Tour in Yorkshire… not everyone's happy about expected influx of cyclists

Right Mr Gribblethwaite, what's next item on t'agenda?
Well, this bike rice thing next year, you know, t'Tour De France.
By heck, does that mean we'll have to put up with all them bloody cyclists in't road ?
Aye, that as like, right bloddy nuisance, coming here, riding furiously, pinching wing mirrors, don't know what t'world's coming to.
By heck.

But in a little village in France somwhere, at about the same time.

Mon dieu !
Que'st qe cais ?
Nous sommes departe de Tour
Bon chance!
Hoorah ! (or French equivalent)
Vive la France !

I'll leave it with you to make your own minds up.

What is most depressing about this story is what Chief Superintendent Alison Higgins has to say: 'she told the meeting that she agreed that cyclists were an increasing problem on roads and likened it to that of speeding motorcyclists.
She said they needed to be re-educated, particularly because their number was likely to increase dramatically with the arrival in the area of the Tour de France in a year’s time.'
Essentially she is agreeing with a complete buffoon (nearly all local councilors) making unfounded remarks about a minority group. Insert black instead of cyclist Ms Higgins and see how fast you loose your job, quite rightly.

An over weight Councillor who probably hasn't been on a bicycle for 50 yrs, and a blinkered Copper who should be concentrating her energies on reducing real crime, what a combination!

I wish I'd thought of asking those 2 motorists for the offending wing mirror as a souvenir for them clipping me.

It's obvious who is cycling through their village at 50 mph knocking off car wing mirrors - it's Lance after a "delivery".

The locals here in Bourg d'Oisans are also trying to stop the stage going over the Col de Sarenne after Alpe d'Huez. They are worried that the mountain will be ruined by the influx of tourists watching or riding the route.

Just check my Garmin and on the last 3 Ilkley club runs through Embsay our speed was 15-17 mph.. there is a faster decent from the moor through Eastby on the outskirts of the village but max speed on decent is about 25mph .. shall I send the councillor the link!

Thanks ,these comments have given me a really good laugh:
now you know what sort of weird & wonderful comments from councillors,and many assorted "writers of letters to the editor" sounded like when the 2010 UCI Road Titles were held in Geelong!Though I don't recall any wing mirrors going missing: too heavy to put in the hand luggage home? However, perhaps we shouldn't pick on the size of the gentleman in question,as I am a bit chubby myself and we may be thought to be indulging in vilification of some sort. (Loved the guinea pig in the bubble though).
HH

My thanks to Dog72 I must say your better at this tinternet thingy than me and quick to.

Am getting a wonderful Last of the Summer Wine / TdF crossover moment.
"Norman! Outside! There's hundreds of men in tight shorts on bicycles!"
"Calm down Nora, let's see what's going on. [pause] Oh my goodness, they do seem very... anatomically correct."

Dear Fellow Cyclists,
I have registered on this site to address the ridiculous article posted in my local paper from our Councillor Mr Andy Quinn. I live in Embsay have done since 1985, l live a step away from Mr Quinn and have never actually seen him out on the streets of the village so I really unsure where he gets his “facts” from. I just wanted to reassure you that he is not representative of all opinions in our area. We are just like everywhere else some people love cyclist, some people don’t, some just are oblivious of us. One thing I do know he is the first person who has not been excited about the TDF coming to our area that I have spoken to cyclist or not.
What the article has shown is a Councillor who is out of step with the mood of the area and that someone is high enough in the police expressing intolerant views. The latter now that is worrying. Maybe I should not be surprised about Mr Quinn, never voted for him, never rated him as a Councillor, but Chief Superintendent Higgins is a professional and should purport herself as such. She should have the statistics at her finger tips, and she should be there to give a balance view for the safety of all road users.
I have never seen a serious cyclist ride poorly through our village, it does have a Strava section the fastest is 20 miles an hour, it is impossible to ride the village fast due to the incline, the parked cars and road surface, its not straight through either. I don’t want this to become a cyclist vs. motorist argument, what really annoys me is that Mr Quinn has not opened a safer road use debate. That could have been a great legacy on the back of the TDF preparations.
Like many local cyclists I am writing to lots of different forums just get some redress for Mr Quinn, apparently the Craven Herald will be doing a piece on the reaction to Mr Quinn’s views. The cynic makes me wonder if the Craven Herald would have if not challenged so quickly.
So riders of the World do come to our small area of Yorkshire, its got great countryside, good café’s/pubs with fantastic riding on and off road. The cyclists are polite and welcoming and will nod and say “Hello”, don’t expect to over take us though because as you can see our speeds are exceptional.
Now where is the address for the Chamber of Commerce………

Groups of cyclist riding through the village at 40-50 mph ??
THESE RIDERS SHOULD BE STOPPED - and immediately enrolled on BC's World Class Performance Plan. The future of our sporting prowess will then certainly be assured.

