Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => Audax => Topic started by: hulver on 08 August, 2017, 10:41:02 am
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Did anybody else see the rogue Italian rider?
(http://i.imgur.com/hiaUPr0t.jpg) (http://imgur.com/hiaUPr0)
He turned up at Pocklington coming Southbound, fairly early on in during a quiet period. Spoke no English, and was trying to pay for everything.
We thought he'd lost his bevet card and was confused, he was very cold, so some volunteers got him some food (which he tried to pay for, we thought he was confusing us with PBP) and a hot drink, sat him down and tried to get his rider number off him so we could look him up on the system. He ate, and was still eating when our Italian speaking volunteer came and got the story out of him.
He'd booked his flights for him and his family before the event, but hadn't been able to get an entry. So he'd turned up to ride it anyway. From what we worked out, he'd been into quite a few of the controls, but I can't say that for certain. Our Italian speaking volunteer thinks she saw him coming through Northbound.
Cheeky bugger.
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There's a German chap on this forum who talked about doing LEL without an entry. He made clear that he didn't plan to use the facilities at controls. Anyone knows whether he really did it?
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Yes
Turned up at Moffat
Lara our volunteer Italian says he's no card but riding the event. I understood he'd paid for everything which did seem odd. I allowed him in.
That same day but no connection AFAIK two Italians M&F arrived claiming to be supporters. No supporters badge showing and their name wasn't on the supporters list I'd been given. I turned them away.
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Are you sure that isn't the reincarnation of Marco Pantani? He certainly looks like him.
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Saw him at Great Easton on Wednesday night, he was saying something about not having his card, but there were no Italian speakers there so he was let through. I assume he finished!
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He turned up at Loughton and asked if he could charge his phone. I turned him away and he rode off into the night.
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He turned up at Moffat and we let him use the toilet ... he didn't offer to pay for that though !
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There's a German chap on this forum who talked about doing LEL without an entry. He made clear that he didn't plan to use the facilities at controls. Anyone knows whether he really did it?
he got a last minute official place and rode, but packed at some point.
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He was riding in our group on day one for a while. (Mix of 6-7.30am starters). Cheeky fecker. He wasn't doing any turns either.
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While I was waiting for my 12 noon start, I saw the odd cyclist sitting on their bike in front of the starting gate, no numbers displayed. I did wonder if they were unofficially joining in, pacing a friend, or just hanging around. Used to see the same thing with small groups of club cyclists waiting up the road from sportive starts. No objection to others using the public roads so long as they're not freeloading on the food and services everyone else has paid for.
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There's a German chap on this forum who talked about doing LEL without an entry. He made clear that he didn't plan to use the facilities at controls. Anyone knows whether he really did it?
he got a last minute official place and rode, but packed at some point.
Thanks Helen! Sad to learn that he packed, but fortunately he could seek help from the controls!
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While I was waiting for my 12 noon start, I saw the odd cyclist sitting on their bike in front of the starting gate, no numbers displayed. I did wonder if they were unofficially joining in, pacing a friend, or just hanging around. Used to see the same thing with small groups of club cyclists waiting up the road from sportive starts. No objection to others using the public roads so long as they're not freeloading on the food and services everyone else has paid for.
it is not just the food and services .. many many hours go into the route .. anybody having the cheek to follow -- should pay a Perm entry fee .. and frankly I reckon it should be £50. How many AUK members would dream of riding a Perm without paying .. I assume .. none
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the odd cyclist sitting on their bike in front of the starting gate, no numbers displayed
At Loughton we saw many legit riders who did not display the plaquette on their bikes, it wasn't mandatory. if they were riding it alone, outside the event proper, they'd have no reason at all to wait. I suspect they were pukka and waiting their start group.
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There's a German chap on this forum who talked about doing LEL without an entry. He made clear that he didn't plan to use the facilities at controls. Anyone knows whether he really did it?
he got a last minute official place and rode, but packed at some point.
Rene F, has a Milan but turned up on an M5 CHR?
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There's a German chap on this forum who talked about doing LEL without an entry. He made clear that he didn't plan to use the facilities at controls. Anyone knows whether he really did it?
he got a last minute official place and rode, but packed at some point.
Rene F, has a Milan but turned up on an M5 CHR?
Is that the same Rene F who rode the Trans German race a few weeks back ??
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If you mean the world record south to north then no, that was another chap in a Milan.
I think René is more keen on open cycling at the moment Lee. Or so Klaus gathers from somewhere.
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If you mean the world record south to north then no, that was another chap in a Milan.
