Pedal for Scotland 2009

[magnatom]

Well what a day! Glorious sunshine, no rain, being spat at, catching a cone with my foot that then fell in the path of BhoyJim and Goo bought a round.... Yes all shocking!

I enjoyed the ride, but as others have said, it is a victim of it's own success. Far to many cyclists on roads that just can't take the numbers safely. I can't understand why we are still hearded down the cyclepath into Edinburgh!

However, I certainly enjoyed the company, old and new. We even ad a guest appearance from scoosh at the pub in Leith. He was proudly boasting of his lung busting 3km ride to get there!

The two incidents:

Cycling along a road which was closed one way I managed to make a slight contact with one of the cones which were being used to separate us from the traffic on the other side. Unfortunately it then wobbled into the path of BhoyJim and he came off with a nasty crunch. It turned out that he had some nasty grazes and some sore joints etc. It could have been worse, but nasty none the less. Sorry Jim!

The spitting incident was crazy.

Cycling towards Glasgow Green before the start I was happily chatting to other cyclists. A light ahead was red as was one 20 metres ahead. However 2 cyclists decided to jump the first to sit at the second. The van driver next to me shook his head. When I passed them I made a comment (very polite) suggesting that that was a bit silly and gives drivers ammunition. One of them reacted 'whatever' the other got a bit gobby. Fair enough, I passed them and thought no more of it.

About 5 minutes later, at a junction a police officer suggested that we cycle on the path as there were blockages in the road (to do with PfS). So I laughed and made a comment to the cyclists around me about be allowed to cycle on the path. A couple laughed including one of the cyclists that I had seen at the lights. However, we had to get back on the road so as I approached the curb (at about 5mph) I slowed. Gobby cyclist rammed into the back of me, 'cursing that I should have signed the stop'!!

I laughed and made my way to meet the CC'ers. A while later 10-15 minutes, when chatting to the CC'ers a cyclists passes me at speed and spits on my back. I drop my bike and the 'gobby' cyclist squares up to me, so I square back. He suggests that he was spitting on the ground, blah blah, blah. Not being one to back down in this situation, he eventually whimpers off. Bhoyjim witnessed the gob, but no easy way of identifying him..., although, he will have had his picture taken on the route won't he...


Another normal day in the life of magnatom!!

 

[goo_mason]

Yeah it was a great day out, just recovered from removing my top, it was stuck to the cuts on my body Mrs bhoyjim is full of sympathy, so much so that i've not to go out on a bike again, and i've not to sleep in the bed tonight as i will get blood on the sheets.

Isn't love grand?

 

[Mr Pig]

At no stage apart from that stupid & dangerous coned-off road lane did I ever feel REALLY blocked in by wobbly & unpredictable cyclists.

I thought it was crazy. I actually lost the head at one point as we were going through Airdrie. People were filling the whole road and making it impossible for cars to move for no other reason than they had zero consideration for anyone else around them. I flew past them yelling at them to move in so that he cars could get past, idiotic thing to do but I was raging.

Just too many people. Going out for a run with half-a-dozen mates is much more fun.

 

[Coco]

Marooncat, if you really wanted to be last I would have let you.

As it turned out I finished in front of a pig with a sore trotter and 2 good Samaritans.

Really enjoyed the ride, although the biggest danger was from other cyclists. I don't feel too bad, but am milking it for all its worth with Mrs Coco.

Thanks everyone.


cheers

 

[BIGSESAL]

I can't understand why we are still hearded down the cyclepath into Edinburgh!

It wasn't too busy when I was finishing at 11.15 but there seemed to be a lot of people walking dogs and jogging which cost me quite a few minutes and forced me to brake several times. There did seem to be a lot of traffic lights in the area around the finish so perhaps that is why they put us on the tracks. In my opinion Edinburgh council sould take a look at what Glasgow council did and just close off the last 3-5km. Edinburgh is a great city but the only scenery I saw was on the bus home, they didn't showcase their city very well.

 

[Theseus]

... there seemed to be a lot of people walking dogs and jogging which cost me quite a few minutes and forced me to brake several times.

How dare they use it! Imagine, having to actually brake and show consideration for others. It will never catch on.

