Should Ironman do more to make locals happy?

Triathlon Forum
1

I just finished racing Ironman Wisconsin and read this article:

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/opinion/mailbag/article_7e44edb2-de6d-11e0-864c-001cc4c002e0.html?mode=story

When I say should Ironman or WTC do more to make locals happy, I am not talking about race day.

I am talking about the other 364 days of the year and specifically I am talking about the Ironman bike courses. This summer I traveled from Kansas City to Madison to go bike the course one weekend. I rode the course on a Friday and a Saturday and both days there were tons of cyclist out riding, I would say 90%+ were on tribikes so I am guessing they were there like me training on the course. The thing I saw a lot of were groups riding together blocking the road. I started thinking if I lived here in Mt. Horeb or Verona or any part of the stick, and there were this many cyclists on the road all the time, it would probably get old. It was not like people in cars just had to go around a group of cyclist one time and then they were on their way. I would bet every quarter to half a mile they had to go around either a single cyclist or a group of cyclists if they were to drive the entire loop. If this were to happen during the week and every weekend from April-September (6 month of the year), where you lived is there any chance it could get on your nerves, even as a triathlete (particularly people riding side by side)???

My thought is should WTC put up road signs on the course, particularly on the “stick” and “loop” that say something to the effect of “Ironman Wisconsin Bike Course, Cyclists & Triathletes please ride in a single file line to be respectful of the local community” or “Official Ironman Bike Course Cyclist single file please, Thank you!”

These signs should be pretty good sized (similar in size to a speed limit sign) and placed probably every 5 miles on the course.

I would think this might help build some goodwill with the local community and also remind us triathletes frequently while training on the course to stay single file(because I know everyone on ST would never ride side by side with a buddy :wink: ).

I will also mention that while I was there that weekend a guy was hit by a truck in Cross Plains. The guy in the truck hit a fellow triathlete(person was riding in a single file) and then drove off, luckily someone in a car saw it and went after the guy and got his license plate and called the police. This person was then arrested. This is what concerns me, because it was a local who hit this person on the bike and it was a Saturday in July. I am sure they are well aware of cyclists being out on the course, but they are probably sick of seeing bikes out there all the time and they don’t move over much to give cyclists room and this time they hit someone. Maybe the signs would help reduce the congestion on the course with groups and cars would be able to get by more quickly, this might also help reduce the anger some locals might have towards athletes riding on the course all summer.

For Ironman races that have been around for some time(Wisconsin, Lake Placid, Canada, etc) and the courses don’t really change that much, should WTC do something like mentioned above??

If you think something like this might be a good idea, please let me know. I might consider putting together an online petition and sending it to WTC. I would think it might make locals happy and keep some of us safer while out on our bikes.

2

putting up the signs would be a good idea.

3

There is nothing that they can do to stop the few idiots who turn up to Ironman town thinking that they should be treated like they are special. In Penticton every summer we get the dickheads thinking that the town owes them something and that they can ride and run all over the place without any regard for the locals…

…and before some fool starts on me about the money the 2,000 plus athletes bring into town on race weekend,we had a major Dragon Boat festival here in town last weekend.It comprised of 88 crews of 22 with two reserves who raced all day Saturday and Sunday.They filled the hotels and bars and restaurants and generally had a great old time.The tent city was huge and the beer garden was going off,full of drunken women on both afternoons.It was awesome!!

One comment I did hear while stumbling around the beer garden was from a lady who was serving me my ninth or tenth beer.She knew I was a triathlete and when I joked to her about the fact that the Dragon Boaters are way more fun than the triathletes she came right back at me and said “yeah and the Dragon Boaters don’t try to force us off our own roads when they come to town”.

Go the Dragon Boaters,it was a super fun weekend!!!

4

Along the IM-Louisville bike course, one of the counties has some huge roadside signs with a list of rules for all cyclists to follow…

5

I think the specifics of your suggestion are good and the overall theme is good too.

The issue becomes one of putting up signs on the road. I recently worked an event where I was helping put signs up on the bike course. The county I was in gave us a Sheriff to work with. Upon arriving the Sheriff told us we could not put signs out because this event hadn’t drafted a “traffic plan” 90 days before the event date for evaluation. The county needed to approve the location of the signs relative to intersections and other signs as a safety measure. That’s understandable.

So, Ironman would have to roll up their sleeves to get this done and work consistently with the local resources such as the county road administrators. It likely wouldn’t be a quick project.

Another potential concern may be that, once the signs with M-Dot go up, other events on that course might take issue with them. Then again, a truly enterprising race director/promoter would also see the value in hosting a shorter event on the same course as a big IM like Wisconsin since it gives athletes a chance to experience part of the course outside of Ironman.

Interesting topic.

6

In Penticton, we do have a few signs on tight roads to ride single file. They seem to help.

As far as WTC - they could allocate some of their community funding and charity work to specific signage or programs. But, more importantly, I think they should really work with towns and counties/districts to make the roads better for cyclists and drivers. For example, in Penticton, Eastside road here is a joke for cyclists and motorists. Pain in the ass for both. Just needs the shoulder to be rebuilt and most of the problem is solved. This also makes the roads safer for recreational rides and commuters thus encouraging a healthier/greener lifestyle. Win-win all around.

