Police issue warning to 'large group' of cyclists

nicmason wrote:

I notice anthing you dont like you dismiss as irrelevant. You want to get out a little .

No, I dismiss anything that's irrelevant as irrelevant. 

nicmason wrote:

Go to a country where the police would have been in there with batons, pepper spray  water cannon etc.  We are extremely lucky to have the police force we do

Again, irrelevant - to be more specific you are indulging in whataboutery.

nicmason wrote:

people like you are actually responsible for damaging policing in this country with your constant exaggeration of events.

Legitimate criticism of the police does not damage policing. Police brutality damages policing, as does playing down events and refusing to accept accountability. 

If I were to resort to lazy finger pointing I might say that people like you would rather Stephen Lawrence had remained another forgotten victim, and the Hillsborough coals remained unraked. But that would not be fair.... I hope.

As I said Nic, have a great day. I'll not be responding further on this one

"No, I dismiss anything that's irrelevant as irrelevant. " LOL

For a contrast between A&S and Met police have a look at this: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/gallery/sarah-everard-stark-contrast-between-5168285

hawkinspeter wrote:

For a contrast between A&S and Met police have a look at this: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/gallery/sarah-everard-stark-contrast-between-5168285

Wow, thanks for the link HP

nicmason wrote:

its got nothing to do with men and women. Its related to law and order.

some  of the police where women as is the head of the met and the home secretary

the organisers went to court and lost.

So you think law should only apply when you're good with it. Cant see that being a problem at all.

TBH I'm still not convinced that our Home Secretary is even human... 

They should have said they were cycling together for safety. For many of us of a male persuasion, cycling on the road with constant awareness of unprovoked attack and often a poor response from authorities to our concerns for safety must be the closest (though not even in the same ballpark) we get to understanding what the Sarah Everard protests are about.

True enough, although those of us of a male persuasion should remember that whether on or off the bike we are twice as likely as women to be killed unlawfully, and four times as likely to be killed unlawfully by a stranger.

None of which is about cycling or makes violence against women remotely acceptable, so I'll get off my high horse (and cycle carefully past it). 

Barnards Castle sounds like a better excuse to me.

They should have all got off their bikes and taken the knee.. the coppers would have scarpered quick smart.

If a group ride spread out into smaller groupings of six, would that help?

Do you still need to distance during the ride, and do you have to stay within a single level 4 area? For me, these are still issues that make club rides difficult.

TheBillder wrote:

Do you still need to distance during the ride, and do you have to stay within a single level 4 area? For me, these are still issues that make club rides difficult.

In line with the guidence for the oldest participant. If SD cannot be adhered to, then it's in accordance with the CoVid Coordinator Risk Assessment.
Passing through other T4 is allowed for recreational, but not for group

Is any reference to tiers still valid? Isn't everything now 'national restrictions'?

muhasib wrote:

Is any reference to tiers still valid? Isn't everything now 'national restrictions'?

Not according to Scottish Cycling.

Also, 'national restrictions' have kinda depended on what nation your are in, as all 4 UK members have their own rules, although 'national' seems to be based on England only as far as the press go.

In England at least, the 'national restrictions' basically consisted of putting everywhere in to Tier 4 (rather than having a new, separate lockdown).

In theory, that could leave it open to some areas moving down tiers at different times, but politically the goverment would probably be very reluctant to do that, as it would undermine the whole 'irreversible roadmap' rhetoric.

There is no way out of the 2m physical distancing rule in mainland Scotland Club group rides at the moment.

Scottish Tiers are still with us, just that all of mainland Scotland is in Tier 4 at the moment

There is a Q&A for clubs being run by Scottish Cycling Monday evening in which I will test my knowledge.

Oldfatgit wrote:

We're allowed legitimate club rides of up to 15 riders from the 12th March. SC recommend capping at 9. Club rides have already started again for us, North of the border.

Do you mean March 29th?

British Cycling-affiliated club rides for up to 15 people can be organised on highways, trails or tracks from March 29. 

https://whencanwerideagain.com/

996ducati wrote:

Oldfatgit wrote:

We're allowed legitimate club rides of up to 15 riders from the 12th March. SC recommend capping at 9. Club rides have already started again for us, North of the border.

