Nearly taken out by Sportive nutcases
- Thread starter G3CWI
- Start date
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vickster
Squire
The idiot should carry his own, ungrateful pillock
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
Although, why would you say that it was ok to pull out when there was a car coming towards you?? Passengers generally are not stupid lemmings you know.
It doesn't happen very often, but certainly pulling out of our drive, nobbers have started parking on the pavement beside, blocking the view. A second pair of eyes is usually asked for as we might be able to see what the driver can't. The driver still checks if possible, but it is helpful nontheless.
Do you think passengers don't value their health? Do you think I would say it was ok with a car driving straight towards me or something similar??Seriously?
I don't care about the car, its true, but I care about the health of myself and everyone else in the car.
...
congratulations... you've completely missed the point.
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
Perhaps he was sponsored by Topeak, and feared that if the paparazzi caught him using a Zefal pump it could endanger his contract. 
jefmcg
Guru
Happy to be told I am wrong. Well, maybe not "happy"...
A quick google shows that at least CTC offers activity provider insurance which covers ride leaders in case they are sued. I'd assumed all clubs would have such insurance. If you go out on a club outing and are injured because you followed the ride leader's instructions you'd have a pretty good case to sue them and the club. If they didn't have insurance, you could go after their assets.
I used to cox boats, and was happy to know that the club had insurance. Of course rowing injuries are nearly binary: very minor, or drowned. And it's also different that you should keep your eyes in the boat, ie looking backwards, in a coxed boat, so you have no choice but to blindly follow instructions. On a bike you can and should check for yourself and make your own decisions, as @summerdays said up thread. Of course, being the only one who decides to stop in a bunched ride can have its own consequences.
Racing roadkill
Guru
Lol.Perhaps he was sponsored by Topeak, and feared that if the paparazzi caught him using a Zefal pump it could endanger his contract.
Why don't you try it out at home and avoid surprises at an inopportune moment?
I think pretend racing in large numbers on open roads shared by other road users can too easily lead to dangerous and inconsiderate behaviour.
Hip Priest
Veteran
In my experience, a shout of 'Clear' isn't so much an instruction to blindly proceed, but a reassuring warning that allows you to keep rolling rather than stopping to unclip.
I've never gone blindly out of a junction after a shout of 'Clear!' The procedure is always to check for yourself, then pass the shout back through the group, or warn riders behind if it is no longer clear.
There'd be serious injuries every weekend if bunches of club riders went through a junction blind just because it was clear for the first rider.
Maybe you could sue or attempt to sue a rider leader or club mate in these circumstances - I'm no legal expert - but that would seem dreadfully unfair to me.
A friend and I got caught up in a local sportive , We were doing a usual route on a Sunday (not our usual day) . Got onto one of the roads and there were lots of riders spaced apart about 100 yards between each. The road wasn't closed as there were still cars and vans going down so we proceeded and to be honest we didn't know what was going on until I had a google about it when I got home.
All in all the ride was real nice even with heavy rain. There were lots of people and camera men at side of road just cheering on the riders, Some did have a jokily cheer to us too which was good lol. Overall It was good. However one spectator did shout some abuse at us along the line of "You F**king Idiots , you are slowing them down, why did you come this way". Clearly the mother or wife of someone in the race/time trial or whatever it was.
The funny thing is though , These guys were on a 50mph lane and holding up cars/vans/lorries behind them making them have to overtake each one in turn on this pretty long stretch of road. So by the end of this lane we noticed a few cars overtaking us more sporadically than usual (a real pleasant lane to go down normally). Must have been frustrating for the drivers baring in mind the racers were spread rather far apart and they were going down 1 lane round a roundabout and back. so riders either side well spread and in the centre of the lane.
Just that one lady with the abuse made us think Is that what the other riders and spectators are thinking?. Is this how serious these events are taken ?
All in all the ride was real nice even with heavy rain. There were lots of people and camera men at side of road just cheering on the riders, Some did have a jokily cheer to us too which was good lol. Overall It was good. However one spectator did shout some abuse at us along the line of "You F**king Idiots , you are slowing them down, why did you come this way". Clearly the mother or wife of someone in the race/time trial or whatever it was.
The funny thing is though , These guys were on a 50mph lane and holding up cars/vans/lorries behind them making them have to overtake each one in turn on this pretty long stretch of road. So by the end of this lane we noticed a few cars overtaking us more sporadically than usual (a real pleasant lane to go down normally). Must have been frustrating for the drivers baring in mind the racers were spread rather far apart and they were going down 1 lane round a roundabout and back. so riders either side well spread and in the centre of the lane.
Just that one lady with the abuse made us think Is that what the other riders and spectators are thinking?. Is this how serious these events are taken ?
vickster
Squire
I expect she was related in some way to a wannabe mamil without the balls and talent to actually take part in a race. My impression is those are often the idiots who think a sportive is a 'race' and she is as big an idiot
You have every right to be on the roads if the sportive is on open rather than closed roads, as does the traffic. I don't really get the paying to ride on open roads, when all you get is a number pinned to your jersey, and an energy gel or two (if unlucky)
You have every right to be on the roads if the sportive is on open rather than closed roads, as does the traffic. I don't really get the paying to ride on open roads, when all you get is a number pinned to your jersey, and an energy gel or two (if unlucky)
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
But you've enough sense to read the instructions, haven't you? And some idea that a compressed gas cartridge gets very cold as it empties?
Because in any group of a decent size there's always someone who wants to sort-of-win so badly that they will cross the line from "racing" to "silly bugger"... and even more who will follow them blindly... and organisers who have lots of incentives to take their money and very little incentive to weed such people out
I think sportive companies could manage(? encourage?) a few deaths a year, almost everyone would blame the dead riders and keep paying the entry fees.Normally I don't think you'd have any case at all because British Cycling's social ride terms clearly state "all adult Riders are responsible for their own well-being" and most other organisations have similar. If you sign up online, you usually have to tick a box to say you've read that stuff - if you turn up in person, you should hear the key points in the start-of-ride welcome.
However, sadly, the necessary welcomes which include that reminder are rarely given (IMO because they are sometimes heckled by experienced riders who want to get on and ride, not listen to the organiser) so you might have a case...
CTC has http://www.ctc.org.uk/insurance/event-organiser but there are surprising limits on the various policies such as at most 10 non-CTC-members who can do no more than three rides each; no competitive elements or tuition whatsoever; no multi-day or transport-assisted rides.
I wonder if the lycra lout was hoping for Miss Goodbody to turn up and give him an improper pump? (HT @Fnarr - why doesn't this work?)The best thing about it is, that it's a brilliant little pump, equally as good as a "proper pump"
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Hip Priest
Veteran
Sounds more like a TT than a sportive. But as you say, if it's taking place on public roads you've every right to be there. I'd have reported the abuse to the organising club or CTT.
Hip Priest
Veteran
He probably thinks 'the pros don't carry tools, so why should I?' without realising that the pros have support.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Most TTs have a minute between riders, which is usually more than 100 yards. I did once take part in a charity ride of a few hundred where small groups were released from the start every 20-30 seconds onto an urban B road that led to an A road and steep-at-first 4km climb, which didn't seem terribly safe to me - I don't think that ride happened again. I don't know whether a commercial organising company was involved and might still be starting rides like that.
