New Forest sportive backlash.

[inkd]

Not sure if this has been posted up yet but here`s a link http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/dis...419.Horse_riders_demand_action_over_cyclists/
Comments?

 

[Leodis]

Them damn horses don't even pay road tax.

 

[inkd]

Dodge the steaming pile of horse s#1+ in the forest at times, not nice cleaning it off your ride.

 

[sidevalve]

Doesn't seem on the face of it all that terrible. A voluntary code of conduct and a limit on numbers for individual events.
Of course there will be the "Oh it's the rich picking on the poor cyclist" cries and "oh but we're cyclists we can't ever do any wrong" brigade but TBH unless cyclists do start regulating themselves then regulation WILL be enforced sooner or later. I have been abused on this forum for "giving the anti cycling brigade ammunition" well here is the result of not giving a little more thought to the effect on others . It would only take ONE accident one slow news day which would then be splattered all over the main news for some serious regulation to be brought in and amount of petitions or rides to parliament would change that.
I'll probably be abused for this post too, but the facts are clear, a reasonable compromise must be found now even if that means that, yes cyclists might have to give ground a little, before battle lines are drawn because this sort of thing will only get worse. People easily unite against a "common enemy" and we do NOT want to be the enemy pitted against horse riders, walkers and car drivers. We will lose.

 

[VamP]

Doesn't seem on the face of it all that terrible. A voluntary code of conduct and a limit on numbers for individual events.
Of course there will be the "Oh it's the rich picking on the poor cyclist" cries and "oh but we're cyclists we can't ever do any wrong" brigade but TBH unless cyclists do start regulating themselves then regulation WILL be enforced sooner or later. I have been abused on this forum for "giving the anti cycling brigade ammunition" well here is the result of not giving a little more thought to the effect on others . It would only take ONE accident one slow news day which would then be splattered all over the main news for some serious regulation to be brought in and amount of petitions or rides to parliament would change that.
I'll probably be abused for this post too, but the facts are clear, a reasonable compromise must be found now even if that means that, yes cyclists might have to give ground a little, before battle lines are drawn because this sort of thing will only get worse. People easily unite against a "common enemy" and we do NOT want to be the enemy pitted against horse riders, walkers and car drivers. We will lose.

I agree with you. Sportives so easily turn into out of control free for all. There's nothing in that proposal that we should fear.

 

[steve52]

500 cyclist and not one pile of manure to show for it lol.one horse and well...........

 

[inkd]

Excuse my ignorance but I thought sportives were non race events? Sorry I don't know anything about them.
But yes, the proposals are not too bad. Wouldn`t it be good if horse riders cleaned up their animals mess as dog owners have to?

 

[smutchin]

There is a strong anti-cyclist agenda in certain sections of the New Forest community and this is just the latest manifestation of it.

At face value, what they're saying seems reasonable, but they're vastly overstating the cyclist menace. The Daily Echo publishes stories like this regularly, usually with quotes from the Vederers or local politicians/busybodies, yet they never seem to provide any evidence to support their claim that cyclists are actually a problem.

the facts are clear...

You want to talk about facts? Here are some facts:

In 2009, 159 New Forest ponies were "involved in accidents" with motorists, of which 65 were killed outright or had to be put down. None were killed or injured by cyclists.
http://www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/info/20094/commoning/40/animal_accidents

 

[smutchin]

Excuse my ignorance but I thought sportives were non race events?

Yes, there are already strict regulations about racing on public roads. I am in favour of sportive organisers being held to account where their events are becoming too much like races but this story doesn't provide any substance to its claims.

 

[smutchin]

it says in the article that a NF pony bolted and knocked a cyclist unconscious.

It says the pony was spooked by "tourists", not by the cyclist, who seems to have been the unfortunate victim in this instance.

Where are the calls to regulate the number and behaviour of "tourists" in the New Forest?

 

[DiddlyDodds]

Excuse my ignorance but I thought sportives were non race events? Sorry I don't know anything about them.
But yes, the proposals are not too bad. Wouldn`t it be good if horse riders cleaned up their animals mess as dog owners have to?

Quite a lot have timing chips and you can look on the web site after the events for times.
No matter what the event there are always those that have to be first , must win ,,,,,,

 

[Dave Davenport]

There is a strong anti-cyclist agenda in certain sections of the New Forest community and this is just the latest manifestation of it.

At face value, what they're saying seems reasonable, but they're vastly overstating the cyclist menace. The Daily Echo publishes stories like this regularly, usually with quotes from the Vederers or local politicians/busybodies, yet they never seem to provide any evidence to support their claim that cyclists are actually a problem.



You want to talk about facts? Here are some facts:

In 2009, 159 New Forest ponies were "involved in accidents" with motorists, of which 65 were killed outright or had to be put down. None were killed or injured by cyclists.
http://www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/info/20094/commoning/40/animal_accidents

Agree; I ride in the forest a lot and whilst you get a lot of animals on the roads the number of horse riders actually on them is quite low, after all there are miles of tracks, heath and trails which must be much nicer (most of which you're not allowed to cycle). It's only for a few odd days a year too, as a cyclist I don't have any problem with avoiding the area when the pony round up is on or there's a running race, but a large proportion of the locals seem to think it's their private estate and not a National Park.

 

[inkd]

a large proportion of the locals seem to think it's their private estate and not a National Park.

Have only lived down here for 7.5yrs but yes, I couldn`t agree more, I was called a "gridder" by one of my work colleagues just cause I live outside of the cattle grids!
The "Grockles" as known in these parts (tourists) are a pain this time of year but they bring much needed business to the local communities.

 

[smutchin]

I'm not sure where I said that cyclists were the only group using the forest that are a problem.

I didn't say you did.

However, you did partially quote a line from a newspaper story in a way that could easily be construed as implying it was the cyclist's fault. I think it's important to clarify these things.

All the different users of the area should be capable of treating each other with respect, and this voluntary code sounds like a good move to me.

Can I take it that you would therefore support a voluntary code of conduct for tourists in the New Forest as well?

 

[smutchin]

Fault has nothing to do with what I said.

Sorry, I'm probably not making myself clear - I know what I'm saying isn't directly related to the point you were making but I picked up on your post because you [partially] quoted that line from the paper about the pony being spooked and injuring a cyclist. I'm not having a go at you, I just wanted to clarify the point that the cyclist wasn't at fault in that incident.