New Forest to consider pushing for laws to control sportives?

+1 for the suggestion of Yorkshire. I was up there at the weekend as were thousands of others on bikes, and while there was a little bickering about holding up traffic, we were made to feel welcome at every possible moment.

And there are some decent hills to make a sportive more challenging!

Leave the NIMBYS to it. Come up here to Yorkshire, and ride the Dales. There's lots of great places to see, places to stay, some great climbs (and descents), great views, great cafes, and loads of welcoming people.

Lets' be honest, Sportive are races of a sort. They have dropped a few features typical of races from the origonal Gran Fondo format but as long as participants get a 'result' reported back to them on their performance they will be a (pretty low rent) type of race in my view.

If the law is changed such that Sportives in their current format are classed as races the organisers will simply drop another 'racey' feature to circumvent the rules. On the other hand the biggest of them might even be able to use their status as races to get roads closed etc. (as already pointed out by someone else). I'm not necesarily saying that circumventing the rules is a bad thing, only that this is, in reality, what sportives represent. Take away the timing chips (leaving riders to their GPS computers or phones for this info) and what you're left with is no different from a charity ride or even an enormous club run that some kind soul has taken the time to signpost. At this point there will be nothing (legally) that the NIMBYs can do to limit the number of riders at such events.

From the point-of-view of the local objectionists, a change in the law would at best have no results at all on the number of cyclists on 'their' roads and at worst would mean that they have to put up with greater disruption due to road closures.

Interesting they might use the Road Traffic Act 1988 to introduce new rules.

Isn't this the most widely ignored, flounted and least upheld set of legislation ever drafted?

Hilarious.

If they change the law to class sportives as races, that could backfire spectacularly on the NIMBY bumpkins because it would make it easier for organisers to close the roads!

DISTRACTION TECHNIQUE FROM THE REAL ISSUES *YAWNS*

I live in an area that has a major shopping centre, a major tourist attraction, a major horse-racing course and a major rugby stadium nearby. As a result, on any given weekend the roads can be clogged with cars trying to get to one event or another. It can prevent me getting out in my own car - or even my bike!

You won't find me writing to the AA demanding laws to be changed though... this is the place I chose to live, and the fact that lots of exciting things happen here is what makes it a good place to be.

As sportives are not races, I am struggling to see what laws could be introduced which would not have a wider impact on public liberty.

You could apply the same concerns to large car boot sales, village fairs, festivals, and ANY event where people congregate. These are public roads and not the preserve of a few natives.

Pretty sure if this is tried, mass protests like the mass walks arranged by the ramblers association back in the 30s will be the result.

Maybe what's needed is a "sportive" event in the new forest where 3000 cyclists turn up and drive around slowly with bikes on car racks.

contrast all of this with the attitude of the Yorkshire Dales NP who are painting the place yellow to welcome people on bikes

Am I right in thinking the residents are up in arms over two events? Bloody hell it seem that every weekend for the few months there's been an event on le Tour route.

Oh I forgot Chelsea tractors rule the road!

Very curious as to what sort of law might be proposed. The wiggle events have no special road use requirements, everyone taking part should use the road the same as any other visitor.

So what's left? If the proposal is to restrict the number of people that can gather in the forest at a pre-arranged time and place (an event), I think that might attract much wider attention than from just cyclists.

The disruption caused by these events is minimal imho. I am a local resident, a number of New Forest Sportives have passed my house in the past few years, with no bother at all.

They are held out of the main season and bring a lot of money in to the area (I do not work in a tourism related industry).

Yes people may be held up here and there a few min's on a couple of weekends a year, that hold up's not a patch on the delays from regular traffic a regular pinch points or when lots of other non cycling events are on throughout the year.

Yes there will always be a few idiots at these events as there is anywhere in life and doing anything!

Yes some rules and limits might be a good idea to stop things getting out of hand in the future but from what I know it sounds like Wiggle\UKCycling events has been fully engaged with the relevant authorities.

Those few locals will not be happy until events like these are banned. Please let’s not let that happen.

They've just recently sacked their chairman to get in a new even more anti-cycling chairman by the sounds of it; this is no doubt as a result of that.

Should Dr Julian Lewis come along to our village BBQ again I might tackle him on this subject to see what the real problems are and most of the stuff they come up with is nonsense, danger the wildlife\public\environment, destroying the "new forest way of life" etc.

I do have some sympathy for residents of these areas. The number of events and number of participants should be controlled, it is a big business. But at the same time the attitude of some residents and their reluctance to accept that cycling is a viable form of transport is beyond belief. It isn't going to go away. Same goes for the stupid cyclists, behave yourselves.

Also, even with regulation in place there is nothing to stop 10,000 cyclists descending on a given area at a given time on a given route and it cannot be classified as a sportive. We have a right to use the roads as much as anyone.

i often get stuck behind a cyclist or 10 in my area, its a very popular part of the world for it, but it makes me happy as it slows down the morons.