New Forest MPs call for legal regulation of sportives — and British Cycling agrees

Stop doing events there and we can see how the local shopkeepers like it. Have done the events a few times and while nice country side they are neither challenging nor particularly fantastic so would be quite happy to see them off the calendar if it meant the whole registration issues goes away as it seems a big problem for the new forest.

I wonder if some riders would be interested in a coffee meeting we could ride to meet up in the new forest in april? not a sportive, not an organised ride, just all ride in from wherever

just say everyone who fancies a ride to meet for coffee. we could pick a place for coffee and whoever wants to ride could show up? somewhere like http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g503849-d4364310-Reviews-...

or is having tea and cake being banned and controlled by BC and MP's?

'Does anyone have a definition of Sportives that would/could be used? Will it also include Audax rides? How about Reliability Rides organised by local clubs? If yes, then what about Club rides'

I think there's a clue in the use of the word 'sportives'. It'll probably apply to sportives, I'd think.

Does anyone have a definition of Sportives that would/could be used? Will it also include Audax rides? How about Reliability Rides organised by local clubs? If yes, then what about Club rides - eg a large club organised multiple rides along same route at different speeds based on the different riders ability? 'Normal club rides'? What about if I go out for a ride with some friends after work? With my family? With my partner? Commute to work on my own and 'draft' or just follow someone else going in the same direction?

My point is where would the legal line be drawn?

On my ride today, I passed a large group of vehicles in the local countryside. I see them most weekends in the same area. They seem to be following a 'hunt' taking place with horses. I know I must be wrong because that sort of thing is illegal isn't it? Anyway, there were cars parked all along one side of the road. Now that must constrict traffic flow on a narrow country lane. Under the proposed regulation will they need to obtain permission (from British Cycling?)

BC are right to a certain degree, dunno about legality, but there should be some kind of body that oversees all leisure events on the roads. We are a small island really and our roads are at breaking point in places.
Our country lanes are empty for the most part but on occasion in the summer months, there can be a little too much going on.
For example I remember on least two occassions I've ridden sportives when there have been other sportives going on on the same roads, confusing and I know people that have ended up on the wrong ride!
I've seen events conflicting, with road races, Triathlons, running races, with sporting events on the roads in general gaining massively in popularity as someone who takes part in time trials, triathlons, sportives and running races, I can see that we are in danger of causing a rift in certain areas. Its going to be very easy for locals to say "what the hell s going on?" "weve got runners going one way, riders all over the place and drivers not knowing whats hit em!"
With the amount of new events some form of control needs implementing. Maybe some events will have to share, on a bi-annual basis and such forth.

I am in the same boat as a Redsport.

Sportives I have seen, other then right at the the start, are so strung out they cause less disruption than the average club run. More akin to a TT, only with riders mainly looking where they are going.

Errant riders to be dealt with by the law, those playing at being a pro in a sportive probably do the same when not entered.

Do sportives need regulating? YES.
Is BC the best organisation to regulate them? Probably not.
Both of the above, solely in my opinion.

As a self appointed (not rich) MAMIL, I ride too many sportives for my own good. And, unlike some of my other sportiver mates, am not averse to trying out new, not very well known outside the local area ones. This has resulted in some delightful finds, like PUNCHEUR in Ditchling Sussex, and some terrible ones, like the Spring Onion in Cobham/Oxshot Surrey. Having suffered through, and enjoyed events at both ends, as well as widely predictable ones like the Evans and Wiggle rides, I really welcome some regulation that ensures every sportive organiser meets a basic (not low) organisation standard.

The other area, apart from standards, that I feel requires attention is calendar coordination. This, is trickier though. Given most popular riding areas in the SE have multiple sportives running many weekends, who decides which sportive (or race) gets preference in case of a conflict? Priority based on who-notified-earlier, who-has-more-money and who-has-more-locals-involved all cause various kinds of discrimination.

Further, I'd prefer every sportive organiser to submit their dates, times and routes to local police authorities - not for approval, but for information. The police in the area must know if there would be an additional 2500 riders on their roads, so they can be alert to any potential impact.
But this too could easily spiral into a police force, backed by NIMBY politicians, land grabbing the authority to allow or block sportives.

