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Idiots on the A1



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 15th 07, 11:45 AM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Artleknock
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Posts: 4
Default Idiots on the A1

Before I start a rant - I have been a cyclist all my life.
On Sunday morning the 5th I was driving down the A1 about a couple of
miles short of the first A1M after Scotch corner when I joined a long
tail back of traffic. On finaly reaching the hold up it was a bloke on
a bike, drop handle bars, crash hat, lycra budgie smugglers, the
works, riding on the carriageway!! A bit further on there was a
marshal at the next turn off. The idiots were doing time trials on a
major trunk road on the same day that all the holiday makers were
heading home from up north.
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  #2  
Old August 15th 07, 12:13 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
CoyoteBoy
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Posts: 270
Default Idiots on the A1

On 15 Aug, 11:45, Artleknock wrote:
Before I start a rant - I have been a cyclist all my life.
On Sunday morning the 5th I was driving down the A1 about a couple of
miles short of the first A1M after Scotch corner when I joined a long
tail back of traffic. On finaly reaching the hold up it was a bloke on
a bike, drop handle bars, crash hat, lycra budgie smugglers, the
works, riding on the carriageway!! A bit further on there was a
marshal at the next turn off. The idiots were doing time trials on a
major trunk road on the same day that all the holiday makers were
heading home from up north.



There are always holiday makers heading home at some time or other, if
people stopped for that there would be month-long periods where no-one
rode in case they hit traffic. Since its not illegal to ride a bike on
A roads I would suggest they were doing nothing wrong, though they
could have picked a better day to do it. That said, why should one set
of road users not do something just because another assumes they have
priority?

  #3  
Old August 15th 07, 12:35 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Paul Boyd
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Posts: 1,489
Default Idiots on the A1

Artleknock said the following on 15/08/2007 11:45:

On finaly reaching the hold up it was a bloke on
a bike, drop handle bars, crash hat, lycra budgie smugglers, the
works, riding on the carriageway!!


No! Not riding on the road, surely? How dare they? They don't pay
road tax, so why should they be allowed to use the roads? Disgraceful!


(All of the above is tongue in cheek, including, I hope, the OP's quote.)

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/
  #4  
Old August 15th 07, 12:36 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Arthur Clune
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Posts: 185
Default Idiots on the A1

mb wrote:

Shocking, cyclists on the road, whatever next.


Riding on the road is one thing. Holding a race on the
A1 is madness. But as long as uk time trialing is
fixated on set distances and times, it'll stay that
way.

--
Arthur Clune PGP/GPG Key: http://www.clune.org/pubkey.txt
The struggle of people against power is the struggle
of memory against forgetting - Milan Kundera

  #5  
Old August 15th 07, 12:52 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
David Hansen
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Default Idiots on the A1

On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 10:45:46 GMT someone who may be Artleknock
wrote this:-

riding on the carriageway!!


Gosh!!! How terrible!!! A cyclist RIDING ON THE ROAD!!! Whatever
next?


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54
  #6  
Old August 15th 07, 01:00 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Roger Thorpe[_2_]
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Posts: 139
Default Idiots on the A1

Artleknock wrote:
Before I start a rant - I have been a cyclist all my life.
On Sunday morning the 5th I was driving down the A1 about a couple of
miles short of the first A1M after Scotch corner when I joined a long
tail back of traffic. On finaly reaching the hold up it was a bloke on
a bike, drop handle bars, crash hat, lycra budgie smugglers, the
works, riding on the carriageway!! A bit further on there was a
marshal at the next turn off. The idiots were doing time trials on a
major trunk road on the same day that all the holiday makers were
heading home from up north.

This looks a little like the Pennine CC event. In which case the start
was at 6:30, the last rider off would have been at 8:30 and they would
have finished at about 10:45. On a Sunday.
It's been going on all over the country for years, and only happens with
the permission of the local police who can - and do withdraw permission
if they feel that it's either dangerous or obstructive.

Roger Thorpe
  #7  
Old August 15th 07, 01:18 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Mark T[_2_]
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Default Idiots on the A1

This looks a little like the Pennine CC event. In which case the start
was at 6:30, the last rider off would have been at 8:30 and they would
have finished at about 10:45. On a Sunday.


