I just had a chat to a local lass from the ABC about our little community in Brisbane (polo, group rides, alleycats) and the issues we had at Global Guts this year came up.
She was interested if any other cities have had police stop an event (either this year or in previous years)?
She would also like to chat with the Global Gutz organisers from other cities. If you are interested PM your details - City, phone or email and I will pass them on.
I tried to stress the point that we didn’t want animosity between the police and cyclists but wanted to understand what was required for us to ride our bikes.
I honestly don’t think you guys should be making a big deal about it. The cops came down and busted your underground race that didn’t have any permits or insurance etc. Tell me that you would of been obeying all the road rules etc. while this “event” was happening.
Quite while you’re ahead instead of drawing attention and bringing more heat on it.
I’m not saying don’t have alleycats, I’m just saying don’t cry foul and involve the media that you were hard done. The cops arrived to uphold the law and protect the average citizen from being mowed down by you guys flying through red lights etc.
You WEREN’T hard done by, you were about to have any illegal race. Don’t bring more attention to it cause you’re just asking for more trouble and you will NEVER win.
And not all that positive about bikes, brakeless bikes and alleycats.
I can’t see anything positive coming out of media involvement. It’s a rare media piece on cycling that isn’t anything better than begrudgingly tolerant.
There was no crying to media - I made comment we got off lightly with no fines being issued.
I have since retracted all comments - can’t say they still won’t run something.
The more underground something is the more out of control it is. People feel it’s their duty to break the law.
As an organiser I would feel pretty fucked up if a rider/pedo got hurt. Since Saturday night I have only been trying to establish some safe way to do this - but it appears there is none.
as someone who’s crashed out of one ride, and crashed in several, though never with cars or pedestrians, i am aware that any actions i take during a ride are my own responsibility, just like anyone following me is making their own decision as to the safety of my path. I’m sure everyone else feels the same way,
As an organiser of a borderline illegal event, you have to trust the riders, more then they trust you. If you can’t, i think you need to have a word with them
It is certainly a concern when you organise an event. I ride the same way as LAM but am always concerned that others don’t think the same way when I organise anything. You leave yourself wide open. The whole alleycat scene is built on this promise and if it crumbles once I’m sure there’ll be no more events - ever.
That’s the spirit. But you know what I mean? It kind of hangs off a fine thread of everybody taking resposibility for their own actions. If somebody got taken down by legal action I’m sure there would be a hell of a lot less people willing to stick their neck out.
As a ‘know it all’ I’m a little wary of entering the fray here… but i agree with xBBx, LAM, Heatseeker et al.
You only need to look at what happened in the cycling community in the wake of the cyclist getting killed in an established alleycat series in Chicago 3 years ago. From the initial furore to the actual details of the incident (not accident) to MonsterTrack (which was then arguably the most prestigous alleycat in the world) being ‘cancelled’ and then re-run using a network of radio messages and need-to-know basis information updates.
The media attention on alleycats jumped considerably and every article after the incident made mention of the death. At least we can thank the short term memory/newness of people for that little bit of info not still popping up.
These are ‘open’ events (moreso than ever before), but the less media attention on them the better. posting up about them on less-than-sympathetic forums (roadgrime/bicyclingaustralia etc) wont help us…
If you really want to do something legal contact your state cycling organisation or a local club that does crits and ask what it would take to get an event put on. St Kilda CC did their SS crits between normal races, and that had similarities to some races i’ve done. Be prepared for having to pay for insurance, road closures, barriers etc etc…
What we ride is (often) illegal, how we ride in these events even more so… the events wont go away, but finding out about them will only get harder if they become targeted.
I think the main concern that a lot of the Brisbane riders have is the relative waste of resources that went into the crack down on Saturday night. The police that attended were form either the city of valley stations and at the time they were taking ‘care’ of us crimes of what I would consider a greater significance were surely going unattended.
