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Rapiddescent, even if it goes to court they'll end up with a suspended sentence at worst and a slap on the wrist, think there should be a STW style lynching personally.
Subtle use of wikepedia there.
There is a large group of us coming up tomorrow to do an off road CTC from Stonehaven to Dornie, hopefully we will get some decent weather and no punctures....
Hang on- is there the possibility of Mossad involvement in all this? 😯
The plot thickens...
I'm actually very surprised that there hasn't been an e-mail sent out by the organisers yet. Obvioulsy they are completely blameless in all this butyou would have thought some form of communication would have been sent by this time.
One of the complaints about the etape was that it stopped people from getting to church. Someone could have been killed here - doesn't the church frown on that sort of thing?
Another is the impact on local tourism, but the etape was an event which receives wide coverage showing what a nice place Perthshire is (and it is) and how supportive the locals are (and they are). Instead this year, the coverage is about idiots putting carpet tacks on the road and causing even more disruption than would have been the case. Result? "Perthshire - the place where there's tacks on the road" Hardly an enticing prospect for a holiday.
Find the fekkers and make them pay for the tubes, and some compensation for the spoiled weekends. then strip them, tar and feather them and make them run the London Marathon.
from Wiki
A Peter Hounan is also a director of "Iain Burnett – The Highland Chocolatier" based in Grandtully. It is not known if this is the same Peter Hounan or if this shop sells carpet tacks
Unfortunately, like everything else it is the loony vocal minority (in this case probably less than 1% of the local population) who get more headlines that the silent majority
Gary_M - Member
I thought Poly was just playing Devils Advocate and that his/her words were to be seen in that context - i.e. what one of the disgruntled locals might have said.
[b]
Perhaps, but this is the internet and it's not easy to get this kind of thing across. [/b]
Gary - sorry if I have upset you - thought I had made clear that I was supportive of the event, disgusted by the carpet tacks, and was simply trying to present balance (devil's advocate as Druidh says) against a backdrop of people who can't understand why they might not be welcome by a small minority who they inconvenienced. You also seemed to take offence at my Lycra comments - they were also meant with tongue in cheek (like many people here I wear Lycra, although i'm not that skinny so find black more flattering!).
So calm down - its a bike race - its really not that big a deal. Some idiot(s) did their best to disrupt it and in so doing acted recklessly and dangerously, Tayside Police and the Procurator Fiscal will deal with them - I wouldn't rule out custodial sentences either.
[i]Gary - sorry if I have upset you[/i] Just to put your mind at rest you haven't upset me, you ain't even on my radar. And I'm perfectly calm thanks.
As for 'its a bike race - its really not that big a deal' - can I suggest you try telling that to the other 3500 who had their day ruined by some straw chewing dimwit.
As for 'its a bike race - its really not that big a deal' - can I suggest you try telling that to the other 3500 who had their day ruined by some straw chewing dimwit.
And the thousands of people directly or indirectly employed by local businesses
What tyres for carpet tacks? 🙂
Would prefer something that's also good on wet roots, grass, mud & rocks & is light, fast rolling & long lasting.
No more than a fiver [a pair]
A lot of the riders don't see this as a race, a lot of them see it as a fun day out and many of them were raising cash for Macmillan Cancer, the charity estimated the event would bring in £225,000 to help fund its work. Did these people not think of that when they carried out this act of sabotage!
Someone in the office just passed me the Daily Record - Scottish national newspaper. Front page headline - I'm actually quite shocked by the media coverage.
Yeah, I saw the local papers in a Scottish service station today on the way home, was front page news on three of them. There were loads of cars with road bikes in/on them, people heading home from the event. I was chatting to a few in the service station (they were reading the papers too), they seemed fairly philosophical about the whole thing.
the etape laid on minibuses to take everyone to church and they also provided tea & biscuits for the congregation afterwards as a thankyou before whisking them home with a motorbike escort. It has all been organised for weeks in advance with the congregation.
The local minister was not happy about his flock being brought into this because they are well catered for...
"they are well catered for..."
tea [i]and[/i] biscuits.
2010 entry now in.
Mine too.
Another small update, IMG may be issuing a press release this evening regarding the outcome of the matter.
""they are well catered for..."
tea and biscuits. "
Perthshire - yes, it works.
There's a couple of press releases on the website now.
[url] http://www.etapecaledonia.co.uk/ [/url]
Strangely, I'm quite keen on riding it next year, hadn't been that bothered until now.
6 of us took part and are more determined than ever to go back. Cannot let these guys beat us. We will try and double our group for next year.
With the obvious exception it would have been hard to been made to feel more welcome in the area
I took a trip to A&E as a result of the tacks. Thankfully nothing too serious but my helmet is now in the bin.
Pretty much every local I spoke to after the event was expressing embarassment at what a very small minority had done and how it would reflect on the area and Scotland.
The indirect benefits of this event are probably immeasurable. 1 member of our group was in the area for the first time and is already certain his family will do a week in the summer based in Pitlochry.
Poly - You say this is just a bike race and not a big deal. It could easily have caused a crash that could have killed or very seriously injured someone. What is your definition of a big deal? I really hope custodial sentences are dished out
No the event is just a bike race. The idiot who tried to disrupt it committed a criminal offense and I hope they charge him with Reckless Endangerment or something similar.Poly - You say this is just a bike race and not a big deal. It could easily have caused a crash that could have killed or very seriously injured someone. What is your definition of a big deal? I really hope custodial sentences are dished out
[i]No the event is just a bike race[/i]
Well it's not actually a bike race, it's an event that raisies almost a quarter of a million pounds for a cancer charity and brings half a million pounds into the local economy. Clearly if you think it's 'just a bike race' then you really haven't a clue what it's all about.
