Disappointing lack of response on safety from Audax organisers

[nickyboy]

I was out for a ride about 10 days ago and was crawling up a steep hill. The road was very narrow and there were multiple blind bends with trees obscuring views.

There were also several cars going up (it's a popular area for walkers) too. About 20-30 cyclists came down the hill while I was going up. They were going way too fast, in the middle of the road around blind bends. More than one had to skid to a stop and edge around a car (there is only just enough room for a car and a bike to pass). The cyclists were going too fast for the conditions.

So I found out which cycling club had organised the Audax and sent them an email suggesting that in the future if they use this descent then they should make sure everyone is aware of its hazardous nature as an accident could very easily happen. Particularly as some cyclists were descending very quickly

No reply. Nothing. It's not as if I was a car driver having a rant. I was a fellow cyclist pointing out that it was a very tricky descent and some participants were going too fast

 

[Fab Foodie]

First rule of Audax .... You can't criticise an Audax

 

[mjr]

Someone sent an email and didn't get a reply. Quick, call the BBC!

Contact them a different way and ask again. Unless you work in the industry, for all you know, your email was miscategorised as spam by your outgoing mailserver and never delivered, or was miscategorised as spam by their mailserver and has been put in a quarantine folder they've not read yet (more likely if you use one of the spammer havens like yahoo), or they've simply not looked at that mailbox yet because they're having a nice rest after the event.

Also, aren't most audax organiser details listed on aukweb.net so you could contact them directly instead of trying to go through their club? (And so avoiding one possible step for the message to be lost/misdirected.)

 

[nickyboy]

Someone sent an email and didn't get a reply. Quick, call the BBC!

Contact them a different way and ask again. Unless you work in the industry, for all you know, your email was miscategorised as spam by your outgoing mailserver and never delivered, or was miscategorised as spam by their mailserver and has been put in a quarantine folder they've not read yet (more likely if you use one of the spammer havens like yahoo), or they've simply not looked at that mailbox yet because they're having a nice rest after the event.

Also, aren't most audax organiser details listed on aukweb.net so you could contact them directly instead of trying to go through their club? (And so avoiding one possible step for the message to be lost/misdirected.)

I contacted the email address for the audax first and got a bounceback message so I then sent it to the main email address for the cycling club that organised the event. Maybe nobody looks at the email regularly. Or maybe nobody gives a toss. Who knows

 

[Fab Foodie]

I contacted the email address for the audax first and got a bounceback message so I then sent it to the main email address for the cycling club that organised the event. Maybe nobody looks at the email regularly. Or maybe nobody gives a toss. Who knows

I'd check that there isn't a bearded bloke in sandals wearing a tattyGilet following you home tonight ....

 

[zizou]

It's up to the riders themselves to ride to the road conditions, you can't expect a volunteer organiser to go over hundreds of km of road listing all the potential hazards and riders remembering them all. They will probably have had safety briefing at the start telling everyone to be careful, dont take risks on the descents and so on but how can they enforce that? In an amateur road race every road end and corner has to have at least 1 marshal and there are also a minimum of 6 cars in the convoy, 2 of them with commissaires who can pull riders out the race if they are riding like idiots. That's the only way to have a degree of control over those that are riding but having a similar set up for audax just isnt practical and pretty much goes against the whole ethos of the discipline!

 

[mjr]

having a similar set up for audax just isnt practical and pretty much goes against the whole ethos of the discipline!

Well no, but it's nice to have particularly hazardous hazards noted on the route sheet. If their riding was below competence, it probably should be a matter for the traffic police, same as when people in car club point-to-points (do they still exist?) do silly things.

 

[Ian H]

The road was too narrow for a car and a bike to pass safely, which suggests the riders should have been in the middle. They were going slowly enough to stop for cars. I'm not quite sure where the problem lies.

 

[Profpointy]

Taking at face value the riders were driving stupidly I don't quite see what the organisers should say, given participants should reasonably be expected to look where they're going and be capable of riding a bike on public roads.

If they say "don't ride to fast round blind bends on this bit" does this imply its ok to ride stupidly elsewhere. Or should they also need to say "stop at traffic lights if they're red" or "don't oull out on busy riad without looking" listing all such places.

Maybe fair enough to say "hidden tramlines on the B123 near nether Wallop", but saying "don't ride stupidly round blind bends" - not really the organisers' responsibility in my view

 

[mjr]

Maybe fair enough to say "hidden tramlines on the B123 near nether Wallop", but saying "don't ride stupidly round blind bends" - not really the organisers' responsibility in my view

But if they're as icky as the OP suggests, "beware blind bends" at the appropriate point on the sheet doesn't seem unreasonable. After all, how can anyone hide tramlines, really? The shiny metals and dents are a bit of a giveaway, but it's still reasonable to warn of hazards.

 

[Flying Dodo]

So I found out which cycling club had organised the Audax and sent them an email suggesting that in the future if they use this descent then they should make sure everyone is aware of its hazardous nature as an accident could very easily happen. Particularly as some cyclists were descending very quickly

How do you know that the riders hadn't already been warned to descend slowly at that spot? And bear in in an organiser can't control what happens on the road. And as stated above, who's to decide what point in a road justifies a warning? Every one's assessment of risk is different.

 

[Banjo]

Audax UK takes safety very seriously.
Every accident reported back is listed and categorised on the severity from fatality down to no medical treatment needed.

You have to remember that audax events are open to everyone.you dont have to be a member of the organizing club or a member of audax uk to enter.

It would be impossible to warn riders of every blind bend or gravell strewn descent .

You may get a reply eventually organizers deal with mountains of correspondence .

 

[Profpointy]

But if they're as icky as the OP suggests, "beware blind bends" at the appropriate point on the sheet doesn't seem unreasonable. After all, how can anyone hide tramlines, really? The shiny metals and dents are a bit of a giveaway, but it's still reasonable to warn of hazards.

Yebbut is anyone who is so unaware of simply looking where they are going us hardly going to listed to a safety warning in the blurb

 

[Banjo]

Fewer riders actually use routesheets these days .more and more just use gps .

The group of bleary eyed audaxers stood in a carpark getting a safety brief in the rain at 4 AM isnt likely to remember much of it.

 

[Jimidh]

I rode the Galloway Gallop Adventure Cross this weekend - at the start the starter explained that some of the downhill sections were dangerous and to be careful.

Still didn't stop me riding them as fast is I thought safe to do so. Some riders were even faster and some slower.

Everyone perception of risk and their ability to ride to the conditions is different.

Whilst not doubting the OPs tale of dangerous riding perhaps he was speaking from his own perception of risk and his abilities and not of those riding.