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Weather warnings force cancellation of Vélo South closed road sportive

Met Office yellow weather warning predicts gale force winds and heavy rain – organisers promise full refunds of entry and car parking fees

Vélo South the much anticipated closed road sportive which was scheduled to take place in Sussex this weekend has been cancelled on safety grounds with a Met Office yellow weather warning of gale force winds and heavy rain still in effect for West Sussex and surrounding parts of South East England for the duration of the time the event was scheduled to take place on Sunday. 

In a statement on the Vélo South website the organisers, CSM Events, say that the summary of all the different wether forecasts they consulted was:

“– Constant wind speeds as high as 38mph

– Wind gusts as high as 53mph

– Heavy rain throughout the event”

In addition they say that the sources they have consulted conclude that winds are like to be blowing at a constant 40mph for the duration of the event which will pose a significant risk not only to those taking part but to the volunteers, marshals, and staff helping to run the event. The statement summarises the main risks as:

“– Gusts blowing cyclists over or causing collisions

– Trees/branches/infrastructure damaged or falling

– Key event infrastructure (eg, safety barriers, feed stations, etc) compromised or unable to be constructed

– Increased pressure on medical and blue light services supporting the event

– Greatly increased risk of participants not being able to complete the event

– Exposure of stewards/volunteers/event staff to adverse conditions for long periods”

Given the severe nature of the weather conditions forecast Vélo South say they have taken the decision to cancel now so as to save people making the journey to West Sussex and incurring further costs. the event had attracted 15,000 entries for the 100 mile closed road ride. 

Vélo South say they hope to reschedule the event for some time in 2019 and will be working with the local authority to identify an alternative date as quickly as possible. CSM then went on to address the issue of refunds in a sentence highlighted in their statement: “In the meantime, all participants will be entitled to a full refund of their event entry fees & car-parking fees. Please bear with us and we will be in touch very soon to communicate the exact process for this.” 

“The entire Vélo South team are devastated that the event will not take place on Sunday and we know this is extremely disappointing news for all of our cyclists, stakeholders and supporters but the weather forecasts have left us with no alternative.”

Participants with any queries are encouraged to email hello [at] velosouth.com

No word yet as to whether the threatened walking protest against the event will still take place or if protesters will instead focus their attention on marching against the disruption to travel for local residents and drivers caused by the adverse weather instead.

We will update this story with any further developments as and when we get them in the coming days.

road.cc's founder and first editor, nowadays to be found riding a spreadsheet. Tony's journey in cycling media started in 1997 as production editor and then deputy editor of Total Bike, acting editor of Total Mountain Bike and then seven years as editor of Cycling Plus. He launched his first cycling website - the Cycling Plus Forum at the turn of the century. In 2006 he left C+ to head up the launch team for Bike Radar which he edited until 2008, when he co-launched the multi-award winning road.cc - finally handing on the reins in 2021 to Jack Sexty. His favourite ride is his ‘commute’ - which he does most days inc weekends and he’s been cycle-commuting since 1994. His favourite bikes are titanium and have disc brakes, though he'd like to own a carbon bike one day.

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50 comments

Avatar
The Rake replied to Chris Hayes | 5 years ago
3 likes

Chris Hayes wrote:

I think it would have been worth waiting until Friday evening. Bad weather often subsides or passes quickly and 1000s have made their plans already

the trouble with that is although the ride is Sunday, the pick up for numbers etc is Saturday. By Friday many of the riders would therefore have been on their way already.

Avatar
zanf replied to Chris Hayes | 5 years ago
3 likes

Chris Hayes wrote:

I think it would have been worth waiting until Friday evening. Bad weather often subsides or passes quickly and 1000s have made their plans already

You do know that meteorology is a science and they can now track weather patterns? They have been watching this storm come across the Atlantic so can predict when, where and how hard its going to hit.

Saying "Bad weather often subsides or passes quickly" is a bit old wives tales type nonsense. But if you felt it in your water after consulting your ouija board then it must be true!