Finally, why don't I want BC regulating sportives? Diffusion of responsibilities.
BC needs to define whether it's in the business of developing cycling as a competitive sport, aimed at winning as many medals as it can.
Or is it a body geared to promoting more, general cycling - casual, commuter, sportive, trail, audax, etc.
Given its clout in government and media, it can grab all it wants, but will end up delivering zilch on most (the 2nd, unglamorous bit above).

BC just lost a member.

I know you shouldn't judge people by the way they look, but Desmond Swayne just looks such a smug bastard. I wouldn't vote for him if my life depended on it.

A couple of comments.
Every local authority has a SAG. If you want to make sure you don't get timetabling clashes, BC are useless, because they won't know about sponsored walks, barrels races, the village duck race and all the other stuff that might go through the SAG.

A simplified SAG process, with public calendars linked to accurate geomapping, using the same open source software across the country, would be a simple solution. Everything else is just a landgrab by various interest groups, allying themselves to gatekeepers and nimbys.

I got into cycling because a local VCS group runs leisure rides on a Sunday morning - I've gone from doing occasional leisure rides to sportives and time trials with a local club. Should that VCS group have to register with BC and obey their rules? If not, who's going to set the minimum numbers for events before you need BC to work their expensive magic? Should the rules be different depending on the roads you use?

The current system works -all the objections that aren't about NiMBY ism can be fixed with proper date co-ordination and some agreed work on SAG practices.

Makes absolute sense to me.

I have raced time trials, I have raced Road races. The racers don't stop. In a sportive over longer distance with riders starting in groups of around 20 in most cases spread over a few hours it seems ok. I can see halfway through a lot of people are riding and it's getting more popular. Yes thousands of people are getting fitter and less likely to be in A&E through lack of exercise. isn't this what we all wanted. a green, CO2 free, healthy bunch of nice quiet people not disturbing city centres.

sure have a calendar and register your ride with the police so they know. there are enough sportive websites to see what is happening,

I'm sure that BC would like to be king of it, so they could charge for compulsory licences, and then ban your bike for being too aero, yes I speak from experience. look at those UCI stickers on your bike, bumping up the cost by 10 pounds already.. what did you get for that; that a british standard kite mark did not give you? Give it to the CTC to regulate, they don't have an all expenses paid world HQ in Switzerland.

I took up sportives to have fun and enjoy riding. I don't see the RAC saying " sorry too many cars are driving in the new forrest today, we have to have a limit.. so what's in it for BC you wonder.. what is their motivation? safety?

“To paint them all as anti-social menaces just plays into the hands of a small minority of local people who have developed a visceral hatred of anyone wearing Lycra."

SO MANY Cyclists will tell you , of being passed TOO CLOSELY by that minority that " Could not give a f##k " for anyone other than themselves !

Added to this behaviour , is the passenger displaying a " digit "!

Needed are More Stringent Laws , whereby the Driver , can lose their licence because of the behaviour of their passenger ! The " Safe Pass Laws " passed in Oz , are ONLY a " bandaid solution", what is required is " Presumed Liabilikty Laws " IN ALL English Speaking Countries !

NOW !

Until " M.P.s " of the Westminster Sysrem , set aside their "Legal Background ( too many were Lawyers before ) " , AND, start acting as Human Kind , we will continue to see Cyclists making a pitstop at A. & E. , if not the morturary !

Government calling for People to take more care of their Health , then ignoring the UNNECESSARY Dangers posed on the roads , is NOT a contradiction , it is the Business as usual mentality of the BRAIN DEAD !

yes all that is true Antonio but organised ones are good though as it is nice to ride with like minded people. Usually the ones I do are cheaper than any BC event despite having far fewer people on them.

I knew what was coming as soon as BC jumped aboard sportives.
I can ride and enjoy a bike ride without forking out cash to greedy fast buck organisers.
I can donate as and when I can afford to my local hospice charity.
I can enjoy organised weekly bike rides with my local bike club for the sum of £14.00. per annum, and that includes membership of the large and fast growing, (now over 1500 members) National Clarion cycling club.

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How many actual sportives are there in the New forest and how many complaints from different people ?

The numbers are largely immaterial, because the New Forest Nimby Elves have roped in local MPs to support their cause, and regardless of the protestations of cycling types, cycling isn't a mainstream thing and so can be treated as a nuisance.

All the 'we'll all go and ride about with silly numbers on' or 'we can all go and take all our friends' stuff is silly; you won't.

Interesting narrative from Road.CC that again lacks rounded perspective - "Be careful what you wish for" ???

