cradle route

[MsBehavn]

Mr Ples (can I call you Trevor?) whilst your actions as a volunteer to assist in medical emergencies that might possibly include cyclists is admirable, I cannot see why you do not come out and admit that Dave's actions towards Chucky and his team mates this morning are abhorrent!

 

Unfortunately, Dave is not known for his community service but rather for the threats he has made towards cyclists in the cradle previously.

 

Owen, Andrew Mc and others have been liaising with cradle residents in an attempt to prevent tempers from flaring and incidents (such as the one this morning) from happening.  By suggesting that we consider "donating financially towards expenses incurred", are you seriously proposing that cyclists pay some sort of toll or levy to ride on the public roads in your community?

 

How was any of this morning's incident the fault of the guys out there on their bikes this morning?

 

If anyone needs to apologise, it should be Dave!

[Guest Big H]

nicely sidestepped on the issue Mrs Ples.

 

 

............. and getting free advertisemnt for the Skietpiete in his Kommando!!!!!!!!!

[chucky]

Mr ples,i phoned Mr X and asked if it was him that nearly ran us over and without hesitation said yes,.

I for one certainly appriciate your work and will donate R1000.00 just send me your details on pvt mail.

 

That all said im not going to be intimidated by residents who threaten my safty any further,a meeting has been set up again with the residents for next week and i will attend.

 

Furthermore a charge has been laid, and my lawyer is drafting a letter to be sent to Mr X,so that if he continues in this manner there will be consequinces.

 

Cyclists are not going away so lets try and sort this out,it will not happen over night i can assure you.

 

Im not prepared to look over my shoulder every time i hear a car approaching in fear of mr X or Y orZ

[JMK1]

Have to agree with Lotus here.We should fund this "control room" that is there to assist in the event of emergency.Does this include an emergency created by a resident knocking a cyclist down??

[mr ples]

It would be good to receive the 'accused's' version of the story. I can see this is going to be a case of your story, his and the truth.

[MsBehavn]

It would be good to receive the 'accused's' version of the story. I can see this is going to be a case of your story' date=' his and the truth. [/quote']

 

The accused (Mark Thijs) was not out riding alone.  There is another witness to the incident.

[mr ples]

Thank you for your pledge of R1000, thats the spirit! Your email address please.

[kosmonooit]

Sounds like Dave has a bit of a obsessive-compulsive problem - perhaps we should start a fund to sponsor therapy for him as a gesture of goodwill?

[mr ples]

Our Commando is very strong and well organised. I look forward to you joining forces with us!

[chucky]

No i was not alone,with 2 other riders,both very well respected in cycoing circles

[mr ples]

I remember an incident where a lady was involved in knocking over an intoxicated pedrestrain. Shortly there after another 10 or so drunken by standers appeared out of the bush, she was women alone. One call to our office saw many residents arrive (very quickly) and bring the situation under control, including helping the patient. Yes we will help anyone where possibly.

[Windbreaker]

mr ples, I am not following you. you obviously know this culprit well. call him up and ask for his side of the story. post it here if you like but don't keep doubting what has been posted here without making the effort to find out the "other" side when you can do it with no effort.

 

as for supporting your commando/association whatever, I'm afraid that i don't agree with chucky. if you are associated with someone who so easilly puts peoples lives in jeopardy under some or other new crusade then you certainly will get no support from me.

 

and as for you description of your buddies "good side" consider that adolf hitler thought that he was uplifting the german nation .... and he was also kind to his alsatian dog

 

[bruce]

I have yet to see any comments posted that make sense' date=' that are part of the solution rather than part of the problem. It would be good to receive the 'accused' version of the story. I can see this is going to be a case of your story, his and the truth. Now we want to make lawyers wealthier, overload the SAPS etc etc, none of it will result in any real solution-period. Please send me a list of all the marches you have organised to the Union Buildings insisting the government protect you against criminals, irresponsible taxi drivers, and bringing the cycle lane in the Cradle upto acceptable standards.