Do you mean March 29th?

British Cycling-affiliated club rides for up to 15 people can be organised on highways, trails or tracks from March 29. 

https://whencanwerideagain.com/

No, that link is not applicable to Scotland.  It even says England only at the bottom, 

If you go to the BC Covid page you will see links to Scottish (and Welsh) cyclng guidance.

Devolution has been with us since the last century.

Thank you for clarifying it's Scotland only, saves confusion.

I won't comment on the sarcasm 

Have a lovely day 

996ducati wrote:

Thank you for clarifying it's Scotland only, saves confusion.

I won't comment on the sarcasm 

Have a lovely day 

You too, no slight intended.

Ah. The old "I'm a cyclist myself" line. You must be some cyclist if wanting to overtake a group of 20 is a frequent thing.

Oddly, despite being a motorist myself, I have to admit that I've been relieved that through the COVID-19 restrictions we've not had to negotiate the groups of 20+ cars on roads which make overtaking (safely) all but impossible. I'm really not looking forward to those large group drives starting again and impeding the timely progress of other road users purely so a group can pollute the atmosphere, avoid active travel, risk the lives of those who aren't surrounded by metal or who have breathing issues, and not slum it with the pox-ridden proles on the bus.

[usual disclaimer applies for those who need to use cars due to disability / shielding / genuine lack of alternative]

TheBillder wrote:

.......and not slum it with the pox-ridden proles on the bus.

I'm stealing that.

I very much doubt there are so many large groups in any part of the UK (cycling still isn't that popular here) that you encounter multiple large groups in one journey. And if you can't overtake safely then you shouldn't try to overtake at all!

But let's not let the facts get in the way of a blindly prejudiced rant, which wouldn't look out of place in the Daily Mail. There's a whiff of the banned shit-stirrer 'Socrati' about your comments on here.

As for large groups of road users, you obviously don't have to travel anywhere near schools at the start or end of the day - loads of parents (many in SUVs) arriving at the same time, playing havoc with the people who have jobs to do, parking on pavements and zig-zags just so their precious darlings avoid walking further than is necessary to get to their classrooms.

Regarding group rides, British Cycling has said this week:

"From 29 March, under the Government’s roadmap formally organised outdoor sport and physical activity in England is able to restart and will not be subject to the ‘Rule of Six’ gatherings limit. As a result of this, British Cycling is pleased to say that at this stage our affiliated club and recreation programme rides, which adhere to our Covid-secure guidance, will be able to take place in groups of up to 15 people.

"Please note that informal group rides (i.e. groups of friends meeting up to ride together) must follow the Rule of Six, as this falls outside of the Government’s definition of formally organised outdoor sport and physical activity".

Cycling UK have also updated their Coronavirus Q&A page at https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/coronavirus-qa-cycling-guidance

The big groups of riders really are out there; I've seen them myself. It's not cycling-specific though; some minority of riders are arseholes just like a minority of car-drivers, a minority of people in supermarket queues, a minority of people waiting outside the school gates, and so on.

Every weekend, my local hipster cafe has a crowd of riders wearing jerseys from the nearest big-city club, definitely not standing 2m apart; it seems unlikely that they're all one household. At the same time there are lots of other hikers and tourists with questionable spacing (or questionable importance for their journey).

Personally, I'd rather ride alone on quieter trails, so the lockdown didn't affect me much - but there I saw several new/returning riders who obviously chose somewhere quiet to get into cycling with a cheeky little solo ride up the moors. That's really heartwarming, and it's not posing much Covid-19 risk, so good for them, I guess...

Simon E wrote:

But let's not let the facts get in the way of a blindly prejudiced rant, which wouldn't look out of place in the Daily Mail. There's a whiff of the banned shit-stirrer 'Socrati' about your comments on here.

I did wonder - his unbelievable statement over on the road rage thread that recreational and leisure cyclists should stay off the roads in case they hold cars up certainly had a whiff of the late unlamented.

File that under things that never happened 

If it's not safe to overtake them then don't. You'll still get to your destination in comfort and safety a lot more quickly than walking. You will also do less damage to the environment and to the roads and save fuel, tyre wear and brake wear. Just relax and enjoy the drive.