Road Race Markings

chimmy chonga

chimmy chonga wrote: »

I fully agree...What is very sad is that the OP is being made out to be a grouch. FFS is the cycling community purposely not getting this? Spray painting a public road without permission is vandalism plain and simple.

Probably because it falls into the category of minor annoyance rather than massive problem?

Lumen

chimmy chonga wrote: »

I fully agree...What is very sad is that the OP is being made out to be a grouch. FFS is the cycling community purposely not getting this? Spray painting a public road without permission is vandalism plain and simple.

No, the objective of vandalism is to degrade something.

In this case that's a side-effect (mickeys notwithstanding). The intent is to help people.

Actually, even the mickeys could be arguably motivational.

Esroh

Op. I'm not sure how long the Res, Dogs is running but I know from experience that the person who marked that route has probably a stencil for those distance numbers and tried to make it obvious to participants with as little impact on the road as he could. If it had been a road race they would have been bigger and most probably at 200m, 100m,50m and at the corner.
Once the event is running sucessfully there maybe some cash in the kitty to actually get signs but to begin getting your local Hardware to sponsor the paint is how its done.
My own club which is based in a secnic part of the west now mark our routes with signage we have built up . But it has taken a number of years as we would prefer to give as much as possible to our Charity Partners .
Maybe a word with the organisers and if you can do it an offer to donate the cost of Direction Arrows for the junction near your home would set them on the way to getting signage for the route.

chimmy chonga

ronoc wrote: »

Probably because it falls into the category of minor annoyance rather than massive problem?

Massive or otherwise it is still wrong!

juuge

Esroh wrote: »

Op. I'm not sure how long the Res, Dogs is running but I know from experience that the person who marked that route has probably a stencil for those distance numbers and tried to make it obvious to participants with as little impact on the road as he could. If it had been a road race they would have been bigger and most probably at 200m, 100m,50m and at the corner.
Once the event is running sucessfully there maybe some cash in the kitty to actually get signs but to begin getting your local Hardware to sponsor the paint is how its done.
My own club which is based in a secnic part of the west now mark our routes with signage we have built up . But it has taken a number of years as we would prefer to give as much as possible to our Charity Partners .
Maybe a word with the organisers and if you can do it an offer to donate the cost of Direction Arrows for the junction near your home would set them on the way to getting signage for the route.

Thank you for that considered response. I too wondered why they could not have had signs printed on cards and positioned appropriately and then easily removed afterwards. I can say that the recent event did little to warm the local community towards cycling.

smacl

juuge wrote: »

Thank you for that considered response. I too wondered why they could not have had signs printed on cards and positioned appropriately and then easily removed afterwards. I can say that the recent event did little to warm the local community towards cycling.

Do you speak for all of the local community though? I ask this because a lot of the cyclists and volunteers were local, and the event was run to raise money for a local charity (tidy towns AFAIK). As an event, it seemed to benefit the local community rather than detract from it.

FWIW, quite a few of the markers on this event were signs rather than road markings.

Wishbone Ash

smacl wrote: »

Do you speak for all of the local community though? I ask this because a lot of the cyclists and volunteers were local, and the event was run to raise money for a local charity (tidy towns AFAIK). As an event, it seemed to benefit the local community rather than detract from it.

FWIW, quite a few of the markers on this event were signs rather than road markings.

....and organised by a Co Wicklow based club.

juuge

smacl wrote: »

Do you speak for all of the local community/QUOTE]
No I don't...but I do know that having spoken to many of my neighbours they feel the same as I do. Speaking of which, a neighbour of mine contacted 'Cycling Ireland' and they do not condone such behaviour and recommend that clubs holding events do not do this.

Carawaystick

The cops sprayed yellow x's on all the manhole covers and utility boxes within a few miles of the routes Barrack Obama travelled when he visited here in May 2011 and they're still about.

Actual cops actually graffiting the place. I'd be more concerned about that.

Chips Lovell

chimmy chonga wrote: »

I fully agree...What is very sad is that the OP is being made out to be a grouch. FFS is the cycling community purposely not getting this? Spray painting a public road without permission is vandalism plain and simple.

@chimmy chonga. Do not post on this thread again. You're not allowed to use more than one account.

