Hill climbs are usually the most innocuous of cycling events as riders toil up one by one at – even for the best riders – uncontroversially low speeds. But that didn't stop a farmer from getting irate at the Mercia Cycling Club hill climb on Sunday and trying to disrupt the event by driving a tractor up and down the course.
On its Facebook page, the club said: "Unfortunately a local mad, angry farmer and his tractor intervened immediately following the event, swearing profusely and reversing said tractor up and down the course."
On the afternoon of the race, the club's Twitter account showed the rather large tractor on the course:
Breaking news ! Angry Farmer causes havoc with his tractor at @Mercia_CC HillClimb … pic.twitter.com/QqAHEJ6Gk8
— Mercia Cycling Club (@Mercia_CC) October 19, 2014
The 23-rider hill climb on Woodruffes Cliff, Marchington was not affected but club officials thought better of trying to mix the planned freewheel contest with an angry man on a tractor and cancelled it.
They added: "Hopefully he will be locked up before 2015 Hillclimb."
30 thoughts on “Angry farmer on tractor disrupts hill climb event”
This is the first time I’ve
This is the first time I’ve heard of any issues with farmers. Round Surrey/Hampshire they’ve been consistently the most thoughtful of all the motorised road users and often give me a cheer if I overtake them. They pass me with ample space too.
This guy must have been having a bad day. Inexcusable. Glad he didn’t hurt anyone.
Anyone would think it was in
Anyone would think it was in France
What’s your logic for this
What’s your logic for this view? I’ve had no problems riding in France (lived in Toulouse & rode in the surrounding countryside).
Not great behaviour but
Not great behaviour but better to cancel than risk injury. Try another day without notice or cycle up and down his lane really slowly when he’s trying to do what he wants. NIMBY
Guyz2010 wrote:Not great
Well no actually. Better to ask the police to deal with a menacing farmer in a tractor trying to be nuisance and prevent people going about their lawful business. It’s a public order offence.
If you cancel then next time he won’t even have to waste the diesel. He’ll just have to make it known he might be annoyed. If you let people like this intimidate you off the road or into cancelling events then they will carry on with that succesful tactic.
Report it. Video and document it. Get the police to attend next time. But don’t try to appease aggressors it doesn’t work.
“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”
― Winston S. Churchill
not suggesting for one minute
not suggesting for one minute that his actions were right, but maybe he was trying to get on with his work which involved driving a tractor up and down a narrow lane? From his point of view, that was impeded by a bunch of cyclists blocking it up for a couple of hours.
I wouldn’t have much sympathy if it was a general motorist, to be honest, but if the race impacted on someone’s livelihood, they may have a reason to be aggrieved?
dafyddp wrote:not suggesting
[quote=dafyddp]not suggesting for one minute that his actions were right, but maybe he was trying to get on with his work which involved driving a tractor up and down a narrow lane? From his point of view, that was impeded by a bunch of cyclists blocking it up for a couple of hours.
:^o
Absolutely right. Ban cyclists off the road just incase they slow down trucks, taxis or any other person making a livelihood on the road! Oh I know may be we should ban tractors as well I think they may prevent these other drivers earning a living? …………… Get real the farmer was being a f**king w@*k*r!
23 riders setting off at 1
23 riders setting off at 1 minute intervals so approx 25-30 mins of inconvenience. Oh well takes all sorts.
I reckon the real reason he
I reckon the real reason he was angry was his favourite sheep had a headache and didn’t fancy it, so he took his frustration out on the cyclists.
Perhaps he owns the road as
Perhaps he owns the road as well as the fields. 😉
He’s maybe just defending his
He’s maybe just defending his KOM?
Good apples and bad apples in
Good apples and bad apples in every crop. I’ve had one so polite he disappeared through a hedge to ge out of my way and two who stopped in the middle of the road for a chat oblivious of not just cyclists but all other traffic they were holding up.
Mind you, that is a nice
Mind you, that is a nice tractor, and one you would want to show off!
