen Square (which looks like a swamp at the moment after being scarified and reseeded), all of which had noticeable effects on the places they were held. It's just a case of the Council picking on small events that they don't think people will miss.
[url= http://stopbrt2.org.uk/what-do-mayoral-candidates-say-about-brt2 ]"I do not support BRT2"[/url] George Ferguson
all I know from his campaign literature is that he's been to an awful lot of other cities.
Yeah, that was a bit of a running joke at the cycling hustings which he was happy to play up to.
Ferguson opposes BRT2 really strongly and personally I think he'd be good for cycling - he's a old colleague of John Grimshaw's and they have the same "let's try stuff out" attitude which you'd need to make any appreciable difference to Bristol's traffic problems.
I bet the photo of the park being re-turfed was actually taken in conjunction with this:
Give George a call, I'm sure he'll come on board. I'll drop him an email anyway as I haven't caught up with him for a while.
All well and good, except 1) He hasn't actually been elected yet and 2) I expect he's randomly deleting 3/4 of his emails and voicemail messages just so he can keep on top of all the pleas for favours from obscure causes like ours.
Well, I know him both personally and professionally, it's up to you.
nice to see the Echo is as crap as usual, why am i not surprised that they labeled a picture of Pittville park as Montpellier...
And having walked past at the weekend you can barely see the marks, but they have picked the worst possible corner at the most exagerating angle. considering the event has been going for a few years and this was the wettest it has been it has hardly left a mark.
Not surprised by the attitude of the OAP NIMBY's in the town though!!!!
I don't bother looking but i do wonder what state the football pitches in the back ground are in?
Well the latest is that me and Craig should be on Radio Bristol tomorrow morning talking about this, together with someone from the Council.
aP, that was a bit harsh of me. If you think you'll get a response, go for it!
I seem to remember that bristol did this last year and there were last minute cancelations.
re Pittville park, AKA round 11? western league,
Hope CBC aren't stupid and follow the lead of Bristol though. Nothing would surpise me, the council is a bunch of f*****ts perfectly happy to ban cycling from the town pedestrian centre and do nothing to address why cycling through the town centre might be preferable to playing with the boy racers on the ring road. a one way perfectly designed race track that is treated as such!
Mr A - What time (or on which show) are you guys on?
Should be around 7 am. Ugh. Expect me to be even more bright and sparkling than usual. 😀
This email from the Councillor responsible for parks is now doing the rounds:
Dear allI have received a number of e-mails of varying tones,varying from the ultra reasonable enquiry to the aggressively accusatory, regarding a report that has been passed out claiming that a ban has been put on cycling events in parks.
LET ME FIRSTLY BE CLEAR THAT NO SUCH BAN EXISTS and that in fact parks dept. are looking to develop further BMX facilities building on the success of fairly recently installed courses and that in general encouraging physical activities in parks is encouraged and is increasing.
I understand that there was some interaction between council officers in the events team and a club. Clearly any activity in a park,be it pop concert,fun day or sporting activity will have an effect upon the park and any group needs to take responsibility for any damage which could have a negative effect upon other users and contribute to the reinstatement costs.
This matter came up some months ago and I am surprised and disappointed that it has reemerged at this time. I trust that this is down to misunderstanding/miscommunication.I sincerely hope that nobody has been deliberately misled.
Gary Hopkins
But that still doesn't explain why organisers of smaller events are being told that they could be charged £50 per competitor if they chew up a bit of grass.
Being very crap at cross I only tend to do the Bristol ones and dont really want to venture further North to darkest Glos. to finish last.
no ban exists, but we'll charge so much that no one can afford it....
I did the one in Warmley the other week but thats South Glos and although we chewed it up it was round some woods and some scabby old land
I went and had a look at Warmley today and the path by the river was a quagmire, but not a tyre track in sight - it was all boot prints. The bits of the park that had been used purely as a CX course were identifiable, but in nothing like as bad a state.
Heads up.
Breakfast show starts on BBC Bristol at 6.30.
First item is the bloody cyclists ruining the grass!
Damb i bloody missed it!!!
It was on about 7.05.
Should be on iplayer later.