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The (bloody steep) road I live on is closed for a hill climb on the first weekend of October every year for two whole hours. Yes... two whole hours! Every twelve months! On a Sunday afternoon. Can you imagine?!!
[img] http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/resources/images/4296406/ [/img]
If you went in the local pub and listened to the whining, you'd think they'd been placed under nazi occupation. Mind you... the people doing the whining are the type of people who'd stand by and watch you bleed to death in a gutter. Especially if you were black/gay/Muslim/french
Some people are utter ****s! Most aren't though. Which is nice.
Roads are for cars not runners, thats why cars pay road tax* and runners don't. This was in Surrey FFS! A place with more important people per sq mile than anywhere else on the planet and you lot are stopping them going about their important business. What cost to the economy eh?
*Just in case this hasn't got an invisible #sarcasm attached to it, NOBODY PAYS ROAD TAX!
And haven't done since 1932. Cars carry a tax based on their emissions, and it's a tax allowing them to be legally used on the public road network.
Pedestrians, cyclists, runners, horses don't need taxation to use what they have an inherent legal right to, albeit while adhering to the laws giving access to the road network.
Which also gives everyone the right to not be an arse'ole!
NOBODY PAYS ROAD TAX!
And haven't done since 1932.
1937 I think you'll find
ake an event like a closed road sportive. If the locals are generally in favour then the few who object should shut up. However if the locals object universally then no outside should have the right to over power their views. Much as we like it we can't have a universal right to do whatever whatever we want.
I don't agree.
How many locals does it take to count as 'objecting universally'. How local need they be?
For example, all the households on one street deciding they don't want their road closed shouldn't be the be all and end all for hundreds/thousands of participants, and the rest rest of the town who by and large agree with the event. And btw, in all likelihood benefiting from money spent locally in businesses and accommodation...
Every time I have marshaled a road race (as an accredited marshal) I have had some kind of conflict. The cars are only held up for a couple of minutes.
I stopped at a zebra crossing to let people cross only for 3 cars to drive round me and carry on. Made me laugh out loud did that one.
Not had this, but been beeped at whilst people have been crossing . Same on traffic lights when flashing amber and people still crossing . I do like to take my time when this happens , just to slow them down a touch more.
At Remembrance Sunday last year the quiet dignified ceremony at the local war memorial was partially drowned out by a bloke sat in his van with the engine running and the radio on as he waited for the road to re-open 👿
I live near the Ironman UK course, this involves the road being shut from 6 am to 9.30 am on a Sunday morning.
Signs go up weeks in advance and its in something like its tenth year.
It's good fun seeing the carnage. Most of the time it's security of the type you see at festivals etc who haven't got a clue where they are and how to direct motorists around the closure. I don't mind helping out directing people as the signs are always pathetic.
Best ones are the old dear who was a WRVS volunteer at the hospital thinking I would give her money for petrol as the diversion would be another few miles and a woman in a BMW convertable who refused to turn round as it would involve driving on the motorway. She parked up for 40 minutes when she could have gone on the motorway around the closure in 5 mins.
needing to get supplies, take kids to a party or generally entertain them can be a genuine cause of frustration.
Gonna struggle to get to sleep with this sob story (parent of three who lives on the routes of TdF and TdY but thank £--k I don't live in Surrey)
Just in case this hasn't got an invisible #sarcasm attached to it, NOBODY PAYS ROAD TAX!
And haven't done since 1932. Cars carry a tax based on their emissions, and it's a tax allowing them to be legally used on the public road network.
Get that argument in while you can. As of April 1st every car (except zero emissions) will be paying £140 flat rate. So not really based on emissions at all any more (except first year tax).
AND there is a new "Road Fund" paid for by VED - so car tax payers will once again be able to say they pay for the roads (although in fact it will be spent on Trunk Roads where we don't generally cycle).
I was doing the Macc Half Marathon about ten years ago and as we were running through Prestbury (Imagine a chunk of Surrey transported 200 miles north) we ran passed Robbie Savages drive blocking him and Brad Friedel in his Ferrari as they were on their way to play for Blackburn. Made me smile, they didn't seem too annoyed probably happy to get another 15 minutes listening to Phil Collins.
The couple who were walking with their little dog on the beach on Saturday, which proceeded to take a dump about 5 paces from where me and my wee girl were playing. I'm sure they noticed and tried to ignore it as they kept walking so caught up with them and asked if they were going to clean up the crap, cue the "oh we never noticed, the bags are in the car, there's no need to get aggressive etc." Selfish tools...they even had a kid in a sling so I'd imagine if someone else had done the same to them they'd react the same?
I was in Surrey yesturday as well . I entered the Wiggle UKCE ups and Downs event .
The a-holes were the ones throwing gel wrappers on the floor , even as low as 8 miles in. If you need gels after 8 miles why on earth are you entering a 50-80mile event in the first place, then why are you throwing your rubbish on the road for some other person to collect , Just to add fuel to the fire of hatred aimed at the less fortunate people who cant afford cars and have a bike to get around.
Although,judging by the cars in the car park there is no shortage of money in the south of England.
