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Gizzard wrote:

Bidons made of biodegradable plastic are easily obtained. Doesn't strike me as a littering problem to throw those about.

The small print validates they are biodegradable in a composting environment, so they would have to be gathered up and buried. The blurb confirms they are not affected by sunlight or heat and can be put in a dishwasher.

Chucking them into the verge is no better than standard bottles

burtthebike wrote:

Without wishing to condone littering, the UCI seems to be lodged firmly up its own rectum.

"A rider who throws a half-full or empty bidon, that is life-threatening."

Remind me someone; how many people have been killed by a water bottle?

Whilst I agree the UCI are prioritising a fairly low risk problem and should be focussing on recycling zones etc than fines. To put it in context a half filled half litre bidon would weigh minimum 250g, a cricket ball only weighs about 155-160g,a golf ball only 45g, yet both have killed or caused serious injury, yes there's more to it than just weight alone, but a thrown bidon does have the potential to cause injury to spectators and possibly death, what happens if it hits you,you stumble fall and your head hits the kerb, all spectators to wear helmets in future?

I don't think the UCI should wait till something happens before doing anything about it,even if I disagree about the way they are going about it

Awavey wrote:

burtthebike wrote:

Without wishing to condone littering, the UCI seems to be lodged firmly up its own rectum.

"A rider who throws a half-full or empty bidon, that is life-threatening."

Remind me someone; how many people have been killed by a water bottle?

Whilst I agree the UCI are prioritising a fairly low risk problem and should be focussing on recycling zones etc than fines. To put it in context a half filled half litre bidon would weigh minimum 250g, a cricket ball only weighs about 155-160g,a golf ball only 45g, yet both have killed or caused serious injury, yes there's more to it than just weight alone, but a thrown bidon does have the potential to cause injury to spectators and possibly death, what happens if it hits you,you stumble fall and your head hits the kerb, all spectators to wear helmets in future? I don't think the UCI should wait till something happens before doing anything about it,even if I disagree about the way they are going about it

A cricket ball has a very hard exterior, a water bottle does not and is very squishable, even half full it's not remotely like a cricket ball ffs! Having caught one under the chin in a limited overs match 30 years ago and lost a molar, I can tell you from experience I would rather have a pro cyclist launch a full bottle of water at me compared to a cricket ball at same speeds every single time!!

Your theory that a bidon could cause death is without proof and so far in the history of cycling has being proven to be without merit in terms of occurence.

In any case the riders usually throw them to the ground, I can't say I've ever seen anyone struck by a bottle in any fashion that would be considered dangerous, whilst I've no doubt it's occured that someone has been hit a little bit hard, to fine for throwing away rather than throwing the bottle in a dangerous manner if it were full is absolutely ridiculous and massively OTT.

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

Your theory that a bidon could cause death is without proof and so far in the history of cycling has being proven to be without merit in terms of occurence.

I specifically said there was more to it than weight alone, it was to give context that just because you think something is small and doesnt weigh alot, actually small lightweight things can & do alot of harm in the right circumstances.

and its not a theory that people who get hit on the head can be injured, and injured in ways we cant necessarily reliably predict outcomes from, that might ultimately lead to their death.

Spectators at cycling races have certainly been involved in accidents with riders and there has been at least one death in the past decade that I recall,and one who ended up in a coma and was left potentially paralysed I think, fine you could argue in those cases they werent caused by the water bottles themselves, but weve seen crashes in rider groups caused by discarded water bottles, feed zones especially with riders taking sudden avoiding action, is it by luck or chance none of those crashes or avoidance ended up involving spectators.

so there is a risk however small and exceedingly rare that it might ever happen, just because it hasnt ever happened yet doesnt mean its something that cant or wont happen, and you dont wait till the unthinkable happens before you realise you need to do something about it.

as I said repeating myself, I dont agree with the method the UCI are using, but I do appreciate the reasons for it, even if others cant.