They do work hard for what
They do work hard for what little money they make though.
Well to be fair those cyclist
Well to be fair those cyclist didn’t pay no road tax, while the farmer with his tractor, well… err… hang on a sec…
What was the farmer’s issue?
What was the farmer’s issue? It wasn’t a private road was it?
The guy was so busy, he had plenty of time to purposely block the road.
He’d have ended up riding in
He’d have ended up riding in that fekn bucket.
Farmers are incredibly busy.
Farmers are incredibly busy. He may have been ferrying stuff to and from the farm or fields down the lane. He might not have been disrupting it on purpose ?
It’s perfectly feasible he had to do this at that specific time. Just like the cyclists had to hold their HC at that time.
fenix wrote:Farmers are
Are you taking the piss? Farmers spend most of the time doing fuck all and get a three figure salary from the EU to do so. My dad’s a farmer as was his dad who had to work hard for a living, nowadays if he actually grew crops or reared livestock on a commercial scale he would barely earn the minimum wage so instead he drives his tractor around Cheshire holding people up and spreading shit on the road because it’s the cheapest way to dispose of it. Sure my dad’s a tosser but you gotta love modern society.
Farmers spend most of the
Well, for a three figure salary – let’s be generous and call that £999/year – you can hardly expect them to do very much, can you?
kraut wrote:
Farmers spend
Oh shit! From they way he brags I always assumed he was talking about thousands of pounds, now I realise I’ve been looking at things totally the wrong way my entire life #o
Riiiight. So all the farmers
Riiiight. So all the farmers I see working weekends and evenings and mornings – they’re doing fuck all ? Why not take it easy and do fuck all at home and reap the cash in ? Seems to me they’re out working usually whilst we are off having fun ?
drfabulous0 wrote:fenix
Are you taking the piss? Farmers spend most of the time doing fuck all and get a three figure salary from the EU to do so. My dad’s a farmer as was his dad who had to work hard for a living, nowadays if he actually grew crops or reared livestock on a commercial scale he would barely earn the minimum wage so instead he drives his tractor around Cheshire holding people up and spreading shit on the road because it’s the cheapest way to dispose of it. Sure my dad’s a tosser but you gotta love modern society.— fenix
You may have the salary wrong but you’re right about spreading shit on the road. I’ve been riding through the evidence.
Not sure if any of the people
Not sure if any of the people commenting have ever ridden Woodruff’s Cliff – it’s a public road, not privately owned, and isn’t all that small – it’s not as big as Marchington Cliff up the road, but big enough that it can handle a steady stream of riders and vehicles going up and down.
If the farmer was a
If the farmer was a reasonable man and had a problem why didn’t he stop and talk to the riders?
Obviously he wasn’t
Obviously he wasn’t particularly reasonable, more likely a total lunatic.
Hilarious! This is a local
Hilarious! This is a local climb for me and the road is wide enough in plenty of places for a bike and tractor. The Mercia lot are a very friendly bunch as well – a quick chat is all it would take to sort this. This is a public road which is paid for by everyone and not a private road for exclusive use of anyone at any time. However busy anyone might be, they do not have the right to exclusive use of a public road. Single file cyclists riding up an exceptionally quiet bit of lane on a Sunday for an hour are not causing disruption. Perhaps the farmer got out of the wrong side of his sheep
And he doesn’t even pay “road
And he doesn’t even pay “road tax”!
http://www.gov.uk/vehicle-exempt-from-vehicle-tax
I remember some idiot trying
I remember some idiot trying to drive their car through the crowds on Yorks Hill , scene of The Catford HC a couple of years back …. they almost certainly cooked their clutch ….
My District HC has a
My District HC has a temporary road closure in place for the competition. I’ve seen one or two upset/angry RangeRover (other unsuitable vehicles for the road are available) drivers, blowing their stack because they ‘have’ to get their Mail on Sunday at 10:47. 11:00 just will not do…