New Forest row: Sportive organiser warns riders to follow Highway Code... and locals will be watching

Rode it on Saturday and seems to have been a storm in a teacup. No protesters, very little traffic on the mainly quiet roads. Maybe it was the weather, so rainy even the ponies/cattle stayed under the trees and off the road.

Only complaint was a small amount of litter (I saw maybe 10ish gel wrappers) and that the organisers cocked up my timing (wrong number, wrong time, wrong distance).

Looked like a few people's cars were stuck in the mud in the car park/field (hint: if the wheels are spinning, then more throttle is not the solution) but as I was staying in a B&B a few miles down the road I had a bit of a chuckle about it.

And meanwhile, just down the road from the New Forest, it's looks like the local press has been getting some advance practice on the taking photos side of things. Bless.

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/10351333.VIDEO__The__gross_stupidi...

Look like Sundays event has been cancelled due to the bad weather. The event headquarters at New Park is flooded and as it 95% grass (now deep mud) things aren't looking good for parking.

No doubt the NIMBY's will claim a victory following todays protests.

[[[ 66 dead ponies? Look, you lycra-louts--- if you slow motorists down, how will they ever go fast enough to kill the ponies? Really, though, if "66 died", how many more were injured? Yikes....
P.R.

Dr Lewis must be a good friend of the barking Dr Ferris.

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/9372056.Bike_rage_threatens_to_take_hold...

My suggestion is that anyone cycling in the area who goes into a local establishment and sees one of those notices politely asks the proprietor to take it down perhaps explaining that you like to support local pubs /cafes etc. If they take it down, stay. If they don't then leave politely without buying anything or using any of the facilities. If they're good capitalists they'll soon get the message!

I'd also like to see all the shops, cafes and pubs etc which see increased trade this weekend because of the cycling event shout it from the rooftops, especially after the inclement start to the year.

I suggest everyone riding has a camera either still or video handy and captures every example of bad or inconsiderate driving and bombards the council, parish and above and the MP with them.

Although that'll never happen cos all drivers are whiter than white though...

6000 event cyclists x 3 metres (with a bit of a gap,) you do the maths. So this is a time trial not a sportive? All they have to do is wait around the first corner of the course and they will have all the snaps they want. Evidence collected; objective to have the event banned. Childish loons.

I am in agreement with everyone that the nimbys are a complete pain and all this opposition to the sportives and cyclists in general is just futile.

However I have a solution! Do northern Sportives - it is so cold and Left Wing up here you won't see any of the chinless right wing idiots within a 100 miles.

New Forest drivers are the worst kind, but be gentle with them - they're having a bad day!

They enter the forest hoping to go somewhere nice and relax, but if they're not in traffic jams, they're in queues of cars stuck behind tractors, horses, bicycles, caravans, Sunday drivers, and pretty much every other slow driver you can think of.

It's quite often more stressful to drive through the New Forest than it is to drive through rush hour London. Don't be fooled by all the nature!

We ask cyclists, wherever possible, to ride single file around the course, and have produced signs we will put up around the route to remind riders.

“Any cyclist seen to be breaking the Highway Code will, as part of our terms and conditions, be banned from future events.

Are UKcyclingEvents suggesting that cyclists should not ride 2 abreast? Even though that is permitted within the highwaycode?
If so, shame on them.
If it's because of the impact of 2000 riders on the forest roads then they should reduce participant numbers - it's entirely in their control.

Of course, this might just be a bit of PR to pander to the NIMBY's in the Forest - as riding 2 abreast isn't against the highway code - therefore riders doing so will not be excluded from future events.

Ha! Yeah if only..

Personally I find having horns blaring at me really aggressive when I'm on the bike - something to do with it being loud (as well as usually unwarranted)

Which is probably why I tend to react back quite aggressively, though its always stopped short of anything physical..

Don't forget, when someone beeps their horn at you it just means they think you have a cute bum. I realised this a couple of years ago and since then any motorist who hits his horn gets a mighty thank you and wave as he drives past.

Sometime no one appreciated my mamil bum, but other rides I get back from feeling very good about myself .......

Everyone should follow the highway code, end of.

Yes the NIMBY stiff is pathetic and laughable, but...

Its really concerning if anger is being whipped up against cyclists - a group whose ONLY similar characteristic is that they are vulnerable road users.

If you're starting to get abuse and horns blaring ahead of this event, I dread to think what it'll be like on the day, and its not difficult to imagine road rage scenarios happening if self righteous fervour had been whipped up in advance.

Disarm the angry locals with a smile, wave and cheery call of 'Morninnnnnng.' Works wonders on our club runs!

Rising above the twatery gives you an enormous sense of wellbeing!

Perhaps the best response would be to make the New Forest the go-to cycling centre of the UK. A major Sportive there every weekend. Regular time trials by clubs from all over the country. Off-road racing three times a week. Every Mamil in the land should be duty-bound to ride there twice a year. Give it a couple of years and the Forest would be a place of tranquil beauty once more, instead of a giant motorised amusement park reduced to poisonous fumes, nerve-shredding racket and livestock slaughter.

You can't break the Highway Code. It isn't law (though does contain snippets of the law. Cycling in contravention of the Road Traffic Act, now that's illegal.

Given that most of the Forest has a 40mph limit most would struggle to break that anyway. Even if - as noted - limits don't apply to cyclists.

Having said that - it does no harm whatsoever for the two-wheeled community to ride sensibly and share the road with the less-enlightened.

"He also said that particpants would be asked to ride slowly past horses and give them lots of space."

It would be nice to think this was always the case. As a horse and bike rider I have never had any problems with cyclists when riding my horse, but there are those that don't show consideration.

And let's not go down the 'you should have control of your animal' route, as that's the same mentality as 'you don't pay road tax' or 'you wear lycra'.

On the whole New Forest thing, I e-mailed two local councillors a few weeks ago pointing out that cyclists are also car drivers, holiday makers and often married with kids. I did get a polite reply, but I suspect the message was lost.

I can't blame some locals for getting angry. Even as a keen cyclist, the attitude of certain other riders sometimes makes me angry too. That said, the increasing hatred of cycling by middle Englanders, stoked no doubt by the likes of Clarkson, makes me angrier still.

I can't help thinking this is going to end badly, some local psycho deliberately ploughing into the peloton like that nutter in Brazil. I really hope I'm wrong, though.

Why can't we all just get along and let people enjoy their hobbies in peace?

66 ponies killed by motorist in the New Forest last year, more than once a week a pony is splattered across the tarmac. How long do they take to die? A couple of mins? a hour?
or as long as it takes for a vet to be called out to shoot them. So 66 ponies died in agony last year alone after being hit by motorists. Maybe someone would like to photograph that.

Typical response of cyclists, the world is out to get you!
Nothing wrong with riding within the rules of the Highway Code.

SAFETY ALERT for CYCLISTS

Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th April 2013

2000 Sunday Drivers
1200 People Driving Home After Pub Lunch + Alcohol
1800 White Van Men
900 Aggressive Tossers

will be driving at speed in and around New Forest villages

If you see something that compromises safety then take a picture and we'll try and think of a way to blame 'the cyclists'. Better still join in the fun and try and harass them yourselves. Remember...

'knock over a cyclist and the police won't give a fuck'

Conservatives are in the main C••ts!!

There I've said it, self hating, outwardly hateful, narrowminded C••ts!!