Anti-cycling feeling apparent as Velothon Wales draws near

leadertheiver wrote:

I've been looking forward to the Wales Velothon all this year and rather naively thought everybody else would be, but then my glass is always half-full...

My family and friends will certainly be benefiting the Cardiff economy as we are treating this as a holiday and have saved up money to stay in a local hotel. We are meeting up with 12 other friends for a meal the night before. My family will be shopping and eating in Cardiff over the weekend.

Sometimes cyclists just can't win. The last sportive I went on I slowed down for some horses and shouted "bikes", smiled, said "he....llo" and just got abuse back about "other cyclists speeding up unannounced".

Don't worry about the negative people on here or else where, the majority of people enjoy the regular events that take place in the area and are understanding of road closures. Velothon will be no different I will be out on the road cheering you on as will many more locals on the day.

Most people realise that tourism is the main industry in Wales these days and so will welcome any visitors with open arms - why? - because they want you to spend money and return and spend more money. The narrow minded business owners who are moaning about losing a few hours trade on a Sunday should be trying to use the event to their advantage not constantly bleating like constipated sheep.

It is not true and very narrow minded for some people (not you obviously leadertheiver) to suggest only Cardiff that will benefit from this event - the food and drink consumed in Cardiff will have been cooked or produced from ingredients from outside the area surely? The same will apply to most items purchased whilst shopping in Cardiff. Also many employees of shops, hotels and restaurants/pubs etc in Cardiff live outside the capitol as well so will most likely spend most of their wages in their local economy.

Take my word for it, it will be an amazing day which you will not forget in a hurry and you will made to feel very welcome by the people of Wales.

You will always get the odd moaning miserable git wherever you go in any part of the world - just ignore them, they have no life, sadly.

So with one week to go I will say 'Croeso i Gymru" - (Welcome to Wales).

I will be contributing - going up there on Friday, staying until Sunday night - accommodation, tourist stuff Saturday, a bit of shopping, hotels for two night, pay to use their damned bridge, etc.

But if they don't want my money then fine - after all, Wales is renowned for it's economic prosperity.

Just to be clear its your bridge, it's in England.

The 'Welcome to England' sign is East of Junction 22 for the M49, the 'Welcome to Wales' sign is also well on land on the West side of the bridge before the toll. So it would appear the bridge is in the middle of nowhere.

Don't know who gets the money, but the toll / entry fee is definitely paid in Wales.

Neither Wales nor England gets any revenue from the tolls...

"The bridge...is owned by the company Severn River Crossing Plc. As of November 2010, Severn River Crossing Plc was owned

35% John Laing, British developer infrastructure operator
35% Vinci, French concessions and construction company
15% Bank of America, American multinational banking and financial services corporation
15% Barclays Capital, British multinational investment bank

The company's 2011 annual report showed the same companies still owned, through subsidiary companies, all the issued ordinary share capital of the Plc."

To be precise the bridge is owned by the government. Severn River Crossing Plc have a contract to maintain and operate the two bridges. At the end of the contract management of the bridges reverts to the owner ie the British government and who will then collect the tolls.

Disilluioned wrote:

To be precise the bridge is owned by the government.

So it's your bridge too.

crikey][quote wrote:

Cyclists do need to think a little bit further than that Garmin poking out in front of their handlebars; how many of that 14,999 are going to go back and contribute to the economy?

Hopefully a lot more than the people sitting on there arse just complaining about.

Cycling growth could save NHS £250m, says report http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/feb/10/cycling-save-nhs-250...

crikey wrote:

Quote:

I cannot believe the differences in one country to anothers like France, Spain and Italy

Cyclists do need to think a little bit further than that Garmin poking out in front of their handlebars; how many of that 14,999 are going to go back and contribute to the economy?

I am going to this event and looking forward to it. I will spend the whole weekend in the area, one that I would otherwise have spent elsewhere. The benefits of my participation are:

My curry and drinks Friday and Saturday night
My lunches
My B&B in Barry
My fuel fill Sunday evening

What's more, I am likely to go back there too if it's as nice as they say it is.
JC

crikey wrote:

Look at the population density of those countries, then consider the way UK sportives are always based around centres of population, in a country with a two minute history of popular cycling.

It is entirely unsurprising that local people who see no benefit from the disruption will be rather upset.

Cyclists do need to think a little bit further than that Garmin poking out in front of their handlebars; how many of that 14,999 are going to go back and contribute to the economy?

I don't know about going back, but I have rented a flat for two nights and I'm sure that I'll spend plenty on food and drink while I'm in town. While that might not directly benefit the garden centre on the route, hopefully one of the waitresses that I tip will be doing up her garden the following weekend.

crikey wrote:

Look at the population density of those countries, then consider the way UK sportives are always based around centres of population, in a country with a two minute history of popular cycling.

