No Respect

So a few of us were stopped at the top of Penny Lane this afternoon waiting for some stragglers when a sponsored enduro rider came ripping down Severed and right through the middle of our group at very high speed with no warning at all. This is a pretty busy trail intersection and there were lots of people around on this very busy day. When I heard his mates ripping down towards us just as fast I had enough and stood in the trail with my bike so they had to slow down. I politely told them that they were out of line but their response made it clear that they were the only ones who mattered and were not concerned about possible risk to other trail users. Pretty irresponsible attitude, especially when you are wearing your sponsor's shirt with your name on it. At the risk of sounding like the grumpy old curmudgeon that I am, I really felt the need to post this.

How do you know he is sponsored? You must know him? How about contact him directly to voice your opinion instead of tell his parents.

We ride that trail constantly , and when waiting for people at that intersection we stay the hell out of the way for the downhill riders.

You actually stood in the trail with your bike slowing the other riders down with a lecture attached?

That is Uber lame

This entire thread. Lol.

This entire thread. Lol.

I'm actually ashamed for getting involved lol. Winter malaise has set in and the boredom is overwhelming.

I suspect Skooks is one of those bottom feeders looking for attention, nothing to see here moving right along.

Once upon a time we didn't get bothered by things like this.

All hail the interweb soapbox!!

those pro riders are more in control of the situation (even at those speeds) than the weekend warriors at 1/4 speed.

Devils advocate here- it's not just about inflated-ego cockswinging self-confidence in your jedi-like mastery of your bike…it's about etiquette, and supporting good relations among riders (of all levels), and other user groups. If that's some hiker instead of Skooks standing on the trail, we have another front page story in the sun dragging us down all over again.

Stravassholes and pros (and pro-wannabe's) don't hold any special license to the woods, or a permit for the runway. In fact, they're among the most visible (and self-promoting) riders, and have considerable sway as ambassadors (yeah, I used that word) of the woods. If you set the example of riding like high-speed douche-bags through crowds of people standing still, then you have a poor role for young riders to follow and recipe for poor public relations.

How freaking hard it is to slow down now and then, mitigate the risk of both a collision and of pissing someone off, and carry on your way? If we all want to play in the woods, and get along, a little bit of nice goes a long way. Your "sponsor" won't mind if you trim the brakes so that the lowly mortals can see your fancy black-box fork and name-decals.

Once upon a time we didn't get bothered by things like this.

All hail the interweb soapbox!!

If it wasn't for the internet would this "incident" have actually happened?

There was a two day youth MTB camp put on this weekend by a few Enduro folks. Pretty easy to figure out who was involved, instead of taking to teh interwebs, and contact them directly. Not even their sponsors, but how about the organizers of said event…?

Sure, perhaps they could have had someone there at the intersection, but I'm betting they were showing the kids how to carry speed through that rather technical bit of Severed…

All I know is that I'm super glad I rode early on Saturday. The Old Buck lot was jammed well before 8am…

Gotta love ski season.

Mountain bike riders are starting to gripe about riders going too fast on mountain bike trails. You should instead be applauding them for training kids to ride fast, you know, so that we can develop our racers to be better equipped should they become full time racers one day? Blocking people from riding fast. That is a complete dick move.

You're right. Everyone get out of the way for the superstars. Forget the fact that the majority of riders are recreational riders, and have no interest in hitting PBs each ride. Forget the economic fact that the vast majority of bikes sold are entry level, and forget the fact that MTB has had to continuously defend its image as a bunch of reckless punks. Let's just throw caution to the wind, attack the character of the original poster who was expressing a safety concern, and mindlessly throw our lot in with all the superstars that dream of making it big on Rampage. Great attitude. Love the way this is turning, and the wonders this line of thinking does for our sport and trail access futures. Slowing down a bit is not an option. Just giver' and forget about tomorrow. Yeeeaah!

If there was a sign on Severed that read 'trail crossing, slow down' then there would be an argument here. There is no sign warning riders of a crossing that are coming down severed so there's nothing to discuss.
Stay off down trails when resting/waiting and let descenders ride however fast or slow they feel comfortable going. It's like bitching about people going too fast in the fast lane, get in the right lane and mind your business.