GabbaTheHutt

For our club event which runs though DLR and Co. Wicklow we send the route and Event Plan to the County Council in advance. Both Council Roads Dept always come back with having no issues with the route but specifically ask us not to spray paint the roads. We have used corri-board signs for the past few years for this reason.

magicbastarder

different CoCos can have different attitudes to signage; i'm involved with an organisation which has asked re putting signs up in a couple of different counties, and wicklow were quite strict, seemingly based on the sheer proliferation of signs around the roads already. another local authority we approached re signage put the signs up for us!

seamus

I would certainly concede that some routes around Wicklow started to get a little crazy, with road markings for 3 or even 4 different events overlapping eachother at some points. That's just going to be confusing more than helpful for participants.

In some locations though where potholes and hazards are marked, this could be argued to be an act of social good, improving road safety where the council has failed.

This practice seems to be dying out in favour of printed signage, not least because it takes no more effort to put signs up than paint markings on the road, and signage is easier to see. And signage can be re-used provided that you're swift about collecting it afterwards.

Wishbone Ash

Carawaystick wrote: »

The cops sprayed yellow x's on all the manhole covers and utility boxes within a few miles of the routes Barrack Obama travelled when he visited here in May 2011 and they're still about....

...and the little metal flag holders are still evident on the street lights from Dublin airport to the city centre from the Pope's visit in 1979.

juuge

GabbaTheHutt wrote: »

For our club event which runs though DLR and Co. Wicklow we send the route and Event Plan to the County Council in advance. Both Council Roads Dept always come back with having no issues with the route but specifically ask us not to spray paint the roads. We have used corri-board signs for the past few years for this reason.

That sounds very reasonable and as it should be.

juuge

seamus wrote: »

I would certainly concede that some routes around Wicklow started to get a little crazy, with road markings for 3 or even 4 different events overlapping eachother at some points. That's just going to be confusing more than helpful for participants.

In some locations though where potholes and hazards are marked, this could be argued to be an act of social good, improving road safety where the council has failed.

This practice seems to be dying out in favour of printed signage, not least because it takes no more effort to put signs up than paint markings on the road, and signage is easier to see. And signage can be re-used provided that you're swift about collecting it afterwards.

This is another example at Humphreystown Bridge near Blessington..

juuge

...and another...

greenspurs

I'm outraged at all the outrage ......
Outrageous ................

07Lapierre

juuge wrote: »

That sounds very reasonable and as it should be.

It is reasonable..but people still give out about temporary signage.

smacl

juuge wrote: »

This is another example at Humphreystown Bridge near Blessington..

Goddamn adventure racers, have they no shame...

Buzwaldo

I'm kinda with the OP on this one, or at least I understand his annoyance.
As a cyclist, and one somewhat involved in organising such events, I think use of spray marking should generally be avoided as much as possible especially near people's homes etc.
It is an easy way to mark a route, but not the most considerate. Not so bad in remote areas maybe, but still preferable to build up a stock of re-usable signs.

Raam

Vuelta stage 17.

jamesd

I'm outraged , one of them sprayed road signs punctured my car tyre the other morning on my way to work while I was advoiding pot holes and fly tipped rubbish.

JK.BMC

There are too many signs on the road.
Bad scrawl and shcribble pointing in the blatantly obvious direction on a straight main road is a waste of expensive spray paint. Some clubs/event organisers go full retard on this.
And all you need is one numptys to get confused with all the arrows and an accident happens.
I'm not entirely against road markings but I'm more old school in expecting people to have some notion of personal responsibility when heading out on a cycling route (race/sportive/spin) etc.
And if there is a marshal at a junction, what the hell do ya need road markings for?

Wishbone Ash

JK.BMC wrote: »

....And if there is a marshal at a junction, what the hell do ya need road markings for?

The person assigned to 'mark' the route may not be aware of what junctions are to be marshaled. (I could also be pedantic and say that it is not a marshal's duty to give directions).

Totally agree with your point about blatantly obvious straight ahead arrows. Pointless - stay with the road unless you hear differently. Reminds me of those stupid "Use this door" signs.

Haldir

I have to admit to getting a bit carried away a few years ago while marking the roads for a club sportive in Wicklow...

Cabaal

chimmy chonga wrote: »

FFS is the cycling community purposely not getting this? Spray painting a public road without permission is vandalism plain and simple.

err, what permission?
You don't need permission from the Gardai

Do you get all pissed off when Eir, ESB Networks etc mark roads and footpaths?
Does it keep you awake at night, don't worry...you can tell us,

wav1

As someone who has probably marked more junctions than anybody else,yes signage is the way to go,but sometimes at complex type of junctions when its neither simply left or right etc,you have to get the paint out.The correct mixture of emulsion only paint and the H2O will be very effective,but essentially gone within a week.