Richmond Park conservationists have asked cyclists taking part in organised events to dispose of litter more responsibly. Recent post-mortems of some deer found their stomachs contained a large volume of litter that could not be digested and which then denied the animals the nutrition they needed.
It is estimated that around five deer a year are killed as a result of eating discarded rubbish and The London Evening Standard reports that events such as RideLondon and the London Duathlon have been identified as times when a lot of gel wrappers and the like are discarded.
Richard Gray, trustee of the Friends of Richmond Park, said:
“It’s a real health issue. What we have identified with these two particular races is this phenomenon of the gel packs. Lots of our members are cyclists, I’m a cyclist, but you get a number of slightly more selfish cyclists who aren’t getting rid of it responsibly.
“They are doing the Tour de France thing, seeing people tear off their gel packs and spitting them out. But unlike other races, it doesn’t get picked up. It’s a new phenomenon, particularly because so many more people are taking up competitive endurance cycling and use gel packs.”
Friends of Richmond Park said they found 182 gel wrappers and opening strips in just 600m after RideLondon passed through in July. A similar exercise following the London Duathlon on Sunday saw more than 160 empty gel packs left behind in the same area.
RideLondon organisers admitted there had been a communication issue with litter patrol teams after this year’s event but also said they were considering installing cameras on the route next year to identify and ban those who litter.
Friends of Richmond Park chairman Ron Crompton welcomed greater prevention measures and said he hoped that the duathlon organisers would also make efforts to ensure that all competitors were clear that this sort of behaviour was unacceptable.
“Finding this large extent of litter 24 hours after the event is very worrying for the Park’s wildlife and particularly the deer. The irresponsible disposal of gel energy bar packaging and their tear-off opening strips seem to be creating a particular problem,” he said.
68 thoughts on ““Selfish cyclists” blamed for litter that caused Richmond Park deer deaths”
Littering is inexcuseable. On
Littering is inexcuseable. On bike, foot, or when lobbing it out of your car window (popular about 2 miles from any McDonalds).
Makes my blood boil.
I don’t understand why people were using Gels at that stage of ride london ( and i dont actually understand why people would use a gel when its not an actual race, where you get points etc).
A2thaJ wrote:
Couldn’t have said it better!
I don’t think the weekend warriors should be excluded from this, no better than the organised rides.
timmyotool wrote:
Makes my blood boil.
— timmyotool Couldn’t have said it better!— A2thaJ
Boils my urine?
instead of a t-shirt or medal people should be given a frame/top tube mounting bag for stowing rubbish in
A2thaJ wrote:
Because they’re losers.
I was onto the inhalers and syringes by then.
A2thaJ wrote:
Because they are hungry/need energy perhaps. Richmond Park is 20 miles into the event. Everyone else isn’t as imperious as yourself.* What difference does it make that it isn’t a race (which it is because it is a timed cycling event, you mean it is not a criterium.) Also the sugary glop companies that sell these aspirational items tell you to eat three an hour and give them away free to encourage sales. They want as many people eating as many gels as possible.
Bikebot is right; whilst we shouldn’t be dropping litter, there are plenty of accidentally dropped and squashed gels on the route (along with bananas, bottles and the odd pump.) The nature of the event prevents people turning around and fishing out their dropped items. The route is used by the Classic event, what is stopping the marshalls from collecting dropped items after the sportive? The course is a very, very confined part of the park. Absolutely no need to blame the event for killing something that will eat anything. Majestic rats.
*eff off dickhead.
Leviathan wrote:
Because if they are that hungry and need energy after just 20miles,I’m not sure how they expect to get to the finish,and gels don’t provide instant energy boosts they don’t work like that, it can take 15+ mins to digest a gel properly,and for the glycogen to be absorbed as muscle fuel,it might perk the brain up via the sugar hit, but the legs still won’t be working properly.I simply think people use gels in sportives because they see Pro’s use them in races, but they’ve next to no understanding of how,why or when they work, or that there’s a stack of other stuff that’s just as effective
That aside I don’t think they alone are responsible for these animal deaths,so it’s totally unfair to single out cycling as a sole contributor
Awavey wrote:
So, if they are one of the medium-fast riders (approx 5 hours), they will be 1h in and the gel will be absorbed 1h20 in to a 5 hour ride. Sounds perfectly reasonable to me.
Awavey wrote:
Because they are hungry/need energy perhaps. Richmond Park is 20 miles into the event. Everyone else isn’t as imperious as yourself.* What difference does it make that it isn’t a race (which it is because it is a timed cycling event, you mean it is not a criterium.
