Cycling tours in danger of falling down a hole

According to British Cycling, every effort is being made to hold this year’s Tour of Britain and the Women’s Tour.

That’s despite the fact that the company (Sweet Spot) which ran the events has gone bust, its debts including one of £750,000 to BC itself.

The winners of last year’s ToB, including the Belgian champion Wout van Aert and his team, haven’t even been paid their prize money.

Bike racing folk will tell you that nowhere in the UK is the ToB more popular than in the South West and, possibly, Yorkshire.

Many of the race’s biggest crowds have gathered here, hundreds of thousands of spectators helping to give the local economy a considerable boost.

They reckon that nearly half a million people cheered Devon’s Jon Tiernan-Locke when he clinched his 2012 victory on a sun-drenched stage from Barnstaple to Dartmouth.

And anyone who’s watched the race tackle the spectacular climb from Bovey Tracey to Haytor will know the excitement and atmosphere it can generate.

So it was hardly surprising to hear Devon County councillor Stuart Hughes, who’s been an enthusiastic voice for the sport and the Tour, eagerly talking up the chances of bringing the event back here next September.

But there is a problem.

It’s a big, black and often water-filled one. We’re talking, of course, potholes. The state of our roads is appalling. An embarrassment.

Not only have they become a gravy-train for tyre companies and wheel-balancing departments, they’re downright dangerous.

Do you know the best way to get one repaired – or should I say ‘patched’?

You report, as a cycling mate truthfully did the other day, that a pothole caused him to fall, only his helmet saving him from serious injury or worse.

That pothole, and many more like it on the Teign Valley, had gone unrepaired for months, possibly years. In the wake of my friend’s accident and report, it was filled within days.

In other words, it seems that councils are so stretched that it takes a threat to life and limb, or the possible legal implications, to act.

The other day I decided to take the scenic route from Taunton back to South Devon via Wellington and Tiverton, avoiding the M5.

At times it felt like a rally.

I had to swerve so often (checking my mirrors, of course) to avoid the worst of the craters that I half- expected a patrol car to pull me over and do me for erratic driving.

Good on you, Mr Hughes, and keep up the good work. But if you can name a decent bit of tarmac that runs for a few miles, instead of a couple of hundred yards, do let me know and I’ll give it a spin.

Has anyone driven the three-and-a-half miles from Bovey to Haytor recently? A serious bike race up there now?

Thousands of our minor roads are being quietly ‘downgraded’, condemning them to a life where only tractors and 4x4s will be able to use them.

And, of course, our town centre roads aren’t much better, if at all.

I know, many a grumpy driver is quick to complain that there are more people than ever riding bicycles these days, and isn’t that a pain.

Actually it’s loads of people of all ages trying to get off their backsides, draw some fresh air into their lungs and keep fit.

But in the face of so much recreational cycling, why is it that bike racing in the UK is in something of a crisis?

There are several reasons.

For instance, it costs so much just to stage an event on these days that riders are being put off by the entry fees.

Our local Mid-Devon CC, the biggest club this side of Bristol, devotes thousands of pounds, which it makes from its annual Dartmoor Classic sportive, to paying the fees and expenses of its younger racers, so they’re not priced out of sport.

But clubs like the MDCC are still finding it increasingly hard to find roads which are safe enough to race on.

More and more events are being held on closed circuits like Paignton’s Torbay Velopark.

Whether you’re a bit quick or just a social rider, a pothole is a pothole. There’s more of them, and they seem to be getting bigger and deeper. Stay safe, everyone..!