I think René is more keen on open cycling at the moment Lee. Or so Klaus gathers from somewhere.
Nope - it's a 70% off road 1600k gravel / adventure ride from Basel to the Baltic. I'd like to do it next year so followed it this year. A rider called Rene Fischer posted photos of it: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNvNA173DcqaX8tFJtsN7xdpCVTRgn9egxySSukKeV906REF09t75qahjB8HJpkmA?key=OGg2YTZmTFdXeERndU5IZF92ME1zMVpoNUdfSkV3
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If you mean the world record south to north then no, that was another chap in a Milan.
I think René is more keen on open cycling at the moment Lee. Or so Klaus gathers from somewhere.
Nope - it's a 70% off road 1600k gravel / adventure ride from Basel to the Baltic. I'd like to do it next year so followed it this year. A rider called Rene Fischer posted photos of it: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNvNA173DcqaX8tFJtsN7xdpCVTRgn9egxySSukKeV906REF09t75qahjB8HJpkmA?key=OGg2YTZmTFdXeERndU5IZF92ME1zMVpoNUdfSkV3
That's not him, his surname is different (although also starting with F of course)
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Well, with a population over 90 million, Germany probably has more than a few Rene F's who ride a bike I suppose ...
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There was another Italian who, although officially part of the event, was definitely "rogue".
Absolutely no sense whatsoever of sharing the road with motor vehicles, and far too blatant to be excused by having to ride on the "wrong" side of the road.
He wanted to ride and take turns with me for a while, except his turns were always shorter, and once I got a feel for his style I made sure I was nowhere near him.
I'm almost certain it was the same guy Mrs S & I tried to ride with in 2013, except he simply could not accept a female being in front, and every time it was her turn he'd blast off up the road, only to slow down a km or so later and repeat.
Dickhead.
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We also encountered the Italian motorhome of death on a few occasions.... a series of somewhat unnecessary close passes.
I thought about letting their tyres down when we passed it tucked up in a layby with the bikes outside.. but didn't. (the motorhome tyres not the bikes obviously) O:-)
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We also encountered the Italian motorhome of death on a few occasions.... a series of somewhat unnecessary close passes.
Support vehicles were not supposed to use the rider's route. Another route using main roads was proposed for them. If you had close passes with a support vehicle, it is worth reporting this to the central organization.
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On PBP in 2007 there were a lot of rogue Motorhomes ov Doom on the route and, without exception, they were Italian registered.
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While I was waiting for my 12 noon start, I saw the odd cyclist sitting on their bike in front of the starting gate, no numbers displayed. I did wonder if they were unofficially joining in, pacing a friend, or just hanging around. Used to see the same thing with small groups of club cyclists waiting up the road from sportive starts. No objection to others using the public roads so long as they're not freeloading on the food and services everyone else has paid for.
it is not just the food and services .. many many hours go into the route .. anybody having the cheek to follow -- should pay a Perm entry fee .. and frankly I reckon it should be £50. How many AUK members would dream of riding a Perm without paying .. I assume .. none
Well said - its a bloomin liberty. I was just working out costings for London Wales London the other night and recokon I can just about break even. If I included a figure for my time planning and checking bits of the route and that of the multiple volunteers, phone calls, websites etc etc we'd not be able to run the event. In this context, freeloading even on a £5 brevet counts as VERY NAUGHTY in my book
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I had stupidly close pass from an Italian registered chaussone on Wednesday. Maybe it's just what they do :demon:/color]
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I had stupidly close pass from an Italian registered chaussone on Wednesday. Maybe it's just what they do :demon:/color]
The Italians do like their motorhomes on LEL. Perhaps something to do with them changing kit multiple times a day so they are always immaculate ;)
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Perhaps something to do with them changing kit multiple times a day so they are always immaculate ;)
There was an Italian lady in 2013, Sylvie chatted a lot with her. She took a shower at every control. Not every night, I said every control!
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Did anybody else see the rogue Italian rider?
(http://i.imgur.com/hiaUPr0t.jpg) (http://imgur.com/hiaUPr0)
He turned up at Pocklington coming Southbound, fairly early on in during a quiet period. Spoke no English, and was trying to pay for everything.
We thought he'd lost his bevet card and was confused, he was very cold, so some volunteers got him some food (which he tried to pay for, we thought he was confusing us with PBP) and a hot drink, sat him down and tried to get his rider number off him so we could look him up on the system. He ate, and was still eating when our Italian speaking volunteer came and got the story out of him.
