Let’s start with this: I LOVE cyclists, in fact I love them so much I married one. The sport of cycling is great, it brings much needed income to the island in the shoulder months of the main summer season.
350k cyclists come here every year, and finger-in-the-air maths says that’s approximately 5,300 flights just to get them here and back to whence they came. That means we residents also benefit from those flight connections, if we want or need to, keeping routes open which might otherwise be closed out of season.
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Fully agree with this. But it's not just a cycling thing. Tourists are on holiday. They're getting away from their day to day lives, free themselves from the pressures and stresses of everyday life, and are less inclined to behave in the same way they would at home. They tend not to think in the same way as they do at home. Often not thinking at all - "I'm on holiday!". In hospitality, there are a few tactics that make it easy for tourists to follow the rules. But it's much more difficult to encourage responsible cycling behaviour on the roads, except maybe for a bit of enforcement. If they read about cyclists getting fined in their favourite publication and on social media, perhaps the cycling tour leadership would be more inclined to emphasise the rules and why they need to think while on their cycling holiday. If it doesn't lead to injury or death, it can lead to serious fines or having your bikes confiscated. That might make them think.
Agree with your article. As a dog walker, I can tell the time of year by the trash on the roads. You’ve forgotten to mention the discarded inner-tubes and packed-lunches. The crossover from cycling to general tourism is the sight of used nappies. Do cyclists not understand basic road safety…looking behind before pulling out to overtake other cyclists, entering roundabouts as a peloton, riding against traffic on one-way streets, riding round people on clearly defined pedestrian crossings, riding on seafront pedestrianised paths where the quality of the surface is unreliable and so present an obvious danger to all. Police make me leash my dog yet are blind to the danger of these grand-tour wannabes. Oh, and what about the speed limits, I m regularly being overtaken in 30kph zones. Does drink-riding apply? Of course it does! I reiterate, I agree with the columnist, cyclists are a boon for the island, but this shouldn’t mean they get a “free pass”
Cyclists who visit this beautiful island should be advised of the rules for road users when they first arrive. The same goes for motorists; too many times I've rounded a bend and been faced with an oncoming car in my lane, overtaking an arrogant group of cyclists, riding 3 or 4 abreast. Little wonder there are so many accidents. Cyclists are actually required to circulate in single file when in proximity with motor vehicles, and 2 abreast when not. Please remember this.