Firstly, congratulations to Anuar Manan for being the first Malaysian rider to win a stage at LTdL, ahead of an international field. What an effort. This is the story of watching the peloton from the roadside.
Saturday morning, was at a petrol station nearby my house. Along the way, noticed so many traffic police personnel stationed by the roadside. Was thinking, maybe some politician coming to visit the area or something. Then suddenly it crossed my mind, LtDL! Was not rushing for anything, so decided to wait by the roadside to watch the peloton ride by. The peloton had being passing through my housing area a few times previously, on their way up to the enormous climb up Genting, but never actually had the chance to see them live since it always happened on weekdays.
It was really quite an effort to make things go smoothly, especially from the traffic police personnel. They had to manage traffic at every single junction amidst protests and complaints from the stopped motorists. It’s very easy for arguments to break over the frustration.I can understand that.
Half an hour passed, still no sight of the peloton. Only the motorcade provided some entertainment for the patiently waiting onlookers. Talking about onlookers, it was surprising to see quite a large group actually standingd by the roadside for the peloton. Even though some of them looked like they had no idea at all about a cycling race. I believe the support due to Anuar Manan's win the day before.
After about an hour, the peloton passed by. Only one rider broke away from the peloton, the rest were in the big group. It took all of maybe 30 seconds or so for them to pass by. For all the effort and time waiting *sigh* A lot of effort required for the organization of the race. I would say hundreds of traffic police were involved. Maybe possibly 40-50 police outriders on high-powered motorcycles plus around 7-8 more police vehicles. A support car each for all the participating teams. Three neutral support cars with spare bikes on the roof. Two neutral service cars. Three proton service cars to provide maintainenance service & spare parts for the cars involved in the entourage. Three spare cars for replacement of the team cars. Two ambulances, an accident support vehicle, two police command vehicles, plus even a mobile radio communication repeater! Just can’t imagine the cost (and carbon sourced energy) involved for that.
And my list above is not even exhaustive. Those are the ones that I noticed and remembered. It’s quite ironic really considering cycling is one of the most environmental friendly forms of transport, but the race itself would have quite a big impact to the environment.I don't think the event can become a 'carbon-neutral' event soon. They'll need to plant lots and lots of trees just to compensate for fuel usage alone.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a cyclist myself and fully support for the event to continue. But I just think better ways must be thought of in terms of the organization of the race.
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