Local Councillor wants to Ban big bike events from rural Galway roads

Green Peter

diomed wrote:

The solution is obvious. Close Connemara to all outside traffic, motor or cycle. They want to be alone.

This is the sort of arrogance that endears cyclists to locals!

CramCycle

Green Peter wrote: »

This is the sort of arrogance that endears cyclists to locals!

I really am not sure if you missed the sarcasm/joke or if you have yourself surpassed it with another level, in which case touche.

Green Peter

CramCycle wrote:

I really am not sure if you missed the sarcasm/joke or if you have yourself surpassed it with another level, in which case touche.

Maybe a solid argument would be more productive!

Chuchote

A solid argument might be that bringing sportives into the area could bring people back again as visitors spending money (if that's the most important thing locally); another might be that it's a chance to show off the beauty of Connemara; another is that it would bring lots of people of different nationalities in, which can be good for society and for business.

mjp

This councillor folan is a retired garda aswell.... Expect nothing less from him

Eamonnator

mjp wrote: »

This councillor folan is a retired garda aswell.... Expect nothing less from him

Ah, that explains it, perfectly.
They really shouldn't be let out. And certainly they shouldn't be allowed enter politics.
Before they qualify for their huge gratuity and pension, they should be made give an undertaking, to behave themselves. Being elected to public office obviously should not be tolerated.
Joining discussion boards, like this one, should also be strongly discouraged.

CramCycle

Eamonnator wrote: »

Joining discussion boards, like this one, should also be strongly discouraged.

Indeed, in fact retired people in general, once the PRSI stopped, so should the general populaces requirement to listen :pac:

Especially the Gardai, why should people who gave their working lives to uphold law and order, essentially help continue a functional society and often without any thanks from the general populace have any position on anything, let alone a voice to be heard.

Green Peter

mjp wrote:

This councillor folan is a retired garda aswell.... Expect nothing less from him

I'd say a fair few of them are cyclists as well but sure when your in the gutter lash out!

Roadhawk

Councillor Joe Folan is a good lad. Sure he wouldnt have been selected otherwise

Bloggsie

Roadhawk wrote: »

Councillor Joe Folan is a good lad. Sure he wouldnt have been selected otherwise

Are you Joe Folan, Roadhawk?

Roadhawk

Bloggsie wrote: »

Are you Joe Folan, Roadhawk?

Haha no i'm not Joe Folan but we have mutual life experiences

galwaycyclist

mjp wrote: »

This councillor folan is a retired garda aswell.... Expect nothing less from him

So he has absolutely no excuse for not knowing that we don't have "road tax" in this country.

randomname2005

I wonder how long it will be before he complains about all the Pokemon running wild through the area.

Green Peter

randomname2005 wrote:

I wonder how long it will be before he complains about all the Pokemon running wild through the area.

As long as they're not on bikes!

diomed

Green Peter wrote: »

Maybe a solid argument would be more productive!

The solid argument is this:

Cyclists are road users and have as much right to use the road as other road users.
A local politician has no authority over road users. He can have an opinion, but he has no power.

Traffic in Connemara is light as shown below by the National Roads Authority statistics.
The NRA statistice show only one traffic count location west of Galway city, on the N59 between Oughterard and Moycullen, Knockaunranny, Co. Galway
These numbers are taken about half-way between Moycullen and Oughterard, I'm guessing about ten miles west of Galway city.
Further into Connemara my guess is traffic would be a fraction of these numbers, but there is no traffic counter out there, perhaps because there is little to count.

I picked 18th June 2016 as a typical day that the politician might find cyclists on the road.
The traffic peak was 6 vehicles a minute (359 an hour) from 10:00 to 11:00 at the traffic counter close to Galway city on the N59.
The average was about 4 cars a minute on that Saturday in June from 08:00 to 18:00 . At 07:00 it was 77 vehicles an hour.

