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> Racing on Public Roads., Is it appropriate on todays busy roads !
HJD
post Jun 18 2015, 03:56 PM
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Cycle Racing I mean. Where ever I go these days there seem to be more & more of them, clad in their tight Lycra peddling furiously with their nuts bulging out behind their ears. Don't get me wrong I've nothing against old Joe using his Raleigh to get to & fro from work, or even the Green family out for a nice Sunday ride in the country. No, it's the Head's down Bum up brigade swerving in & out trying to overtake each other like the ones coming down Hurstbourne Tarrant the other day ( do they ever try racing up it I wonder ! ). I note that a lot of the Cycle Racing on Public Highways Regulations date back to the 1960's, & as traffic volume has increased somewhat since then isn't it about time these events were confined to the track for everyone's safety !!
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Simon Kirby
post Jun 18 2015, 04:59 PM
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QUOTE (HJD @ Jun 18 2015, 04:56 PM) *
Cycle Racing I mean. Where ever I go these days there seem to be more & more of them, clad in their tight Lycra peddling furiously with their nuts bulging out behind their ears. Don't get me wrong I've nothing against old Joe using his Raleigh to get to & fro from work, or even the Green family out for a nice Sunday ride in the country. No, it's the Head's down Bum up brigade swerving in & out trying to overtake each other like the ones coming down Hurstbourne Tarrant the other day ( do they ever try racing up it I wonder ! ). I note that a lot of the Cycle Racing on Public Highways Regulations date back to the 1960's, & as traffic volume has increased somewhat since then isn't it about time these events were confined to the track for everyone's safety !!

Hardly an unacceptable inconvenience though is it HJD?


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Andy Capp
post Jun 18 2015, 05:13 PM
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QUOTE (HJD @ Jun 18 2015, 04:56 PM) *
Cycle Racing I mean. Where ever I go these days there seem to be more & more of them, clad in their tight Lycra peddling furiously with their nuts bulging out behind their ears. Don't get me wrong I've nothing against old Joe using his Raleigh to get to & fro from work, or even the Green family out for a nice Sunday ride in the country. No, it's the Head's down Bum up brigade swerving in & out trying to overtake each other like the ones coming down Hurstbourne Tarrant the other day ( do they ever try racing up it I wonder ! ). I note that a lot of the Cycle Racing on Public Highways Regulations date back to the 1960's, & as traffic volume has increased somewhat since then isn't it about time these events were confined to the track for everyone's safety !!

Give it time and it will.
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NWNREADER
post Jun 18 2015, 09:19 PM
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QUOTE (HJD @ Jun 18 2015, 04:56 PM) *
Cycle Racing I mean. Where ever I go these days there seem to be more & more of them, clad in their tight Lycra peddling furiously with their nuts bulging out behind their ears. Don't get me wrong I've nothing against old Joe using his Raleigh to get to & fro from work, or even the Green family out for a nice Sunday ride in the country. No, it's the Head's down Bum up brigade swerving in & out trying to overtake each other like the ones coming down Hurstbourne Tarrant the other day ( do they ever try racing up it I wonder ! ). I note that a lot of the Cycle Racing on Public Highways Regulations date back to the 1960's, & as traffic volume has increased somewhat since then isn't it about time these events were confined to the track for everyone's safety !!


There are very few cycle races on public roads. Many time trials, and even more route-following events that are non-competitive.
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Biker1
post Jun 19 2015, 07:47 AM
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QUOTE (HJD @ Jun 18 2015, 04:56 PM) *
I note that a lot of the Cycle Racing on Public Highways Regulations date back to the 1960's, & as traffic volume has increased somewhat since then isn't it about time these events were confined to the track for everyone's safety !!

The answer to the question in the title is no, and the answer to above is yes.
Sporting events are not suitable for public roads.
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HJD
post Jun 19 2015, 09:29 AM
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QUOTE (NWNREADER @ Jun 18 2015, 09:19 PM) *
There are very few cycle races on public roads. Many time trials, and even more route-following events that are non-competitive.


'Time Trial', Also known as a race against the watch.
The Isle of Man TT is also a time trial, but on Closed public roads.
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Simon Kirby
post Jun 19 2015, 10:43 AM
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QUOTE (HJD @ Jun 19 2015, 10:29 AM) *
The Isle of Man TT is also a time trial, but on Closed public roads.

Would you agree that there is a difference between time-trialling a bicycle and a motorbike?


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Simon Kirby
post Jun 19 2015, 10:45 AM
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QUOTE (Biker1 @ Jun 19 2015, 08:47 AM) *
Sporting events are not suitable for public roads.

That's rather dogmatic isn't it. Can you explain your reasoning?


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HJD
post Jun 19 2015, 12:32 PM
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QUOTE (Simon Kirby @ Jun 19 2015, 10:43 AM) *
Would you agree that there is a difference between time-trialling a bicycle and a motorbike?


Yes, probably about 150mph ! But as you well know Simon I was using that as an example. Do you / would you though if a cycle user, honestly feel safe on todays roads never mind time-trialling on them !!
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Andy Capp
post Jun 19 2015, 12:52 PM
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QUOTE (HJD @ Jun 19 2015, 01:32 PM) *
Yes, probably about 150mph ! But as you well know Simon I was using that as an example. Do you / would you though if a cycle user, honestly feel safe on todays roads never mind time-trialling on them !!

