Today A11 Norfolk- Time Trial (Not good)

[YMFB]

Today we drove north along the A11 and were surprised to see time trialists riding along the dual carriageway. We didn’t see any warning signs.

To make matters worse I’ve just read there was a fatality in recent years and a number of other incidents and accidents.

Surely a risk assessment should have been done. Some warning signs as a basic attempt to advise drivers.

I found it extremely worrying and difficult to understand why a club would expose their members to such high risks especially after someone has been killed on the same road.

I know it’s not illegal, but it should be.

 

[sevenfourate]

Choosing the A11 on a busy Saturday in Mid Summer ?

The mind boggles……

 

[Drago]

On the one hand, its probably ill advised as a practical matter because motorists cant be trusted to be sensible, and that road seems to attract motoring twots like flies to a turd.

On the other, as a matter of morality and law, the riders are lawfully entitled to be there and its incumbent upon motorists to expect to encounter all classes of road user, including cyclists, upon any road theyre lawfully entitled to travel on.

It all comes down to whether you choose to blame the offenders or the victim for any potential or actual misfortune.

We all know the irony is that any motorist driving HUA that needs such signs is unlikely even register their existence as they speed past them.

 

[PaulSB]

Today we drove north along the A11 and were surprised to see time trialists riding along the dual carriageway. We didn’t see any warning signs.

To make matters worse I’ve just read there was a fatality in recent years and a number of other incidents and accidents.

Surely a risk assessment should have been done. Some warning signs as a basic attempt to advise drivers.

I found it extremely worrying and difficult to understand why a club would expose their members to such high risks especially after someone has been killed on the same road.

I know it’s not illegal, but it should be.

I've organised a number of TTs and hill climbs and while I'd also question using the A11, it's almost certain this will be an officially run event.

If this was an official CTT event, the vast majority are, it will be a recognised course with a course layout, specified start/finish etc. All TTs should be run under the auspices of the CTT.

There will be a full risk assessment by CTT prior to course approval, a further assessment a week or so prior and an on the day assessment by the organiser. The RA will require signage at specified points. These need not be on the main carriageway, though I agree it's advisable, as it's more important to warn joining traffic. I suggest you may have missed this.

Putting on a TT requires the organiser to jump through hoops for nine months or more. Without following every regulation it is not insured and leaves both organiser and riders wide open in the event of an incident.

 

[Jameshow]

Tbh your probably safer in a row of cyclists albeit a minute apart than you are on your own at dawn / dusk and some dopey motorist says sorry I didn't see you! 😢

 

[All uphill]

You saw some time-triallists riding on the A11.

Approximately how many?

Is it possible that this wasn't an organised event? Maybe a group of friends riding their bikes on a busy A road?

 

[YMFB]

It was an organised event as there was someone wearing a hi viz vest waving them off at the turn around point. I’d say I saw more than twenty cyclists.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

Were they wearing numbers on the back of their jerseys?

 

[HLaB]

Tbh your probably safer in a row of cyclists albeit a minute apart than you are on your own at dawn / dusk and some dopey motorist says sorry I didn't see you! 😢

I did it once before folk got killed and that was my rationale and with there being a complete empty lane you'd get better overtakes (which I did). I don't think I'd do it again (other than the club TT at 7pm on road bike and a sporting course I'm not racing anyway) but on such courses there has to be a traffic count too and if exceeds a certain level they cant race, so they tend to be raced at an unsocial time when traffic flows are lighter. On the club road I'm lucky to see two drivers and they're more sociable at that time and the varia radar keeps me alert to them.

Edit: according to the CTT there's not been a TT on the B25/8 (A11) in Norfolk since September 2021 that was the course I done.

 

[Ian H]

Part of the risk assessment will involve a traffic-count and probably restrictions as to what time of day the course may be used.

 

[oldandslow]

I raced on dual carriageways decades ago, but don't fancy it now. However, this could be a case of heart vs head.

Time trials in general are moving gradually off major roads. This in spite of the fact that there was something knocking around a few years ago, suggesting that time trials on minor roads were less safe than on major, because drivers went just as fast when they couldn't see around the next corner. None of that makes time trials dangerous in any absolute sense, however; as far as I know, time trialling, which is solo riding, is no more dangerous than other riding. And, as @Jameshow says, if you're one in a series of riders, you're probably safer than just riding somewhere alone.

I'm pretty invested in this kind of thing. In life expectancy terms, the benefits of cycling so far exceed all risks as to make not cycling the choice of an idiot. So those TT riders were probably so far up on the passing drivers, in life expectancy, as to be out of sight. And, having had a double bypass, and being convinced that I came out of it much better because of my cycling, I particularly don't want to risk not cycling.

But I still wouldn't find dual carriageways fun any more. And just because it's really dangerous not to ride a bike*, it doesn't mean you should do it anywhere.

* Obviously, if you take enough other exercise, the benefits of cycling diminish and may become negligible. But the fact is that most people don't. And most other exercise can't so easily be built into daily life.

 

[katiewlx]

I knew the cyclist who got killed on the A11 in that time trial, Cheryl Tye, she was doing nothing wrong, the driver admitted to using his mobile phone whilst driving, yet still didnt get prosecuted for it.

But there wouldnt have been an offical time trial on that road today or this weekend,because there are British superbikes at Snetterton for one thing.

fwiw cyclists are allowed to ride on dual carriageways, drivers seem to forget theyre meant to look out for such things thesedays.