I thought I must have imagined it. Driving up the A1 this morning in a car. Reasonably busy even on a Sunday. Encountered a bicyclists race on the private racetrack we’re allowed to use with their permission - the A1. Tens of Lycra clad aliens batting up and down. I’d overtaken one of these about a quarter of a mile up to one of the round abouts. Waiting for traffic to pass and pulled out onto the round about and heading round when this bloke in full race mode blitzed up my inside as I was on the roundabout and tried to follow me round next to my mirror.
Further up more scenes. One of these alien life forms had stopped on the edge of the carriageway to stare at his pedals, right around a corner. Just in time for a tanker ahead of me having to lock brakes and swerve to avoid hitting him. He really did have no choice. No trucknet csi bullshine about he should’ve been expecting it. I don’t think he was expecting that around the corner. A fat shiny wasp parked on a push bike staring at the floor. Maybe he should’ve known better, he was on a racetrack.
Further along I was quite excited to see even more. Some clown in a car had hung a chequered flag out on a pole next to the carriageway. Hordes of sweaty forms covered in cameras limping around all red faced. I’m so glad they allow me to use their racetrack.
Where the ■■■■ were the police■■? And tell me, if someone some much as gets knicked for munching a mars bar behind a wheel of a yaris, how are these Darwin nob rotters allowed to show their insulting Lycra arses in the face of the law??
Perhaps they’ve been watching the Olympic road race and felt inspired 
Meanwhile back in cyclist la la land.If they can cause this amount of carnage among themselves on closed roads what chance has anyone else got when they decide to ride ( race ) on open roads shared with motor traffic. 
huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/r … 2daa4a52ff
bald bloke:
Perhaps they’ve been watching the Olympic road race and felt inspired
It’s true, as kids we always used to get the tennis rackets out when Wimbledon was on. Footballs came out at the end of August. Hours of karate chops and Ahhh Glasshopper when Kung Fu had been on the telly.
Bloody Convoy has a lot to answer for.
Kerragy:
bald bloke:
Perhaps they’ve been watching the Olympic road race and felt inspired
It’s true, as kids we always used to get the tennis rackets out when Wimbledon was on. Footballs came out at the end of August. Hours of karate chops and Ahhh Glasshopper when Kung Fu had been on the telly.
Bloody Convoy has a lot to answer for.
Breaker breaker ten four rubber duck
I was at an inquest about 15 years ago after a truck hit and killed a cyclist on the A1 near Leeming.
The Coroner back then cleared the driver as the cyclist swerved right in front of him and also condemned the bike racing on such a major road.
I was there as a defence witness and after the police had to ■■■■■■ us out of the car park as they were trying to lynch us.
They regularly race on the A40 dual carriageway at Witney, putting up little signs saying “cycle event.” The cyclists aren’t a massive problem on the single carriageway part as they’re moving as fast as a tractor and rarely bunched together. The problems are the excitable nerds with clipboards and hi viz that wave frantically at motor vehicles to slow down. They cause more of a distraction than the bikes.
Quite why cyclists can race along roads without closure notices being placed I don’t know.
I wanna see a video of it.
Muckaway:
.
Quite why cyclists can race along roads without closure notices being placed I don’t know.
Because it costs money to close roads and they would be denied permission to shut the A1 for a club event. So they do it illegally, pretending to act as if they’re individual cyclists who accidentally find themselves amongst 99 other cyclists pedalling up and down a small section of the dual carriageway. Racing on the open highway is illegal.
What boils my blueberries even more is it’s not enough for these law dodging fectards to take their illegal activities quietly away into the countryside. They choose the great North road to really rub everyone’s noses into it. And then on top, disobey every known method of defensive road use.
These thunder ■■■■■ have dined out on breaking the law for too long. This was no mere club event. The bikes were like 2 wheeled space ships, the riders all had numbers. They had a car parked on the grass with chequered flag hanging out onto the edge of the carriageway, a finish line plus marshals. The carnage I saw today between black cat and the next roundabout had my eyes on stalks
If racing on open roads is illegal, how do they get event insurance?
Kerragy:
If racing on open roads is illegal, how do they get event insurance?
