Birmingham Velo - Blown away by the roadside support

SnowMan

Anyone else ride the Birmingham Velo 100 mile closed road cycle sportive yesterday.

Just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone on the roadside who came out to cheer on the cyclists :T

You really had to be there to believe it, for example the reception the riders got going through Bewdley, as people lined the streets. Along the whole route people were sat outside cheering on, high fiving the riders and it was like a massive street party along the route. Who says there is no community these days.

When the food stops ran out of food and drink (a learning point for the organisers there) people on the roadside were coming out with jugs of water to help the riders :j

Fair do to all the marshals also, they did a brilliant job keeping cars off the route, and keeping it safe.

As you might expect there were a few idiots, saboteurs who threw down tacks on the road and poured oil on the route, but they were in the minority.

There were road closures that will have made it difficult to get about by car. But most people seemed to embrace the event and turn any inconvenience into a chance to have a bit of a celebration.

A true credit to the good people of Birmingham and the villages in the sorrounding areas :T:beer:

LadyDee

Did anyone get to meet the American who booked to ride in the Birmingham bike ride thinking it was Birmingham, US? (The report did say that 'our' Birmingham was a namesake of 'their' Birmingham! Cheek:-)

He decided he'd come anyway so I hope he enjoyed meeting the real Brummies.

Mids_Costcutter

Fully agree: the roadside support from the public was brilliant and certainly helped to spur me on. Some families had even set up barbeques or picnics in their front gardens to make a day of it: Tour de France style.

However the organisation left a lot to be desired: start delayed for over half an hour, massive queues to enter the NIA at the end (I gave up) and the lack of feed stations as well as running out of food.