[/quote']

As indicated previously, I was riding with Mark, and in fact I was the person that was closest to being hit.  There was another rider with us.  Someone that has done more to try to sort this problem out than anybody else.  I'm not going to name names, but anybody who knows me, and the team that I ride for will be able to figure out who it was.  All of us are over 40, business owners/directors etc, and are perfectly credible witnesses.

Over the last 22 years I was part of Civil Protection/ Disaster Management. We used to be funded by council' date=' such funds were used to assist in emergencies by means of medical equipment etc, mostly which has and will be used on road related accidents which includes cyclists. I am a volunteer. The funding has dried up, and now our Community is carrying the costs. We have set up a fund to replenish such medical supplies, and I can prove most of the equipment is used on road users from outside the Cradle. However, we are human and are proud to help all in the time of need. Our mission, 'to create safe enviroments', main objective 'to save a life'. The accused is part of this team.

[/quote']

It is the nature of this country, that just paying tax is not enough to ensure personal safety.  Each one of us has to spend over and above to protect our families, ourselves and our belongings.  This can be financial, or by giving time and effort.  You are not alone in this situation.  Each one of us has to deal with it in some way.  You choose to live where you do, and that choice means that you have some commitments, this is not an excuse to be aggressive towards outsiders.  Road users that come from outside the Cradle are a mojor source of income to the Cradle.  I'm pretty sure that most cycling clubs would be more than happy to help raise funds to support these initiatives, as they would ultimately benefit from them.  However, residents of the Cradle chose to go to war with these outsiders, and tell them they are not wanted.  This was your choice, not ours. 

Now before you make comment' date=' please consider that you may be the next victim of crime or an accident in the Cradle, and our Community may be the first responder to assist you. In this 3rd world country and in a rural area, you may be very pleased to be helped and assisted by one of us, and I hope you would do the same for me if I were in your neck of the woods.

[/quote']

And maybe, just maybe, a resident happens to need help from an outsiders, a cyclist perhaps, who happened to be cycling through the area and was available to assist when needed?

Please consider on donating finacially toward the expenses incurred' date=' as you never know when you may reap the benefits. Please engage in a positive way, as anything else is going to create animosity and harden attitudes - to what end? Any willing donors are welcome to forward your email address to info@valleyofancestors.com, I will copy you our latest newsletter. There after you can call on our 24hr control room if you require assistance whilst in the Cradle area. Regards. Trevor
[/quote']

As a community, cyclists would be very willing to help.  But not if we are threatened and intimidated for exercising our legal right to ride a bike on a public road.

You ask us to engage in a positive way, and not create animosity.  I ask you to read that statement again and have a look in the mirror.  And ask yourself - who is the aggressor here?  I am a vulnerable road user that suffered an unprovoked and pre-meditated attack with a deadly weapon this morning.  You say you have read through all the comments and see none that help the situation.  Well, I have yet to see a comment from your side that acknowledges the fact that endangering peoples lives is not an acceptable thing to do!

 

[Danger Dassie]

Spot on Bruce.

 

 

 

Further, what if one of the residents is out cycling (and there are a few) and is 'buzzed' by one of the rogue residents in their car?

 

 

 

Ples/Trevor, you mention the overload of SAPS. It gives me no pleasure to contact, however there seems to be a clear orchestrated threat from some residents in the Cradle.

 

Must one wait until the situation escalates and someone is injured or shot before approaching the SAPS?

 

 

 

As has been stated, there is absolutely no justification for such aggressive behavior, in fact it does display a third world way of thinking, from whichever party!

[bruce]

I remember an incident where a lady was involved in knocking over an intoxicated pedrestrain. Shortly there after another 10 or so drunken by standers appeared out of the bush' date=' she was women alone. One call to our office saw many residents arrive (very quickly) and bring the situation under control, including helping the patient. Yes we will help anyone where possibly. [/quote']

 

 

 

While we are all patting ourselves on the back, and providing our own character references. Let me tell you a story about Chucky, one of the guys that was nearly taken out this morning.

