Pantani Posted December 3, 2007 Share As for the whole white line story... It would be great to get the opinions of some Pro's, but I doubt we will... I wonder why.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willehond Posted December 3, 2007 Share He he, I am going to send the pic of a Hubber I know quite well to his wife and ask her what SHE thinks. No need to publically shame him. He will be lucky if he is allowed to race again. EVER! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pantani Posted December 3, 2007 Share OK, after a short drive home I'm glad to see all the flame throwers have been put away... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groot Lem Posted December 3, 2007 Share David B, you should have rolling road closure for the racing bunches. You guys knew it happened at the Winelands where you were also involved.Riders you can't ride there around a blind corner, and those people like ORCA were all dropped , they should be on the left side.PPA show some consistency Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hot stuff Posted December 3, 2007 Share Well now i understand why A driver stuck in a traffic jam as we were coming into stellenbosch and looked me in the eye and said "you cyclists are a F@#$ing nuiscance" Also give a thought to why we were wearing black ribbons on Sunday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hot stuff Posted December 3, 2007 Share Or maybe we should ask the R E A L Professionals like Robbie hunter what he thinks. This is a fun ride, an expensive fun ride but a fun ride all the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pantani Posted December 3, 2007 Share Hmmm, an insult to the men and women who contest the elite category but a valid question regardless... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AfreekduSoet Posted December 3, 2007 Share Raceman is spot on. Crossing white line, drug abuse, same prob... doing it to get the upper hand, illegally!!!. You think coz you have a licence it is okay to put others lifes at risk. I hardly do road races anymore because of idiotic thinking like this. Have had enough experiences with gutter riding and cars having to go off-road or even into oncomming traffic to avoid. I remember one race (highway men, 2005) where an idiot with your same thinking nearly murdered me by attacking off to the right and a car having to swerve straight for me!! I do not see what is wrong with naming those that cheat. Lets 'rehabilitate' or get them off the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pantani Posted December 3, 2007 Share You say it as if it's systematic cheating... Nobody goes to a race to cheat and cross the white lines at will, they find themselves in these situations... Surely there is a way having racing that isn't restrictive? I think there will always be an element of risk involved the higher the level of racing? Is this such an irrational assumption? So much about cycling is dangerous... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pantani Posted December 3, 2007 Share You think coz you have a licence it is okay to put others lifes at risk. I hardly do road races anymore because of idiotic thinking like this. ...an idiot with your same thinking nearly murdered me by attacking off to the right and a car having to swerve straight for me!! I don't think this is all about me, all I'm doing is telling you what some other riders out there are too afraid to say themselves for fear of being publicly scorned... We all want safer racing but I'm willing to bet that there are plenty riders out there who wouldn't think twice about crossing the white line in a race if that's where the gutter is going... And I'm also sure that many of them will tell you that it comes with the territory... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linnega Posted December 3, 2007 Share Pantani, I have to agree with most of your sentiment. In a race it is often difficult to avoid crossing the white line. Racing ebbs and flows, and usually whole bunches will cross the white line. Would it be right to shame those caught up in the bunch - maybe, but it won't solve the problem. There are only two ways to solve it. Entire bunch disqualified if they cross the white line (rigorously enforced) or rolling road closures allowing full use of the road, for racing bunches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windbreaker Posted December 3, 2007 Share Linnega, I disagree. There are 3 elements required in solving this a) The races must be organised with this aspect high on the priority list - have marshals & signs at points where dangerous crossing might occur. b) CONSISTENT application of the rules so that people like Pantani don't have the burden of being a responsible cyclist. c) Create a climate of positive peer pressure i.e. where cyclists let other cyclists know that it is not on. The only way to do this is to name & shame. Unfortunately the PPA lets us down time and again w.r.t. point a) & b). Those martyrs among us that will "stand up against hypocricy" are also missing the peer pressure point. The vets & sub-vets in the PPA league this year did a pretty good job this season by most accounts - so it can be done (or maybe that isn't proper racing ) . It just needs all of the elements to be applied properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRIVETRAIN Posted December 3, 2007 Share I have read most of this thread but got sick of it - Firstly I agree with the anger Skye & some of U vent - it's unacceptable for cyclists "Pro" or otherwise to ride so irresponsibly ... Then U get the ""IDIOT" that screams "it's hardly the time to name & shame now" - Shame how PATHETIC some of U are ---- If that cyclist was killed or knocked down I assure U the outcry some of U would make would have been heard from the rooftops - Then, I agree with Linnega to disqualify the whole bunch etc,,,,, It's about time cyclists or some of them must be taken to task for their behaviour & stupid actions ... Being dropped, don't want to be dropped all in the name of a race (which U don't get paid for I'm sure) & crossing the line is the norm & acceptable ????? Dumb Idiots .... NAME & SHAME THEM - "DT" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windbreaker Posted December 3, 2007 Share Good evening all. I must confess that tonight is the first chance I have had to get online and "hub". I am deeply concerned over what I have seen. The matter is being discussed with PPA and a formal statement from the event will follow. On a personal note it saddens me when so much hard work is laid waste by the actions of the selfish few. I don't think many of you realise what goes into hosting an event of the nature of Die Burger Fietstoer. Most of the team were on the fields the whole week-end and very few had more than an hour or two's sleep before the event started. We were all there cleaning up while everyone else was watching the cricket late afternoon' date=' I cannot accept that cyclist have so little respect for their own lives let alone others as to behave in the manner as is shown in the pictures. It is easy to expect the organisers to police the issue and effect disqualifications!! Quite frankly I find this unacceptable. The manpower requirements for an event of this nature are massive and to expect any organiser to lay on even more people to take numbers of every transgressor is totally impossible. In short what we are doing is penalising the organisers because, we as cyclists, fail to obey the simplist of rules. Come on guys start playing the game and at least have the decency to obey the single most important rule of them all - Stay left of the white line Many lessons were learnt from this last week-ends event and we look forward to improving the event for 2008.[/quote']Sorry Dave, but you don't get to avoid the issue that easily. No-one doubts that the organisers put in a lot of effort and I am not detracting from that in any way. But having said that we all put in a lot of effort in our day jobs too - so it is expected. The PPA and its national counterparts (as well as the Cycle Tour Trust) have a responsibility to stamp this out. Once you make a concerted effort to apply strict rules consistently then the support from responsible cyclists who recognise the threat that this poses to our sport (never mind the personal safety risk) will follow and the problem will be reduced to acceptable levels. This has been in the spotlight for a couple of years now and sooner or later you are going to have a fatal accident on your hands. That would possibly kill road racing in this country if it is serious enough. At the end of the day the officials & organisers are going to have to make unpopular decisions put measures in place (costly or not) AND STICK BY THEM. Alternatively you need to get full road closure for every race (funrides included because they are races too even if not in name) and that is not likely.edit: grammar fixed :-)Windbreaker2007-12-03 23:40:39 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pantani Posted December 3, 2007 Share I feel strongly that to call out a few "dumb idiots" here on this forum to me makes very little sense when by and large in the racing bunches crossing the line is common place... Please paint us all with the same brush and let's do something about it, but to single out one or two poor fools and make them scapegoats for the greater good of cycling safety is just too easy!Pantani2007-12-03 23:44:14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windbreaker Posted December 3, 2007 Share and watch the lawyers get stuck into those indemnity & waivers once these threads are provided as proof that the organisers were forewarned ... repeatedly & consistently Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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