My faith in humanity was restored somewhat as I organised extracting about 6 cars that were stuck in the water logged car park . Lots of guys pitched in and helped push people out of the mud. The organisers were somewhat less helpful
The a-holes were the ones throwing gel wrappers on the floor , even as low as 8 miles in. If you need gels after 8 miles why on earth are you entering a 50-80mile event in the first place,
The first bit is right and is inexcusable, however if you need gels to do a 50-80 mile event you don't wait until empty before fuelling. Little and often so you don't get the knock.
Everyone on the planet would be able to stand together on the Isle of Wight.
Ooh! Nice Fermi task!
Say about 6 people can stand in 1 square metre.
Isle of Wight is 380kmsq
Or 380,000,000 square metres
Looks like you might only manage 2.3 billion
World population is 7.5 billion
Isle of Wight is 380kmsq
Or 380,000,000 square metres
I'm sure we can base it on the area at low-tide - we might lose a few.... but never mind.
I'm sure we can base it on the area at low-tide
Well, if you want to be so littoral!
^ excellent! Dad-joke-tastic!
Hmm, that could work out quite well... Put all the 'Kippers and Brexiters and other right-wing-froth-pots around the edges and wait for the tide to come in.
I think you'll find Brexiteers will simply take back control and stop the inrushing tide.
chestrockwell - MemberMate, during the 2015 Christmas floods I blocked a road with my fire engine to prevent people driving in to a heavily flooded area where many people were working to prevent further harm. Big, blue whirly lights and everything.
At least half a dozen people tried to drive up on the pavement/grass verge to get past
Back in 2013 floods we blocked out road with cars as our houses were in the direct path of a massive wave of water if you drove past, the ammount of abuse we got about that... Sheesh.
We even had some guy complain to the council about the noise of the generator that was running the pump that was stopping both mine and the neighbours house from flooding !
Did one bit of marshalling last year people stopped to chat about what was going on, one local got me a cup of tea. Very pleasant. This was oop North though.
I was marshaling cycle race locally a few weeks back.
The only person in 2 hours who didn't take the alternative route round the bit of woods the course was run through was an mtber.
"You can't stop me riding it, can you? So I will."
And you're just left thinking why is some people's sense of personal entitlement so great that they can't allow others to undertake an activity that might even mildly inconvenience them.
On the plus side if you were marshalling the Surrey Half then we probably live quite close so should organise a Chub Club ride out!
Maybe a Fat lads of STW steamroller Swinley and make it smooth again
Have any of you ever driven in Holland?
The number of complete bellends is amazing. Rude, ignorant, aggressive. they have it all.
When I lived in Lancing down in Sussex, I used to help marshal our running clubs 6km cross country "Fun Run" on a Sunday morning every year in October. It started and finished on the sports center grounds and was run entirely off road.
It used a quite wide (20ft) footpath to get from the center up onto the Downs and at my marshaling point the footpath was crossed by a dirt track going into allotments. Would you believe that some people would not park the car, walk 20ft across the footpath we were using to the allotment gate, unlock it and open it, walk 20ft back to the car and drive in when there was a gap between runners? They wanted to park across the footpath with the nose of the car against the gate - so that they only had to walk 5ft.
🙁
Everyone on the planet would be able to stand together on the Isle of Wight.
Think about the queues for the ferry though.
Think about the objections from the locals!
And you're just left thinking why is some people's sense of personal entitlement so great that they can't allow others to undertake an activity that might even mildly inconvenience them.
Like not using the cycle path next to the road?
😆
LAT - MemberEveryone on the planet would be able to stand together on the Isle of Wight.
Think about the queues for the ferry though.Think about the objections from the locals!
Indeed, get out of my county.
Hasn't the isle of Wight thing been debunked? I think you need something a bit bigger these days...Falklands maybe?
At 6 people per square metre you'll get 6m per square Km so (7.5 x 10^9) / (6 x 10^6) = (7.5 * 10^3) / 6 = 1250 square Km.
Looking at [url= https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_by_area ]Wikipedia[/url], somewhere like Rhodes would be big enough at 1410Km2. There's islands nearer in size to 1250 but I think just being in the Arctic would kill many 🙄
Zanzibar, definitely Zanzibar
I marshalled a womans' enduro race last year. We closed literally 3 trails at the golf course, out of dozens, plus innerleithen just over the road. From where I was standing at flat white, you can see the entry to community service- which is better, damn it! But all day I was pretty much stood in the trail physically blocking people- arseholes- from riding it. Their day was ruined apparently.
All this bollox about standing on island? Isle of Wight, Rhodes? What? Is that what we do then? Just stand? Not only are some people utter arseholes, some people talk out of them.
At 6 people per square metre
Have we accounted for people in wheelchairs?
Or Americans?
We had all kinds of fuss from one resident living just off a closed road. Closed around 2h and she lives 100m into the closure - max walk of say 200m to her car then. There's always some mysterious 'elderly relative' that needs something at short notice 10AM Sunday. She took it up with our local MP. Our local MP takes part and is a big fan of the race 🙂