Why Carry On ??

we have been deeply touched, by the many messages of love and support received since the above took place, this reaffirms that we have been doing something good, that has been appreciated by a lot of folk –

i’ve just received your email via si entries and read the post on the website.

as a fellow event organizer that has faced similar nastiness and unreasonable (rude, horrible, aggressive, selfish, shitty) behavior from locals professing to be doing it for the good of the community or environment, i have every sympathy for what you have been going though!

i am deeply frustrated and saddened by this as i attended your boxer event last year and i thought it was friendly, respectful, superbly organised and absolutely brilliant. i loved taking part. i am gutted that you will not be running any more as i would definitely have been doing another.

i totally understand the difficulties of organising events and it is impossible to please everyone. there have been times when i have wanted to jack it all in too! unfortunately i cannot afford to so i soldier on and try to remember, as i hope you will too, that there are far, far more people that enjoy and really appreciate what you do, than there are people like that nasty, small minded idiot who have nothing better to do than make other people miserable.

your events were brilliant and you will have made a lot of riders extremely happy by giving them  stunning routes, encouraging them to get out and keep fit whilst also providing work and economic benefit to the local area.

what ever you decide to do in the future i wish you all the best (and hope that miserable sod steps on a rusty nail soon!) 😉 

1 – i am really sad to hear receive this news and know how hard a decision it must have been for you.  i also understand how difficult things have been the last few years for companies like yours.

randomly, i have never actually taken part in one of your events, but have been signed up for at least four of them – and i suppose that tells the story in itself!

thank you so much for always being so good to communicate with – you are clearly all passionate cyclists and have been doing this because you love your region and you love cycling.    i genuinely wish you all well and will definitely do one (or more) of your routes at some point in the future and tip my hat to you.

in manx gaelic – gura mie mooar eu as gow kiarail!  (thank you very much and take care)

ps –

i also meant to add, please do not worry about refunding me. i am happy you have done all that you possibly could, and more, to try and ensure the events took place. i can only imagine the hours you will have put in.

2 – okay – i had assumed your cancellations were due to all the covid stuff – i have now read your reasons on your website. i have absolutely no words for that.   you guys could not have done more and could not have been more patient, accommodating or helpful. i will not utter what i actually think of this gentleman who has sabotaged your events.

we had a similar thing on the isle of man where a bloke removed all the signs which resulted in the event being cancelled and it has not run since.

the police got involved on the island but they were not able to identify who it was.

so frustrating we live in a world where we have to endure plonkers like that. 

any idea where i can find the chap’s email address?

best wishes to you both,

sorry to hear about all the mess. what’s the world coming to ?? all the best ady

i’m sad about  what  happened with the events, i was using those events to work my yearly training around, that person should find something real to complain about, like the invasion of the ukraine, its only one day a year, and i know that i carried my litter with me until i got home,  is a shame ????

sorry to hear about your run in with a local.    the event last year was great and a welcome break from the crap that people had to ensure because of covid.    i live in an area that’s full of people like him and you have to ignore them otherwise you would never do anything!

don’t give up your passion because of the minority.

fair to say mike’s a @&%$ in every sense of the word. what a shame that  such a cretin has forced you to withdraw from putting  on the sportives which over the years thousands have enjoyed .

thanks for all your efforts over the years .

we’ll miss you

sorry chris,but bad decision to cancel all sportives.  what you should have done is stop all competitors at t junction as you turn into dentdale (even have feed station there), and neutral time for 5 minutes, so you could talk to each and everyone,about the steep hill, that on no account must any litter be dropped, not just in dentdale, but on the full sportive route.

totally wrong that this guy has won the day, can’t believe you made the decision you have, unless there is more to this,than what you have stated.

to finish would like to thank you and your team for all the sportives, i have been a part of, you put on excellent ones.

what the hell are these people up to!

don’t let it spoil the event!  there will never be any other events if this nimby gets his own way and ruins it for everyone.

fact that he is a cyclist shows what a disgrace he is.

well done for keeping your tone of response well considered!

don’t give up!!  i’m happy to help place signs up the evening before and have our solicitors put this guy on notice; to sue him for damages arising from any injury resulting from his actions.

the ride must go on.

hi, wow just read about the trouble you have had with some/one resident.

really sorry to see what you have had to deal with, some people just can’t help themselves. small minded etc….

your events were great and very enjoyable.

thank you for all your effort organising the events.

blimey. mike is an angry man isn’t he.

the blunt-headedness is staggering.

yours have been some of the best organized and most enjoyable sportives that i’ve taken part in. thank you for that. and for all of the time and effort you have all put into them over the last few years.

i’m obviously gutted that you’re cancelling future events, but completely get why.