 

 

 

Chucky is a cancer sufferer. But, instead of allowing that to bring him down, he chose to help other sufferers - notably children. So, even though he was under chemo treatment, he used his ability to ride a bike and dressed himself in a cow suit and rode the 94.7 on a chopper. He raised over R100,000.00 in aid of CHOC. As a team we won the race and donated all winning to Mark's initiative.

 

 

 

You see Mr. Ples, we each have our own story to tell, and each try to do what we can to make the world a better place. Unfortunately, that does not give any of us the right to threaten and intimidate.

[Cradleresident]

There are a lot of misconceptions and distortion of the facts here.

The incident this morning

Mark called me and told me what happened ? basically Mark and a fellow cyclist were riding and  X  rode by at high speed  (80km/h) and missed them by centimetres.

I called X and his side of the story is different. He was taking his kids to school and 3 cyclists (not 2) were riding in the middle of the road approaching a blind rise. (Other residents report 2 cyclist groups riding in the middle of the road this morning at about that time)

 So Mark, here are a few general questions about your post.

Were you riding 3 abreast on a blind rise?

Quote ?I have now had enough of the cradle residents putting my (our ) lives at risks.? ? How many other incidents have you had personally in the cradle?

Quote ?Most of you also know that I have been at the fore front with the cradle residents trying to sort this ongoing problem out, there are no quick easy solutions which it seems like the residents want.?

Interesting, please explain what you have been doing to sort out this problem out and what makes you think you are on the forefront?

 

Quote ?Im so sick and tired of the cradle residents thinking they own this stretch of road, my team mates and i are most probally the most safty conscience riders around?

 Really, then why are you riding 3 abreast on a road that has no shoulder, on a blind rise at time, which  is probably the most busiest  at this time of day. The residents have exactly the same point of view about cyclists.

Quote ?Further more the residents are planning a road blocade this weekend to prevent us from using a public road specifically designed for cyclists so pitch up in your numbers , but beware threats have been made?

Whisper - But beware, threats have been made. Do me a favour.

Mark i want you tell me personally where you got  this information from and where did you hear about these threats.

 

My comments on the above are:

A meeting was held at Teak place between the residents and cyclist representatives. The meeting was heated and closed off with representatives been chosen to take the matter further and come up with a plan. This meeting  also ended with an appeal not to post on the hub, as this would only fuel the situation. If Mark had attended the meeting he would off known this.

I was voted to represent the residents.

I then initiated the first meeting. AM could not make it and said Mark would attend on his behalf.

The only people who bothered to pitch for the meeting were myself, Metro and Ian Jones. Mark did not attend , did not offer any apology and simply did not pitch. If he couldn?t make the meeting, why didn?t he call and ask how the meeting went and what was discussed. If i was in the forefront of trying to sort the problem out, that?s what i would of done.

We had the meeting anyway ,Metro made a few good suggestions and it was decided that nothing was going to happen in December and we would then get going in January. We all left the meeting positive that things could be sorted out

 Last week I again contacted the representatives to get a meeting and move forward. A meeting date and venue was agreed. Giovanni (didn?t attend first meeting) then came into the picture and said he felt the meeting should NOT go ahead as the main issue was about the road surface and he would be contacting the cradle authority about the state of the roads. I strongly disagreed and wanted the meeting to go ahead, as there were a lot of other issues to be discussed and the road surface problem would not be sorted out with in at least 6 months if ever. Giovanni was adamant that there was no case for a meeting and when i emailed specific questions all i got was vague answers and a lot of spin

A few points.

 I have initiated both the meetings and not once has any other representative pushed to get things sorted out.  

I do not believe the CGC is serious about sorting the problem out and I believe it has to be escalated to CSA. Remember I had a meeting with CGC about 3 years ago and a lot of promises were made, but that?s all it was. All talk.

Mark is very quick to put people names on the web site without telling the whole story. He did it with Ken as well.  The story about the blockade and threats is a lot of rubbish and is all in his head. All he is doing is trying to inflame the situation. I challenge him to give his sources.