Avatar
Chris Hayes replied to zanf | 5 years ago
1 like

zanf wrote:

Chris Hayes wrote:

I think it would have been worth waiting until Friday evening. Bad weather often subsides or passes quickly and 1000s have made their plans already

You do know that meteorology is a science and they can now track weather patterns? They have been watching this storm come across the Atlantic so can predict when, where and how hard its going to hit.

Saying "Bad weather often subsides or passes quickly" is a bit old wives tales type nonsense. But if you felt it in your water after consulting your ouija board then it must be true!

It may be a science, but there are many variables.  With 8 hrs to go the weather forecast is rain a 12mph winds.... Let's see if that changes shall we? I'm happy to be wrong... I just thought they called it early.  But thanks for the sarcasm, Zanf. It is a pretty low, aggressive form of wit: rendered lower by posting anonymously on a website

Avatar
SecretSam replied to Chris Hayes | 5 years ago
0 likes

Chris Hayes wrote:

I think it would have been worth waiting until Friday evening. Bad weather often subsides or passes quickly and 1000s have made their plans already

 

A lot of people will have travelled down on Friday for registration on Sat, so leaving it that late wouldn't be smart.  Plus I imagine the event insurance specifies a 48 hour rule.

Avatar
Prosper0 | 5 years ago
1 like

Forecast really doesn’t look that bad. What a fuss. 

Avatar
BehindTheBikesheds replied to Prosper0 | 5 years ago
8 likes

Prosper0 wrote:

Forecast really doesn’t look that bad. What a fuss. 

They need to make a 'fuss' and take a decision based on probabilities and health and safety. Falling trees, large branches coming down, being blown about/off course which can all have horrendous outcomes.

Whilst some might be fine with those kind of scenarios that's not everyone and many would not want to ride in thise conditions in any case, particularly in a mass participation ride which has its own set of problems in any case so it's the logical/sensible thing to do. What happens IF someone is badly hurt, what IF many people are hurt, the organisers would be strung up and told they had a warning weather wise and ignored it, people like you are clueless!

Cancelling now instead of waiting to see on the day what might happen is correct.

Let's hope that some large trees fall blocking the roads from motorvehicle use and thus preventing the NIMBYS fro getting out, that would be poetic justice!

Avatar
Beecho replied to BehindTheBikesheds | 5 years ago
14 likes

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

Prosper0 wrote:

Forecast really doesn’t look that bad. What a fuss. 

They need to make a 'fuss' and take a decision based on probabilities and health and safety. Falling trees, large branches coming down, being blown about/off course which can all have horrendous outcomes.

Whilst some might be fine with those kind of scenarios that's not everyone and many would not want to ride in thise conditions in any case, particularly in a mass participation ride which has its own set of problems in any case so it's the logical/sensible thing to do. What happens IF someone is badly hurt, what IF many people are hurt, the organisers would be strung up and told they had a warning weather wise and ignored it, people like you are clueless!

Cancelling now instead of waiting to see on the day what might happen is correct.

Let's hope that some large trees fall blocking the roads from motorvehicle use and thus preventing the NIMBYS fro getting out, that would be poetic justice!

Dude, I pretty much agree with this and so much of what you have to say. I've also stuck up for you when feeling people have laid into you unnecessarily, but why the 'people like you are clueless' comment? You may disagree with the post, but there's no need to be so aggressive.

That is all.

Avatar
Simon E replied to Beecho | 5 years ago
0 likes

Beecho wrote:

Dude, I pretty much agree with this and so much of what you have to say. I've also stuck up for you when feeling people have laid into you unnecessarily, but why the 'people like you are clueless' comment? You may disagree with the post, but there's no need to be so aggressive.

I have to say that with this comment Prosper0 comes across as somewhat clueless.

The scale of an event of this kind means that such a dismissive comment about the decision, no doubt taken after much discussion and hand-wringing, suggests that they know sweet F.A. about the logistics of such an undertaking. If you're going to cancel an event then making the call sooner is invariably the best way.

Of course it's disappointing. Many people are inconvenienced, out of pocket etc etc but I doubt that anyone is more disappointed than the organiser.

The roads haven't gone anywhere, all the whingers can still ride the route.

