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Are Pro Cyclists Littering Angels


Eugene

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Watching the Giro and now the TDF on TV, I'm shocked at the amount of littering these guys do. I realise that there are specific "litter zones" in which they are allowed to litter (to be picked up afterwards), but I cannot believe that river or a dam will be considered a "litter zone."

 

Just watch how many of them throw their bottles away when they go over a bridge into a river or a railway line. Also on the climbs you will see them tossing bottles off the sides of a slope in the forest.

Edited by Eugene
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Watching the Giro and now the TDF on TV, I'm shocked at the amount of littering these guys do. I realise that there are specific "litter zones" in which they are allowed to litter (to be picked up afterwards), but I cannot believe that river or a dam will be considered a "litter zone." 

 

Just watch how many of them throw their bottles away when they go over a bridge into a river or a railway line. Also on the climbs you will see them tossing bottles off the sides of a slope in the forest.

How would you propose they do it?

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The assumption is that the crowd grab the bottles.

But I did watch the Tour in France a few years ago and the last thing you need to worry about is a water bottle. The crowds are insane. The shot below is of "The Dutch Corner" on Alpe d'Huez - the crowd opens up a corridor of about 5m wide half way through the afternoon to let the riders through, otherwise the bass keeps pumping and the beer keeps flowing for a few days. It is basically a 2-day rave half way up the mountain waiting for the riders to come through. Absolutely fantastic.

 

Wait till the end of the clip to see an audacious ambulance try get through -

 

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Edited by Baracuda
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Most bottles are biodegradable, so the ones that aren't snapped up by souvenir hunters will eventually melt away to nothing. A team can go through 25 000 bottles in a season...

 

And then, just like at the Epic, there is a convoy that comes through after a stage and picks up litter along the route.

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Yes they are... In the past some were so superstitious that they never bathed for the entire Tour. Bottles would be my last worry. Hell, did you not see that oke almost break his leg diving to catch a prized discarded bottle? 

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ever seen what cape town looks like after the argus - two oceans- the epic

-cleaning up after is part of the contract I think youll find :blink:

Edited by velomonatiCT
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Yes, most of the bottles get picked up but some do go down the mountains, into streams and other places where souvenir hunters won't find them.

 

They also chuck down their plastic wrappers whenever they like. It is naive to think that these get picked up when Phil and Paul's cross winds are blowing them across the country side.

 

The worst part is that too many of the millions of TV spectators now think that they can do this too because their heroes do it

 

Just tuck it in your back pocket or shorts leg.

 

It actually takes effort to not get irate when watching them sometimes.

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Yes they are... In the past some were so superstitious that they never bathed for the entire Tour. Bottles would be my last worry. Hell, did you not see that oke almost break his leg diving to catch a prized discarded bottle?

 

A face-slide of note :-)

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How would you propose they do it?

Leave it in the cage, actually use the litter zones for the intended purpose. Put gel sachets into their pockets. If I can do it, so can they.
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