When watching the Tour of CA on TV today, and every other big pro cycling race, I can’t help noticing all the thrown water bottles by the riders… and they’re not just thrown a few feet off the road. Those guys often toss them far, in bushes, tall grass, etc. No way they clean up/find most of those. Interesting how triathlons will punish you with penalties, and in cycling it’s the norm. If there was a drop zone, obviously things could get sketchy with 100 people throwing water bottles at the same time, but seems like this could be done another way to prevent so much trash littered.
Maybe they do find/pick up most of them…
You’re not allowed to during a bike race either. If you get caught, it’s often a fine and/or disqualification. There are designated areas to discard your empty water bottles on the course, and you are supposed to carry your empty wrappers until the end of the race.
The pro races have ‘cleaners’ hired by the race organizer, and also hope that the fans will pick up the bottles as souvenirs. That’s how they get away with it. There was actually a lawsuit recently against some of the pro racers trying to charge them with littering. I can’t find the link right now.
What MonkeyClaw said.
Plus, when you see the pro cyclists throwing their bottles far away, they aren’t doing it to be dicks. They’re doing it to keep the bottles from rolling back into the pack. A bottle rolling through the pack is like a landmine just waiting to take someone out. Most of the bottles get retreived by fans as souvenirs, others get picked up by the race organization. I’m sure some stay on the side of the road as well.
I noticed on of the riders in the break yesterday toss a coke can even though his team car was right next to him. I thought that was unnecessary. But I’m guessing it happens all the time, the cameras just caught it this time.
I owned one of Alvaro Meija’s (sp?) bottles for a long time. Granted, I got mine at the finish line, but the guys were all tossing em.
So, while it looks worse than it is, there’s lots of people with souveniers.
M
I happened to be in Europe a few years ago during the Tour and took the train over the watch a climbing stage. I observed that every time a rider tossed a bottle the crowd was absolutely frenetic about getting it as a souvenir… mussette bags too. Guys would literally check each other to get the discarded item. Just by pure luck my wife got an Astana bottle that landed right at her feet. It was pretty cool.
From what I observed, I don’t think there’s a lot of bottles left at the side of the road in European races… at least the big races. Some trash maybe, but the post-stage cleaners tend to take care of that. The US is a different story. We’re too stuck up to join in the fun of watching a race and pick up a discarded bottle and would rather sue instead to try and ruin everyone else’s fun.
In the amateur ranks, there is a drop zone. Not unusual for people to defy the rule, but they do risk a DQ.
In the pro ranks, the bottles are rabidly collected by fans and they are allowed, generally, to toss them whenever they want.
When watching the Tour of CA on TV today, and every other big pro cycling race, I can’t help noticing all the thrown water bottles by the riders… and they’re not just thrown a few feet off the road. Those guys often toss them far, in bushes, tall grass, etc. No way they clean up/find most of those. Interesting how triathlons will punish you with penalties, and in cycling it’s the norm. If there was a drop zone, obviously things could get sketchy with 100 people throwing water bottles at the same time, but seems like this could be done another way to prevent so much trash littered.
Maybe they do find/pick up most of them…
This all seemed a bit weird to me until I remembered how many concerts I’ve been to where grabbing a guitar pick thrown from the stage was a goal of mine,
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For fans it’s like catching a guitar pick at a concert - a nice souvenier, just a bit nastier. Maybe.
Some fans don’t even wait for the riders to throw the bottles. Check this clip out starting at :10. This kid is pretty lucky McEwen did not beat him to death. I would have.
For fans it’s like catching a guitar pick at a concert - a nice souvenier, just a bit nastier. Maybe.
Agree. I did St Croix a few years back and the guy in front of me tossed a bottle in a very random spot and I thought “what the f$&@?” Then I saw kids going apeshit trying to get it. Of course I had to unload all 3 of mine after seeing that. Can I still get DQ’d?
I think it was stage 3 when I saw a guy chuck his bottle over the bushes and into an aqueduct. Not cool and totally unnecessary. Another guy barely made it outside of the peloton which is to be expected with how small some of their arms are. Surprised they can even throw an empty at all.
One factor that applies is that the water bottle being used by the cycling teams is biodegradable, so the ones not picked up will break down over time and not show up all bleached out a hundred years from now.
I noticed on of the riders in the break yesterday toss a coke can even though his team car was right next to him. I thought that was unnecessary. But I’m guessing it happens all the time, the cameras just caught it this time.
can you blame them though? i am sure that was the last thing on their mind.
What MonkeyClaw said.
Plus, when you see the pro cyclists throwing their bottles far away, they aren’t doing it to be dicks. They’re doing it to keep the bottles from rolling back into the pack. A bottle rolling through the pack is like a landmine just waiting to take someone out. Most of the bottles get retreived by fans as souvenirs, others get picked up by the race organization. I’m sure some stay on the side of the road as well.
Yep, +1