Tour de France - interesting response - what to look out for

from the marshals' perspective

• TourDeFrance

We got a great and informative response to John's article about motorcycle marshals for the Tour de France from a guy who is a member of CAMMI the College of Advanced Motorcycle Marshals of Ireland so we thought we'd share it with you...
Hi Guys

Just read your article on the bikes present on the Tour, Good piece and good to see it getting a mention, I run a BMW motorcycle garage in Ireland and am also a member of CAMMI, College of Advanced Motorcycle Marshals of Ireland, www.cammi.ie
We operate mainly with cycling events and some on a major scale, it has taken us as far away as Azerbaijan for the Tour of Azerbaijan which was live on Eurosport etc, We also covered the Tour of Ireland when it ran here, it's due to come back soon. Also the Giro Gran Fondo in Belfast a few weeks ago,  It is a great way to get out on the bike and see some parts of either your own country, or another country you wouldn’t normally see, Like you mentioned, all our riders are highly qualified to do the job, A lot are Motorbike Cops and then everyone else is either a Silver or Gold RoSPa.
But…This can still sometimes not be sufficient, What is also definitely required for doing these events is a knowledge of the sport, Cycling! You could be a great bike rider but that will not teach you how to descend at a rate of knots with cyclists that will be choosing a completely different line to you as a motorcycle rider, you have to prepare yourself for this well in advance to firstly, avoid the cyclist, keep yourself safe and then avoid slipstreaming any cyclist or getting in any camera views, it all comes into play.

It can be a bit easier with the likes of running events but then you are presented with other dangers. A runner has a lot less presence on the road than a cyclist, but then the slower speed can help too, swings and roundabouts I suppose
Anyway, Just thought I’d share my thoughts, Thanks for reading
Interesting insights there from Mark, thanks very much. Any comments: [email protected]