Sky Ride Etape Hibernia Cycle Event - WTF?

CptSternn

So I came back down from Dublin to see the wife and kid last weekend. I thought it would be a leisurely Sunday in Clare.

Little did I know they had some International cycling event there.

I mean, who exactly came up with the idea? Which geniuses planned this event?

We went out Sunday morning to do a bit of shopping @ Dunnes, then I took the family to McDonalds - the kid loves Shrek Happy Meals sure.

The whole way it's like rush hour traffic from Cahercalla to Dunnes (via the road next to Flannans).

Then when leaving Mickey D's we decide to take the motorway back. We go down to the round about at the Maid Of Erin - all the way up to the motorway to find...ITS CLOSED. Yes, they closed the bleedin motorway for cyclists.

Ok, not the end of the world. We went around the round about next to the motorway back towards town and then cut over through towards the Golf links to find the road was CLOSED. They didn't put the CLOSED sign down near the bottom, no, that would have been too intellegent, they put it all the way at the end - so cars were lined up all trying to do a U turn on the road next to the gold links - one at a time, then heading all the way back up the same road. Who made this call?

We then tried to cut through Cloughleigh to find ALL THE STREETS THERE were closed as well.

Finally we ended up having to go all the way back past McDonalds and over past Dunnes the way we came just to get back to Cahercalla. It took almost an hour due to traffic.

Was anyone else put out by this? I mean, they should have had much better signage and more advanced notice before shutting off pretty much every road in town sure.

I thought it was bad planning, bad execution, and even bad form.

Hawk Wing 2

There was signs up for around 3 weeks beforehand, it was well publicised and planned

croker95

People are always complaining that there is never anything on in Ennis !!!!!

We need more events like this to bring people to Ennis for everyones sake.

Kilnababe

Sorry about your Big Mac. This was well publicized. Road closure notices in the local papers about 3 months ago. It gave Ennis between 3 and 4 thousand bed nights over 1 weekend. It was extremely well run, with road closure notices in place for 24 hours before.
The County needs to promote itself with more of these type of events.

Kilnababe

Notices were in the Champion as far back as last April/May.
Signage was up all over the place for weeks.
I was one of the cyclists. It was an extremely well run and co ordinated event. It brought hundreds of people to Clare, most of whom will be back, most of whom will tell someone else, who wlll come.
This event helps to put Clare on the map as a cycling destination. God knows Clare is seriously underpromoted as a tourist destination. Tourism Ireland seem to have decided to spend their budget selling Kerry & Donegal - 2 wonderful destinations and no mistake, but Clare has everything they have and more besides.
If some people were put out by the road closures, then, as a participant, I do apologize, but as a resident and as someone who thinks that this should be the beginning rather than the end of such events, I would like to say the following.. 'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few'.

Jim Martin

CptSternn wrote: »

So I came back down from Dublin to see the wife and kid last weekend. I thought it would be a leisurely Sunday in Clare.

Little did I know they had some International cycling event there.

I mean, who exactly came up with the idea? Which geniuses planned this event?

We went out Sunday morning to do a bit of shopping @ Dunnes, then I took the family to McDonalds - the kid loves Shrek Happy Meals sure.

The whole way it's like rush hour traffic from Cahercalla to Dunnes (via the road next to Flannans).

Then when leaving Mickey D's we decide to take the motorway back. We go down to the round about at the Maid Of Erin - all the way up to the motorway to find...ITS CLOSED. Yes, they closed the bleedin motorway for cyclists.

Ok, not the end of the world. We went around the round about next to the motorway back towards town and then cut over through towards the Golf links to find the road was CLOSED. They didn't put the CLOSED sign down near the bottom, no, that would have been too intellegent, they put it all the way at the end - so cars were lined up all trying to do a U turn on the road next to the gold links - one at a time, then heading all the way back up the same road. Who made this call?

We then tried to cut through Cloughleigh to find ALL THE STREETS THERE were closed as well.

Finally we ended up having to go all the way back past McDonalds and over past Dunnes the way we came just to get back to Cahercalla. It took almost an hour due to traffic.

Was anyone else put out by this? I mean, they should have had much better signage and more advanced notice before shutting off pretty much every road in town sure.

I thought it was bad planning, bad execution, and even bad form.

The problem seems to be with visitors to the area who wouldn't have known about the event and got severely caught out by the road diversions which look as though they weren't organised properly. That's just my thoughts, I was away on the day so didn't personally experience it.

shg101

I was one of the cyclists.

I was also cursing the road closures trying to get back to Kilkee after the event! Also met an English couple trying to get to Doolin, had hit the closed road at Lahinch and came back to Ennis looking for an alternate route - that was dumb, but I guess understandable.

Hard to know what to do - definitely visitors could be severely affected, like that couple. Not feeling too sorry for the OP however, yeah you had an hour in traffic, but a couple of thousand people were on the cycle, many of them non-Irish.

The event got great write-ups in the UK cycling websites, with many people now marking it in their calendars for next year.

Also, the number one thing that EVERYONE agreed with (even those disappointed overall with the event) was that the people of Clare were absoloutely outstanding in their support. Hell, I got cheered at 7AM in the morning! Go to the cycling forum on this site where there is a huge thread about it.

golden8

Its about time something positive is happening in Clare why begrudge one day.

Like what other posters mentioned it was extremely well publicised.

We had to go to Kilrush and went an alternative route and did not mind whatsoever, we were coming from Quin direction.