So the OP was whinging about a short delay to motorists on one of the
quieter days and times of the week (Sunday afternoon/evening would have
been a lot busier). Reminds me of the nonsense we get from the tabloids
every Bank Holiday as they whinge about the engineering works all being
done on one of the quietest days of the year. Humbug!

--
Mark T
  #8  
Old August 15th 07, 01:21 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
[email protected]
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Default Idiots on the A1

On Aug 15, 12:13 pm, CoyoteBoy wrote:
On 15 Aug, 11:45, Artleknock wrote:
The idiots were doing time trials on a
major trunk road on the same day that all the holiday makers were
heading home from up north.


I tend to agree with the OP. I'm strongly in favour of cyclists having
the right to use all roads, but having a right doesn't mean it's a
good idea to exercise it all the time. This event amounted to reducing
a major trunk route to a single lane at a busy time, probably for a
substantial distance (I'm guessing the time trial used the road for a
greater distance than a typical stretch of road works). The
authorities go to some trouble to avoid peak times for road works.

There are two consequences to this: there are probably a few more
motorists now who hate cyclists, and some more with their prejudices
reinforced; and if it happens a lot, there will be moves to ban
cycling altogether on this sort of road, which would set a bad
precedent, and make life difficult for the times where there really is
no alternative to cycling on these roads. (There was a cycling ban on
the A40 Cheltenham-Gloucester for a while, but this has now been
lifted.)

I guess dual carriageways that are quieter at the weekend than on
weekdays are probably very good places for time trials, because
traffic can pass safely. However, the A1 doesn't fit into this
category. I support the club's absolute right to hold time trials on
public roads, but it seems likely they could have chosen a better
location.

There are always holiday makers heading home at some time or other, if
people stopped for that there would be month-long periods where no-one
rode in case they hit traffic.


No, a time trial is different from other sorts of riding. Somebody
going out on their own for a pootle/commute/shopping, wouldn't have
caused this sort of disruption. A club run would have consisted of one
or two clumps of riders, which would be a much shorter disruption.
Because it is spread out, a time trial takes quite a lot of capacity,
it's a planned event and the organisers should have known better.

I want to keep the right to cycle on all roads, to do that we need to
be sensible about how we use the right - we want drivers to be
considerate and treat us with respect, we need to do the same for
them.

Rob

  #9  
Old August 15th 07, 01:31 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
wafflycat
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Posts: 1,049
Default Idiots on the A1


"Artleknock" wrote in message
...
Before I start a rant - I have been a cyclist all my life.
On Sunday morning the 5th I was driving down the A1 about a couple of
miles short of the first A1M after Scotch corner when I joined a long
tail back of traffic. On finaly reaching the hold up it was a bloke on
a bike, drop handle bars, crash hat, lycra budgie smugglers, the
works, riding on the carriageway!! A bit further on there was a
marshal at the next turn off. The idiots were doing time trials on a
major trunk road on the same day that all the holiday makers were
heading home from up north.


How utterly shocking! A cyclist, on a main road! How dare he get in the way
of important stuff: like cars! The very idea!

It's a time trial with strict limits on the *brief* number of hours over
which it can be run and has been going on for years and years... with no
hassle... but heaven forbid you be held up for a second or three.


  #10  
Old August 15th 07, 02:09 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
PhilD
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Posts: 152
Default Idiots on the A1

On Aug 15, 1:31 pm, "wafflycat"
wrote:

How utterly shocking! A cyclist, on a main road! How dare he get in the way
of important stuff: like cars! The very idea!

It's a time trial with strict limits on the *brief* number of hours over
which it can be run and has been going on for years and years... with no
hassle... but heaven forbid you be held up for a second or three.


Why do all these motorists insist on going to/from holiday when time
trials are on?

On a slightly different tack, what difference does it make that it was
a time trialist, as opposed to someone cycling alone to get somewhere
on that stretch of road? I wish I had a marshall to help me through
busy road junctions!

PhilD

--


 




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