To have come to loathe Ride London?

[MatildaTheCat]

For those lucky enough to not know about this event, it started with the London Olympics in 2012 (I think that was the first). It’s a massive event whereby some 30,000 cyclists get to ride from central London down through Surrey and back, covering 100km.

It’s now an annual event and happening again this weekend.

There are mass road closures for miles. I am effectively hemmed in for the day and many, many people can’t get out, park their cars, get to appointments etc. Our local hospital is on the route and has to make special arrangements that the staff, patients and relatives are aware of. Emergency vehicles can easily be delayed access.

It was great the first year, a spectacle and we all watched and cheered. Now it’s just a bloody nuisance and I hate it. No doubt all the cyclists will disagree with me and money is raised for charity but it inconveniences many more people than the number that participate.

I know I’m being grumpy but surely IANBU? ( I totally know I’m going to be told I am😊)

YABU. i've had it in the diary for months as on Sunday will be totally blocked in where I live, so use it as an excuse to not go anywhere or have anyone visit!
May even walk up to watch them stream through.
it's only one weekend.

I live on the route and our road is closed all day.

We LOVE IT! It's the only time we spend time in our front garden as we do t have the noise from traffic. We ha e a big party every year and all our (local) friends come and cheer on the cyclists. We play music, dance and have a bbq.

We've had cyclists return to us each year for selfies as we're always here. We hand out water and bananas, administer first aid and help fix punctures.

In the gap between amateurs and professionals we lay down on our road and our kids cycle on it. It's the only time they can be on our road as there's no traffic.

Embrace it. You might like it!

Meh! I like events like that.

I get you OP. It was exciting and interesting to begin with, now a royal pain for anyone living within the area of the ride. It’s also causing problems in the area for the increased cyclists in large groups riding many abreast along the route in the run up to the event. Many a traffic issue because of this.

We either have to go out for the entire day or be held almost hostage in our homes. If you work 6 days a week and have only Sunday to do shopping etc it really curtails you. No one can plan anything really if they need to travel (other than public transport - trains, and you can walk to the stations). I’d prefer now if it were every other year or once every 5 years but I know I’ll be flamed for that opinion. Ideally if they alter the route so it’s not the same residents (or businesses) suffering annually.

Check out the other thread last week. Things got quite nasty.

Apparently there would be no research into cancer treatments if it weren't for cycling events.

YANBU

YANBU. I HATE it. Our town centre is impossible navigate, roads closed, v v few crossing points for pedestrians. Awful.

There are many ways to raise money for charity which do not come at the expense of thousands of other people who are forced to 'contribute' one day to the cause whether they want to or not.

I loathe cyclists anyway, but this takes it up another notch. The organisers who are out to make a profit, not fundraise, have just jumped on the cycling bandwagon to create another income stream for themselves. I'm sure none of them live on the route.

I guess the city Marathons are hated just as much?

I don’t see the difference to marathons and triathlon events tbh. I get more annoyed with cyclists in Surrey being aggressive, riding 2-3 abreast (uphill) and swearing at anyone who suggests they could be better at sharing the road on a weekly (and sometimes daily) basis than with a once a year event. I’ve ordered my food delivery tonight instead of tomorrow and we are having friends round for lunch, it will just be a normal day but with less traffic.

There are sportive rides all over the country. Roads in any given area are only closed for a few hours on one day. And plenty of notice is given.

Not sure why the inhabitants of Surrey think they should get special dispensation to not have one in their area. But they seem to be the ones who moan about it most often. All seems a bit NIMBY to me

YANBU.
My sons long awaited hospital appointment has been cancelled due to this bike event as the consultant can’t get there apparently.

