by PeteS » Tue Dec 06, 2011 4:30 pm
I wasn't going to bother replying to you Paul because I find your attitude on almost all subjects that you comment on, including this, to be very angry and I think this forum gives you the opportunity to make comments that you would probably never make face to face. I have only spoken to you once in "real life" and that was in my kitchen at a VC's meeting when I introduced myself. Since then, you have studiously avoided making eye contact and I assume that our brief chat was a one-off.
I do feel strongly that the club can do better than use the same route week in week out and I applaud Jon's attempts to mix things up in spite of the lack of enthusiasm from you amongst others. I accept that many people enjoy the clubrun and whilst I would prefer it if the club used different routes and cafes each week, that's what we as an alternative offer and I'm happy that people choose to come with us either every week or whenever the mood takes them. Monty was never very enthusiastic about anything that wasn't his idea and with Jon's very successful Grand Days Out and our weekly rides together with Del's Sunday runs we have proved that change can work. I think our "Alternative Missionary Cult" as you call us, have achieved a lot in the last few years and regularly take 20% of the clubrun on rides in Surrey, Sussex and Kent away from the menace of fast moving traffic. I work hard, as does Del, to offer different alternatives to the Charlwood route and whilst you may not be in favour of them, the least you can do is accept them without making up childish names.
You seem to think I want there to have been accidents at the M23/25 junction, that somehow I'm cheated and beaten because none are listed. Nothing could be further from the truth. I'm not sure if you have ever been involved in a serious accident involving a fast-moving car but I have. On the A23/M23 junction some years ago, a car went into the back of a group of us at around 50-60mph, he left 2 of us on the road and sped away with a bike still wrapped around his bumper; the police caught him in Hove. One of my friends recovered after some months, the other was taken to Stoke Mandeville, stayed there for a year and has been in a wheelchair ever since; his life was effectively ruined at the time of the accident, his marriage failed and he became a grossly overweight bitter man. All of us on the ride were affected by the experience.
So you see Paul, I do have a reason to be passionate about where our club rides and I do feel the need to encourage people to try riding somewhere different. I accept your desire to do the same thing week after week but please don't make light of my belief that we should be as safe as possible by avoiding busy main roads. One fast car into the back of an Addiscombe group could make an instant change to the accident statistics map but imagine the disaster for the lives of our members and their families. I won't make any further comments on this subject.