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 en route. 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 have 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.

http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/rolls/sheriff/lists/per/PER090520.htm

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.

if someone can’t do what they want to solely because of an event then that is a problem I say.

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.

I very much doubt that there were many complaints from people who actually attend the church…

Course probably runs fine either way in theory but has to go anticlockwise in practice.

If you went the other way the start would be up the narrow singletrack road on the west side of the river to Logierait which would be a complete bottleneck with 3,500 people. Also the finish would mean closing the access onto and off the A9 at the top end of Pitlochry which would make getting out of Pitlochry to go north difficult (currently it’s the access to and from the A9 at the south end of town that is shut, and that’s to and from the south only). Also the event would shut down Rannoch and Strathtummel for a while (at the moment it’s at the start of the route so “open” again by 10am – there isn’t an alternatve route in and out). The way things stand the locals from Kinlochrannoch back to Pitlochry are back in action from 10am and you can get in and out of Aberfeldy all day anyway.

One change the organisers could easily make is to omit the loop through Fortingal (which cuts off access to traffic for Fortingal and the whole of Glen Lyon). IMO that section doesn’t really add anything much to the route other than a few extra miles; it’s not especially scenic as you’re in the trees for most of it and would be an easy concession for the organisers to make.

If they did that the only people outside Pitlochry itself who would be affected for more than a couple of hours would be the small numbers living on the section of route between Kinlochrannoch and the Tay, and the slightly larger population living on the north side of the Tay.

To put some perspective on this, I’m pretty sure the total population on the route for the 60 miles or so between Kinlochrannoch and Pitlochry would be less than the number of people riding, and at worst they can’t drive on the road for 3 or 4 hours on a Sunday morning anyway.

I don’t think there is any need to over egg the pudding in terms of small claims

Why not? Make the bastard pay, I reckon. And like I said earlier; if the compo went to the charity, then that would be quite fitting.

And making false claims would achieve what exactly?

Oh, and one more point – all these cafes and pubs who are losing trade – where the **** are they?

When I rode the route in early May last year (not as part of the event, I must add) there was nowt between Kinlochrannoch and Fortingal Hotel – even the Caravan park on the hill road was shut.

Just found this online…
____________________________________________

To: Shona Robison MSP, Minister for Public Health and Sport, The Scottish Parliament

Dear Shona Robison

Re: Etape Caledonia – Closed Roads Cycle Event – 17th May 2009

I am appealing to you in your role as Minister for Sport, for your help and intervention in the running and organisation of the above mentioned event – billed as a national event – which is a) impacting detrimentally on thousands of residents, visitors, local businesses and churches, b) is causing schism within the population of Upper Tayside and c) is bringing the political process into disrepute.

This event, known as Etape Caledonia but in effect Etape Perthshire, variously described as a “Race” or a “Time Trial” and now merely an “Event” is the only closed roads cycle event in the UK – a condition demanded and imposed on Perth and Kinross Council by the organising company based in London. Perth and Kinross Council have acquiesced to this demand and have applied it for two years, this being the third year, and have given seed sponsorship to enable this event, ignoring the opposition to the closed roads from a significant number of local residents, businesses and churches and refusing to enter a constructive dialogue with the leaders and others within the community. A local protest group of 500+ signatories – ACRE Against Closed Road Events – has been ignored.

The event held on a Sunday in May (June in year 2007) impacts the whole weekend for some businesses as the overall weekend touring/residing visitor rate is reduced because of the closed roads. B&Bs and Hotels where long weekend bookings are reduced or have been eliminated altogether (one hotel lost a four figure booking in 2007), public gardens and other small-but-significant-to-the-local-economy businesses are all affected as are residents who cannot leave their homes because of closed roads. Equally employees of the affected businesses lose wages. These small and not so small businesses depend on the income of every weekend within a relatively short tourist season and cannot afford to be told that they will lose one of these weekends every year. The area affected stretches from Rannoch Station to Killiecrankie and Glen Lyon to Logierait – the whole of Upper Tayside. A rolling programme of road closures stretches from 5am to 1.40pm effectively blighting the whole of this area for the whole day and affecting the weekend.

It is true that some businesses which are not affected by closed roads benefit, but even in Pitlochry where the “Event” starts and finishes and where most of the visitors drawn by the event congregate, even here, I am informed that shops are to close for the day and business people and local residents say it is not worth the effort and upset to the community. My wife and I will lose money that day as an under-graduate music student from Dundee will be unable to attend his conducting and singing lesson. Obviously he will lose his lesson. For those businesses and residents and churches situated on the roads that will be closed the impact can have a truly detrimental effect and it is morally questionable to close roads and impact on church service times thus interfering with the freedom to worship – a basic human right at law. It is also morally and legally questionable to allow one business to use the public roads to make profit to the detriment of the community – resident and visinting.

An economic impact report by EKOS states that huge financial benefits accrue to the community from this event. However this report is believed to be deeply flawed as few of the negatively impacted and dissenting businesses were canvassed. John Swinney has told me that one can have little faith in economic impact reports as “we have all been involved in writing them” and know how figures can be presented in a particular manner to support an argument. I have to agree with him, having been involved with similar reports for arts organisation.

P&K Council also allow the statutory notice and information on road closures to be sent out to residents and businesses using third party mailing and since I and many others have ticked the preference box on the Electoral Form saying we do not wish to receive third party mailing we therefore never receive the information. P&K Councillors already knew of this in year one and were informed of this again last year. To date we, and I presume others, have not received the statutory notice of road closures. If it is deemed necessary for some to receive such notice then it is necessary for all.