take care folks. and thanks for the rides!

my friends & i are so sorry to hear the hassle that you have gone through with this absolute imbasil!

it is so difficult to get really safe & well organised events & then idiots like this just ruin it for everyone! all his claims are baseless & if he didn’t want to live in a place that people want to visit why is he even living there!?!.

either way what he has done is criminal & you gave him every opportunity to communicate & come to a compromise! well done for all your efforts i’m just sorry that you had to be the ones to back down.

best wishes

a very upset cyclist

 i was disappointed to see that the ram had been cancelled, but knowing how much effort people like yourselves put in to make these events happen, you should not be subject to such nonsense from that individual.

  gutted absolutely gutted for you all. i think that you are on a no win battle with this guy chris????????????????????. one man to ruin the enjoyment of a lot of people????????????.

all i can say chris is many many thanks for all the sportives you and all involved have organised recently. i and no doubt many others have thoroughly enjoyed every single moment of them.

personally i think top dog events are up there with the best????????????????. the organisation, routes, feed stops and friendly atmosphere are all brilliant. i really hope to see you riding somewhere someday chris i would like to personally like to say thank you to you and everyone involved for some of my happiest times riding.

many thanks once again top dog events from one very disappointed bike rider

  i was very sorry to hear that you have decided to stop running the events.

i appreciate that this must have been a very difficult decision after investing so much time establishing top dog.

on reading the correspondence, i realized how frustrated you and your team must be with the objector. it is desperately sad that one misguided and selfish individual can be so damaging.

my friends and i are going to travel from the isle of man to lancaster anyway and ride the route. if you can post the gpx file this will save us from getting too lost.

i sincerely hope that you will take satisfaction from all the overwhelmingly positive feedback on your events.

your hard work has been much appreciated by many people who have greatly enjoyed the rides.

 i’m sorry to learn of the cancellation of the upcoming the ram yorkshire dales sportive and most of all the closure of your business, especially as cycling events like yours taking place in the north west are almost non-existent.

i was wondering if it would please be possible to get the gpx file for the event or at least confirm if the komoot route i’ve plotted  is accurate, as i intend to turn up at the start point on the day at 09:00am and see if anybody else turns up and wants to join.

i’m sure there will be others who have booked, planned  and prepared for the event and will not be willing to  let one miserable old bastard ruin our day out, as cyclists most of us already have thick skins with cars up our asses while cycling down narrow country lanes.

so i would have thought the chaps comments would have been water off a ducks back for you as well, although there are probably a lot of things i haven’t considered from an event organizers position / point of view but ultimately i wouldn’t like to give that guy the satisfaction letting him think he has won.

regards and the best of luck for the future.

 i was so sorry to hear about your problems with mike of cowgill. 

it is sad that one individual, with his fixed views can disrupt all your hard work and perseverance and prevent the enjoyment of so many enthusiastic cyclists. 

there is no way of reasoning with such an entrenched position. 

i am really sorry that you feel you have no option but to jack it all in after all your efforts. i have enjoyed each of your events that i have entered and will endeavor to ride the routes again.

 you have my sympathy. reading the correspondence it is clear that mike is the nutter. not you, or the riders who take part in your events. i have enjoyed two sportives with you and found them to be well organised, clearly signposted and perfectly safe. thank you for that.

this man is clearly a crackpot.

take a step back, take a deep breath and maybe see a way to return, albeit on a different route

whilst not a client of yours, though i would have become one this season, i have just read your announcement of closure and the recent correspondence.

i was very sorry that you have been driven to closure and also sorry, and concerned for you all, that you have had to deal with the attitudes and unpleasantness that are expressed and reiterated in the correspondence from a member of the public.

mike appears to be an unpleasant person who has latched onto an issue that he refuses to let go and even refuses to acknowledge that other views and behaviors are either valid or justified.

some people will never move from the dogma that they are right and we just have to cope with them as best we can.

anyway, my very best wishes to you all.

hi chris.. well.. pardon my french but what an absolute cock mike is!!.. sorry to hear of your decision,  but, rest assured take some comfort from the fact that you’ve made so many people happy over the years!!.. and console yourself that the mike’s of this world normally die sad and lonely individuals brought on by their actions!!

chin up pal.. keep pedaling, lots of love and support from me and my cycling group down here in wigan. xx 

absolutely gutted to hear the news chris, hopefully see you out and about riding in our beautiful part of the country, thanks for the amazing events 

chris, having read the ‘conversation” between you and a resident of dentdale i fully understand your decision to close top dog events. i can’t say i’ve ever witnessed a more myopic, negative and intransigent view made worse by the fact the person is or was a cyclist. his insistence that the sportive is a race beggar’s belief. he clearly wants the dale for himself only.