I'm pleased to see a full page of letters in this week's paper expressing pretty much the same as on here. Plus a separate half-page article on welcoming Le Tour.

Cyclists need to be re-educated?!
WTF?
Anyone wishing to try the tour route would be a half decent cyclist with a decent amount of road craft on a not very cheap bike and bring money to the area to spend in cafes etc
Most roadies are well behaved and polite too - I'm sorry if that's not the sort of people you want in Yorkshire!!!
How about putting the £60k plus of your wages to good use and actually concentrate on groups of people committing crimes

similar stories appear on motorcycling forums from time to time too, best not rehashed imo (does a non-story about a non-story restore the cosmic equilibrium?)

I'd rather they weaponise Dads Army to take out the chavs who drop their McDonalds takeaway bags out of their hot-hatches in perfect synchronised radii in my local North Yorkshire villages ...

Seems everywhere has a few local councillors not elected on intellectual merit. A few years back here in Norn Iron, we had a local councillor claiming that foreign lorry drivers were a bigger risk on his local roads because, (to paraphrase him) "They are so used to driving on the other side of the road, that in a pootential collision they would automatically steer towards the danger rather than away from it". However the fact the local paper actually printed this as a story without questioning the logic (or lack of it) is hardly a positive testimony to the journalistic or editorial skills of those who work for it.

.

I must admit when I saw the photo of the councillor in the craven herald (isn't that someone who whispers the news for fear of offending people) I thought now there's a hamster in need of a wheel.

Riding in a bike lane up the inside of a queue of rush hour traffic one morning I accidentally clipped a car wing mirror with my handlebar (flat bars). It popped the cover off, so I stopped to pick it up and handed it to the driver, who had wound down her window. She said "Thanks!" I was surprised that she didn't seem annoyed. I said "sorry" and rode off. It is possible to damage a car's wing mirror with a bicycle, but hard to do that without damaging yourself in the process, and it is not going to "go missing".

The comments under the Craven Herald article make a refreshingly good read. One of them points out his loss of two friends killed by motorists on Yorkshire roads.

That to me is a goal, “you sir are riding furiously”, “why thank you officer”.

You should see my wing mirror collection, its worth the broken hips, legs, collarbones and frames......what a d**k.

Cyclists are a fucking menace. We need to Cull them like the Badgers & Romanians.
If it goes on much longer, more and more people are going to be healthier and have a great sense of well being from a recreational activity that doesn't involve guzzling pints and eating shit food.
As for the biggest bike race in the world coming to our shores it can only be viewed as complete waste of taxpayers money just like the shitty olympics.
You Couldn't make it up, Words fail me, etc. etc

What a fucking tool banging on about wing mirrors. Can you imagine the pain of clipping ones of those in a Rapha Soft Shell or a Flimsy pair of DHB tights?

Surly ther's an opportunity for a closed road Etape in Yorkshire next year; that would put some money back into the locals' pockets. I'd love to ride a stage, but can't afford to do a stage in France; must be loads of others who would fill the B&Bs for a weekend.

Today I was crossing Piccadilly in London when a motorist stuck in a jam decided to use the pedestrian crossing as a way to avoid the traffic and turn round. Though he apologised for almost running me over in the 'safe' area in the middle of the road, I was able to share with him my opinion that he was a moron.

Predictably he was driving a big car....

I hope the local hardware shops going to ban this muppet for buying carpet tacks over the next 18 months!!!

Send Councillor Quinn an email andygill.quinn [at] virgin.net - Let him know what real people think!

It's a change from Craven Herald's normal concerns of dog crap and drunk driving...

Some people are strange, lobby the world to get the TDF through your place and then complain because it is actually coming. Have a party, but banners up, pain the roads, etc.. Cheer up!!! It's your opprtunity to show the world how good you can be!

Down with this sort of thing