These concerns have been put to local Councillors and Officers of P&K Council privately by many individuals and leaders within the community, but have never been taken seriously. Meetings labelled as “public” have been advertised in such a manner that only sympathetic supporters have been aware of them and few, if any, face-face meetings have taken place with local Councillors to listen to constituents complaints. This high-handed disregard for the views of many is significantly eroding an already low level faith in the political machine – local and national.

In this difficult economic climate it is reprehensible that our Councillors have done nothing and our MSPs appear to have down nothing to alleviate the adverse economic and social effects of the decision of P&K Council to acquiesce to the demands of a private organisation to run this “Event” on closed roads. P&K Council have given permission for this event to run for another four years without reference to the public or to a proper assessment of outcome.

M/s Robison we are not against cyclists or sport – we are against closed roads. I appeal to you to help us save this situation for the benefit of Scotland, the Community, Sport and the rights of people to live their lives whether for business or for leisure unhindered by the rights of others to enjoy the wonderful opportunities that Scotland has to offer. That is a Democratic Right. Let us all work to re-negotiate this cycling event without having to close the roads.

Since the poor management and organisation of “Etape Perthshire” is bringing much criticism on the Sport, the Organisers and the Local and National Politicians, why not have a real “Etape Caledonia” that annually moves around Scotland for the benefit of the whole country and does not require closed roads of any region?

With the wonderful results at the Olympics and looking forward to 2012, Scotland could, and should, become a world leader as a Cycling Nation. This Etape Fiasco is bringing disrepute on the Sport. It needs direction from Holyrood – from you M/s Robison as Minister – for the benefit of the Nation.

We are prepared to meet you in Edinburgh, Dundee or host a meeting of those concerned with you at our home.

I await your reply with anticipation.

Yours sincerely

Norman Beedie DRSAM; LRAM; ARCM

gary> I don’t think anyone should make false claims; it’s illegal.

Anyway, all I was saying was that if there is a successful prosecution tomorrow then it will open small claims for people that crashed or had small expenses for tubes etc. I know the helicopter was there at least once for a chappie who had tacks in his tyre and that must have cost a fortune.

Carpet tackers have to realise that if they are going to do something this daft then there will be criminal and civil recourse consequences. The scottish courts are not ‘sue crazy’ but you can get proper claims pursued. That is what the small claims court is for.

donating the amount to charity has a nice touch of irony about it.

my god I don’t think I’ve ever been so annoyed after reading a thread

Re. the way some people have jumped down poly’s throat because s/he dared to attempt to work out the criminal’s motivation (never justifying or condoning) to take such despicable actions.

I would say quite clearly playing devil’s advocate – (after all, discussions tend to be a bit boring if everyone reiterates the same point and agrees every time) – and is basically told to shut up because.. well, I don’t know why really.

argh, I’ve also never been quite so inarticulate as I am now – I can’t think straight, It’s my fault, I should never have read the bloody thread – others might not be upset by it, but I’m certainly worked up..

anyway, trying to calm down *breathe*, has taught me a valuable lesson and I’ll stick to less ’emotive’ topics from now on..

miaowing_kat – Member

my god I don’t think I’ve ever been so annoyed after reading a thread

Re. the way some people have jumped down poly’s throat because s/he dared to attempt to work out the criminal’s motivation (never justifying or condoning) to take such despicable actions.

I would say quite clearly playing devil’s advocate – (after all, discussions tend to be a bit boring if everyone reiterates the same point and agrees every time) – and is basically told to shut up because.. well, I don’t know why really.

Chill. It’s often said that it’s difficult to convey tone adequately on t’internet. No need to get so worked up about it. I “got it”, some didn’t – no biggie.

TBH – I’m surprised this hasn’t generated a few “wrong forum” comments yet 😀

yes, I have chilled down a bit now 🙂
but being a hot-headed female with PMS, the littlest things can make me want to throttle someone (how lucky there’s no one else about right now)

* runs and hides *

miaowing_kat you’re only getting so upset because you are presuming poly is a female.

PMS is not an excuse..

*runs*

eh? tbh, I’m fairly sure poly is male, as most females tend to give themselves a girly forum name.
I just used s/he because someone else had used the same courtesy.

..or are you just trying to get a rise out of me? 😛

i can assure you that medically poly is male, albeit a bit of a big girl

OK, here’s a potential rise. The reason that poly got roasted was because he/she:

1) Expressed an detailed assumptions on how it effected the local communities and businesses despite not living within 200 miles of here – and got it totally wrong

2) Was incredibly patronising trying to explain to people how life in the country works

Culprit update. Mrs M was out locally last night and heard that the “62 year old man from Rannoch” arrested is the chairman of Rannoch community council, the equivelant of a parish council in England.

If confirmed and convicted he is obviously an idiot, past his sell by date, and totally out of tune with the people he is meant to represent. Is he related to Gordon Brown?

Health warning – if my information is wrong, I apologise unreservedly

So CaptainMainwaring is chairman of Rannoch community council listed on the link above for court appearances today. That will confrim if true or not.

Captain, does his name appear on the court list link posted above?

Just found this
Followed this thread over the last few days – I find it a lamentable comment on the is countries (the UK as a whole) attitude to sport an cycling in particular – yes were happy to wave flags and bask in Olympic glory but not prepared to be moderately inconvenienced by grass roots events. British road racing is been suffocated by the lack of closed road racing and huge restrictions on open road racing.

mmm thats strange there is not ‘Alex Grosset’ listed on the court appearances.

FWIW

Today’s news http://www.thecourier.co.uk/output/2009/05/20/newsstory13167487t0.asp

If carpert tack boy is local, it might be better for him if he gets locked up for a while.
The poster campaign might also shut the anti-race protestors up for a bit as well.
poster is here http://www.cyclehighlandperthshire.com/home/etape-caledonia/support-hp-cycling.aspx