 

[goo_mason]

It wasn't too busy when I was finishing at 11.15 but there seemed to be a lot of people walking dogs and jogging which cost me quite a few minutes and forced me to brake several times. There did seem to be a lot of traffic lights in the area around the finish so perhaps that is why they put us on the tracks. In my opinion Edinburgh council sould take a look at what Glasgow council did and just close off the last 3-5km. Edinburgh is a great city but the only scenery I saw was on the bus home, they didn't showcase their city very well.

It's a shared path, so there WILL be be other people who aren't on bikes sharing it. It's not a race either, so costing you a couple of minutes wasn't going to make one iota of difference. I hope you weren't giving the residents of my home town the impression that cyclists are selfish lycra-louts that have no consideration for others...

** EDIT **
p.6 of the Important Rider Information booklet:

• The event is not a race and most roads and cycleways being used will be open to vehicular or pedestrian traffic as normal
• Be considerate to local people along the route

p.7

• Please note that there are sections where the route follows part of the National Cycle Network traffic-free paths. These can be busy with other users. PLEASE PAY ATTENTION AND GIVE WAY TO THEM.

 

[ferret fur]

Didn't do it this time but happened to go down the path at about 11 -ish to find that the left turn by Craigleith wasn't marked or marshalled. (one appeared later.) There didn't appear to be any signs on the cyclepath warning people that the event was taking place. Pretty poor really, a recipe for disaster if the normal number of Sunday morning non-cyclists were about.

 

[HJ]

Ariadne, BIGSESAL, Niblox, JiMBR, viniga, pickup1980, Coco & ferret fur: how about joining us on a CC social ride sometime, you would be very welcome

I am trying to be positive and think of this as an opportunity to get a new bike

Sorry to hear about your bike marooncat, good to see that you are thinking positively, hope to see you out on a CC social ride on the new bike...

My take on the day. Had a lot of fun, surprised at just how much social riding with Team CC I managed to get in, despite my deceptively slow time of 4:18 (badly held up after Kirkliston).

Arrived at Viccy Park just after 7am, queued for an hour to get on the transport (I though 20min last year was long enough). This bit was badly organised, then the bus driver got lost on the way to Glasgow. He was from Fife and had no idea of where he was going, he been given a photocopy of poor print off of a Google map, most of the lines were missing and only a scatter of street names showing. Fortunately there was a lassie sitting near the front who knew Glasgow and was able to give him directions (after he had turned the wrong way on the M73). Even so, we arrived before the lorries carrying the bikes, again no organisation people milling about, we didn't knowing what was going on. Really needs marshalling. Because of the drop off location, only two lorries could be unloaded at any one time, again causing delays. Having retrieved the bikes, there was no signage as to how to get to the start. It is not exactly rocket science, this sort of thing needs to be sorted out.

Thankfully the other CCers waited for us, and there was a team start at 10.20. The team managed to stay together over the first few miles, but the traffic lights did eventually break things up a bit. We decided to miss the first feed stop, then most of us managed to regroup at Mr Pig's house. By the time we reached the second feed stop, there were long queues and so it was decided just to take on water, which was a shame, as the food there last year was great (and it was the same provider this year). Lunch at Linlithgow was very disappointing due to the changes in sponsors.

Did stop at Kirkliston which wasn't as busy as might have been expected from the number of people hanging out on the roadside (and some standing in the road, this was an open road , food and drink nothing special, but toilets welcome and no queues for either. Beyond Kirkliston was the new closed road section, this is not an improvement, really felt hemmed in by the coning. If they are going to close the road, then they should close the whole thing. They really need to re-think the road capacity needed for an event this size, 7000 is not a small number of people! The entry into Edinburgh is also far too crowd, the off road cycle paths are really not suitable, it should be on road.

Just after Barnton, I heard psst, psst, psst coming from somewhere behind me, looked back and saw a guy on a Tri-cross bike. He didn't have any gear with him (apart from tyre leavers), and having lugged a full repair kit with me, thought I would offer to help. First off I offered a spare inner tube, then realised that my 700c tube was bigger than his wheel. By this time Mrs HJ had come back to find me, and suggested that patching his tube would be better. As this is not something we do very often (because with good tyres we simple don't have to), the first patch didn't take (possible the glue was too old), the second one held, and he was able to carry on. Note to self, get some self adhesive patches.

By this time, a large number of slow people had got in front and the ride to the finish was painfully slow, down heavily over crowed cycle paths.

