British Cycling being embarassing, obsequious idiots ...

I tend to agree with @Polka_Dot about abandoning club riders. I absolutely detest the BC decision, but I also care about grass roots racing in this country and it would be heartbreaking if that is impacted by the stupid decision making of elements of BC’s management.

Dutch federation will give memberships to non residents but won’t do a race licence. :(

@Polka_Dot It's about £30 to join VCL, and they probably have available kit. They are also a good, proper club who BC may at least feign to listen to when it comes to the shell sponsorship. Not as ideal as LFGSS club but at least a good club to race for.

LFGSS is a BC club, but I reckon BC doesn't give a fuck about us and has no intention of listening to our thoughts, or certainly not comparison to for example VCL. So I suggest the principled thing to do is withdraw as a club until they drop Shell

This is tough for me. I am firmly against this sponsorship but I do need a licence to race and I am also trustee of a hugely popular and successful club which encourages and supports around 200 youth members. Even taking racing licenses out of it; our facility is leased to BC, our coaches are trained and insured by BC and many of our riders have followed the BC pathway. At our AGM I will be bringing up a discussion on what action we can take without burning our membership cards.

“…I accidentally killed a rabbit while flat out on a ‘segment’ on my gravel bike…”

It is tough. But I ain't taking my kids to the Science Museum until they drop Shell and BP. They will just have to learn about science and situational irony another way.

Baby Jesus created everything anyway.

this is the calculation they would have made, people feeling caught, BC then absorb some of the outrage, let
people vent, but all accounted for in the plan.

Surely it's about quantities and impact? Yes, it takes some resources and energy to produce bikes and phones and clothes but their environmental and humanitarian impact is nothing compared to what oil companies profit from. The real point tho is that BC (and every pro cyclist sporting the shell logo) is greenwashing a very dirty company, as @Eejit pointed out so eloquently.

They will just have to learn about science and situational irony another way.

They could watch The Big Bang Theory?

oooh...is this true?

Has anyone any experience dealing with TLI (https://www.tlicycling.com). This could be one way for people to race, outside of the BC system. I know racing did (or still does) happen at North Weald, but i have no experience with it myself.

If you are old enough, there is also the BMRC:

https://bmcr.org.uk/

They even organise track racing (at Derby mostly)

Its outside BC as of this most recent year. Who knows if it'll be subsumed next.

Dutch federation will give memberships to non residents but won’t do a race licence. :(

Would a Dutch address help?

Probably not for me now I’ve disclosed my plan to them but might for others!

Baby Jesus created everything anyway.

I don't like to seem pedantic, but I think the creation happened a little while before baby Jesus (see entire Old Testament)

More seriously, while a loud protest from us older people whose careers are (tell it not in Gath) perhaps on the wain, I don't think it's right for young people, perhaps future stars, to damage their careers over this issue. Would it have been of benefit to the human condition if Tao GH had decided to give up his racing career in protest before he'd really got going?

What would really annoy BC would be a new rival organisation promoting races. They got pretty upset when the Surrey League threatened to break away - it's an obvious weak point for them since their record on race promotion is pathetic.

Presumably if there were such a rival organisation BC would ban its members from holding BC licences. Well if anyone does try this do let me know because, even though I've no serious intention of racing, I would take out a 'rival' licence in the hope that BC would do me the honour of banning me.

And almost all of those attending will be using various products: bikes, clothes, phones , which are products of the petro chemical industry.

Cognitive dissonance?

Jesus fucking christ, I even posted the meme a few posts above yours and you still went and did it.

do you need to be a member of a club to do track league?
I only know CX and TTs but you can definitely do those as a privateer, wearing whatever you want . you still have to pay BB for a licence for most CX though

I mean, to be fair, Tao GH rides for Ineos so I'm not entirely sure he'd have a moral objection to sponsorship from Shell.

You don’t need to be a member of a club to do any BC events do you?

no. you might be more likely to get entries into some road races if you're a member of a supporting club (crystal palace crits for example), but given the numbers at road races this summer that's often not an issue.

Lol. Yeh he did.

I mean, to be fair, Tao GH rides for Ineos so I'm not entirely sure he'd have a moral objection to sponsorship from Shell.

I did not intend to comment on TGH's personal position. I was just looking for an example of a loss to cyclesport if we were too rigid over this issue. It seems extreme to say we should abandon bike racing indefintely until the problem goes away; that would be very bad luck for any promising young rider.

I do accept that this view weakens any boycott - I just have doubts about damaging young peoples' careers because of my old person's moral position.

Perhaps that's why I think a more active attack on BC is necessary, rather than just meekly waiking away.

Ineos seems at least as bad as Shell - possibly BC have used the Ineos sponsorship as the thin end of a wedge.

As for TGH, I happen to know that he is not unaware of his own moral position, and has been known to take a correct moral stand on another (unrelated) issue.

no. you might be more likely to get entries into some road races if you're a member of a supporting club (crystal palace crits for example), but given the numbers at road races this summer that's often not an issue.

Fredtc raises a very good point here.

In the past, clubs promoted road races so that their own members could get rides in other clubs events, which is why there used to be plenty of races to ride.

Now the whole club system is on its knees and mostly populated by old people. Even if they can understand the modern requirements for event promotion, they haven't got much motivation.