Missed chance for big cycle bash
EVENT cancelled. My initial flashes of anger, disappointment and frustration died down by about 11am. They simmered down after a senseless search for who or what to direct my negative feelings towards. So, my reflections began.
First, thank you to everyone who was involved in the Cape Town Cycle Tour for having made the right decision for 35 000 cyclists and putting safety first.
My husband and I, as international entrants, last took part in the Cycle Tour in 2009 – the year of the Great Winds. We rode through them and finished the race. We acknowledge there were lives lost that year and that no life is worth losing over something preventable.
However, we wonder if there might have been a missed opportunity for the organisers to have moved this catastrophic cancellation into something special. The 40th celebration could have been just that. Extraordinarily positive.
Plan A was perfect – the Cycle Tour goes ahead and it’s the perfect event with no incidents. That was not the case. Plan B was cut the route. Neither was that to be so. To Plan C. Cancel. Why was Plan C not to host the biggest cyclist party?
This could have been the Cycle Tour that no one forgot for all the right reasons. A Cape Town Cycle Tour 40th year history book special. It could have been planned so easily. Maybe not on a whim but as an advance plan it could have and should have been planned. The stadium was there. The Thule Bike Park was there ready to host the bikes of the 35 000 finishers.
The finish location had the logistics for 35 000 cyclists. The hospitality could have been moved from its exposed location into the stadium. The roads were closed awaiting us there.
Why was there not a Plan C to invite all the cyclists to go to the stadium? Protected from the wind, protected from fires, protected from protests. Host us there, inside. Put tweets out for some bands to come down, for cyclists to gather together and party in the absence of the event. Meet one another and share experiences. Now that would’ve been quite a party.
Organisers, you might have thought you put the cyclists first, and safety was first, but the cyclist experience was last. It could all have been so different, so easily.
CAROL BRANNIGAN-PAVITT Egham, UK