7

Perhaps aim some of their charity donation to local bike advocacy and let the local cycling groups work the local scene
.

8

The author of that blurb is something we see from many locals every year out here in Kona. The vast majority of us just deal with the few rude triathletes and move on. As to your question of whether Ironman should do more to makes locals happy, there’s nothing they can do. People like the author are never going to be happy until IM leaves town forever. Putting up signs (which they do out here) won’t make those folks happy, it’ll confirm their beliefs that we’re all a bunch of unsafe, rude morons. No amount of charity work or donations will make up for their being inconvenienced and in fact the two should not be connected in any manner. Making charitable contributions to local needs (whether it’s Hawaii County or Wisconsin) should be done on their own merits not to appease locals or even give an appearance of trying to buy off the population.

WTC out here puts up road signs (well technically they pay someone else to put up the road signs … and often in the most inconvenient and dangerous locations to cyclists I might add), and has information on their website for athletes about how to ride around here… They can’t make people behave in a manner that they see fit.

My pet peeve: People running 5 abreast on Ali`i Drive’s shoulders (that barely fit 2 abreast) and refusing to let walkers or runners heading the opposite direction get by. Rather than write a letter to the editor though, I usually explain to them the dangerous thing they’re attempting to do.

9

Why would WTC need to replace local government in its responsibility to manage public safety … seems a bit distant.

Local government likes to talk out of both sides of their collective mouths … they want the tourist/tax dollars and they want to appease their voters. They could easily post as many touchy-feely signs as they wanted … they could also close areas to bikes if its a problem or write tickets for bikers that don’t follow local laws (which they can pass). Obviously they don’t make those choices. They can also close swimming areas … which they commonly do … such as Tempe Town Lake at IMAZ for instance because they don’t want to manage the liability … so you can only swim on race day when WTCs insurance covers the liability.

Its always been a mystery to me why people need to ride the exact bike course for all these events … I have NEVER ridden an IM bike course except on race day … and I’ve done a lot of them. I would suggest that most of the non-event riders aren’t even likely IM participants anyway.

I really don’t think WTC has any need to do what you suggest.

Dave

10

Sounds like Carl Gitchel needs to toughen up and move on.

11

In Penticton, we do have a few signs on tight roads to ride single file. They seem to help.

As far as WTC - they could allocate some of their community funding and charity work to specific signage or programs. But, more importantly, I think they should really work with towns and counties/districts to make the roads better for cyclists and drivers. For example, in Penticton, Eastside road here is a joke for cyclists and motorists. Pain in the ass for both. Just needs the shoulder to be rebuilt and most of the problem is solved. This also makes the roads safer for recreational rides and commuters thus encouraging a healthier/greener lifestyle. Win-win all around.

If the Greenies and the Province can stop fighting over what to do about the turtles,the beaver and the wetlands along Eastside Road then we will get a safer surface to ride on.Until then it is: wildlife 1-triathletes 0

12

People actinig like idiots on a future IM (or any other) race course is not an issue for WTC (or any RD). Signs won’t stop people from acting like idiots (see stop signs, speed limit signs etc…)

And signs won’t do much if anything to appease the locals.

13

Do you think WTC should send someone to speak with local government about getting more bike lanes put in place?

Do you think that would help?

14

I think people get distracted by widening Eastside road, the shoulder has been there and in some parts is still there, I am not talking about expanding it. Just fix it. It looks like it has not been paved for 30 years. No environmental assessments needed to repair roads, is there?

15

I think people get distracted by widening Eastside road, the shoulder has been there and in some parts is still there, I am not talking about expanding it. Just fix it. It looks like it has not been paved for 30 years. No environmental assessments needed to repair roads, is there?

Stupid budgets!!!

I’m guessing that as the proposals to widen the road are already in place that they are not going to spend cash on resurfacing something they will have to tear up and there is no better way to stop any kind of construction than to slap an environmental order of some kind on a project…Mind you,they managed to find the money for Maclean Creek Road from somewhere.

All these proposals were put forward back when Dave Bullock was RD of IMC (including the Yellow Lake widening) and it just takes time…Unfortunately it is going to take a death on Eastside Road to speed the process up.

16

I don’t think it’s unreasonable for WTC to try to educate their customers and encourage them to not behave like dickheads. It’s in WTC’s best interest… well assuming they want venues to remain open to them.

Taking reasonable steps to keep the locals happy is always a good call. More often than not a little goes a long way. Other times there are people who you can never please. But folks like this are generally ignored by everyone (including the local govt) so I wouldn’t waste my time with them.

17

Placid Planet in Lake Placid did this leading up to IMLP and based on my experiences this did nothing to stop some riders acting like idiots, nor did it do anything to stop some drivers from acting like idiots.

All it did was guide me around on my pre-drive of the course

18

Do you think WTC should send someone to speak with local government about getting more bike lanes put in place?

Do you think that would help?

The only thing I’ve seen change cyclists behavior has been the Police ticketing us for riding improperly.

When the locals here in the Bay Area complain about us running stop signs or crowding the roads, (or the want to pad their budget) we see them monitoring the major routes, ticketing for not putting a foot down, or riding 2 abreast.

The local government should put up safety signs to make cyclist aware of single file riding though, not the WTC.

19

Happy Endings for locals would be nice…