AIBU to think this event should never have happened.

[DaisiesAreOurSilver]

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mare-newborn-foal-die-because-15637103

Big cycle race of 100 miles in our area yesterday. Road closures from 5.30 am till 12.30 pm. Some streets were totally cut off for the whole time.

Residents were just told they should have parked outside the area the night before. For some that would mean a walk of a mile, given how many roads were closed. One family escorted through because they had a flight to catch but had to wait 25 minutes for an escort.

Carers were unable to visit the housebound clients, meals on wheels couldn't get through and the stewards didn't give a stuff. For some people it wasn't a question of finding a way around there were areas that were totally cut off for the duration.

But worst of all the stewards wouldn't let a emergency vet through and a mare and her foal died. The foal would have been worth a lot of money as was the mare. I hope the owner sues for every penny she can.

Residents are very angry and cannot understand why permission was granted for this to happen. If they try it again vigilantes have said they'll force the roads open if they try to close them. Feelings running very high.

Have you even read the thread, @CloudyForest?

Uber’s? You must be fxxxxing kidding where I live!

I think the people who are so shocked by the anti cyclist talk really really need to listen. Yes, it's a great hobby but in actual fact (some) cyclists are causing a menace all over, all the time, so an event like this is the icing on the cake really.

I had to travel through the Peak District last weekend to visit family, no other way to go, and a journey that should have taken a couple of hours took almost an extra hour (with a toddler who hates traveling) because of the cyclists EVERYWHERE. Flying out of junctions, taking up the whole road. It is a hobby and yet most of the countryside is clogged up every single weekend and those people just trying to get on with their business and inconvenienced. I saw cyclists desperately trying to fight their way through a herd of cows on the road because of course they couldn't wait with the traffic...poor farmer was furious and they nearly spooked a few cows...they were very lucky really.

That's not to mention all of the times I've been on a walk and had to leap out of the way for them...I've started go for proper walks less and less as I often feel quite unsafe and it's really affected my enjoyment of it.

I agree that something needs to be done about the environment and think that cycling in itself is a wonderful thing. No one here who is moaning about cyclists is talking about those who ride their bikes safely and responsibly day to day, but the hobbyist cyclists, who aren't the answer to our current crisis given, as pp have said, they drive over the country in massive cars with bikes on to get to the most beautiful places and make it more dangerous for walkers.

So yes, on top of all of that, it's bloody galling to be told that these same people who cause problems every bloody weekend are coming to near you and are going to be blocking you in for a whole day so that they can enjoy themselves some more.

Raspberry but they have as much right as you to be cycling as you have to driving your toddler somewhere. Of course it's frustrating but dear God we are all so utterly intolerant these days. I'm not talking about the Velo as clearly that upset a lot of people, but ordinary cyclists out about whether they are in packs or not shouldn't be vilified like some on this frankly depressing thread are doing. They might say, leave home an hour earlier if you know there will be lots of cyclists out - let's face it, Lake (Peak?) District on lovely day is likely to be busy with cyclists, riders, ramblers, runners you name it. More tolerance is required....

Car drivers have no justification in saying that bicycles are a problem on the roads. Or was that post supposed to be a joke that I'm not getting? I'm assuming not because we regularly have car drivers on the local forum grumbling that cyclists stop them driving fast enough through the park (also a nature reserve), it's bizarre. Cars create pollution and noise, plus any issue attributable to cyclists can also be attributed to car drivers. Your need to speed through the countryside is hardly relevant to a thread about a specific event in any case.

I do personally think its inconsiderate to obstruct people whatever vehicle you are on

MRex the bloody car is King though isn't it? Heaven help anyone else who wants to go a bit slower..

CloudyForest. Are you on glue?

Raspberry don't walk on roads if it's lessening your enjoyment? I would have thought cyclists would be the least of your worries with all these wretched cars whizzing about all over the place.