No I don't feel safe: the roads are too busy.
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Simon Kirby
post Jun 19 2015, 03:18 PM
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QUOTE (HJD @ Jun 19 2015, 01:32 PM) *
Yes, probably about 150mph ! But as you well know Simon I was using that as an example. Do you / would you though if a cycle user, honestly feel safe on todays roads never mind time-trialling on them !!

Actually no, I'm a little nervous cycling now, though in truth I don't believe roads are so very much busier now than when I was an eighteen year-old doing 15 miles each way to work, head down, **** in the air, on the busy A13. More to the point, Mrs K. is a racing cyclist, and while I'm nervous on her behalf, I wouldn't in a million years suggest that roads are unsafe per se, though it does depend on the course - I don't see any problem time-trialling on the Andover Road or A4. But the kind of cycling you describe with one cyclist racing against the other only happens in the last few hundred yards of a road race, and I don't believe you'd find an event of that kind run on an open road, for obvious reasons.


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On the edge
post Jun 19 2015, 06:22 PM
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Personally, I think racing cyclists are rather less of a danger and menace than several other 'rolling road blocks'. Old dodgers with caravans they can hardly control, or agricultural vehicles that can't be passed safely. Or, on the cart track to Basingstoke, the usual HGV caravan being driven at army convoy speeds....


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Biker1
post Jun 20 2015, 09:08 AM
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QUOTE (On the edge @ Jun 19 2015, 07:22 PM) *
Personally, I think racing cyclists are rather less of a danger and menace than several other 'rolling road blocks'.

I don't! tongue.gif
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Biker1
post Jun 20 2015, 09:11 AM
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QUOTE (Simon Kirby @ Jun 19 2015, 11:45 AM) *
That's rather dogmatic isn't it. Can you explain your reasoning?

It's not safe is it?
The public roads are there for transporting people and goods.
They are twisting, sometimes narrow and often very busy.
Not designed for racing or trialling.
The suitable place for this type of event is the track like other road sports.
You are not allowed to race or trail any other vehicle on the public roads are you?
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Andy Capp
post Jun 20 2015, 10:47 AM
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QUOTE (Biker1 @ Jun 20 2015, 10:11 AM) *
It's not safe is it?

If that was the main criteria, then we would ban motorbikes, perhaps cars. Far more people are killed or badly injured using those things even when not racing.
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Nothing Much
post Jun 20 2015, 12:07 PM
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I live in a street close to the A1 in central London.
I pop to the local Sainsbury store for a newspaper. 8am
There is a crossing nearby, but like most I chance the road.
I do have to watch out for the cyclists. Sometimes they are exceeding the local 20mph limit.
Buses and lorry traffic is fine.

The cycling commuters are all professionals , but use the bus lanes as a racetrack.
And yes Ruth and Petra, and others--The girls are always prettier and calmer.
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Nothing Much
post Jun 20 2015, 12:10 PM
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So, is that trolling?
ce
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HJD
post Jun 20 2015, 12:48 PM
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QUOTE (Andy Capp @ Jun 20 2015, 10:47 AM) *
Far more people are killed or badly injured using those things even when not racing.


Yes, but maybe some of them were !!
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Simon Kirby
post Jun 20 2015, 01:23 PM
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QUOTE (Biker1 @ Jun 20 2015, 10:11 AM) *
It's not safe is it?

My perception is that cycling in the district, within and between towns, is acceptably safe. Around 100 cyclists are killed each year on UK roads, most in towns. Compare that with the 330 or so motorcyclists killed annually. Not directly comparable I know, but cycling is not obviously unsafe.

QUOTE (Biker1 @ Jun 20 2015, 10:11 AM) *
The public roads are there for transporting people and goods.

That begs the question. In point of fact cyclists have the same general right as any other road user to use the road.

QUOTE (Biker1 @ Jun 20 2015, 10:11 AM) *
They are twisting, sometimes narrow and often very busy.
Not designed for racing or trialling.

Yes, on narrow twisty roads you have to drive more slowly than you would on a wide straight road because you have no idea what might be round the next corner, cyclists being just one of any number of things. Sure, I don't think it would be sensible or safe to schedule a road race on such a road, and I do have experience of that very thing happening which isn't particularly impressive, but it's not an argument against cycle racing in general on public roads.

QUOTE (Biker1 @ Jun 20 2015, 10:11 AM) *
The suitable place for this type of event is the track like other road sports.

Again, this begs the question.

QUOTE (Biker1 @ Jun 20 2015, 10:11 AM) *
You are not allowed to race or trail any other vehicle on the public roads are you?

I've run plenty of road races on public roads open to traffic. Not my preference actually as cross country is much more fun, but road running is a perfectly legitimate use of public roads in my view. As for other vehicles, no, speed limits would generally preclude racing any other vehicle, though I've been held up behind steam traction engines before and that's quite a bit more inconvenient than passing the odd cyclist.


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Don
post Jun 20 2015, 03:53 PM
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Howdy,

I used to be a cyclist in my younger days and I remember a time when there was more bikes than cars. I am just glad that I am not cycling today as it seems so dangerous. I must say I've seen a few car-bike accidents on the road. My grandchildren cycle and it is very worrying. They, on the other hand don't see the danger. It maybe just my age. Dear lord!

Don
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