— Leviathan Because if they are that hungry and need energy after just 20miles,I’m not sure how they expect to get to the finish,and gels don’t provide instant energy boosts they don’t work like that, it can take 15+ mins to digest a gel properly,and for the glycogen to be absorbed as muscle fuel,it might perk the brain up via the sugar hit, but the legs still won’t be working properly.I simply think people use gels in sportives because they see Pro’s use them in races, but they’ve next to no understanding of how,why or when they work, or that there’s a stack of other stuff that’s just as effective That aside I don’t think they alone are responsible for these animal deaths,so it’s totally unfair to single out cycling as a sole contributor— A2thaJ
I wasn’t trying to come across as imperious…. I just feel that as a sportive, it isn’t a race… and after 20 miles of a sportive, a gel is not really what anyone needs. The presence of a clock does not make a race.
The point i was trying to make is, If they are hungry or need energy, actual normal food would be what they need at that point. For me, sportives should be about cruising around, enjoying the ride, having a flapjack at a feedstation. Its not about pretending i’m in a race when i’m not, and mimicing professional cyclists at a quarter of the pace.
Plus, to drop litter at that point of the route is bizare… if you must drop litter (which you musn’t), do it on the hammersmith flyover or some over dual carriage way. Try to restrain from littering in the wildlife park bit. Or just put it in your pocket and then in a bin.
A2thaJ wrote:
Cool – for you. But other people have their own motivations, which are no less valid than yours. If someone wants to ride as fast as they can (or even just a bit faster than their mates), and if they think getting sugar in via gels helps them do this, good on them.
Awavey wrote:
Because they are hungry/need energy perhaps. Richmond Park is 20 miles into the event. Everyone else isn’t as imperious as yourself.* What difference does it make that it isn’t a race (which it is because it is a timed cycling event, you mean it is not a criterium.
— Leviathan Because if they are that hungry and need energy after just 20miles,I’m not sure how they expect to get to the finish,and gels don’t provide instant energy boosts they don’t work like that, it can take 15+ mins to digest a gel properly,and for the glycogen to be absorbed as muscle fuel,it might perk the brain up via the sugar hit, but the legs still won’t be working properly.— A2thaJ
Maybe they’re having one before they’re hungry. Isn’t that exactly when they’re supposed to be used? Let people decided how they want to ride their sportives themselves. How you think it should be riden isn’t necessarily how everyone else thinks it should.
Agreed.
Leviathan wrote:
*eff off dickhead.— LeviathanClassy sign-off, that must have taken a while to think up.
So the fact that wildlife doesn’t know why a gel wrapper isn’t edible means it’s OK for them to choke on it? I guess the same applies to the 90% of all seabird species, 22% of large marine mammals, all sea turtle species, and an increasing number of fish that have been found to have plastic in or around their bodies.
Yes it would be a good idea for volunteer marshals to collect the litter after standing around for hours. Why don’t you put your name forward? It’s the lazy option to always expect it to be done yet never help out, as so many people do. Though it would be better if people weren’t so fucking selfish and pocketed their gel wrappers etc instead of tossing it over their shoulder and expecting someone else (or the deer) to tidy up after them.
Simon E wrote:
Simon, you are just the sort of imperious cock I am telling to eff off. You are actually agreeing with me that the litter could be collected; yet concocted some fantasy that I think it okay for it to be eaten by wildlife. It will be eaten, thats the point.
If you stopped wasting your time reading between the lines and coming up with snarky responses you might be of some use for something. I have never seen you contibute a single new topic or thread to this forum, you just like to sit at the back of the bus sniping. Boring.
Leviathan wrote:
Quite a big difference actually, as if it is a race ONE police officer can call the event off.
It is classed as a sportive to avoid the problems with Plod.
Who deserves the asterisk in your original post now?
freespirit1 wrote:
.
freespirit1 wrote:
I recall you saying you were leaving the site forever. Lonely, were you?
Leviathan wrote:
If you must use gels- bung them into a water bottle and dilute – less mess and much easier on the go.
And yes absolutely no excuse for littering. i’d string them up.
Argh! My absolute bugbear,
Argh! My absolute bugbear, utterly selfish behaviour.
Image from their press
Image from their press release
That’s the litter removed from the stomach of a dead deer. Anyone fathom why they’re singling out sports events? (sort of rhetorical that one).
bikebot wrote:
My thoughts exactly.