Its NOT about condemning sportives - its not about a land grab ( for example road races are run under BC, TLI and LVRC all under the same legislation - its about ensuring that there is parity in the legal framework.

Speaking as a Road Race organiser and commisaire, the current legal situation is a joke.

On one hand you have a well organised, compact road race with a field of 80 riders max, junctions controlled by accredited marshals with legal powers to stop traffic, NEG motorbike outriders, minimal impact on the local community on a small generally traffic free circuit for usually a max of 3 hours that we have to apply to the police for permission to run.

On the other you have a mass participation event, potentially with 1000's of riders, which creates more disruption to the general public over a greater area, and duration that needs no permission from the police.

Regulation will ensure parity between road races, mass participation events and i would imagine time trials would also be brought into line by 2 way notification as opposed to the current one way.

It makes PERFECT sense.

Only two years ago i almost had to cancel my clubs road race because of a calendar clash that even BC had to hold their hands up and say was an area that needed improvement. Allowing the police complete visibilty of all events will allow them to guide promoters on both sides of the coin to avoid situations like the one which arose, which was frankly scary - ever tried driving the lead car of a race into an oncoming stream riders who clearly ignore the two abreast rule, who ignore the plea's of police trained NEG riders, orange flashing lights and " CYCLE RACE APPROACHING " signs ???

I’m not going to suggest that one event should have priority over another with respect to use of the public roads, but anything which allows holistic reviewing of both calendars is a huge improvement.

About time!

shouldn't British cycling ignore Sportives and get back to grass roots racing, which its killing off with its ridiculous costs to organisers!

Or can it milk the sportives to prop up racing? Not likely, more to fund larger middle management

BC can join the Far Queue. I thought they were finally showing some sense and then this...

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Guess what UKIP and Tory types it is about market demand, you know the thing you love, more and more people want to do them and thus more appear.

...and now this popular thing is at the point where some people think it needs regulating...

I've ridden sportives here and abroad and they can offer a good time out on a bike, but I don't want them every weekend where I live, nor do I want anyone to be able to put them on without adhering to a set of sensible regulations.

This is frankly crap. Sportives are regulated themselves by H&S laws and the organisers I have taken part in (NOT IN THE SOUTH) have been very very good.

Totally with the LD MP this is pandering to UKIP Nimby types and frankly, excuse my language, they can fuck right off.

Every single one I have ridden have been for charities and normally have their own limits because believe or not the organisers themselves know what to do.

Guess what UKIP and Tory types it is about market demand, you know the thing you love, more and more people want to do them and thus more appear.

I would say the health of a lot of middle aged men and women has improved vastly

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Something needs to be done to maintain the health of the sportive scene.

Unfortunately, it's a lack of regulation that has led to this point; if anyone can put a sportive on, anyone will. A lack of any sensible regulation means that the money making opportunity is taken by local enthusiasts, by larger commercial concerns, by charities, by bigger companies all without any nod towards the areas and residents and general day to day 'just trying to get things done'.

Great for cycling? No, because lack of regulation leads to differing standards of provision, differing standards of support, differing standards of safety and very little return for the communities that put up with the hassle of 1000 plus cyclists turning up, riding and contributing little to the local economy.

The establishment and support of the 7 Stanes mountain biking areas in Scotland are a great example of a sustainable, regulated and sensibly thought out approach to using cycling as a benefit for communities. Popping up and putting on sportives in the same old areas for a population based around London and the South East doesn't do the same.

I agree with Pablo with regards to co-ordinaries calender. Something very similar happened with mtb racing before foot n mouth. Many of us liked to see what series or venue was going that weekend. Ultimately the scene exploded and many venues and series shut down. From the six or so series, last time I raced it was either BC or Nutcraker. Both aimed at pros/ licence point chasers.

Something needs to be done to maintain the health of the sportive scene. Entries have spiralled from £10 to £25 us over the last five years. It's a real shame that the roads can not be shared.

The best suggestion I've seen so far as to how to deal with this is for everybody who fancys a ride the NF(or just want to fuck with some nimbys) is to ring the New Forest National Park Authority every time your going for a ride there and ask if it's ok and also ask them what number you need to display front and rear to comply with they regulations.

Number is 01590 646600 if anyone wants to spend 5 mins getting the message to them.

I understand they've been receiving calls about it most of the day.