At finish picked up goody bag (not as good as last year), and headed for the Shore (Leith), arriving just in time for Scoosh to buy me a pint, Thanks Scoosh!!

 

[JiMBR]

Ariadne, BIGSESAL, Niblox, JiMBR, viniga, pickup1980, Coco & ferret fur: how about joining us on a CC social ride sometime, you would be very welcome

Would love to join you guys on a social ride sometime.

I'll keep an eye on the forum...hopefully see you soon.

 

[viniga]

HJ - I would be happy to join you guys in a social ride.

Didn't do it this time but happened to go down the path at about 11 -ish to find that the left turn by Craigleith wasn't marked or marshalled. (one appeared later.) There didn't appear to be any signs on the cyclepath warning people that the event was taking place. Pretty poor really, a recipe for disaster if the normal number of Sunday morning non-cyclists were about.

There was a woman walking seven dogs when the two of us were going by. I of course treated her with all due respect (as goo_mason pointed out we are all obliged to). But she was completely unaware that 7000 cyclists were approaching. There were no signs to inform path users or cyclists and no marshals.

The bottom line as others have stated is that parts of the route are no longer suitable for the size of the event. It's time to think about road closures in Edinburgh.

Viniga

 

[alp1950]

Flu hit us on Friday so we weren't able to go. However having read the posts I'm not too disappointed. What did the registration fee (?was it £16) buy you- wasn't this a bit steep for a T shirt, a cup-a-soup, and the privilege of cycling down a cycle path hemmed in by a few cones? (OK exaggeration but you get my point..).

So who do people think is the event best suited for? Having joined our local club, from what I have read here, I would imagine that our Sunday club runs would be more enjoyable for pure cycling experience. Our kids are too young at present to cope with the distance in PfS, but perhaps a mass participation event like this is ideal for families with older children & people getting into cycling but not at stage of joining a club?

 

[HonestMan1910]

Yeah, look on the bright side. Also, it didn't cause a motorway pileup! This might sound wrong but I wish I'd seen it! Must've been spectacular, bike hitting the motorway at 70mph...

I always drive very cautiously when I have the bike carrier on the back, limited rear view and that. Looked out my drivers wing mirror and saw something flapping at the back of the car and then dropping off and realised that we had lost one of the bikes. Managed to stop failry quickly on the hard shoulder, 50 yards, and get the bike of the carriageway before any cars hit it.

Really really embarrassed about this incident and so sorry to have spolied Marooncats day

 

[viniga]

Flu hit us on Friday so we weren't able to go. However having read the posts I'm not too disappointed. What did the registration fee (?was it £16) buy you- wasn't this a bit steep for a T shirt, a cup-a-soup, and the privilege of cycling down a cycle path hemmed in by a few cones? (OK exaggeration but you get my point..).

So who do people think is the event best suited for? Having joined our local club, from what I have read here, I would imagine that our Sunday club runs would be more enjoyable for pure cycling experience. Our kids are too young at present to cope with the distance in PfS, but perhaps a mass participation event like this is ideal for families with older children & people getting into cycling but not at stage of joining a club?

It wasn't quite as bad as all that. I am assuming that anything left over from the cup-a-soup etc went to Maggies. The majority of the route is well signed and marshalled. Sounds like the feed stations weren't up the job this year though.

There was also an excellent sport massage on offer at the end. I've never had one before and it was fantastic. OK I cried like a girl but when the pain was over I was ready for another 50 miles. More money donated to Maggies.

The ride tries to draw in a wide target audience, from families to serious cyclists. Hence any closed road or off road sections are a draw for the family rider. For lots of cyclist this will be the furthest they have ever cycled and that challenge draws a fair few too.

If we can host 1/2 marathons, 10k runs then surely Scotland is capable of hosting a cycling event that appeals to a wide target audience?

Viniga

 

[Mr Pig]

There didn't appear to be any signs on the cyclepath warning people that the event was taking place. Pretty poor really, a recipe for disaster if the normal number of Sunday morning non-cyclists were about.

The first time I did this ride, maybe seven years ago, I personally saw two crashes on that path and the next year I was in one in the park. I sent an email to PFS saying that I did not think it was safe to take so many cyclists down a path used by dog walkers and people out with children. I didn't even get a reply. I still think it's extremely dangerous.

Another point about the feed stops was lack of cover. Had it rained you would have been queueing for ages and standing eating your lunch in the rain, probably standing on mud.