Braking point: Hong Kong cyclists and politicians call for improvements after chaos of city's first Cyclothon event
A shortage of manpower, a lack of signs for cyclists and poor traffic control all contributed to the chaos of the city's first Cyclothon over the weekend, according to participants, district councillors and lawmakers.
Legislator Gary Fan Kwok-wai, who was among 1,300 cyclists participating in the 10km ride on Sunday morning, said improvements were needed if the event was held again, including increasing the number of workers and training them better.
"There was a lack of staff and they were quite inexperienced," said Fan, a NeoDemocrat who sits on the Legislative Council's transport panel.
Fan said he and other participants arrived in Tsim Sha Tsui to rent their bikes from the organisers at 7.15am - 45 minutes before the event started - and were still waiting at 7.50am. "There were only two staff responsible for helping more than a thousand participants get their bikes," he said.
Right from exiting the MTR station, Fan said, the directions were not clear enough. "The organisers just told us to exit at Tsim Sha Tsui J2 [to get to the meet-up point], then there were no signs. We saw many people wandering around with their bicycles, with some of them walking in the opposite direction."
The Cyclothon, organised by the Hong Kong Tourism Board on Saturday and Sunday, attracted around 3,500 participants in eight race categories.
READ MORE: Traffic jams and confusion hit city's first Cyclothon event
Adrian Siu Chung-him, a 28-year-old engineer who participated in the 35km event, agreed that more signs should be erected as "everyone was following each other around, confused" after exiting the MTR.
Siu also recalled a dangerous moment when, approaching the finishing line in Tsim Sha Tsui, two lanes merged into one as an organiser's vehicle was parked on the road, forcing riders to slow down at the bottleneck.
Tsim Sha Tsui East district councillor Kwan Sau-ling said the chaos could be avoided if there was one more finishing line besides the Cultural Centre, which served as the starting and finishing point for both the 10km and 35km rides on Sunday.
Kwan said the Tourism Board had assured Yau Tsim Mong District Council it would have proper arrangements in place, "but perhaps due to the lack of experience and poor weather, the result wasn't as expected".
Lantau residents were particularly upset with the traffic arrangements on Sunday morning, which saw Tsing Ma Bridge - their only route to Kowloon - reduced to one lane for the event.
Lau Ka-ming, a 35-year-old resident of Tung Chung's Yat Tung Estate, was stuck in traffic for over two hours. "Normally it takes me around 20 minutes to drive from Tung Chung to Mong Kok," said Lau. "I knew about the Cyclothon beforehand but I had to go to Tuen Mun Gold Coast, so the MTR was not a choice."
A Tourism Board spokesperson said: "We acknowledge that there is room for improvement. We will also thoroughly review the event and other related logistics with supporting parties, including related government departments, to further enhance the arrangements for the event in future."
