TT on A1

[berty bassett]

i know i will be moaned at but in my opinion holding a time trial on the A1 without any warning signs seemed crackers ! i was a passenger in a car on saturday and although it seemed like most cars were trying to be curtious and get over , it wasnt always possible from what i saw and just seemed like a dangerous place to be when there are hundreds of miles of quieter roads - daft - right -fire away

 

[outlash]

is it this one?: http://cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/Def...c=2&gv852__gvff0=798&gv852__gvfl0=0&tabid=362 We regularly see them coming if our club runs head out that way. Not my cup of tea either but they're old enough to know the risks I guess.


Tony.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Yeah I've seen that on the A1, seems a bit nutty.

 

[jazzkat]

No warning signs is just stupid. Is there not a duty of care from the organisers of the event?
Not wanting to get into the modern 'sue at the drop of a hat' mentality, but aren't the organisers leaving themselves wide open if there is an incident?
Or do you sign your life away, literally, on the start line?

 

[the_mikey]

I'd say running a TT on any other 'quiet' road is more likely to produce incidents, although not ideal from a motorists point of view the A1 is more likely to have good visibility and few surprises. There are regular TT's run on quiet lanes near Pilning in South Gloucestershire and the marshals do their best to keep the roads clear or inform motorists but they're often met with shouting and beeps.

 

[biggs682]

will be the M1 next

 

[Alembicbassman]

There was this !

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1402567/Kenyan-cyclists-on-M61.html

 

[shouldbeinbed]

I saw one on the A50 near Derby a few years back. The notion of it terrified me, its not a road you can drive at the limit on and not be zoomed past by all & sundry. I can see the attraction of these long wide stretches for TT's but what makes them fast & attractive for cyclists pushing to their limit is the same attraction to drivers to go to their limit.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Not sure which part of the A1 you are referring to but we regularly get them around the Blyth to Newark section & there are always signs out & marshals sat in lay-bys marking the riders off.

Alan...

 

[Saluki]

We passed a lot of cyclists on the A11 yesterday afternoon. We tried to stay in the right hand lane as much as possible. We flashed a lot of drivers out but some preferred to skim past the TT-ers rather than actually put their right hand set of wheels over the dotted line. Lots of people blaring on their horns and I witnessed at least 2 punishment passes. We were really quite worried. The first clue we had of the TT was a pair of marshalls sat on the opposite side of the road just before the 'off' slip road.

 

[Rob3rt]

Would it be worth expressing an opinion/experience as someone who does this or has it already been decided that it is mad, dangerous, stupid etc?

 

[ClichéGuevara]

I think it's another example of the poor design of our roads. TT or otherwise, there are roads you can legally ride down that have had no consideration for a specific section of vehicles.

Hooting at the cyclists is attacking a symptom, not a cause.

 

[berty bassett]

yes there was a marshall in a lay by but that didn't help when the cars are overtaking a lorry leaving the lorry to either break or try and get by - to be honest i don't know where it was as i was woken up by the driver moaning about bikes on the road then i drifted off again after passing a few as i had just finished 950 mile in 8 days - and only inverness to jog on a main road ! As i said it just seems bonkers to me even though i can see it would give you a better time on a straight road

 

[Wobblers]

I've time trailed on NSL dual carriageways a couple of times, marshalled them a couple of times... come to think of it I cycle on one quite regularly. Contrary to what some might think, it's not a recipe for instant DETH. In fact, a quiet DC is actually better in some ways than a narrow lane or (worse) a single carriage country A road because there is far more room to overtake - and the overwhelming majority of motorists do use that room. Saying that, I tend to avoid them when they are busy, because it is more difficult to overtake thanks to the volume of traffic and close passes are much more likely.

 

[John the Monkey]

Weirdly, when I drive, and encounter slower traffic, I slow myself, and wait until it's safe to overtake. It's what I was taught to do for the test I had to pass in order to be licensed to drive.

Given that these "fast" roads are usually just shuttling one between bottlenecks, it's not a problem. Even if that weren't the case (and speed over these sections actually contributed to a reduction in journey time overall), I don't see why the expectation in the UK is to blast along at the speed limit (or more realistically, speed limit plus a few) heedless of conditions, or other road users.