Christ what a depressing thread. You should be ashamed of yourself op. The utter irony of car drivers venting their bile at cyclists. Car is indeed king isn’t it? Jeremy clarkson has a lot to answer for.

I don't think they do actually. People still need to get to work, get to places...if you're out enjoying your hobby you shouldn't be obstructing people who have to be out, not speeding, just driving normally. Also, I've never been stuck behind a hiker either. Anyway, we don't drive that often...my particular bug bear is the walking. I love hiking...I struggle in so many of the beautiful places I used to love to walk because now they're used for cyclists on masse and you just can't walk there. I'm hard of hearing and can't get out of the way quick enough and I'm sick of being shouted at because cyclists want to whizz past.
The one good thing about cars is that, on the whole, you know where they're going to be, they don't tend to turn down footpaths just because they fancy it.

@Cloudyforest clearly you haven't read the thread. The area closed off was enormous. There were no options to travel to places.

Oh, by the way, I'm not a driver. DH drives and we use the car occasionally, every other weekend maybe. We've reduced it as much as we can for all these reasons. When we do drive I want it to be as safely as possible. Bloody difficult when there are cyclists who aren't heeding the rest of the traffic.

Who causes hours and hours of disruption every day at rush hour?! Cyclists? Nope. Other drivers. They are the problem only it’s us isn’t it so much easier to rant at a target group who hilariously are the one group not part of the huge intractable problem that is our reliance on the car. Dear oh dear.

The same MAMILs who are whizzing around the lanes at the weekend with their Rapha clothes and Cervelo bikes all gizmoed up with heart rate monitors and Garmin trackers and stopping at inconvenient places to take pictures to post on Strava are the same people driving aggressively in their BMW’s and Audi’s during the weekday commute!

I think that whatever your thoughts on cyclists, it's irrelevant to the point of this thread and the issues are with the organisers and whichever authorities allowed the event.

Lilacs - what bollocks you speak

Bell end cyclists again

Raspberry88 I so agree. People who don’t live places such as ours don’t have a clue about the impact of the entitled Lycra men.
Sunday mornings ruined by their shouting.
Plastic encased arrows and posters left abandoned.
Children and elderly at risk because they go so fast on blind roads through villages and are oblivious to anyone else.
Blocking roads for six miles so there are tailbacks travelling at 2 mph.
Stopping local people going about their business.
Leaving litter from protein bars etc on the green and around the well.

Cycling used as a means of transport is fine. Large swarms mistaking roads for velodromes are not.

Presumably the people aghast by the death of a mare and foal are also horrified by the much more common occurance of horses dying because of equine sports?

ThelilacsofParis

Never a truer word spoken. Selfish on a bike, selfish in a car.

The same MAMILs who are whizzing around the lanes at the weekend with their Rapha clothes and Cervelo bikes all gizmoed up with heart rate monitors and Garmin trackers and stopping at inconvenient places to take pictures to post on Strava are the same people driving aggressively in their BMW’s and Audi’s during the weekday commute!

I do think there is some truth in this, which is why the environmental argument does not hold water in relation to organised cycle events. Cycling to commute is very different to the leisure cyclist who drive for miles in their cars for their hobby and often commutes by car as well. MAMILs are not generally an environmentally friendly breed.

I do think the serious cyclists taking umbrage to this thread need to consider and reflect how their hobby, that has mushroomed over the past decade or so, is perceived by the people who live and work in the rural communities they love to zip through as fast as they can with their heads down.

ThelilacsofParis Absolutely. Bringing their bicycles into the Downs, parking their spotless 4x4s on the verges and creating obstructions isn’t an environmentally sound hobby.

I was pootling along a narrow lane on a bike when I met a huge troop of MAMILs coming the other way and I had to quickly flatten myself next to a gateway while they whizzed past and not one said thank you let alone making eye contact - arrogant tossers!

I often have to launch myself into ditches on country lanes which are sustrans dedicated cycling routes because of car drivers.