I had posted this acre git's email, but I have now removed it
Duckman - the best response to that guy is to completely ignore him. Let's not try to legitimise his complaints by responding to him as if he's some sort of "spokesman" for the area.
Fair point druidh, edited.
Nobody in the local area pays any attention to him. He is just regarded as a bit of a lunatic. He makes out that ACRE is actually a big group but it is actually him and a couple of other equally blinkered mates
[url= http://www.tayside.police.uk/newsitem.php?id=1665 ]
[/url]Tayside Police can confirm that a 62-year-old man from the Rannoch area of Perthshire has been charged in connection with an incident that resulted in a number of bicycles being damaged during the Etape Caledonia cycle race on Sunday, May 17.
Edited: I should point out this [i]isn't[/i] Peter Hounam of ACRE
FWIW, here's a link to a local(ish) paper's reporting of it. Personally, if the locals find out who it is and the locals get to him, I wouldn't fancy his chances much
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/output/2009/05/19/newsstory13161718t0.asp
Sorry, linky thing no workin just noo.
quick update - http://www.tayside.police.uk/newsitem.php?id=1665
"tayside police can confirm that a 62 year old man from the rannoch area has been charged...."
It looks like he has been scheduled to appear at perth Sherrif court tomorrow - might be useful to get details so that small claims can be made for those that travelled to the event and have to replace tyres and tubes.
From the courier:
“We may not leave our homes for any essential items and, much more importantly, the whole community is prevented from attending the Sunday Christian services.“I wonder if the roads would be closed and the residents ‘restrained’ if we were of other faiths or nationalities.
“I was under the impression that we were attempting to fight discrimination. Perhaps not if you are white and Christian and don’t cycle.”
So from what I've read above there's nothing valid in that - is that right?
x posted from BBC news
Arrest over cycle race sabotage
The race was brought to a standstill. Pic: Richard Thomas
A 62-year-old man has been charged in connection with the sabotage of a cycle race in Highland Perthshire.
Carpet tacks were placed across sections of the Etape Caledonia route causing hundreds of cyclists to suffer punctures on Sunday.
The 81-mile race around Pitlochry had to be halted for about an hour-and-a-half while the road at Innerhadden and Schiehallion was made safe.
The man, from the Rannoch area, is due in court on Wednesday.
Police said inquiries into the full set of circumstances were continuing and they appealed for anyone with information to come forward.
The church at Weem changed the time of their service.
The organisers laid on a minibus, police escort, tea and biscuits for the parishioners of Fortingall. I'm pretty sure that's the only two churches [i]en route[/i]. However, it may be that the minibus service didn't cater for everyone, depending on where they were travelling from?
Anyway, I thought that God was omnipresent. Why does someone [i]have[/i] to go to a church to worship him?
A report has been submitted to the Procurator Fiscal and the man is expected to appear at Perth Sheriff Court tomorrow (Wednesday, May 20).
Mmmm - may wander down for a gander at that.
Anyway, I thought that God was omnipresent. Why does someone have to go to a church to worship him?
Want to more than have to - if someone can't do what they want to solely because of an event then that is a problem I say.
Want to more than have to - if someone can't do what they want to solely because of an event then that is a problem I say.
Millions of people can't move around London freely one Sunday per year for the London Marathon. Doesn't seem to be a problem.
At worst it is a minor inconvenience, and it is in aid of a good cause.
[i]if someone can't do what they want to solely because of an event then that is a problem I say.[/i]
For 3 hours on one day in the year there are road closures. ffs roads are regularly closed in cities for various events and that affects millions of people, the tour de france shuts whole towns down for a day - what happens, the locals celebrate the fact that the event is passing through their town. Get this in perspective - they can't drive their cars for 3 hours on 1 day, they could walk, ride a bike, a horse but they don't. Yes I xcan understand their side of the story but surely they could have a little bit more tolerance for such a short period of time.
I don't think this is quite the same thing as it sounded like certain areas are essentially closed off - however maybe the church could rearrange their times if it's only a few hours.
Well, if someone's going to (hopefully) be prosecuted over this, then good. And maybe all those that suffered damage, should submit claims for new tyres, etc. That should run to a few quid.
But instead of individuals getting small amounts, why not give any compensation the culprit is forced to pay, to the charity?
I think that would be a very fitting form of recompense.
"maybe the church could rearrange their times if it's only a few hours."
As far as I know they already do. Not got a list of road closure times to hand but most of the roads were re-opened after a time cut off elapsed.
I don't think there is any need to over egg the pudding in terms of small claims, yes it would be good to make the culprit pay but no need to claim for a tyre because of a tack hole - I would have thought a claim for a tube would suffice.
Gary_M - my comments are related to the quote I gave at the top of the page; trying to work out if it's a valid point.
Having now found the road closure times the max amount of time any road was closed was around 4.5 hours, which was from 9:50 to 14:15 and it looks like there is an alternative route to avoid this closure, minimum was just over 2 hours from 7am, average was about 3 hours. Not really that big a deal is it?
In terms of "movement" to help mitigate interference with the local community, the organisers have started the race earlier than originally planned and have upped the minimum speed to help reduce the length of any road closures.
I believe that one of ACREs proposals was that the route be reversed. The disruption to the Aberfeldy/Glen Lyon area would therefore be earlier and for less time. Obviously, it would then have a bigger impact on the areas like Kinloch Rannoch, Tummel Bridge and the Queens View. I suspect the last section of road into Pitlochry would also be problematic in this direction. still an interesting idea though. Could it be run this way in alternate years? Would the course be better/worse?
Would the course be better/worse?
Having not ridden the full course I can't comment, however it would just seem to move a minor inconvenience elsewhere which is typical of the NIMBY attitude.