Not saying that throwing away gel wrappers is not a daft and totally avoidable thing to do… but this is little more than another chance to put the boot into cyclists…
Jimmy Ray Will wrote:
Interesting that this comes after the duathlon. A bunch of competitors doing a limited looped circuit in a confined area – if you were going to concentrate the rubbish thrown by competitors it would be a good way of doing it. Also, gels are more regularly used in sporting events rather than athletes keeping fit at weekends.
Anyway, I guess I just find the corollary from this article to be bigoted and anti-cyclist. It could be runners or whoever.
Of course you go to the ES
Of course you go to the ES article linked above, you will find cyclists pointing out that runners, joggers and drunken revellers also drop litter as well as car drivers, followed by people cmplaining that cyclists arent taking the issue seriously and they should all be banned form cycling.
More low rent journalism from the ES serving as clickbait and helping fuel the Cyclist vs Everyone Else divide. I know newspapers are struggling with the internet these days, but it doesnt excuse such biased reporting!
Absolutely unacceptable – yes
Absolutely unacceptable – yes, occasionally the tips blow away and you lose one but as a general rule ‘leave nothing but footprints’ applies: everywhere, not just in the parks.
Having said that I can’t understand why *all* gel makers don’t use a tube design with a captive tab like the Torq ones do.
I despise litter and
I despise litter and litterers (whether it kills wildlife or not… I just don’t want to see it), but the cited Evening Standard article is an obvious twisiting of the original source.
The Friends of Richmond Park piece http://www.frp.org.uk/news/142-carelessness-costs-deer-lives says:
[quote;FRP]
Some 5-10 Park deer a year are killed by cars;
SNIP
Uncontrolled dogs kill 6 or so deer a year, mainly baby deer in their first weeks,
SNIP
Litter kills around 5 deer a year. This is a guess
[/quote]
[quote;FRP]
The photograph (right) shows John Bartram, one of the Park’s wildlife officers responsible for the welfare of the herd, holding up the stomach contents of two deer that died from litter. They include rope and string, black dog-waste bags, other plastics, and parts of clothing — all material that deer cannot digest.
[/quote]
So, while I’m sure that the gel packets discarded do nothing to help, it seems at the least tenuous for the Evening Standard to ignore the car deaths, dog deaths, and fail to explain how and why cyclists are flinging bits of rope and bags of dog poo about.
I’ll leave it to the rest of you to decide why the Evening Standard decided to convey the impression that it was cyclists and cyclists alone who are responsible for the deer death.
Ush wrote:
ah, my ruddy rope, I was wondering where that got to, it must have fallen out of my back pocket whilst I was doing laps, weaving across the road of course and slowing down the cars – I wasn’t even wearing a helmet at the time!
Suffering of a animals is one
Suffering of a animals is one thing, but FORP are quite aware that deer culls take place twice a year :
http://www.frp.org.uk/news/1308-deer-cull-royal-parks-advice
NO rubbish should be dropped
NO rubbish should be dropped anywhere, many people are not bothered what they drop. Be they pedestrians, motorists or cyclist.
Perhaps the ES is best mates
Perhaps the ES is best mates with Matthew Parris?
http://road.cc/content/news/3069-what%E2%80%99s-smug-and-deserves-be-decapitated%E2%80%9D-matthew-parris-gets-most-press-complaints
I wholly disapprove of
I wholly disapprove of littering but it’s worth noting while we’re fretting about the loss of 5 deer that 200+ deer are culled each year by the park management.
http://m.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/news/11735222.Royal_Parks_deer_cull_figures_revealed/?ref=mr
Seriously people, just stick
Seriously people, just stick maltodextrin powder in your bidons.
The amount of waste generated from packaging in general is absurd enough without super small portions being individually wrapped, eg. gels and coffee pods. The latter of which even the creator says he wishes he never invented now that he sees how much waste they’re generating.
unconstituted wrote:
It’s shocking how much energy gels and the like are really. With a bit of planning you can mix up just about any energy concoction – maltodextrin, caffeine power, taurine powder, salt tablet – for literally pence sometimes. Careful with the caffeine powder though as it hard to judge dosage at first. I fell foul of it at job interview and took too much and instead of coming across as bright, sharp and alert, came across as a tweaker who’d lost their train of thought. It’ll blow your head off compared to a standard coffee. Probably great for a big climb though!