Would you describe the New Forest as a 'centre of population'? It's certainly a centre of anti-sportive sentiment.

crikey wrote:

another example of nonsense science; paid for by British Cycling who have a vested interest in promoting cycling.

Is there a specific basis for dismissing the research in this way, apart from who funded it?

djfleming22 wrote:

I cannot believe the differences in one country to anothers like France, Spain and Italy they have there roads closed for hours every single month the TTin the Isle of Man roads closed for 2 weeks every night and they embrace the events with town getting ready for the riders coming through, its regarded as a great a event not a disturbance, if it was the Royal family or an Olympic event would there be such an outcry, instead of complaining go out an get involved and you might just enjoy yourselves.

I think the biggest problem comes from the vocal minority, I participated in Etape Cymru last year and there were a lot of affected families who came out to cheer us on, and I thank them for it. Now it only takes one influential detractor to skew the general opinion and headline a story.
There might be a case to answer that these organising companies come into an area and ride roughshod over the local population, taking the profits with them. Maybe they could do more to put something back into the local economy.
I don't know, but what I do know is that there is adifference in attitudes between the Europeans and us and we don't come out well as a nation of selfish NIMBYes!
EDIT: For crikey, I'm not sure the individuals can do that much beyond supporting the immediate area where the event is based. Perhaps the organisation could do more to promote local businesses. Invite local suppliers to show their wares at the start/finish? Use a local supplier for the medals that are often awarded? As these event go through more than one local authority, the (marketing/political) solution has to think bigger.

djfleming22 wrote:

I cannot believe the differences in one country to anothers like France, Spain and Italy they have there roads closed for hours every single month the TTin the Isle of Man roads closed for 2 weeks every night and they embrace the events with town getting ready for the riders coming through, its regarded as a great a event not a disturbance, if it was the Royal family or an Olympic event would there be such an outcry, instead of complaining go out an get involved and you might just enjoy yourselves.

the Isle of Man TT isnt really a fair comparison, they get 40,000+ visitors turn up who put nigh on 30million pounds into the local economy in just a week, if that many cyclists turned up and spent that much money in the area surrounding Velothon Wales, I dont think youd hear a peep out of the locals.

so whilst its right to say look its only one day of the year, plan ahead,etc etc, I think we have to be mindful of the impact holding an event like this does have, and the return to the whole local community, rather than just Cardiff, isnt necessarily benefitting them all equally from the incovenience to them that it has caused.

and ultimately its not the Olympics, and its not the Royal Family, it is just a bunch of people who just want to ride their bikes around a part Wales on a Sunday.

Awavey wrote:

the Isle of Man TT isnt really a fair comparison, they get 40,000+ visitors turn up who put nigh on 30million pounds into the local economy in just a week, if that many cyclists turned up and spent that much money in the area surrounding Velothon Wales, I dont think youd hear a peep out of the locals.

I think it's a perfect comparison; Isle of man £750 per head for a week or £107 per head, per day; I'm spending way more than that for just a one day event. I'm sure that there are a lot of other people staying over, eating out etc. to equally contribute to the local economy.

Awavey wrote:

so whilst its right to say look its only one day of the year, plan ahead,etc etc, I think we have to be mindful of the impact holding an event like this does have, and the return to the whole local community, rather than just Cardiff, isnt necessarily benefitting them all equally from the incovenience to them that it has caused.

On the other hand, why don't people look at the opportunities that something like this can offer? Even if it's just getting the community together to support the event. At last year's ride London the children were loving supporting the riders as they went through the villages. Too many Daily Mail readers on here just focussing on the negatives.

Awavey wrote:

and ultimately its not the Olympics, and its not the Royal Family, it is just a bunch of people who just want to ride their bikes around a part Wales on a Sunday.

As opposed to just a bunch of people who want to drive their cars around a part of Wales on a Sunday.... FFS.

yupiteru wrote:

Why are so many people negative about this event - I thought this was a cycling site not the Daily Mail rejects area.

Several points..
a pro-level spectator event is generally gonna get a decent/better level of support/acceptance from joe public... whether this qualifies is another matter. Road closures are always gonna piss off some people, if more limited rolling closures can be managed that rather scuppers the naysayers. In a similar fashion, if it's a charitable event, and especially where some of it benefits local communities, that also helps to offset the whinging.

Down here in surrey, ridelondon (organised by the same bunch that organise the London Marathon) seem to have managed this to some degree after full road closures in the first event. Its taken a while, but this year they're finally allowing tandems, and have a recumbent trial (with hopefully open to 'bents purposely next year).

The velothon series ban 'bents, so f**k 'em and the UCI :p

'Course, the other view that some might take is that sportives are for wannabe racers that can't be arsed to race and need to be pampered with food stops and support nonsense. If you just want to ride yer bike with others, there's audax at a fraction of the price..

Tbh I'm kinda on the fence about sportives but imo they're bloody overpriced...