Avatar
madcarew replied to Simon E | 5 years ago
3 likes

Simon E wrote:

Beecho wrote:

Dude, I pretty much agree with this and so much of what you have to say. I've also stuck up for you when feeling people have laid into you unnecessarily, but why the 'people like you are clueless' comment? You may disagree with the post, but there's no need to be so aggressive.

I have to say that with this comment Prosper0 comes across as somewhat clueless.

The scale of an event of this kind means that such a dismissive comment about the decision, no doubt taken after much discussion and hand-wringing, suggests that they know sweet F.A. about the logistics of such an undertaking. If you're going to cancel an event then making the call sooner is invariably the best way.

Of course it's disappointing. Many people are inconvenienced, out of pocket etc etc but I doubt that anyone is more disappointed than the organiser.

The roads haven't gone anywhere, all the whingers can still ride the route.

Beecho's comment was not about whether or not ProsperO's comment was clueless, it was about BTBS calling ProsperO clueless. It's unnecessary and agressive. We all have our relative areas of cluelessness (BTBS's is the legal system and processes: he literally has no clue) but it is unnecessary and unkind for people to make that point. Beecho was making the point that BTBS occasionally (ok, very rarely) has a valid point, and when he does others are going to be less inclined to stick up for him if he continues to treat people the way he invariably does. One might point out that if you can't see that from Beecho's comment then you are, in fact, clueless. But no-one has. See? 

Avatar
BehindTheBikesheds replied to madcarew | 5 years ago
0 likes

madcarew wrote:

Simon E wrote:

Beecho wrote:

Dude, I pretty much agree with this and so much of what you have to say. I've also stuck up for you when feeling people have laid into you unnecessarily, but why the 'people like you are clueless' comment? You may disagree with the post, but there's no need to be so aggressive.

I have to say that with this comment Prosper0 comes across as somewhat clueless.

The scale of an event of this kind means that such a dismissive comment about the decision, no doubt taken after much discussion and hand-wringing, suggests that they know sweet F.A. about the logistics of such an undertaking. If you're going to cancel an event then making the call sooner is invariably the best way.

Of course it's disappointing. Many people are inconvenienced, out of pocket etc etc but I doubt that anyone is more disappointed than the organiser.

The roads haven't gone anywhere, all the whingers can still ride the route.

Beecho's comment was not about whether or not ProsperO's comment was clueless, it was about BTBS calling ProsperO clueless. It's unnecessary and agressive. We all have our relative areas of cluelessness (BTBS's is the legal system and processes: he literally has no clue) but it is unnecessary and unkind for people to make that point. Beecho was making the point that BTBS occasionally (ok, very rarely) has a valid point, and when he does others are going to be less inclined to stick up for him if he continues to treat people the way he invariably does. One might point out that if you can't see that from Beecho's comment then you are, in fact, clueless. But no-one has. See? 

It's clueless because Beecho utterly ignores everything and denigrates the organisers, the poster  ignores everything, it ignores the basics of H&S, ignores weather warnings and why organisers have to make a decision well in advance based on the best information they have. It's not agressive nor unnecessary , it's telling someone straight they should not be so ignorant of matters regarding people's safety and well being.

Stop being a faux offended snowflake ffs!

Avatar
Beecho replied to BehindTheBikesheds | 5 years ago
2 likes

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

madcarew wrote:

Simon E wrote:

Beecho wrote:

Dude, I pretty much agree with this and so much of what you have to say. I've also stuck up for you when feeling people have laid into you unnecessarily, but why the 'people like you are clueless' comment? You may disagree with the post, but there's no need to be so aggressive.

I have to say that with this comment Prosper0 comes across as somewhat clueless.

The scale of an event of this kind means that such a dismissive comment about the decision, no doubt taken after much discussion and hand-wringing, suggests that they know sweet F.A. about the logistics of such an undertaking. If you're going to cancel an event then making the call sooner is invariably the best way.

Of course it's disappointing. Many people are inconvenienced, out of pocket etc etc but I doubt that anyone is more disappointed than the organiser.

The roads haven't gone anywhere, all the whingers can still ride the route.