The number of vehicles on the N59 near Clifden must be much fewer than at the counter near Galway city, perhaps 1 a minute.
Traffic volume on the coast road the R340/1/2 would be lower (no traffic counter).

The politician saw a number of bicycles. That must be a rare event in Connemara, an area with very little traffic, and plenty of space on the roads for all.

diomed

One of the main cycling sportives is on the roads around Clifden.
Clifden has an urban population of 2,056 and a rural population of 557, a total of 2,613.

If every person in Clifden drove on their own to Galway on the N59 on one day over a ten hour period you would get 2613/600 or 4 cars a minute.
I doubt that everyone in Clifden, baby, young child, teenager, adult, elderly drives.

Conclusion: the roads are empty.

Green Peter

diomed wrote:

Traffic in Connemara is light as shown below by the National Roads Authority statistics. The NRA statistice show only one traffic count location west of Galway city, on the N59 between Oughterard and Moycullen, Knockaunranny, Co. Galway These numbers are taken about half-way between Moycullen and Oughterard, I'm guessing about ten miles west of Galway city. Further into Connemara my guess is traffic would be a fraction of these numbers, but there is no traffic counter out there, perhaps because there is little to count.

diomed wrote:

One of the main cycling sportives is on the roads around Clifden. Clifden has an urban population of 2,056 and a rural population of 557, a total of 2,613.

diomed wrote:

If every person in Clifden drove on their own to Galway on the N59 on one day over a ten hour period you would get 2613/600 or 4 cars a minute. I doubt that everyone in Clifden, baby, young child, teenager, adult, elderly drives.

diomed wrote:

Conclusion: the roads are empty.

Most of these events take place in the summer when the population and traffic in these areas increase hugely, try booking a room in Clifden in July, try driving to Clifden in July when there's 20 cars in a row behind a coach and then throw in a few cyclists of the ignorant variety, you'll soon know what he's on about.

07Lapierre

Green Peter wrote: »

Most of these events take place in the summer when the population and traffic in these areas increase hugely, try booking a room in Clifden in July, try driving to Clifden in July when there's 20 cars in a row behind a coach and then throw in a few cyclists of the ignorant variety, you'll soon know what he's on about.

All the more reason to cycle no??

ednwireland

Try cycling round the burren getting stuck behind coaches blocking the road where it's not wide enough for 2 coaches to pass.

KingBrian2

We'd all be better off if each and every one of us became a cyclist.

Chuchote

Back to the question of what it brings to Connemara to have a sportive. Look at the Ring of Kerry, which makes millions for local charities. Look at the Great Dublin Bike Ride (and we have some traffic in Dublin too!), which is warmly welcomed by proud locals, many of whom take part.

what_traffic

Cllr's are just doing the typical rabble rousing to raise issues regarding the roads and other local issues.
Like the N59 works been delayed by Council and NPWS over the last couple of years.
http://connachttribune.ie/work-on-n59-may-jeopardise-major-upgrade-later-900/

what_traffic

galwaycyclist wrote: »

So he has absolutely no excuse for not knowing that we don't have "road tax" in this country.

That is pure ignorant alight - can imagine he has done many a person over the years for not paying motortax.

brocbrocach

Chuchote wrote: »

Back to the question of what it brings to Connemara to have a sportive. Look at the Ring of Kerry, which makes millions for local charities. Look at the Great Dublin Bike Ride (and we have some traffic in Dublin too!), which is warmly welcomed by proud locals, many of whom take part.

