Fans encroaching over barriers

[lemon cheese cake]

Its obvious. They need this:

This from Polypeloton after the Lauren Rowney crash.

 

[SafeBet]

No, you should let them stand there and cause a serious accident with a racer because you're afraid a man with a child is going to hit you. I mean, that seems the sensible and moral thing to do, yes?

Maybe not moral, but sensible for my personal health, sure it was.

Since you asked, I will tell you that throughout my life, the most common response when I have confronted people doing something that endangers others or is just simply obnoxious and rude is shock that someone is calling on them on it. They have usually apologized or stopped. Some have responded angrily. Did you know that not a single time have I been hit by any of them? Fear of there being a fight or being killed is the most common excuse I have heard from people who stand silent. It's how they rationalize doing nothing.

Well, you're clearly twisting things around here.
Cause I did something. And he responded very angrily. So we're back to my question. What's the next step for me?

 

[SafeBet]

Side note: the fan hitting Colli with a camera has sued Colli for defamation.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Re:

Side note: the fan hitting Colli with a camera has sued Colli for defamation.

Why? He has clearly caused a crash. If Colli felt the fan and his camera then the fan is obviously at fault.

When riders come past, pull in rather than staying in the path of someone going at 60+ kilometres per hour.

 

[sienna]

Common sense goes out the window when mobile phones are pulled out.
Another thing that scares the hell out of me is the cars and bikes whizzing in and out of the peloton, sometimes with apparent disregard for the riders.

 

[42x16ss]

One big issue I've noticed is that people take a photo of the guy(s) on the front but continue to lean out over the barrier with the rest of the race flying along behind.

I did a large crit last year in Perth that was mostly barricaded and had a great walk up crowd due to the timing and location, however one woman nearly got flattened by Travis Meyer at 55kmh because she walked out onto the edge of the course to get a photo of the break, not realising there was another 12-15 guys chasing like mad because the race was in the balance. Because it was a windy day and she was standing downwind, it was a very close call!!

 

[movingtarget]

People that bring young children and unleashed dogs to cycling races need their head read. Dogs on leashes are bad enough as are older children who wanna run with the riders alongside their parents ! Anything with TV time brings out the crazies. People should not be allowed to stand on traffic islands or roundabouts either. it's commonsense but the job is too big for organizers to police for the entire route. On a circuit race there is no excuse for not having better safety precautions. Then again riders are taking their lives in their hands riding on cycle paths during a race as well. It's a bit silly when the road is much safer. I am amazed that there are not more accidents. People that stand behind barriers should know better by now.

 

[MacRoadie]

Local crit (NRC Race) this weekend:

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Local crit (NRC Race) this weekend:

What the......!

 

[Singer01]

i have as deep a hatred as anybody for the nobs who get in the way on mountain stages and run alongside the riders. having said that if someone is behind a barrier then they are doing nothing wrong and it is 100% the riders fault for going too close to the barrier.

 

[murali]

Local crit (NRC Race) this weekend:

these are the kind of idiots we have to put in high-security prisons.

These idiots think hat having a camera in hand is license to ruin a cyclists career

 

[nepetalactone]

Re:

i have as deep a hatred as anybody for the nobs who get in the way on mountain stages and run alongside the riders. having said that if someone is behind a barrier then they are doing nothing wrong and it is 100% the riders fault for going too close to the barrier.

Pretty obvious you've never been in a bunch sprint then.

 

[Irondan]

Re:

i have as deep a hatred as anybody for the nobs who get in the way on mountain stages and run alongside the riders. having said that if someone is behind a barrier then they are doing nothing wrong and it is 100% the riders fault for going too close to the barrier.

That was the stupidest comment I've seen all morning. Congratulations...

 

[jmdirt]

Re:

i have as deep a hatred as anybody for the nobs who get in the way on mountain stages and run alongside the riders. having said that if someone is behind a barrier then they are doing nothing wrong and it is 100% the riders fault for going too close to the barrier.

His camera wasn't behind the barrier so it is 100% his fault.

 

[jmdirt]

Re:

+1 for Basecase

I have a bigger camera than this so-called professional. And a lot of people have. The photographer should have been a bit more precautious, but, and this is what chiocciolis_calves seems to miss out:
The photographer was not standing in a particular risky place. He was standing 5 meters before the barriers narrowd abruptly inwards with around 30-40 cms. This implicates that any rider this close with the barriers at the location of the photographer would have the very existing risk of ending up in the barriers anyway, irregardless of the photographer. This is why the photographer, and probably all bystanders, deemed it a safe place to lean over a bit. They couldn't imagine a rider would take the risk of passing with a very small margin and the risk of crashing 5 meters further. Unfortunately, for Colli already taking too many risks, this was a situation he couldn't predict. But I tell you, if he didn't crash into the photographer (+ other bystander, once again, not only the photographer was hit, but also the lady right behind the photographer, with a pocket camera), he would 95% sure have crashed into the barrier, or, in order to avoid that, into Ruffoni.

So Colli sueing is ridiculous in ANY aspect. The guy was behind the barriers, he was not moving, and there is no rule for leaning over barriers. Part of the game so deal with it.
I noticed that last 300m barriers are a bit skew so people leaning over cannot lean over further than the skewness of the barriers.

My wife has a similar set up as well but she doesn't lug it around for casual photo snapping.

The guy might have been behind the barrier but his camera wasn't, therefore he is 100% wrong.