... Oh, and celebration parades, such as if the football team wins something and Pride parades... and special markets. Street parties. Concerts. Food festivals. Half-marathons & 10 km runs. Vitality London. All those events that close roads. Flooding can be prevented. Just don't build upstream on flood plains. So can resent road closures for someone's failure that happened. Plus improvement schemes that don't benefit yourself. Another great opportunity for resentment. Road surfacing & roadworks not happening in middle of the night. How Dare they. Randy badgers closed one road. Pesky wildlife.

It's a complete nightmare - why a whole day in the summer holidays to make people prisoners? Literally the whole day. Ridiculous to have the ability to do this.

I love the half marathon day in our small city. No cars everyone out and socialising. I think cities need to do more of this the stats on deaths caused by car pollution are sobering.

What is this ‘roads closed for just a few hours’?! Around me most roads are closed for 12 hours 7:30AM to 7:30PM. Marathons don’t cause this degree of disruption.

I don’t really understand what criteria are applied to allow them to do this for a mediocre cycling event. Who pays for it? Apparently it raises a few million for charity but I suspect this is dwarfed by the administration costs and costs to business.

We have this for an Ironman event. My relative had a massive issue trying to get to the hospital for a very important appointment.

spinnaker the roads here are closed for about 12 hours and it's the weekend of my daughter's birthday. And it's a Sunday, but 80% of my church's congregation can't physically get to the church so we are unable to meet.

If it was a rolling road closure I'm sure everyone would be much more accepting, but it's majorly disruptive for those who are in the middle of it. And frankly, the racing is not very interesting to watch live, so that does not make up for it.

I like cyclists - I'm married to one - but I do find this event a pita.

The event itself doesn’t bother me, but it’s the year round cycling gangs doing the route( or bits of it) every bloody day of the year, riding in packs and Lycra

“Roads in any given area are only closed for a few hours on one day. And plenty of notice is given*

Spinnaret I guess you’re not familiar with Ride London and aren’t from the area. Perhaps worth knowing that the roads are closed for most of the day (from 5am then some roads on first Surrey section of the route usually reopen around 3pm - 4pm, but up to 7pm on second half) so it’s a bit more disruptive than you imply. Also one of the reasons it is so unpopular is that historically, particularly in the first two years, notice was very poor. A lot of people weren’t aware of it and it was hugely disruptive for local businesses, people and services. It’s slowly improving but but that’s why it has such a bad rep. The route also means a lot of people are essentially trapped in or out of the area for the day.

Posted too soon - some of the roads were closed from 4pm the previous day, so nearly 24hrs.
The roads that were open were no right turn, so getting anywhere was virtually impossible.
I don’t buy into the mantra ‘great for the shops and business in the area’ either. It stopped thousands of residents getting out & about spending.

I live on the route and I love it. It's one day a year.

My dh is a passionate cyclist but avoids these events due to the other cyclists. Some are dangerously inept he did this event once and he got knocked off by one fool and said never again.

What a moany bunch on this thread !

It’s a great event - the 2012 Olympics gave a great boost to cycling and this event is a continuation of this. Triathlons and marathons as well - so much visible sport, a real encouragement to get off the sofa and participate in healthy outdoor activity in stead of just staring at screens.

And no, I’m not a participant and, yes, I am directly affected by the road closures. Traffic is really reduced at the moment anyway as half the world seems to be away on holiday.

Businesses around here are closing for the day - No idea if they are compensated. As an example, Staff at our local stables are sleeping over because otherwise they can’t get there to feed and water. All lessons and rides are cancelled.

YANBU

It's too disruptive. Closing roads for a few hours is ok but these road closures are too long.

The 'it's for charity' argument does wash at all.

I have lived on two streets affected by the Greater Manchester Marathon, and disruption has been slight. I’ve never begrudged it, and was expecting something similar when I visited my parents in the Midlands when the Birmingham Velo was on. I was wrong - it was far more disruptive and lasted far longer. Gave up on trying to get to my mum’s house from my Dad’s. I remember someone posting a very sad story on here about a horse dying because vets couldn’t get to it in time with the velo on. YANBU!