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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think this event should never have happened.

651 replies

DaisiesAreOurSilver · 13/05/2019 15:41

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.

OP posts:
Furnitureville · 15/05/2019 10:18

Spartacus there have been posters on here threatening to throw nails on the road and in one instance to put a wire across at handlebar height. How is that rational? Completely reckless and bizarre attitude towards a harmless recreational group. The thread has moved away completely from discussing the event at the weekend and has become a place for people to vent their hatred towards cyclists.

Original poster
DaisiesAreOurSilver · 15/05/2019 10:19

@Furnitureville. Read the OP again. Is there any criticism of cyclists? No. Criticism of the organisation? Yes. But carry on pretending I said something I didn't.

OP posts:
Furnitureville · 15/05/2019 10:21

Daisy you are a delight aren't you? Putting horse owners into a great light - oh but wait a minute, they aren't all the same are they, bit like cyclists aren't...

YetAnotherSpartacus · 15/05/2019 10:21

there have been posters on here threatening to throw nails on the road and in one instance to put a wire across at handlebar height. How is that rational? Completely reckless and bizarre attitude towards a harmless recreational group

A minority and no one has actually done this. You are overreacting.

justarandomtricycle · 15/05/2019 10:21

In fact the more hate the cycling community gets out of this, the less likely anything is to change. The organisers will have been gifted the moral high ground and they'd be fools to waste such an open goal.

One would hope normal human decency and consideration would preclude this. Normally if you're causing someone else problems with leisure activities the response would be to try and alleviate those problems.

If this is too much to hope for, then there really is something wrong.

Furnitureville · 15/05/2019 10:22

Oh come off it Daisy this thread has turned into a venomous attack on cyclists, the original post may not have been but it has degenerated into that and you've hardly tried to steer it back have you?

Belenus · 15/05/2019 10:23

Well, I don't drive but I am amazed that so many drivers care so less about the law and the spectre of imprisonment that they are prepared to drive so recklessly.

Less than a fifth of drivers who kill cyclists do any time in jail and only 1/3 lose their licence. Stats reported here:
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cycling-deaths-car-drivers-jail-prison-sentence-bike-bicycle-injuries-police-a8617411.html

That's of those who make it into court. There is something about being locked away safely in a metal cage that makes many people lose all sense of empathy and quite a lot of rationality as well. But drivers also get a lot of sympathy from jurors who are highly likely to be drivers themselves, and quite likely to share some of the attitudes shown on this thread.

Furnitureville · 15/05/2019 10:23

How do you know that Sparticus you have no idea what people have done or might be willing to do.

Aridane · 15/05/2019 10:24

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

Bit like cars really

YetAnotherSpartacus · 15/05/2019 10:24

How do you know that Sparticus you have no idea what people have done or might be willing to do

ZOMG ... paranoia...

Original poster
DaisiesAreOurSilver · 15/05/2019 10:27

Oh come off it Daisy this thread has turned into a venomous attack on cyclists, the original post may not have been but it has degenerated into that and you've hardly tried to steer it back have you?

In the face of all the inaccurate accusations and abuse why should I? The lycra mob seem to be speaking up for themselves very loudly.

OP posts:
Furnitureville · 15/05/2019 10:29

Spartacus I know first hand that nails were thrown into the road at the Wrexham road race and Velothon Wales a couple of years ago as a family member was involved, so no paranoia here just fact.

Furnitureville · 15/05/2019 10:30

Daisy I'm a horse rider not a bike rider if you bothered to read.

justarandomtricycle · 15/05/2019 10:30

I mean who are "cyclists" anyway? Owning and riding a bicycle doesn't confer any personal characteristics, it's not even as if there's a particular socio-economic class to cyclists. You have everyone from yes, your super rich Audi driver dressed up like ant man to your teenager who has no electricity at home, to your obese person hoping to get fit so they don't die on their family, to your factory worker who started out because it's cheaper than a car and now has a hobby they can afford to get enthusiastic about. It's weird to confer selfishness and unpleasantness on people you don't know, and it's time to think again if you do this.