 

[Singer01]

Re: Re:

i have as deep a hatred as anybody for the nobs who get in the way on mountain stages and run alongside the riders. having said that if someone is behind a barrier then they are doing nothing wrong and it is 100% the riders fault for going too close to the barrier.

That was the stupidest comment I've seen all morning. Congratulations...

when i cycle i'm aware of the risks, they shouldn't exist, but if they do i try to avoid them. if you know a risk exists and you plough headlong into it then you are an idiot.

 

[Singer01]

Re: Re:

i have as deep a hatred as anybody for the nobs who get in the way on mountain stages and run alongside the riders. having said that if someone is behind a barrier then they are doing nothing wrong and it is 100% the riders fault for going too close to the barrier.

His camera wasn't behind the barrier so it is 100% his fault.

except it totally wasn't, unless there was a sign saying 'keep all of your body parts behind the barrier'.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Re: Re:

i have as deep a hatred as anybody for the nobs who get in the way on mountain stages and run alongside the riders. having said that if someone is behind a barrier then they are doing nothing wrong and it is 100% the riders fault for going too close to the barrier.

His camera wasn't behind the barrier so it is 100% his fault.

except it totally wasn't, unless there was a sign saying 'keep all of your body parts behind the barrier'.

It was his fault. Commen sense prevails once again. If 200 odd riders are coming at 60+kph, then you'd react by moving back.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Re:

i have as deep a hatred as anybody for the nobs who get in the way on mountain stages and run alongside the riders. having said that if someone is behind a barrier then they are doing nothing wrong and it is 100% the riders fault for going too close to the barrier.

The riders have a right ro ride on any tarmac that isn't barriered off. They take risks and if someone gets in their way then it's not the rider's fault as he can go there. You wont find anyone in the pro peloton going:
Alberto please move to the left so me and Chris can get through.
You wouldn't even find that in low level amateur racing.


You've clearly never been and watched a road race from the side of the road.

 

[RedheadDane]

Re: Re:

i have as deep a hatred as anybody for the nobs who get in the way on mountain stages and run alongside the riders. having said that if someone is behind a barrier then they are doing nothing wrong and it is 100% the riders fault for going too close to the barrier.

That was the stupidest comment I've seen all morning. Congratulations...

when i cycle i'm aware of the risks, they shouldn't exist, but if they do i try to avoid them. if you know a risk exists and you plough headlong into it then you are an idiot.

Tell me this. If a rider, in the middle of a hectic high-speed sprint, suddenly realises that he's too close - whatever that means - to the barrier, should he then quickly pull away from the barrier and risk hitting the person riding next to him, potentially causing a huge pileup?

i have as deep a hatred as anybody for the nobs who get in the way on mountain stages and run alongside the riders. having said that if someone is behind a barrier then they are doing nothing wrong and it is 100% the riders fault for going too close to the barrier.

His camera wasn't behind the barrier so it is 100% his fault.

except it totally wasn't, unless there was a sign saying 'keep all of your body parts behind the barrier'.

People shouldn't need signs to use their brains.
Besides; I don't know if it was the case here, since I wasn't actually at the finish line, but I have been to bike races where the speaker several times reminded spectators to keep everything behind the barriers. I see absolutely no reason to believe that wasn't the case here.

 

[42x16ss]

Those who are blaming the riders for clipping spectators leaning over barriers must not have raced much. Coming into a sprint finish with crosswind where do you think that the best place is going to be?

 

[IndianCyclist]

Its the design of the barriers. they are meant to completely separate the fans from the riders like the ones in motorsport. But the current design is faulty

 

[Singer01]

let me ask you this, when you are cycling past a junction do you assume the cars won't edge out a bit and plough on regardless, or do you sensibly make allowances for the fact that there are selfish a$$holes out there?

i take the world the way it is, not the way i want it to be. and if i was in a sprint i wouldn't be cycling within 2 ft of the barriers, jalabert can tell you all about it (though obviously that was entirely the morons fault).

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Re:

Those who are blaming the riders for clipping spectators leaning over barriers must not have raced much. Coming into a sprint finish with crosswind where do you think that the best place is going to be?

I wasnt one of those people saying that, but according to my diagram below, the riders will press right up against the barrier (the green) that the wind will be hitting. So if anyone wants to move up, then they will have to enter the wind.

 

[RedheadDane]

Re:

let me ask you this, when you are cycling past a junction do you assume the cars won't edge out a bit and plough on regardless, or do you sensibly make allowances for the fact that there are selfish a$$holes out there?

i take the world the way it is, not the way i want it to be. and if i was in a sprint i wouldn't be cycling within 2 ft of the barriers, jalabert can tell you all about it (though obviously that was entirely the morons fault).

You can't compare regular cyclists riding in traffic to professional bike riders in the middle of a sprint.
The first group has to follow the Rules of the Road, including the one that includes keeping an eye (or two) out for other trafficants.
The second group has to follow the Rules of the Race - and should be able to expect others, riders as well as spectators - to do the same. One of those "rules" is that spectators should stay behind the barriers, the guy with the camera wasn't behind the barriers. Sure, he was but that doesn't really help a whole lot when he sticks his huge camera over the barriers.
If there should be a two feet "buffer-zone" between riders and spectators then it should be taken from the other "direction" so to speak, ie; spectators should stay two feet away from the barriers, which only would be possible with double barriers.