Beecho's comment was not about whether or not ProsperO's comment was clueless, it was about BTBS calling ProsperO clueless. It's unnecessary and agressive. We all have our relative areas of cluelessness (BTBS's is the legal system and processes: he literally has no clue) but it is unnecessary and unkind for people to make that point. Beecho was making the point that BTBS occasionally (ok, very rarely) has a valid point, and when he does others are going to be less inclined to stick up for him if he continues to treat people the way he invariably does. One might point out that if you can't see that from Beecho's comment then you are, in fact, clueless. But no-one has. See? 

It's clueless because Beecho utterly ignores everything and denigrates the organisers, the poster  ignores everything, it ignores the basics of H&S, ignores weather warnings and why organisers have to make a decision well in advance based on the best information they have. It's not agressive nor unnecessary , it's telling someone straight they should not be so ignorant of matters regarding people's safety and well being.

Stop being a faux offended snowflake ffs!

I’m just asking for a bit more civility on this forum.

As it happens, I’m sat in the sunshine in my (temporary) Winchester garden, wishing I’d not had a few vinos at lunch and was still able to ride safely. I was signed up for Velo South and am 100% behind them cancelling it. The level of standing water alone here tells me it was the correct decision.

BTBS, Don Simon and dreamfireballXL5whatever your name is, your bullshit opinions have been enough to turn me off the comments on this site forever.

Davel, I’ll miss your brilliant contributions. Rapha Nadal, I’ll be in touch when we do finally move to Hove.

Sayonara.

 

Avatar
Beecho replied to Beecho | 5 years ago
0 likes

Beecho wrote:

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

madcarew wrote:

Simon E wrote:

Beecho wrote:

Dude, I pretty much agree with this and so much of what you have to say. I've also stuck up for you when feeling people have laid into you unnecessarily, but why the 'people like you are clueless' comment? You may disagree with the post, but there's no need to be so aggressive.

I have to say that with this comment Prosper0 comes across as somewhat clueless.

The scale of an event of this kind means that such a dismissive comment about the decision, no doubt taken after much discussion and hand-wringing, suggests that they know sweet F.A. about the logistics of such an undertaking. If you're going to cancel an event then making the call sooner is invariably the best way.

Of course it's disappointing. Many people are inconvenienced, out of pocket etc etc but I doubt that anyone is more disappointed than the organiser.

The roads haven't gone anywhere, all the whingers can still ride the route.

Beecho's comment was not about whether or not ProsperO's comment was clueless, it was about BTBS calling ProsperO clueless. It's unnecessary and agressive. We all have our relative areas of cluelessness (BTBS's is the legal system and processes: he literally has no clue) but it is unnecessary and unkind for people to make that point. Beecho was making the point that BTBS occasionally (ok, very rarely) has a valid point, and when he does others are going to be less inclined to stick up for him if he continues to treat people the way he invariably does. One might point out that if you can't see that from Beecho's comment then you are, in fact, clueless. But no-one has. See? 

It's clueless because Beecho utterly ignores everything and denigrates the organisers, the poster  ignores everything, it ignores the basics of H&S, ignores weather warnings and why organisers have to make a decision well in advance based on the best information they have. It's not agressive nor unnecessary , it's telling someone straight they should not be so ignorant of matters regarding people's safety and well being.

Stop being a faux offended snowflake ffs!

I’m just asking for a bit more civility on this forum.

As it happens, I’m sat in the sunshine in my (temporary) Winchester garden, wishing I’d not had a few vinos at lunch and was still able to ride safely. I was signed up for Velo South and am 100% behind them cancelling it. The level of standing water alone here tells me it was the correct decision.

BTBS, Don Simon and dreamfireballXL5whatever your name is, your bullshit has been enough to turn me off the comments on this site forever.

Davel, I’ll miss your brilliant contributions. Rapha Nadal, I’ll be in touch when we do finally move to Hove.

Sayonara.

