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>It is illegal to race on a public highway. That is I believe why they hold Time Trials and not "races" as it is a way of getting around the legislation. I'm not sure how they deal with it in respect of things like the Tour stages, but as I recall it used to require an act of parliament to change that fact. Anyone expert in this field and able to update me on this point?
The Surrey Cycle league hold races on the road around here. Not time trials but full on bunch start jobs. They have a car at front / back etc and the roads are still open.
TT or race was cancelled by the police near Wrexham down the road from LLandegla, a few weeks ago, by the Police, due to serious concerns of danger to other road users
Races around Birkenhead Park near liverpool where cancelled a few years ago, on a closed circuit, due to problems with the locals,
Are we at the stage yet where we can comment on the money spent to gain us all those Olympic medals in 'cycling', yet we still can't manage to race on the roads?
British Cycling? British bloody Track Cycling more like.
Never mind all that RTTC cobblers.......
My club's road race was cancelled this year due to problems with the costs for the Police support and also cancelled last year due to Police unwillingness to allow any other road users on roads except for cars. I understand that BC has now brought these issues to the attention of those able to make permanent provision for road racing.
We did hold the support races for the cancelled main road race instead and I marshalled at those, didn't really have any problems with motorists except for some grumpiness.
Whilst not quite understanding the club TTer I feel sorrow for the loss to his family and like some of those posters above shake my head at those who have such little tolerance for others.
Thats pretty terrible really but a consequence of doing anything on busy roads where the more dangerous members of society are given high speed killing instruments called cars.
No-one is perfect in these situations - i've been hit three times on my bike , first two times in perfect visibility and when i have been riding legally etc - both drivers not paying attention or in a rush. Third time at night when i had 3 red lights on and two front lights on and looked the driver directly in the eye - he pulled out on me and i went over his bonnett on a controlled way. Sadly had he looked in his rear view mirror he would have noticed the unmarked police car 3 cars back. He went nuts at me and said quite loudly that i was in his way and had no right to be on the road. Then he resisted arrest and was subsequently banned I believe as he was adamant that he did nothing wrong. More recently i was run off the road by an approaching lead car in a Triathlon race on the wrong side of an OPEN road....so go figure, somewhere along the way its the muppet behind the wheel. It scares me that i could die cheaply cos someone was picking their nose.
Terribly sad case though.
I've never done a TT and probably never will but all the people having a go at the riders being there pee's me right off. as far as I can see TT is about hammering down the open road as fast as you can and who here hasn't done that? TTers aren't riding in a big peleton they are just riding along the road, same as any of us who commute or ride road and it's scary that not only deaths like this occur but that even other cyclists say "well they know the risks of what they are doing" as tho they are partly responsible for being hit. Newsflash you are allowed to ride down the road, even dual carriageways, as fast as your little legs will take you and drivers are supposed to drive safely.
yes I accept some TTers and those just riding along will occasionally do silly things at roundabouts or junctions to maintain speed (and if anyone does, it will be [b]them[/b] who pay the price for it) but in this case (by the sounds of it) and many, many others its 100% the drivers fault and mostly the drivers get to walkaway from it which can't be said of the other victims.
I know drivers don't intend to hit other people and this lady will no doubt be very upset at what has happened but cars are such a big part of life and an everyday object that everyone seems to forget that a tiny little mistake at the wheel can ruin/end lives.
Sod making drivers ride around on bikes before giving them a license (stupid idea anyway) they should have to do ride alongs with firecrews cutting people out of car wrecks and ambulances patching up RTA victims.
[i]terrydactyl - was there any need to slow down and move over? Surely the cyclists were going the other way on the other side of the road?[/i]
In theory yes. But given there's a far greater probabilty than normal that one will ver onto the wrong side of the road (even though they're not meant to), it's pretty obvious that it makes sense to slow down and take this risk into account.
I was present at a TT in the 80's were a young rider was killed, but even that did'nt change my view of riding TT's.
In many ways if you strip the lone TT rider of his number he is just a rider, riding like most of us do on public roads day in day out.
The only niggle I have is that IMO TT riders are in the zone, ok it is'nt officialy a race but ltes not beat about the bush the TT rider has only one thing on his mind i.e his time so you could accuse many of riding without due care and attention.
However, I'd never want to see any restrictions on racing on roads for any sport.
Other than that single incident I've never had a problem in over thirty years of road racing. In fact I've seen more near misses during running races.
I used to TT a lot a decade ago and actually preferred the dual carriageway courses, not because they were dragstrips you could get quick times on but because I felt they were safer. First there's a heck of a lot of road, secondly they don't generally have blind/sharp bends so visibility is good and thirdly drivers generally seem a lot more focused at roundabouts on dual carriageways than on normal roads (not that I ever felt particularly safe going round roundabouts when TTing).
I usually tried to stay in the hard shoulder but road kill and debris sometimes meant cycling just out into the main carriageway. Only had one close shave in dozens of TTs and that was a car where someone in the rear was deliberately trying to push cyclists off (and succeeded on a few, thankfully with no serious injuries).
I did have a near death experience once on a dual carriageway hard shoulder (not TTing) when a loose strap on the side of a lorry hit me and nearly dragged me under the wheels. Other than that though I've never had a problem. I see nothing wrong or unsafe (other than the basic cars and bikes mixing thing) about holding a TT on a dual carriageway.
Narrow country roads with sharp bends and drivers thinking they're in a rally doing 60mph is what scares me when road riding.
I've cycled to work a few times on 60mph country roads which is used as an alternative to the motorway for many drivers.
The reaction of one guy at work to cycling on this road pretty much sums up a lot of drivers attitude, it was something like this:
[i]'I would never cycle on that road; with the speed I drive if I came round a corner and met a cyclist with an oncoming car in the other lane I would have to take the cyclist out rather than have a head-on'[/i]
I was speechless and the guy is not some boy racer meathead either.
The reaction of one guy at work to cycling on this road pretty much sums up a lot of drivers attitude
Exactly, thus the whole debate about the sense or otherwise of riding on the road at all. Its absolutely not right that we should be in fear in this way, and there is no question whatsoever that the drivers are in the wrong. However, that makes no difference at all when you're in a box and they are feeling a bit sheepish about what they've done.
The only way that things will improve is if cyclists collectively bring pressure to bear for justice and a change in attitudes from drivers, the courts and the Police.