Speed bumps

When Welsh lawmakers passed a 20-mph default speed limit in developed areas, they anticipated saving lives and preventing crashes. They didn’t expect to cause chaos in a youth bike race. Organizers for the Junior Tour of Wales had to scramble to shorten and amend the planned route for the five-stage, 237-mile race because support vehicles following the teenage bicyclists simply couldn’t keep up without speeding. Bicycles are exempt from the new law. The event, which ran Aug. 23-26, featured some of the United Kingdom’s most talented young racers. And while the new 20-mph rule in Wales wouldn’t pose a problem on uphill portions of the course, the young riders could easily hit 40 mph downhill. Rather than let the 100 competitors race away from the chase cars, organizers changed the route to avoid towns and cities that carried the lower speed limit. Organizers managed to reroute the race in time for the first day but lost some of the favorite pathways in finding a solution. “In the process we’ve lost a large part of the character and challenge the event is famous for,” race organizer Richard Hopkins told the BBC. “It’s massively demoralizing.”