 

Avatar
davel replied to Beecho | 5 years ago
3 likes

Beecho wrote:

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

madcarew wrote:

Simon E wrote:

Beecho wrote:

Dude, I pretty much agree with this and so much of what you have to say. I've also stuck up for you when feeling people have laid into you unnecessarily, but why the 'people like you are clueless' comment? You may disagree with the post, but there's no need to be so aggressive.

I have to say that with this comment Prosper0 comes across as somewhat clueless.

The scale of an event of this kind means that such a dismissive comment about the decision, no doubt taken after much discussion and hand-wringing, suggests that they know sweet F.A. about the logistics of such an undertaking. If you're going to cancel an event then making the call sooner is invariably the best way.

Of course it's disappointing. Many people are inconvenienced, out of pocket etc etc but I doubt that anyone is more disappointed than the organiser.

The roads haven't gone anywhere, all the whingers can still ride the route.

Beecho's comment was not about whether or not ProsperO's comment was clueless, it was about BTBS calling ProsperO clueless. It's unnecessary and agressive. We all have our relative areas of cluelessness (BTBS's is the legal system and processes: he literally has no clue) but it is unnecessary and unkind for people to make that point. Beecho was making the point that BTBS occasionally (ok, very rarely) has a valid point, and when he does others are going to be less inclined to stick up for him if he continues to treat people the way he invariably does. One might point out that if you can't see that from Beecho's comment then you are, in fact, clueless. But no-one has. See? 

It's clueless because Beecho utterly ignores everything and denigrates the organisers, the poster  ignores everything, it ignores the basics of H&S, ignores weather warnings and why organisers have to make a decision well in advance based on the best information they have. It's not agressive nor unnecessary , it's telling someone straight they should not be so ignorant of matters regarding people's safety and well being.

Stop being a faux offended snowflake ffs!

I’m just asking for a bit more civility on this forum.

As it happens, I’m sat in the sunshine in my (temporary) Winchester garden, wishing I’d not had a few vinos at lunch and was still able to ride safely. I was signed up for Velo South and am 100% behind them cancelling it. The level of standing water alone here tells me it was the correct decision.

BTBS, Don Simon and dreamfireballXL5whatever your name is, your bullshit opinions have been enough to turn me off the comments on this site forever.

Davel, I’ll miss your brilliant contributions. Rapha Nadal, I’ll be in touch when we do finally move to Hove.

Sayonara.

 

yes I've missed those contributions too.

Don't go fella: sidestep the noise. It is possible. FWIW I'm often in the 'dick' bag on here myself.

 

Avatar
davel replied to BehindTheBikesheds | 5 years ago
3 likes

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

madcarew wrote:

Simon E wrote:

Beecho wrote:

Dude, I pretty much agree with this and so much of what you have to say. I've also stuck up for you when feeling people have laid into you unnecessarily, but why the 'people like you are clueless' comment? You may disagree with the post, but there's no need to be so aggressive.

I have to say that with this comment Prosper0 comes across as somewhat clueless.

The scale of an event of this kind means that such a dismissive comment about the decision, no doubt taken after much discussion and hand-wringing, suggests that they know sweet F.A. about the logistics of such an undertaking. If you're going to cancel an event then making the call sooner is invariably the best way.

Of course it's disappointing. Many people are inconvenienced, out of pocket etc etc but I doubt that anyone is more disappointed than the organiser.

The roads haven't gone anywhere, all the whingers can still ride the route.

Beecho's comment was not about whether or not ProsperO's comment was clueless, it was about BTBS calling ProsperO clueless. It's unnecessary and agressive. We all have our relative areas of cluelessness (BTBS's is the legal system and processes: he literally has no clue) but it is unnecessary and unkind for people to make that point. Beecho was making the point that BTBS occasionally (ok, very rarely) has a valid point, and when he does others are going to be less inclined to stick up for him if he continues to treat people the way he invariably does. One might point out that if you can't see that from Beecho's comment then you are, in fact, clueless. But no-one has. See? 

It's clueless because Beecho utterly ignores everything and denigrates the organisers, the poster  ignores everything, it ignores the basics of H&S, ignores weather warnings and why organisers have to make a decision well in advance based on the best information they have. It's not agressive nor unnecessary , it's telling someone straight they should not be so ignorant of matters regarding people's safety and well being.