He'd booked his flights for him and his family before the event, but hadn't been able to get an entry. So he'd turned up to ride it anyway. From what we worked out, he'd been into quite a few of the controls, but I can't say that for certain. Our Italian speaking volunteer thinks she saw him coming through Northbound.
Cheeky bugger.
So what happened after you'd prised his tale of decept from him ?
I hope you removed the stolen food & blanket and frog marched him and his bike back to the public highway. I like to imagine you also threw his shoes in a hedge and let his tyres down on the way....but you're probably more mature than me in these situations !!
I want to blame this freeloading fukwit for all the minutes I lost queing at controls for toilets/beds/water/stamps etc, and for any restrictions on food availability me or any other legit riders faced during the event.
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there was another stowaway who managed to get himself into serious trouble: https://www.facebook.com/groups/392520757598601/permalink/755762927941047/?comment_id=756176361233037&reply_comment_id=756241594559847&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D
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there was another stowaway who managed to get himself into serious trouble: https://www.facebook.com/groups/392520757598601/permalink/755762927941047/?comment_id=756176361233037&reply_comment_id=756241594559847&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D
Is there a way of sharing this with those of us who are not on Facebook?
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there was another stowaway who managed to get himself into serious trouble: https://www.facebook.com/groups/392520757598601/permalink/755762927941047/?comment_id=756176361233037&reply_comment_id=756241594559847&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D
Is there a way of sharing this with those of us who are not on Facebook?
I can read it without having a facebook login if I open it in a private browsing window.
In the comments is something from Daniel: "He [the rogue Italian] got to Loughton but I forbade him from using the facilities. We also had a Japanese interloper who fell foul of the Louth famine and was found bonked and slumped at Hessle visitor information centre. The story of how we discovered him is actually quite funny."
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a little bit further down in the comments, Neil Crocker has the full story on the other stowaway:
"Found him lying on the verge about 20km before the Humber Bridge. He spoke no English but I realised his Garmin was repeatedly crashing and he had no backup. Beckoned him to follow me to next control. At first he kept up with me but soon I was stopping frequently for him and by the time we crossed the Humber Bridge he was barely moving.
He looked really unwell but not ill enough to call 999. I went to the Visitor Information Centre for help and the lady there was phoning around for translation services and making tea for him. A passing nurse in full motorcycle leathers was also trying to ascertain what was wrong with him. He then fell asleep under the shade of a tree and I was concerned that if I left him his bike might not be there when he woke up. (While he was sleeping I did manage to re-start his Garmin and find the route.)
I rang Danial and agreed I would take him to a hotel to let him recover. With more help from the VIC, and a trip to Hessle Co-op to get the food he insisted on, I finally got him to the local Premier Inn but they could not book him in because he had no formal ID. However I did find out his name from the credit card he had.
So I rang Danial who then informed me there was no one of his name on the ride! It had never occurred to me that he might not be an official entrant. By now he was beginning to perk up a bit so I reluctantly left him to fend for himself and set off for Pocklington. I do wonder what the full story was and what became of him."
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;D you sure he was even trying to do LEL, and not just a random local POB? Poor bloke, he was just on his way to the shops for a pint of milk, relaxing waiting for his mate or something and then he's being dragged off miles away. :)
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;D you sure he was even trying to do LEL, and not just a random local POB?
Like the guy who joined the FNRttC peleton a number of years. It wasn't until a good while later he discovered he'd misheard the destination and we're heading to Brighton, rather than Brixton.
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and the rider on the London-Cambridge ride in 2013 who inadvertently joined a LEL peloton.
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;D you sure he was even trying to do LEL, and not just a random local POB?
Like the guy who joined the FNRttC peleton a number of years. It wasn't until a good while later he discovered he'd misheard the destination and we're heading to Brighton, rather than Brixton.
Yes, wasn't he on a mountain bike? Had been given some money by friends to pop out for a pizza. Ended up on the south coast.
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I saw the rogue Italian whilst I was manning the Barnard Castle control desk, and rode with the Italian who mistook Brighton for Brixton on the FNRTtC.
The former wandered in apparently too tired to get his card stamped. A couple of volunteers went off to help him. He spoke little/no English but communicated that his card was still on his bike and he needed food and sleep first, which is pretty cheeky now we know he wasn't a signed up rider.
The latter realised he was on the wrong ride by the time we went down the big hill in Surrey but carried on as that was easier (plus he happy flirting with a couple of women on the ride) and I took him to Brighton station after breakfast on the seafront.