I decided to do something a bit different cycle-wise at the weekend. I had heard there was an international bonsai superstar in residence at Willowbog and thought I’d tie in a visit to bow at the feet of the Great One with a nearby cycle event I’d just been made aware of – the Bellingham Blast. This is a two-day event featuring a short family ride on the Sunday around the immediate area, and a longer, 61mile, challenge through Kielder Forest and right around Kielder Water. Part on road but mostly on whin track, the route was a rather good one and it certainly was a challenge. I did some 4000+ feet of climbing (and burned up over 3500 calories) over the constantly undulating route. There were only two negatives: first, the signage was on the poor side especially at the start where the absence of a directional arrow had me going round the route the wrong way (not the first time in my life I’ve been going the wrong way at things!). My annoyance at the bum steer as it were was soon tempered by the fact that I was intercepted by a marshal who was actively looking for me and a couple of other riders who had taken the same wrong direction. To have recognised that riders had not made the first checkpoint within a rsensible timefarme was great proactive marshalling and a far cry from what I had experienced at the Pedal for Scotland event.

The second negative, for me anyway, was the long section of road metal surface which is a particular dislike of mine. I guess this is simply because I am first and foremost a roadie as is quite evident from the fact that I really don’t like bumping and sliding around like those other types of cyclist. 😉 Fortunately it was soon over and I was just glad that my wrong route had meant that I was heading down the largest slope in that section rather than up. I was also very glad I had taken the Surly as it allowed me to make speedier progress over the lakeside trail than I would have done on an MTB.

All in all this was an excellent event and I hope to be able to do it again next year. At least I’ll know which way to go.

lakeside

The way through the woods

Half way up a hillside

The International Bonsai Superstar - the Real Bonsai Eejit with some other bonsai...erm... persons

As I indicated in my previous post, I found the ride this year a bit strained because of the antics of some idiots. The issue is not the route per se but the simple fact that the significant proportion of that 6000 is what you might term “casual” riders. And within that category there was, to put it bluntly, a large number of total morons. I now find myself saying that I will not ride it in this particular event again. The reason is quite simple: I saw so many examples of idiotic cycling behaviour that I would neither want to be associated with it nor would I risk my own safety.

The event organisers had obviously put thought into the route as it was impeccably routemarked. There was also a sizeable quantity of marshals on hand but what was missing was any indication that the bulk of those marshals were capable of dealing with poor cycling behaviour. It was apparent early on that the bulk of the participants were not regular cyclists and most certainly did not know how to behave on the public road or when cycling in a large group. I repeatedly saw riders overtaking on the inside, weaving in and out of other cyclists at speed, stopping dead in the middle of the road (especially on hills), running red traffic lights and riding on the wrong side of the road even in the face of oncoming traffic. I also saw marshals standing by and doing nothing about it. I believe the event organisers should have recognised that having so many non-regular cyclists on the road at the one time was likely to lead to such behaviour. The main flashpoints should have been identified and stronger marshal presence located at them.

In events like these we rely very much on the support of other roads users. A week previously I had taken part in the Tour Ride in Dumfries, and while admittedly they had significantly fewer riders to deal with, the marshals were superb and highly proactive especially the motorcycle marshals. A similar picture would exist for the other sportives I have ridden this year including the Graeme Obree Classic. What I saw at Pedal for Scotland Challenge route makes me wonder just how much damage we have done to that goodwill. I witnessed a number of close calls and I witnessed altercations between cyclists and motorists. It would be too easy to say that these were not “real cyclists”, but sadly we are all tarred by the same brush and the disgruntled motorist is not going to distinguish between an experienced and road-wise club cyclist and a once-a-summer numpty. I am all for encouraging people into cycling, but there is a massive issue to be addressed in terms of cycling safely on mass rides just as there is a massive issue to be addressed in terms of cycling responsibly. The organisers of Pedal for Scotland must do more to ensure the latter happens as well as the former, and as part of that they should play a major role in ensuring that the participants are aware of their responsibilities. We need all recognise that our war cry of “share the damn road” is, as it were, a two-way street.