Thousands of cyclists descended upon South Wales to take part in this year’s Velothon last weekend, and locals who lined Caerphilly Mountain have been praised for lending their passionate support.
The unpredictable weather conditions on Sunday, May 22 did little to dampen the spirits of audiences and cyclists alike, as 12,000 amateur riders took on the challenging 140km route.
Riders were treated to stunning views as they pedalled past Newport, Caerleon, Usk, Abergavenny, Pontypool, Ystrad Mynach and Caerphilly.
Undoubtedly the toughest tests of the route came with the 1,826 metres of ascent over the notoriously unrelenting Tumble in Abergavenny, and looming Caerphilly Mountain, which posed the last climb before the descent towards the finish line.
Supporters flanked the mountain road, cheering weary legs to the summit, and Caerphilly Observer received two letters from cyclists following the event, thanking locals for their support.
Iain Ferguson, 45, a production manager from Runcorn, rode the route with friends from Wrexham and wrote:
“Just got back to Cheshire after a great weekend in South Wales for the Velothon.
I know that this ride will have inconvenienced many, but the impression I left with was beautiful countryside and very welcoming hosts.
All the people giving their support on Caerphilly Mountain somehow kept me going to the top.
Thank you all very much.”
A second letter was sent in from James Greenaway, 25, a data administrator from Exeter. He wrote:
“I’m just emailing to give my thanks to the wonderful people of Caerphilly.
I am one of those (road tax dodging) cyclists, who was absolutely blessed to pass through your town today as part the Velothon Wales.
I wanted to thank the people of Caerphilly, whose Sunday was disrupted by the event, for showing an absolute incredible level of support to all the riders who have travelled from all around the UK to take part in the Velothon.
Without the encouragement of the local people I do not think I could’ve made it up Caerphilly mountain.
And also a special thanks to the lady who chased me up passed the castle to give me jelly babies, that made my day.
From the bottom of my heart,
Thank you.”
The enthusiastic response from residents signifies a positive shift from the contention surrounding the inaugural event last year.
The numerous road closures and lack of communication had angered residents, and led to a small amount of tacks being thrown on to the cycle route.
Organisers Run 4 Wales, and Caerphilly County Borough Council, this year ran a consultation period for residents to air their views about the event, and more than 100,000 letters were sent to households and businesses along the race route.
A spokesperson for the office of Wayne David, Caerphilly MP, said they had received “significantly fewer complaints than last year, which we believe to be a positive result of the consultation period”.
Mr David had been vocal in his opposition to the event returning to Caerphilly after the disruptions caused in 2015.
This year, high levels of traffic were reported in parts of Ynysddu due to closures on the B4251 and discarded energy gel packets on Caerphilly Mountain were pictured on Twitter.
Speaking immediately after the event, Matt Newman, Chief Executive of Run 4 Wales, hailed the success of the race.
He said: “The success of today’s event is testament to the hard work of all the stakeholders involved in the planning and delivery of the event and more than 1,500 staff and volunteers working on the day.
“Initial feedback from those who took part has been overwhelmingly positive and the increased communication to residents and businesses prior to the event helped to reduce disruption on the day.”
Most of the `support` was non visual, (there was a distinct absence of any visual support for this grossly and disproportionate inconvenience to ratepaying residents) The appreciation should go to those residents who made such a huge local finacial contribution to this event, but who stayed away and did more important things with their lives.
I would imagine it’s a difficult balance trying to keep the disruption to a minimum, and then there are businesses that lose a great deal of income on what is normally a busy day of the week for them. If it is a cycle race why can’t the roads be opened immediately after the cyclists have passed through, why close a road for most of the day when it is only being used by the cyclists for less than an hour or so, do they close off roads for the whole day for the tour de France, I would think not.
Very Very poor planning ,and even less consideration for other road users. Who pay to use them incidently.
I know someone who works at the golf club on Caerphilly mountain and another who works at a hotel on the other side of the mountain. The mountain road was closed and neither of them could get to work. All we hear is that they were told early enough to plan for it, the road was closed were they supposed to hire a helicopter?
The people of Caerphilly should be very proud of the welcome and support that was given to all the riders along the route. Caerphilly mountain was again a focal point for support and I was glad to see a few friendly faces near the top. The residents of my street off mountain road enjoyed the traffic free town centre as well. A fantastic event and already looking forward to next year.
It was NOT `a fantastic event`, it was a bike ride,
The `welcome and support` was CONSIDERABLY less than last year, even with what was advanced notice of total and a disprortionate level of inconvenience to workers and residents, traders and shoppers, ( or potential shoppers who could`nt get to the shops).
The cost to the Caerphilly Council for the pre bike ride preperations. public health and safety was perversly disproportionate in respect to costs on residents, where did all the staff come from, what do they do when the bike riders go home and they have cleared up the mess? How do they earn their wages?
The Gwent Police operation was something residents NEVER EVER see at anytime during the year, even The Big Cheese event. Where do all these police staff go when the sun does`nt shine? what on earth do they do at all other times?.
The one comment you made in your posting which is spot on is “I was glad to see a few friendly faces near the top”, i.e. A FEW faces at the top of the Mountain. Have you thought WHY only a few faces?, one of the reasons of course is they would have had to walk there, because the roads were closed.
My family and myself had a great day, same as we did last year, cheering the riders on in Caerphilly.
The Velothon is great, you will always get, moan, moan, moan from the usual suspects, but nobody takes them seriously any longer.
Looking forward to next year already. (and the next 4yrs plus)
Why anyone would want to spend a day, with thier children, inanely standing on the side of the road, cheering people they dont know, riding a bike! is incomoprehensible
Most people have much more adventurous past times, and much more interesting things to do with thier families, on a sunny Sunday but, you have perfect right to it, and celebrate the closing of roads, inconvenience to thousands of other families who dont share your passion for standing around on the side of the road.
Lets hope that next year they will not be so selfish and leave some roads open for those that have to get to work ..
Good to have these events in our town. All you cyclists are very welcome here.
Of course they are.
You sure you feel that way?
I am genuinely sure I feel the way I do about this bike ride as my comment, in reply to your comment, suggest, and, as genuinely convincingly as you feel about the
comment you posted. from this you can make your own mind up if I`m serious or not.