Don’t take your bike to the cyclocross! World Cup organiser bans fans’ bikes from course “for safety reasons” (but don’t worry, you can park your car nearby)

You drive to the park and ride, catch a bus then ride the last couple of hundred metres? Doesn't really seem to be the solution that it's being marketed as.

If they're directing people to car parks, it's not hard to add bike parking there.

The course is in the middle of a massive park with loads of space for a bike park facility, it's clearly a lack of will, not space. As ever, if there's space for car parking there's space for bike parking, it's just a question of what is prioritised.

Indeed, using public transport. I would put a hefty chunk of cash on the car prk being full of competitors' campervans. Where should they go?

EDIT: I imagine that the number of peoople wanting to ride there will be minimal, it's one day to leave the bike at home and enjoy the event. It's just one day.

don simon fbpe wrote:

EDIT: I imagine that the number of peoople wanting to ride there will be minimal, it's one day to leave the bike at home and enjoy the event. It's just one day.

I agree that's sensible, not a biggie, pick your battles etc. ... but the thing is "it's just one day" every day. "Change starts tomorrow" is perpetually true.

If we can't expect a few people to want to cycle to a cycling event...

Unfortunately, I see it more like the fella having a whinge about closed road racing because he's prevented from getting out to buy the Daily Mail type. Spain has a huge following for ciclocross, Spain is making huge inroads into making cycling more acceptable as a mainstream form of transport. 15 years ago I was just about the only person riding around Madrid and considered a little crazy, now I believe there is civilised cycle lane network being developed and hundreds making daily bike journeys. A recent trip to Gijon illustrated the move towards prioritising cycling. I'd say it's more advanced than UK as cyclepaths are using old traffic lanes. The fact that the World cup is in Spain is a huge nod to the popularity of ciclocross across the country. I really can't see a problem, UCI has been satisfied by the provision of public transport, there is limited parking which will be used by motorhomes.

don simon fbpe wrote:

I really can't see a problem, UCI has been satisfied by the provision of public transport, there is limited parking which will be used by motorhomes.

Actually, having watched the race with great enjoyment this afternoon, there were at least three big empty tarmacked spaces around the course that could easily have been used as cycle parks.

don simon wrote:

I imagine that the number of people wanting to ride there will be minimal

Why? As you said yourself, cycling is hugely popular in Spain and I know from riding around that neck of the woods (though thankfully never in Benidorm itself) that there is a massive club cycling scene in the region, I'm sure very significant numbers of cyclists would have liked to ride their bikes from 10, 20 or 30km away to watch the race if they'd been permitted. If you doubt that, take a look at the Vuelta and see how many cyclists line the course.

I guess those sections you mentioned were left unused for a reason, maybe ambulance access, I don't know. I'm pretty sure the event organisers are anti-cyclist. I would suggest that they took a gamble that few people would want to ride, perhaps based on experience, and judging by comments from friends no one has noticed the lack of bike parking. It seems to be a bigger problem for the english than for the Spanish.

I would also go the other way and say that significant numbers of cyclists possibly wouldn't mind taking the aforementioned excellent public transport (which ticks a UCI box) and could be seen at events like Casa de Campo MTB World Cup races where many spectators arrive by bike, but significantly more by public transport. La Vuelta is a bit of a different animal as far as attendance and access by public transport goes, could you let me know how I could get to take a look at it? Is it televised? I have seen very few Spanish races, La Vuelta excluded, where spectators cycle en masse.

Cycling competitions are not meant to be a solution.
They are, like all sporting events, just that: a sporting event.

A swimming championship is not intended to stop people from drowning. It's a contest to see who's fastest.
If people happen to get inspired by an event, and take up that sport, or do it more often, that's great, but that's not the intention, it's just a welcome side effect.

Many sporting events could and should definately do better in many aspects, sure, but to get rid of them al together for that reason really makes no sense.

Sredlums wrote:

If people happen to get inspired by an event, and take up that sport, or do it more often, that's great, but that's not the intention, it's just a welcome side effect.

While that's true for commercially independent sports, it's not for events subsidised by governments or local authorities. Events like the 2012 Olympics and the 2014 and 2022 Commonwwealth Games were sold to us as events with a legacy. Much of that legacy was about increased participation in sport resulting in a healthier population.

That's what they say, yes, to sell it to the people (the voters, to be more precise). But it's nonsense, they know it, we know it, everybody knows it.
It's a sporting event, and some politicians use it to boost their own ego.