Sure Dublin people are the heart of the roll, as is their tolerance to cycle traffic, as the long history of the Great Dublin Bike Ride will attest to.
As the opinion piece above says, the Croke Park residents eventually kicked up enough stink to wring concessions from the GAA. It's similar NIMBYism but understandable. If the uninformed arrogance behind such sentiments as "4 cars per hour", "empty roads of connemara" etc is any clue to sentiments you wouldn't begrudge locals the cold welcome.
I don't think very many of these sportives give much back to local areas. Your average Cahirciveen farmer sees little immediate benefit to him if the Killarney hoteliers add to their offshore millions. The reality of the situation is that it's an enjoyable day out for cyclists and locals can be inconvenienced a little by it. No biggie, it's like road bowling in Cork or rallying in the north. If the locals buy into it there's no problem.
The halcyon days of every GAA club and charity having a cycle can't last. It'd be best to manage the situation down to reasonable levels rather than have eejits like Folan getting a soapbox to go even further. Nobody wants the Fingal racing situation to catch on nationwide.

A quick search suggests that Etape Connemara, Giro d'Galway, Connemara Triathlon, Gaelforce West, 2 Day Bogman will be happening over the next few months. It does bring a certain amount of general disruption but the benefits are felt by few.

The council member is presumably reflecting the views he is hearing locally.

There is a lot of hubris in this thread.

magicbastarder

Deleted User wrote: »

a lot of hubris in this thread.

tried 'em, didn't like 'em. too much inertial mass.

07Lapierre

Deleted User wrote: »

A quick search suggests that Etape Connemara, Giro d'Galway, Connemara Triathlon, Gaelforce West, 2 Day Bogman will be happening over the next few months. It does bring a certain amount of general disruption but the benefits are felt by few.

The council member is presumably reflecting the views he is hearing locally.

There is a lot of hubris in this thread.

Mmm is it possible that some of the participants of these events are actually local residents?? Just a thought.

PeadarCo

Deleted User wrote: »

A quick search suggests that Etape Connemara, Giro d'Galway, Connemara Triathlon, Gaelforce West, 2 Day Bogman will be happening over the next few months. It does bring a certain amount of general disruption but the benefits are felt by few.

The council member is presumably reflecting the views he is hearing locally.

There is a lot of hubris in this thread.

Sure why not ban all tourists from Connemara. Sure the only people that benefit are involved in the hospitality industry. Why not get rid of this Wild Atlantic way thing lets just leave Connemara for the locals. Sure to hell with it if it gets rid of one of the major income and job drivers for the area.

On a more serious note the councillor may be reflecting some local views but it doesn't mean those views are anyway informed views with regard to the benefits these events bring.

All the events mentioned above bring money in the area. Its like saying ban the Ring of Kerry cycle because it blocks off most of the Ring of Kerry for a day despite the millions it brings into the area.(See complaints on this forum about the cost of doing the event not including the entry fee). Banning those events would harm the local economy that's heavily based on tourism. Its not as if Connemara has any heavy industry or concentration of services industries of note that it could fall back on. Granted some people may not benefit directly but they do benefits from the many shops/services/indirect jobs that wouldn't exist if it had to rely solely on the local population.

magicbastarder

interesting that cahirciveen was mentioned, because when we were there last summer, it seemed to be suffering. loads of empty shops.

07Lapierre

PeadarCo wrote: »

Sure why not ban all tourists from Connemara. Sure the only people that benefit are involved in the hospitality industry. Why not get rid of this Wild Atlantic way thing lets just leave Connemara for the locals. Sure to hell with it if it gets rid of one of the major income and job drivers for the area.

On a more serious note the councillor may be reflecting some local views but it doesn't mean those views are anyway informed views with regard to the benefits these events bring.

All the events mentioned above bring money in the area. Its like saying ban the Ring of Kerry cycle because it blocks off most of the Ring of Kerry for a day despite the millions it brings into the area.(See complaints on this forum about the cost of doing the event not including the entry fee). Banning those events would harm the local economy that's heavily based on tourism. Its not as if Connemara has any heavy industry or concentration of services industries of note that it could fall back on. Granted some people may not benefit directly but they do benefits from the many shops/services/indirect jobs that wouldn't exist if it had to rely solely on the local population.

Actually I think we need to ban local residents! Sure they don't have to book hotels, buy food, petrol etc. They just clog up the roads driving to the car park and then once the event is over, they just drive home!