The velothon needs to be organised more considerately or make way for other events.

Aridane · 15/05/2019 10:32

How very dare I complain about a mare dying in agony and a foal dying before it's born. Only a very sad cow would think there is anything wrong with complaining about those deaths

Yes - but your posts and those of so many posters are just a vitipertirade against cyclists

Aridane · 15/05/2019 10:33

vituperative tirade

ballisticcyclistic · 15/05/2019 10:36

Daisies - I have to tell you that you are coming across as unhinged.

Yesterday, you told me to “check my cyclist wife privilege”.

Hmm

Could you please explain what that even means?

I mean I can understand you getting irked by cyclists in some instances. Of course / it happens to us all. But now their wives are thrown into the mix as well? Really?

It’s this kind of statement that betrays your true agenda.

“Privilege” of what exactly? Several of DH’s bikes and associated stuff clogging up the garage? The worry about him being hit by cars? Listening to cycling talk? Yes it’s all fun, fun, fun here for me!

I still don’t think they have any less right to be using the roads than anyone else though. Not am I naive enough to the that road closures for the Velo or many other sporting events are a greater threat to horses than the daily reality of motorists on the roads.

grimupnorthLondon · 15/05/2019 10:39

@justarandomtricycle It's true that there are lots of different people who ride bikes. However, there is a definite "culture" subscribed to by cyclists who go in for long weekend rides, buying lycra kit and expensive bikes and developing their own macho culture - see for example the "rules" of the www.velominati.com/ which capture the self-obsessed spirit of many of these groups. I work with a ton of these people and they spend way too much time comparing willies the length of their weekend rides.

I and many other posters have said multiple times on this thread that our objections are not to people cycling on their commute or the school run. It's this particular cycling sub-culture (and yes, it tends to be predominantly middle class because the kit required is not cheap) that tends to attract anger because they will be very well represented at events such as the Velo, which are a reflection of the hobbies of this group being given priority over the daily lives of the population in the area of the race. And it is not primarily for charity, it's a for-profit company exploiting the desperate need of cash-strapped councils for new sources of income.

ProfessorSlocombe · 15/05/2019 10:40

The velothon needs to be organised more considerately or make way for other events.

Unlikely to happen if every criticism turns into a cyclist-bashing spree.

In fact I'm wondering if CSM got wind of this thread and have hired some interns to post increasingly hysterical anti-cyclist content ? So that when the 2020 is being "organised" (and I use that word quite wrongly) and objections are raised, they'll be dismissed as "anti cyclist activists" ... y'know - the sort that would carry out criminal activities to make their point. Which fits the current working definition of terrorism like a round peg in round hole.

IvanaPee · 15/05/2019 10:42

Spartacus there have been posters on here threatening to throw nails on the road and in one instance to put a wire across at handlebar height. How is that rational? Completely reckless and bizarre attitude towards a harmless recreational group.

Once again for the hard of thinking; I said the wire thing was a joke.

If I was going to do it, I would hardly declare it on a public forum would I? Ffs calm down! You’re irrationality is wearing.

Furthermore, cyclists aren’t always a harmless recreational group as post after post on this thread has shown.

ballisticcyclistic · 15/05/2019 10:48

“However, there is a definite "culture" subscribed to by cyclists who go in for long weekend rides, buying lycra kit and expensive bikes and developing their own macho culture “

Yes but if people want to talk in stereotypes, we could equally accuse the OP of ranting on behalf of the “green wellies and Barbours mob” and ascribe all kinds of traits to that demographic.

But we’re not doing that because it’s s bit narrow -minded and pointless to speak about “mobs”, isn’t it?

Furnitureville · 15/05/2019 10:50

Yeah hilarious joke Ivana

IvanaPee · 15/05/2019 10:56

Relax, Furniture. Maybe a nice, relaxing bike ride to calm the nerves?

Furnitureville · 15/05/2019 10:58

I'm not a cyclist, funnily enough I can care about them though even though I don't even own a bike.

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