Live blog: Club cyclists accused of riding London to Brighton sportive route without having an entry - Oxted CC Chairman responds

Russell Hicks, Chairman of Oxted CC, sent this response to road.cc:  

Yes, a lot of clubs do a very early morning dash to Brighton on some of the roads used by the BHF (British Heart Foundation) ride. A few points...

1) A few years ago, when I was with another club, we did this early morning dash and raised several hundred pounds from our riders. We sent the BHF a nice letter and a cheque which they banked, they didn't object.

2) Of course we don't want to take advantage of someone else's sportive, particularly a fundraiser, so we sponsor riders who are entered for the whole route. We raised several hundred pounds for BHF last Sunday, another club raised nearly £1000.

3) As a club we are doing charity rides all the time. We have helped a blind girl in our club who rides 'stoker' on a tandem raise thousands for her charity, Sparks. She and many other Oxted riders are in the Pru (Prudential Ride London) this year (link here). 

Also this weekend coming we have several riders in this incredible fundraiser. Amongst many charity rides we do is the 'Circuit of Kent', every year we have 40 to 50 riders in that.

4) Many of us have done the BHF Brighton ride in the past but it isn't good for club riders, there are just too many people, too many jams, too many accidents, too many dramas. We go down fast very early, using the almost empty public roads which we have all paid for many times over. We don't use any BHF facilities or feed stations and we turn right in Brighton, away from the BHF finish, our finish is in Hove. We return via a different route and are back home by 1/2pm... like nothing happened.

5) When marshals/police see us in the early morning, they always seem very excited at seeing fast pelotons flashing past. It's a different scene to what happens later!

6) As a busy club, we run six to eight volunteer led rides every weekend, 50 weeks a year. That's 300 to 400 rides a year PLUS midweek rides and many other events - so we more than do our bit for cycling, for the community and for healthy hearts. 

BHF could write to dozens of clubs saying 'don't do it' but I suspect people will simply still do the ride but not in club kit. The real problem is the 4/5000 (estimated by police) occasional riders who 'just join in' during the middle of the day.

Utrecht Central reports that the intersection at the Biltstraat is currently closed in the bike-mad city due to roadworks. Both cars and bikes are being forced to take alternative routes, and if cyclists want to use it they have to dismount. This has reportedly caused huge bike pile-ups as cyclists either scramble to dismount or turn back the other way. Cyclists who don't comply face being fined.

The annual London to Brighton sportive took place on Sunday, and since then a lively debate has sprung up on our forum regarding 'hundreds' of cyclists, many adorning club colours who (allegedly) hadn't entered the event and were just taking advantage of the route and its closed road sections. Forum member wknight said: "3 Clubs had large groups out, all riding for free"...

"These rides costs a huge amount of time and money to organise, you get the benefit of marshals, closed off section roads, feed stations, signed route. What if everyone road for free, the ride would disappear. 

"I am absolutely disgusted with these 3 clubs and everyone else who rode the route for FREE today. Are you so hard up with your fancy bike that you can't afford the entry fee? Anyone else agree with me?"

Many agreed that non-paying cyclists using the closed roads is poor form, however some are of the opinion that there is little you  can do about members of the public using the open road sections. mc says: "If it's an open road sportive, there is nothing you can do about people riding the route. However, as you mentioned closed road sections, then it's up to the police to enforce that. Only those with permission should be on a closed road.

"And if they're using feed stations, then it's up to the organisers/marshals to ensure only those who have paid, get access to the feed stations."

Were you riding London to Brighton on Sunday, or were you one of those riding on the roads while it was taking place? Let us know your thoughts, in the meantime we'll be contacting the clubs mentioned in the original forum post for comment.