Velo Birmingham hit by route opposition again as local businesses say they will lose thousands

In April this year I rode the etape Loch Ness which was on totally closed roads. The locals along the route came out and cheered and applauded the riders all the way round the route and considering there is only one road round the Loch the reception we were given was fantastic. I guess my point is what is the matter with the people along the Velo Birmingham route after all it is only for a few hours on one day.

I don't do any organised route mass participation rides, unless they are on closed roads. I wouldn't pay to ride on a route I can ride anytime I want for free, unless there's something unusual about it. The only one I've paid to ride previously has been the Ride London, and  until this Velo Birmingham event, the only other mass participation event I've ever ridden is the annual Isle of Wight Randonnee, because it's free to enter. The Velo Birmingham looks like a giggle, and I'd never ordinarily have any excuse to visit Birmingham. If there's a few hundred like me, Birmingham's businesses win, because people who wouldn't normally be spending money there, are. I wouldn't have thought that was difficult to fathom.

Whilst there are good size crowds out early oon the RideLondon 100, it does have the advantage of the pro race (now World Tour) following it. It runs through an area with extensive rail network with frequent trains even on a Sunday on most lines

But the problem with open road events is that you cannot trust drivers not to behave like ****s.

We had the usual "pleasantries" shared with us on an audax yesterday - drivers yelling about riding two abreast being illegal, close passes, and a near miss at a junction.  And most of the route was on very quiet country lanes.

The reason why I was prepared to pay the inflated Velo proce was the idea that for *one* day I will get to ride my bkike without needing to second guess motorists every single sodding time I see one.

Grumpy old bobbington, can't believe their businesses will be that badly affected. As I understand it the road will reopen at 1330. Don't know what time they usually open for business but it's a Sunday morning for heavens sake. 15000 people passing by in one morning is a nice bit of free advertising I think. NIMBYs 

SAY NO TO CLOSED-ROAD SPORTIVES! (if you're a business owner)

To be fair, I can see their point. It's not like racing, where it can actually bring people in to towns (look at the massive TDY crowds). Nobody is going to come along to watch a cornucopia of riders that they'd getting annoyed by normally. It's just annoyance all round for most of the public. Shut the roads off = annoyance. Open-road and everyone's getting annoyed by the vast amount of riders kicking about. 

Everyone hates us already, why make it worse?

The issues of "we sent a letter" are as 1961Bikie says ^^ but there's also the fact that there are so many media/news outlets now that paradoxically people finding MORE difficult to get information.

It's very easy to restrict social media feeds to only that stuff that interests you or from people that you like and it's therefore very easy to miss stuff from "the council" simply because you don't follow them. Same with council newsletters, the local free rag (if there is one), websites...

Ultimately you can put the news out there as much as you want but you can't make people read it! Some people (just in general, not these particular complainants necessarily) won't ever be happy unless the Mayor themselves comes over to their house with tea and biscuits and talks them through it all!

To address the issue raised by one of the businesses to paraphrase "we knew nothing until a local said they'd had a letter". What are the chances that this person is the only one that opens every bit of junk mail? We all know how much rubbish comes through our letter boxes. It's even worse for businesses. I wonder if the envelope that was sent out had any sort of indication on the outside that it contained important information. If so how was it worded? If it only stated that it was related to a cycle event would you open it if you had no interest in cycling. The organisers should have either paid South Staffs Council to send out the notification in an official council envelope or paid a fee to be allowed to use some official crest or whatever on the event organisers own mail out. To side with the organiser briefly; if one address received a notification I believe all in the affected area will have received one. Whether they opened it is another matter all together.

The roads leading to my uncles house are closed on the day of the velothon, when he is having his 60th birthday. Luckily most of those attending are local and are also cyclists and the rest of us are staying in local pubs, hotels and B&B's so they will get some business anyway!

It just needs a bit of thought ahead of time by those affected, and they may even manage to gain some trade by passing cyclists, spectators or others inconvenienced one Sunday morning.

Having done Ride London a few times, it seems that footfall may actually increase with closed sportives - certainly in the larger satelite towns (Dorking, Leatherhead, Kingston).  Okay, my guess is that the spectators are probably spending more in cafes and restaurants than on hardware, but surely the commercial impact analysis exists from Ride London and only needs to be asked for....? 

Thanks to the road-side cheerers, by the way: you're amazing. 

I rode the 60 miles of the southern loop yesterday. It was beautiful. 

This event will be brilliant and I can't understand why some people who happen to organise other cycling events are against it.

Oh wait...

I'm sorry but this sportive was a shambles from the get go.

When everyone I knew got picked from the initial ballot and the inflated price was proposed I decided to jump ship.  Nothing in the months since has given me the slightest beliefe that this was a bad decision.

A closed road sportive in Birmingham is a tempting idea but I'm saddened to see I won't be attending one any time soon.

Closed road sportives are not the way to ingratiate ourselves into the wider population.

I was out last Saturday riding the first part of the route and we stopped at Halfpenny Green Vineyards. I'm guessing that they didn't know about the road closures then because the people there were very pleasant.
The organisers do seem to be hopeless, which is a great shame because apart from taking large amounts of money from people, a badly run event means it probably won't survive into next year and we'll lose a potentially great boost to cycling in the West Midlands. The Birmingham Half-Marathon ( and now full Marathon again, from this year ) has become a part of the calendar and people seem to accept the road closures and disruption because of the people visiting the city, the great atmosphere and charity fund raising. It would be great to see a cycling event eventually having the same level of support and acceptance.

Having paid my entry fee, I am continually disappointed by the shambolic organisation of this event. 

I don't think business will lost thousands... they might just lose thousands though.

Doesn't anyone proof read at Road cc?

Either the businesses are lying about the lack of consulation or the organisers are a bunch of cowboys.

Of course, it could be both.