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New Forest rider and pony (CC licensed by iNew Forest:Flickr)Fresh row in New Forest as council's safety group calls on mass rides to revise routes
A body chaired by New Forest District Council (NFDC) is calling on the organisers of two cycling events due to take place in the area the weekend after next not to hold their events on the same day unless they can ensure that there is no clash between routes and timings. In July, the same body, the New Forest Safety Advisory Group (SAG), confirmed to the New Forest’s Verderers’ Court that the two events in question would not clash.
The SAG co-ordinates the activities of organisations including NFDC, Hampshire County Council and the emergency services to provide safety advice to organisers of events in the area, which besides sports might include music festivals, fireworks displays and street parties.
In a statement, it says that “amid safety concerns” it is concerned about what it believes is a clash on Sunday 12 October between the CTC Wessex Gridiron 100 randonnée event, with 1,000 participants, and the second day of the Wiggle New Forest 100 event, in which up to 1,900 riders will participate.
It says: “There are fears that cyclists travelling in opposite directions at the same time on the Gorley road from Fordingbridge to Ringwood, and on Ornamental Drive, Brockenhurst, to Roger Penny Way in Bramshaw, will cause severe traffic congestion and safety issues, as well as a negative impact on the communities where the routes clash.”
The document was circulated on Twitter today, initially by local cycling campaigner New Forest Cyclist, and has come to light after a weekend on which four cyclists were taken to hospital with serious injuries after collisions with motor vehicles in the New Forest.
Some users of the social network pointed out that the minutes of July’s session of the Verderers’ Court, which has jurisdiction over a variety of issues in the New Forest, revealed that the clerk to the court advised it “that the New Forest Safety Advisory Group has confirmed that the Gridiron event and the Wiggle will not clash.”
The same session of the court also heard that with a livestock drift due to take place in the New Forest on Sunday 12 October, UK Cycling Events had amended its route so as to remove any conflict, and the company was thanked for its co-operation.
In its latest statement, the SAG’s chairman, James Knight, said: “Due to the representations we have received from members of the group, we can only advise against both events taking place on the same day with the routes and timings as currently advertised.
“The SAG is committed to helping promote safety for events that are held in the district. The organisers themselves have a duty to liaise with each other to resolve the issue and we have strongly encouraged them to do so,” he added.
The SAG stops short of calling on the organisations not to use those roads – rather, it wants them to ensure both events aren’t in the same place at the same time.
But adding to the ire of local cyclists on Twitter is the fact that Rhinefield Ornamental Drive is, as we reported last week, the road that the New Forest National Park Authority intends to resurface using £1.275 million of the money earmarked by the Department for Transport to develop cycling in the area.
That money was intended to be used, among other things, for a cycle hire scheme in the New Forest which has now been scrapped.
Martin Barden of Wiggle New Forest 100 organisers UK Cycling Events told road.cc: “We are currently working with CTC Wessex the organisers of the Gridiron to minimise any impact of our events running on the same day.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- mikecassie 0 sec ago
It'd appear the sportive organizer is particularly uncaring. They are asking for extra signage prior to speed bumps, not change the route or other...
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35 comments
For once, I think that the 'non-cycling' voice is speaking in pretty fair terms. They've only put the idea out there that it would be best if the two events remain separate, either in terms of timing or routing. It's actually quite a sensible and reasonable thing to suggest.
The point of SAGs is as the name implies to advise, they cannot sanction or ban.
It is feasible that the 2 sportive organisers were unaware of each other's event and had not made any allowance in their own risk assessments for the other event, in terms of potential confusion to riders?
I was on LEL last year, when the route coincided with the London-Cambridge whose marshals kept trying to usher all cyclists along their route.
The 2 organisers simply need factor into their risk assessments, and providing they have considered any hazards and mitigated will be OK?
Obviously should anything go wrong the SAG will refer to their advice at any enquiry
Whilst we have every right to ride on the road, why not just ride elsewhere?
There are many thousands of miles available to ride on, so why always ride on the same ones?
I do have some sympathy for the locals who seem to be besieged so much.
It also applies to the Box Hill events.
For heavens sake, just use somewhere else!
I wonder what you would think if every weekend a major event involving thousands of people passed your door, in addition to the usual traffic?
It wouldn't be long before you got a bit fed up with it.
Send them down my road any weekend you like, slowing the traffic would be very welcome!
So the council think there's a problem and ask the organisers to look into it. Earlier it was thought there was no problem.
Where's the row here?
Whilst the very vocal community raising objections to these sportive events seem illogical in their vitriol towards cyclists, it must be conceded by the cycling community that there are elements of sportive rides who feel they are "racing" and hence have specific relief from the highway code.
How many times have you seen cyclists riding aggressively in these events, as if there were some grand prize on offer. They do seem to attract the worst element of the casual cyclist, who then mar the event for the vast majority of participants.
This isn't to justify, or exonerate the rabid persecution meted out by those seeking to own the public forest; merely as a group we should aim to enforce proper road craft in our own ranks to avoid the hyper critical attention of those who cannot see we're not the threat to wildlife, or inconvenience, they think we are.
Whilst not condoning the 'racing' it seems people on mainland europe have no problem with sportives, in fact many pros ride them for large prize money!
Locals embrace the event and the money/visitors it brings in
That's two separate issues. Highlighting the lack of community in the UK manifest in the NIMBY mentalities evident at large cyclosportives in the UK is a valid point. This doesn't excuse the small element who feel they're 'racing' and hence exempt from the highway code and most importantly, the etiquette and consideration required when riding in a group.