Yorkshire wallet wrote:
LOL
I’d get a kick out of watching that. Full on Spud mode
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwDmg74rhCw
Usually take a 200mg caffeine pill on long rides, I’m too sensitive to stims, no way I could take it without burning off all that nervous energy
I usually have to bosh down
I usually have to bosh down another gel or two when I brave the second lap of Sawyers Hill on the good days. Stave off the ruddy bonk long enough so I can get home to Teddington and eat a box of Mr Kipling in front of the Eastenders omnibus
While filling my pockets with
While filling my pockets with sticky gel wrappers at the Cyclassics I noticed a lot of other riders were simply chucking theirs on the ground. I thought that perhaps they knew something I didn’t, such as the existence of a post-race cleaning operation. But I coudn’t find anything on the internet.
Pro races often have “litter drop” areas. This wouldn’t be difficult or expensive to do for amateur events. Obviously organizers have to be clear what the situation is.
I’ve seen gels with a tether for the tear-off portion. This ought to be standard as it can be fiddly otherwise. But of course it doesn’t help if you’re going to chuck the whole thing on the ground anyway.
I volunteered at Ironman
I volunteered at Ironman Weymouth the other day: the rules stated that littering was an instant DQ for any athlete.
Instant DQ and at least a one
Instant DQ and at least a one year ban for anyone found littering is the way to go…
jmaccelari wrote:
Bit harsh if you accidentally drop your empty gel wrapper while trying to stash it in your rear pocket. Does happen.
Grumpy17 wrote:
There’s usually a degree of discretion applied with regard to the intent, but DQs and time penalties for littering are fairly standard practice in most triathlon events. Obviously enforcing it is quite another matter, but even the possibility of a DQ is enough to make most people think twice.
Traveling around Europe,
Traveling around Europe, makes you realise the UK is a filthy, littered place to live. It has the unenviable title of being the grubbiest country in Europe, sad, but true.
The likes of Germany, Austria, Denmark and Norway are so clean, I am always so embarrased when I return home to see litter down the side of roads, in rivers, carparks and even around bins. How difficult is it put it in the bin properly.
CXR94Di2 wrote:
The problem with that point, though, is that half the population of London are foriegn-born, a large proportion of them from other parts of Europe.
Certainly, at least when it comes to leaving empty cans and bottles around, some of the biggest litterers round here are the Polish street drinkers (nothing against them, generally, but I see no sign whatsoever that they are any better at putting things in bins than are native-born Londoners).
So if London has a litter problem, it has to be about something other than just the national characteristics of the residents. Either everyone quickly ‘goes native’ when they arrive here, or its more about councils failing to clean things up (or to provide bins to put things in in the first place).
Not unique to Richmond, or
Not unique to Richmond, or cycling, unfortunately. I’ve really enjoyed doing a few triathlons over the years, but there really are too many alpha-male-middle-manager-types trying to demonstrate they’ve ‘still got it’. A £5k carbon tri bikes won’t compensate for those extra 12kg around the waist and no amount of caffeine gels will provide the EPO-superpowers they crave.
It would be interesting to
It would be interesting to see the evidence that cyclists are to blame, or it’s just trash from the general public. That being said, there’s no excuse for throwing gel wrappers on the floor.
SiS, High5 and the like market their gels and advise having ‘one every 20 minutes’ which is obviously quite retarded. Gels should be only for emergencies, not for a 20k cafe run.
We’ve already done this one.
We’ve already done this one. The FORP are enemies of cycling in the park. This is more of their fact free propaganda designed to maintain a constant level of background “no” to any proposal that involves a use of the park that they don’t agree with.
Among other things, is there any evidence that the deer the subject of the post mortem were killed by the litter in their stomachs? Any attempt made to separate causation from correlation?
The FORP are just as selfish as the people they complain about.
Two other things:
Two other things:
surly_by_name wrote:
It’s a response to an awful lot of marketing gumpf and event sponsorship telling people what their nutritional strategy should be. Two minutes talking to your dentist should put most people off gels for good.
I’ve never had a gel. What am
I’ve never had a gel. What am I missing? I did 115km this morning with only a bottle of water. Should I have had a gel? I was pretty hungry when I got home, so I had a burrito for lunch. What does that mean?
Nick T wrote:
It means you should consult a doctor immediately.
Nick T wrote:
That you need to grow a pair?
Try this:
Get up on Saturday morning and go for an uninterrupted 120 mile ride in Zone 3 to Zone 4 with just your bottle of water.
People use fast absorbing carb sources for really good reason. You’ll can tell us why when you’re back on Sat.
unconstituted wrote:
why would I do that? That’s just bad planning. I’d probably have a breakfast first, and take a banana.
Nick T wrote:
Go on then. This saturday. Breakfast, take your banana, water and do a 100mile + ride at Z3 to 4.
Lets see your Strava when you’re done. Seriously do it.