And you know for a fact they have “event insurance”? If they were holding an insurance it would not be possible to legally hold a racing “event” on the surface of an open dual carriageway without police presence.
Buying insurance is no respecter of legality anymore than having car insurance stops you from drag racing your car. Incidentally I doubt very much they actually have this “event insurance”. One swallow a summer does not make. Insurance or not does not infer legality of what they are up to.
You misunderstood me, I wasn’t being belligerent. I just presumed they must have been insured, who would risk taking part in an illegal uninsured event on public roads? Wouldn’t the OB be all over something like that?
Kerragy:
You misunderstood me, I wasn’t being belligerent. I just presumed they must have been insured, who would risk taking part in an illegal uninsured event on public roads? Wouldn’t the OB be all over something like that?
Sorry Kerragy I apologise. The road traffic act which governs these things is very wish washy on it, but one thing is clear. It mentions racing is only allowed with permission and as such police presence and closing of highways with regard to danger. If the A1 isn’t dangerous then I don’t know what is.
We had something simular in the Peterborough area recently, my elderly mother received a voting slip from the council asking if she would agree to road closures in her area for about six hours on a Sunday. She voted against the race as she can only get out of the house on certain days for shopping ect only to find out the race was to go ahead. I emailed the lovely couciller that was in charge of organising the race and asked for the justification for closing off access to people’s homes for such a prolonged period of time at the weekend, the reply came back stating a revenue boost to the city of around 300k to watch a group of cyclist blocking the roads but when I asked for a breakdown of costs to police the event and lost revenue to shops and the general inconvieance to the average home owner the silence was deafening.
It seems that everyone wants to be Bradley Wiggins and they are happy to use any stretch of Tarmac to live out thier fantasies without any regard to the average motorist, I suggest that the next time any of us sees one of these lovely races taking place we should inform the police immediately in the interests of health and safety or sheer bloody mindedness which ever floats your boat
Richard R:
We had something simular in the Peterborough area recently, my elderly mother received a voting slip from the council asking if she would agree to road closures in her area for about six hours on a Sunday. She voted against the race as she can only get out of the house on certain days for shopping ect only to find out the race was to go ahead. I emailed the lovely couciller that was in charge of organising the race and asked for the justification for closing off access to people’s homes for such a prolonged period of time at the weekend, the reply came back stating a revenue boost to the city of around 300k to watch a group of cyclist blocking the roads but when I asked for a breakdown of costs to police the event and lost revenue to shops and the general inconvieance to the average home owner the silence was deafening.
It seems that everyone wants to be Bradley Wiggins and they are happy to use any stretch of Tarmac to live out thier fantasies without any regard to the average motorist, I suggest that the next time any of us sees one of these lovely races taking place we should inform the police immediately in the interests of health and safety or sheer bloody mindedness which ever floats your boat
You know for whatever reasons I can’t explain it didn’t occur to me to ring the Police. After the incidents Id witnessed on a short stretch it would’ve been justified. Wish I had now.
This sort of thing goes on, on the A63 were the M62 ends and the A63 starts as you head into Hull. They start in Newport on the old A63, then join the main A63 and come off at the South Cave turn and down the other side. I dont mind cyclists just that they dont use alot of common sense when it comes to which roads to use for there “club racing”.
The fact of the matter is this,they are not racing. They are time trialling,the 2 things are different.I was a time triallist many years ago.
In the New Forest between ashurst and Lyndhurst on the main road a nice wide cycle lane has been built for the cyclists to use.
Do they use it for their own and others safety? Do they zb
When told there’s a special road just for them they reply it’s not illegal to ride on the main ride
My response is it’s not illegal to eat my own ■■■ but that doesn’t mean I should do it
Mailman:
In the New Forest between ashurst and Lyndhurst on the main road a nice wide cycle lane has been built for the cyclists to use.
Do they use it for their own and others safety? Do they zb
When told there’s a special road just for them they reply it’s not illegal to ride on the main ride
My response is it’s not illegal to eat my own ■■■ but that doesn’t mean I should do it
Yep, I know it well!
It seems the only cyclists that use it are the families, the lycra brigade would rather be seen dead than use it… 