Surely these people have big dents in their cars?
Every week the Verderers release details of livestock involved in accidents.
In this case, unusually, they released the full details. See below.
Why am I not surprised?
Looks like the BBC had no trouble finding the Audi...
Unfortunately several news organisations simply find a representative photo to illustrate the story and meet their story style requirements - so this isn't necessarily the Audi but simply an Audi that had similar trouble.
but did you see from that BBC link,under the related articles, the thing that killed the most ponies in the new forest last year, even more than cars, the humble acorn, which is toxic to the ponies, so its the actual flipping forest thats killing them
frankly as a prospective visitor to the area, this persisting campaign it seems against anyone daring to ride a bicycle through the place,totally puts me off ever wanting to go anywhere near the new forest as a cyclist or not. which annoys me because Im sure theres a whole bunch of local businesses who utterly rely on visitors. and the fact they are not only denied a voice it seems by these self interest groups, but then bear the brunt of visitors voting with their feet to stay away.
Anyoune fancy taking a personal trip down to Brockenhurst with say a couple of friends and going for a leisurely bike ride. Of course it is very popular, what with the '00's of hire bikes all being hired, and every train coming down from London filled to capacity with bikes. Who knows you might even meet up with someone you know with the same idea of having a day out on the bike....
I would advise taking a couple of spare inner tubes and a good pump though as at this time of year debris on the road can cause an elevated level of punctures
The New Forest show attracts up to 100,000 people in July (peak holiday season) so to have 3,000 cyclists plus organisers, support, etc. should not really be an issue.
Possibly more of an inconvenience to the locals is a cyclists ability to report accidents and claim damages from the insurance companies when they are knocked off whereas the the ponies probably end up as a tasty treat for the local hunt hounds.
The New Forest show attracts up to 100,000 people in July (peak holiday season) so to have 3,000 cyclists plus organisers, support, etc. should not really be an issue.
Possibly more of an inconvenience to the locals is a cyclists ability to report accidents and claim damages from the insurance companies when they are knocked off whereas the ponies probably end up as a tasty treat for the local hunt hounds.
I understand that the pedestriathon has also been moved to the other side of the road to avoid clashing with the annual poniathon on the same side. Cars will be unaffected.
Bloody police with thier nee fangled infrared speed telling machine.
It'll scare the horses I tell you.
Seriously I am struggling with the nfpa and it's stance. My be they should build a dirty great fence round the place and turn it in to a museum.
I love riding my bike but I and many others will think carefully about were I spend my money as the thought of any of the nimbys getting a penny makes me angry.
I will support any forest businesses that embrace the tourists that choose to visit and work hard to share the area that they are lucky enough to live in
Bloody police with thier nee fangled infrared speed telling machine.
It'll scare the horses I tell you.
Seriously I am struggling with the nfpa and it's stance. My be they should build a dirty great fence round the place and turn it in to a museum.
I love riding my bike but I and many others will think carefully about were I spend my money as the thought of any of the nimbys getting a penny makes me angry.
I will support any forest businesses that embrace the tourists that choose to visit and work hard to share the area that they are lucky enough to live in
Bloody police with thier nee fangled infrared speed telling machine.
It'll scare the horses I tell you.
Seriously I am struggling with the nfpa and it's stance. My be they should build a dirty great fence round the place and turn it in to a museum.
I love riding my bike but I and many others will think carefully about were I spend my money as the thought of any of the nimbys getting a penny makes me angry.
I will support any forest businesses that embrace the tourists that choose to visit and work hard to share the area that they are lucky enough to live in
Bloody police with thier nee fangled infrared speed telling machine.
It'll scare the horses I tell you.
Seriously I am struggling with the nfpa and it's stance. My be they should build a dirty great fence round the place and turn it in to a museum.
I love riding my bike but I and many others will think carefully about were I spend my money as the thought of any of the nimbys getting a penny makes me angry.
I will support any forest businesses that embrace the tourists that choose to visit and work hard to share the area that they are lucky enough to live in
It must be said that no where should be having two big events on the same day.
It has been said many times
Sportives need control.
The pony draft is moved by the pig headed locals to coninside with the wiggle ride to give them another reason to moan.
I'm sure the Wiggle event always used to be at the end of September, until someone complained that it clashed with the annual drift. It was moved to mid-October a couple of years ago to avoid a clash, and now it clashes with the drift again?
Also, and I've said it before, the Gridiron is a much more enjoyable event that has never had issues with NIMBYism. Hopefully that's still the case this year...
The new forest mind set is a strange one, all through the forest are signs saying 'ponies don't dent they die'.No mention of looking out for pedestrians or cyclists. But when it comes to actually doing something i.e. speed bumps to slow the traffic that speeds along the straight clear roads of the forest. The sound of inaction is deafening
I think it is fair to question why 2 big events are taking place in the same area on the same day, but they have known this for months and should have done something about it then. Its too late to change, too much inconvenience.
To aid safety, I suggest the local council introduces a new motoring safety campaign titled 'oih, twat, slow the F*** down'
I'm staying well away from the NF, its full of arseholes.
"after a weekend on which four cyclists were taken to hospital with serious injuries after collisions with motor vehicles in the New Forest."
Incorrect, the motor vehicle driven ran over the cyclists, the cyclists did not collide with the motor vehicle. twats.
Have they read this in the national news yet... No cyclist involved!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-29429498
I see that horses, like cyclists, are involved in "collisions with cars" as opposed to "smashed into by cars driven by maniacs". #bloodyhorses
The hate brigade never let facts get in the way of their propaganda.
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