Not like it’s a big deal, just go out on your bike on the weekend and record the ride with a heart rate monitor on, so no problem.
Can we count on you to ride your bike?
unconstituted wrote:
why are you so keen on me doing this? Are you employed by the Gel Defence Force? I never said they were bad guv’nor, just that I’ve never needed one.
If I had a 120 mile ride planned, I’d take some food. Your nonsense challenge is about as unrelated to my statement as it’s possible to be.
Nick T wrote:
Nonsense = Are you employed by the Gel Defence Force?
Sensible = asking someone who says they never needed a gel to go for a big ride to find out why.
Let me just spell out what the rest of us were thinking when we read your original comment. “This guy and his burritos thinks he’s clever but just marked himself out as someone who doesn’t do long threshold or tempo efforts and doesn’t understand the basic science behind carb absorption/limits.”
I wasn’t keen on you doing it because you and your banana skin would be stuck in the middle of nowhere.
Nick T wrote:
You wouldn’t. He’s just being an arse.
Even a top time triallist wouldn’t ride 100 miles that way. Based on that post it makes me think that either he’s being provocative or possibly doesn’t even understand what the zones mean.
Simon E wrote:
Yeah, why would anyone go for bike ride on a Saturday? Better to whine about people using gels on forums.
But he’s not interesting, just a wise guy that got called out acting kewl.
So tell us, oh expert in heart rate zones, a top time trialist wouldn’t ride between zones 3 to 4?
Now you’re going to have to qualify that.
This ought to be good.
unconstituted wrote:
Now you’re going to have to qualify that.
This ought to be good.
— unconstitutedNice try!
I’m not going have to qualify anything.
Since you seemed to be telling the previous poster what to do and in which zones to ride 120 miles I thought you must surely know it all, so there’s no point me trying to help you. Blimey, I’d never claim to be an expert on anything, no-one would believe me if I did!
Simon E wrote:
Read: you dug a hole you can’t get out of.
oh unconstituted, you provocative arse, even top time-trialists don’t ride 100 miles in zones 3 to 4, what are you talking about, you know nothing hurr durr
Knock 15 to 20% off your LTHR puts you squarely in between Z3 to Z4. Why would you ride in Zone 2? Or do you think a time trialist can ride 3 hours + at threshold ie Z4 and over? It wouldn’t be called threshold then. HODOR.
Not sure who’s more clueless, you or the guy who doesn’t know what gels are for and is too scared to ride his bike.
Nick T wrote:
Was it a sports nutrition burrito with added science?
bikebot wrote:
Mar hinal gayans (said in a Spanish/Mexican accent)
Nick T wrote:
A rank, lingering taste in the mouth.
The word “cyclist” doesn’t
The word “cyclist” doesn’t even appear in the FRP press release. Move along.
tonylemesmer wrote:
Apart from…
I hate litter bugs, but as
I hate litter bugs, but as some who took part in the Duathlon last sunday, I can confirm that there were plenty of warnings and signs about not dropping litter both in the pre-race info and around the course.
Inevitably a few are going to come out of people’s pockets accidentally during the race and I know the organisers had litter pickers out. My wife worked at Richmond Park and it would have been an absolute condition of the licence that a post-race sweep be carried out. If FoRP set out to find gel packets on the course during the race then of course they are going to find them, but I suspect that they wouldn’t find any after the race at all.
As for the ‘I’m so ‘ard I don’t need gels’ brigade, well good for you Mr superhuman, but for many people the Duathlon/ ultra-duathlon is a high intensity effort for several hours and refuelling is important. There is 15-30K of serious running involved, never mind just poncing about on your bike for a few hours 😉
CStar wrote:
What time does the ultra-duathlon start in Richmond Park? Might give it a go, but all I see is folks cruising at about 28kph whenever I go. I tell a lie, the guy sitting on your wheel usually gives it the beans going down Sawyers.
Zip them up chaps, you’ll
Zip them up chaps, you’ll have someone’s eye out.
Awfully sorry Captain
Awfully sorry Captain Sensible, as you were.
Anyway, about these deer…
Anyway, about these deer…
I eat gels…even when I’m
I eat gels…even when I’m not riding my bike….in fact I’m slurping down a SIS Green Apple one right now…inbetween my wagon wheels and pot noodle…stoopid deers….bwhahahahahaaahahahhhha
Venison is tastier than gel.
Venison is tastier than gel.
If it fits in your pocket
If it fits in your pocket when its full it will fit in pocket when its empty. Take the rubbish home.
I cycle a lot. I use gels.
There is no need to litter