Stop being a faux offended snowflake ffs!

It'd help your cause if you were namechecking the correct forummer you initially called out. It wasn't Beecho.

Not for the first time: pay attention before you wade in.

Avatar
madcarew replied to BehindTheBikesheds | 5 years ago
5 likes

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

It's clueless because Beecho utterly ignores everything and denigrates the organisers, the poster  ignores everything, it ignores the basics of H&S, ignores weather warnings and why organisers have to make a decision well in advance based on the best information they have. It's not agressive nor unnecessary , it's telling someone straight they should not be so ignorant of matters regarding people's safety and well being.

Stop being a faux offended snowflake ffs!

<SLOW CLAP>

Well done. You got the wrong person. It wasn't Beecho. He has been one of your supporters occasionally. He didn't denigrate anyone, not the organisers and ignored nothing.  How's that for clueless?  You're not clueless, you're a complete idiot. Bigotted, anachronistic fool. Your level of cluelessness is truly breathtaking. You've reached a Trumpian level of irrelevance.

Avatar
Simon E replied to madcarew | 5 years ago
0 likes

madcarew wrote:

It's unnecessary and agressive. We all have our relative areas of cluelessness (BTBS's is the legal system and processes: he literally has no clue) but it is unnecessary and unkind for people to make that point.

I didn't say BTBS was using an appropriate tone but tried to say that I also felt Prosper0 appeared to have clue about what's involved here. Is that unnecessary or unkind? I certainly wasn't being aggressive. But aren't you saying the same thing?

Local weather stations have shown 8 or 9°C with heavy rain all morning (Met Office 'feels like' was 6°C). Wind picked up from 14 mph NE to 21mph with 34mph gusts by midday. While it's easy to for someone at home to say "Ah, it's not that bad ya wimps" I think people should try riding 100 miles or standing at a roadside ez-up for a few hours, holding it down and retrieving wind-blown bits & bobs before being so dismissive. I went out for a walk this morning in between the showers (also about 8°C) and it felt a bit keen. I would ride to work in it but certainly wouldn't have chosen to do a long bike ride.

Avatar
madcarew replied to Simon E | 5 years ago
2 likes

Simon E wrote:

madcarew wrote:

It's unnecessary and agressive. We all have our relative areas of cluelessness (BTBS's is the legal system and processes: he literally has no clue) but it is unnecessary and unkind for people to make that point.

I didn't say BTBS was using an appropriate tone but tried to say that I also felt Prosper0 appeared to have clue about what's involved here. Is that unnecessary or unkind? I certainly wasn't being aggressive. But aren't you saying the same thing?

Local weather stations have shown 8 or 9°C with heavy rain all morning (Met Office 'feels like' was 6°C). Wind picked up from 14 mph NE to 21mph with 34mph gusts by midday. While it's easy to for someone at home to say "Ah, it's not that bad ya wimps" I think people should try riding 100 miles or standing at a roadside ez-up for a few hours, holding it down and retrieving wind-blown bits & bobs before being so dismissive. I went out for a walk this morning in between the showers (also about 8°C) and it felt a bit keen. I would ride to work in it but certainly wouldn't have chosen to do a long bike ride.

Personally I think there's a significant difference between talking about a clueless comment and calling someone clueless.

And you are right, I was slightly obliquely saying the same thing to BTBS simply because he and Don Simon are regularly personal in their responses; Clearly it is their preferred form of invective, favoured form of communication. Do unto others and all that...

Avatar
kil0ran | 5 years ago
2 likes

Odd, it doesn't look like it's going to be much worse than RL was this year or in (was it '15 or '16 it hooned down?)

Avatar
brooksby | 5 years ago
4 likes

So the locals gave up on their court action and just went to a local weather witch instead?

Or do they now intend to sue the Met Office for forcing them to stay barricaded in their homes??

"Oh, won't somebody think of the farmers!!!?"

Avatar
Da_Burb | 5 years ago
19 likes

Presumably, an injunction against the weather will now be applied for, as it will be preventing the locals from leaving their homes?

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