Hopefully more positive things like this will come to the area.

Tora Bora

This event should never have been, and hopefully never again will be!

I mean, what exctly was the commercial logic, of closing half the counties roads?

What money came in form outside?

The natives were inconvenienced!
Tourists already here, on there way here and leaving here after their stay, were inconvenienced.

What new business was generated? How many bed nights were sold?
If any, where were they sold ............ Ennis and Ennis alone, and yet half of north and west Clare roads closed!!

I can tell you, if you lived up in an area from Doolin, through wider Lahinch, Liscannor catchmant on to Milltown Malbay, and you had a medical emergency, while this racket ws in progress, you were in deep trouble.

dr.fuzzenstein

I think it's great that something's finally happening in Ennis besides GAA and the pubs. There are many alternative activities, weird outlandish stuff to the natives such as surfing, kayaking, potholing, rock climbing and yes, even cycling that are possible in this lovely county and that seem to be almost completely ignored and even hindered by Clare Co Co because they may view such activities as strange, alien, suspicious, or even (perish the thought!) un-Irish!
As per organisational chaos, yes I believe that anything to do with traffic and Clare Co Co can only end badly and I feel your pain OP, I know it's no consolation but at least there is hope Clare Co Co might learn from it's mistakes (holds breath) and avoid the worst of them next year should this event return.
Anything new and different can only be a good thing in Clare, because it's been the same auld ding dong here for as long as I can remember.
Who knows, they may start pushing Clare for tourism in Europe and even revive Shannon airport as a major gateway not only to the West but Clare as well.
Before you know it visitor numbers might be up 500% and we can all open B&B's and bicycle hire.

penexpers

Tora Bora wrote: »

T
What new business was generated? How many bed nights were sold?
If any, where were they sold ............ Ennis and Ennis alone, and yet half of north and west Clare roads closed!!

Myself and my family used the Etape as an excuse to go for a holiday for a week in Clare. TBH, without the Etape going to Clare would never have crossed my mind. We decided to base ourselves in Doolin as we wanted to be close to the sea/beach. The only time we went to Ennis was for the Etape, the rest of the week was spent in West Clare, in Doolin, Lahinch, Liscannor and as far down as Carrigaholt. Had a lovely week too and will probably be back again next year. And I know of others who based themselves outside of Ennis for the cycle.

The event was a great event, really well run and a great advertisement for Clare. Other counties should be envious of this event.

I know the road closures were a pain for residents but I didn't meet any hostility on the route. The number of people who were out clapping and cheering cyclists on at 7am was really humbling and was definitely the highlight of the day (apart from the great scenery )

Nevermind_

Tora Bora wrote: »

This event should never have been, and hopefully never again will be!

I mean, what exctly was the commercial logic, of closing half the counties roads?

What money came in form outside?

The natives were inconvenienced!
Tourists already here, on there way here and leaving here after their stay, were inconvenienced.

What new business was generated? How many bed nights were sold?
If any, where were they sold ............ Ennis and Ennis alone, and yet half of north and west Clare roads closed!!

I can tell you, if you lived up in an area from Doolin, through wider Lahinch, Liscannor catchmant on to Milltown Malbay, and you had a medical emergency, while this racket ws in progress, you were in deep trouble.

I'm really glad that attitudes like yours are in the minority.
Its your type of thinking that has held back the promotion of clare as a tourism destination and destroyed Shannon Airport.

I hope the etape is here to stay, it is a massive shot in the arm for clare tourism.
If you dont believe me then ask some of the hotel or B&B operators in clare, or just read some of the above posts.

Callan57

The event didn't cause me personally any significant inconvenience but while out for my usual Sunday morning walk I must have given directions to at least 25 drivers, most had no idea what was going on. I would question the length of time the roads were closed which seemed to me excessive for a cycle race and also while there were signs saying roads were closed no alternative route directions were given nor were there any people posted at junctions to advise drivers.
I would also question the advisability of running this event on an August weekend ... the busiest month of the year in terms of holidaymakers!

By the way can anyone tell me is this a commercial event or a charity event or what? I know there were articles in the local press & radio but I have yet to speak to anyone in the local area who could enlighten me on this point.

Balagan

From Clare Co Co Website

http://www.clarecoco.ie/recreation-culture/events/sky-ride-etape-hibernia.html

Note that emergency services would have been free to move around

Event's website

http://www.etapehibernia.com/

Local newspapers/radio (using the usual high spin press releases) claimed that it brought 1.something million to the local economy,with some claiming 10 million, though they may have been misreading the latter as it seemed to be a projected windfall over 5 years - the length of years the event will be in Clare.

The charities to benefit

Meanwhile, the event organisers have named the three charities that will benefit from the event. Sky Rainforest Rescue, a Sky and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) project to help save one billion trees in the Amazon Rainforest, has been nominated as the international charity. DEBRA Ireland and Clare Crusaders have been chosen as the national and local charities respectively.
from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:J6JF-9PatlwJ:www.clareherald.com/sports/other-sports/2502-1750-gear-up-for-sky-ride-etape-hibernia.html%3Flang%3D+etape+hibernia+charity&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ie

An Etape event in Scotland last year brought some controversy http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:J6JF-9PatlwJ:www.clareherald.com/sports/other-sports/2502-1750-gear-up-for-sky-ride-etape-hibernia.html%3Flang%3D+etape+hibernia+charity&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ie - the comments following the article pretty much mirroring the range of reactions expressed here.