Police say cyclists in club kit are ignoring rules and riding in groups

Lukas wrote:

'Lycra clad' is an unnecessary dig.  It kinda emphasises what they really think. 

Really?  Get over yourself.  It was perfectly factual as it appears to be have been a club ride in club gear.    

You're showing a victim mentality.  Stop being so sensitive and get on with your life instead of parsing every text for umbrage. 

Sorry Squirrel, you are utterly wrong. The "Lycra-clad" bit is used frequently by the right wing press as a perjorative to "otherise" a minority. The Police should be above jumping on this particular band wagon. The message was strong and to the point already, without resorting to slurs.

But they didn't say 'in club gear', did they. They emphasised the lycra, and in doing so implied that anyone going out in lycra was in and of itself anti-social and breaking the rules. When someone goes out for their daily exercise, it should be no concern of the police's, or anyone else's, what they choose to wear, lycra or otherwise.

Wrong, one tweet from Derbyshire Roads Policing Unit actually said

"Essential travel and local exercise does not include driving to locations and going for walks. It does not include lycra-clad leisure cycling on the now quieter roads. It isn't just about preventing the spread of the virus but also reducing the burden on essential services. 2/3"

No mention of groups there, Idiots riding in groups need to be stopped and I am with the Police on this, but this in language incites hatred (try reading the actual tweets  and all the hundreds of replies) is targeting anyone in Lycra

This is no more acceptable than if they were calling walkers "The Red Sock Brigade" which of course they don't. And in balance another tweet critising walkers gets almost 100% support for the walkers in the drone video.

In the tweets not one photo of a groups of cyclists, name and shame I say.

And who else gets these labels then? It's just anti cycling contempt is the problem.

See letter from last year on road cc

hirsute wrote:

And who else gets these labels then?

Everybody - welcome to the world.

I am wondering about crime that doesn't involve 'walking in a public place'.

We've had three burglaries in our village in the last week, and speeding motorists are becoming a real problem (more than usual - they see an empty road and think they're in a car advert).

But there are plenty of bits that say non essential travel. The Police was pointing out the majority drove there to have a walk, non essential.

No. If you look at the gov.uk page on social distancing, which is the page that refers to exercise, the only reference to non-essential travel is;

Avoid non-essential use of public transport when possible

As I say you've highlighted the muddled and confusing messages. Further to this they are guidance and not rules as the police have suggested although the police are getting additional powers to enforce them.

Now there is talk of avoiding non-essential travel but that is on the separate page relating to self-isolation and as you've shown confusion reigns when there's a lack of clarity from the govt.

True, but from what I have seen, many police services (including Cumbria where I live) are specifically stating that travelling by car to exercise is not essential and therefore forbidden. And it's the plod who do the enforcement, not Government ministers.

I agree that the guidance on this is wooly, I seem to recall at one of the recent press conferences this issue was specifically broched, and the answer was ambiguous at best, and downright confusing at worst.

It needs clarifying - I've literally just heard the chief plod from Derbyshire on the news on the radio, and even he said 'travelling to REMOTE AREAS' is against the Govt guidelines' - so again no real clarity on what constitutes unnecessary travel. 

Anyway, this shouldn't really affect cyclists should it? Who the hell is driving in order to cycle?

The "lycra clad" epithet betrays a certain animosity towards cyclists in general - after all there is no ruling on what materials to wear in these times of trial.

Rather than blot the lot of us, I'd prefer it if they came out and named the club and published supporting photos. Not hard. 

caw35ride wrote:

Rather than blot the lot of us, I'd prefer it if they came out and named the club and published supporting photos. Not hard. 

It is if they made it up.

State 1 of our imported Chinese dystopia is working well. You've got neighbours spying on each other and certain types of people like cyclists vilified.

I cant find any evidence on Strava of GROUP rides on either of the main Snake Pass segments (up from Glossop heading east or up from Bamford heading west) on 25th March, the day they quote. Easily found a few solo rides, check them out and there's no "[person a] rode with....." on there.

I suspect the police saw a few solo - maybe couple - riders and drew their own conclusions, added in the unneccesary "lycra clad" just to stir some animosity and job's a good'un.

but I have on my rides outside, seen at least one group (well 2 riders together actually) who didnt look to necessarily be from the same house even if that maybe a sweeping assumption and doing them a disservice , but they didnt pop up on Strava when I checked later,  and I can guarantee if anyone else saw them riding on the road like that, they would be the ones who'd be remembered, not the 15 other riders I saw just riding out solo just like myself