"physically move to the side of the trail" - what, as opposed to using The Force ?? Thats what I do.
Bike Forum
Trail centre racing ... opinions please
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Posted 8 months ago #
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I'd agree with that! As Rowan is an Elite DH racer I'd say that you'll not find many people at DH races who are up to his riding ability either! But GW knows "many many many many", who presumably just don't race, but could actually be professional DH racers!
However, what you would find is a wide variety of riders of different abilities, all enjoying riding their bikes in their own way
+1
Which is why a) trail centres are great and b) racing on them wouldn't really work!
Posted 8 months ago # -
FFS! Njee, read what I actually wrote instead of making up your own fantasy about what you "think" I meant. FWIW Yes I do know Elite and Ex-Elite DHers who regularly ride trail centres but it's fairly irrelevant as good riders are obviously not always current or former Elite DH racers which is why I said Rowan is a very good all-round rider.
I'm not judging your riding ability, you've openly admitted in the past on here that you are not a very good rider technically and shown in this thread that you don't have the confidence to make passes.
Which is why a) trail centres are great and b) racing on them wouldn't really work!
FFS!! of course racing on trail centre trails can work, it already does!!Posted 8 months ago # -
Rowan is a very good all round rider and seasoned DH racer but so are many many many many riders all over our country and that's exactly the point I was making about you judging others against your own level of riding ability
You are suggesting there, direct quote, that whilst Rowan is a good rider, he is nothing special, and there are "many many many many" riders like him.
I also think you're mistaking "Not having the confidence to make passes" with "not wanting to be a total prick". If you want to barge past people on narrow trails then I'll leave you to it, you've already shown from various replies that you're thoroughly antisocial anyway, I imagine you just push off any beginners who aren't as epic as you.
As for the racing on trail centre trails it can of course work when you intersperse them with 'normal' trails, or on certain trails with a bit of variety, but in this context, merely following a waymarked trail there are not all that many where it would work as a format.
Posted 8 months ago # -
"physically move to the side of the trail" - what, as opposed to using The Force ?? Thats what I do.
Riding up a trail like Whyte's Level climb on a typical Saturday afternoon, a fast rider will have to overtake many other riders. Due to the nature of the trail, many of those will have to pull to the side of the trail and stop to allow enough room for the faster rider to pass, and particularly on the exposed sections where one side of the trail has a steep drop. That's what I meant.
This would cause problems in a racing situation I think, but is manageable on a typical Saturday afternoon as we're all just out there enjoying getting muddy on our bikes.
Posted 8 months ago # -
You are suggesting there, direct quote, that whilst Rowan is a good rider, he is nothing special, and there are "many many many many" riders like him.
No, not like him, I'm suggesting there are many more very good riders than you seem to think there are.I also think you're mistaking "Not having the confidence to make passes" with "not wanting to be a total prick". If you want to barge past people on narrow trails then I'll leave you to it, you've already shown from various replies that you're thoroughly antisocial anyway, I imagine you just push off any beginners who aren't as epic as you.
if we're talking about racing, no I wouldn't **** about getting past a slower rider (being a race you'd think everyone there has paid to ride as fast as they can rather than bimble along waiting behind others at a slower pace) but I wouldn't push anyone off either beginner or not. if we're not talking about racing I'm one of the most curtious riders you'l ever meetmerely following a waymarked trail there are not all that many where it would work as a format.
I disagree but out of interest which trail centres have you actually ridden?Posted 8 months ago # -
OK - an interesting topic.
We have just held a 12 hour overnight event at our local if rather tame trail centre - Bedgebury.
Issues
1) Places to overtake is a legitimate concern if you want to allow a range of different standard riders to be able to compete together.
2) Bottlenecks also develop - I've queued to do bits of an otherwise excellent Gorrick event.
3) Bridleways which form part of the normal trail - no racing on those.
4) Respecting the needs of other cyclists who want to use the trails
5) Respecting other users (horse-riders, walkers, dogs, sprogs etc) especially if you are dealing with a land owner like the FC who are very reluctant to stop anyone doing anything.For our small race series this means using a separate circuit - off the usual singletrack.
For our 12 hr event it means doing things after the FC has shut its gates, and having an adapted trail using some different bits, some fire road and some singletrack.
So I suspect for the OPs idea to be workable you have to take some of these elements, ie when you do it, altered routes etc etc...
Posted 8 months ago # -
Trail centres I can think of where it wouldn't work:
- Afan
- Brechfa
- CyB
- Haldon
- Cwm Carn
- Dalby
- PenmachnoOff the top of my head! You could make a workable course at most, if not all, but to say "right... the course is the red trail" just wouldn't work IMO.
Anyway GW this 'discussion' is petty, I have my opinion, you have yours. I really don't like your online persona, you may be the nicest person in the world in real life, but online you just seem like an argumentative idiot, I wholeheartedly disagree with most of what you say and find you hypocritical and ignorant. I imagine you feel exactly the same about me, so I'll bow out! Lots of love xx
Posted 8 months ago # -
Nah, I just find you narrowmided and stubborn to the point of blind ignorance
X x x
Ps. isn't all discussion on here "petty"?
Posted 8 months ago # -
Well if nothing else i did manage to stimulate some interesting discussion!!
As I said in my original post it was just[i] an idea which will now remain just that, I totally respect most of the comments and thank you for them ... looks like some Enduro's might have to be on the cards for next year then
Posted 8 months ago # -
Well the whole point fo Drumlanrig was to race; the SXC raced there after the FE wouldn't open up after foot and mouth ten years ago (that's why the trails we're started there in the first place) and has returned every year since then. There have been two NPS and marathon enduro type events also.
No problems overtaking at any of these events yet the trail is generally very narrow by comparison to the FE trail centres. P'raps its because the trails are naturally surfaced so the centre line gradually turns into 'off' trail so is predictable, if you know what's what, rather than there being a 'ridden' line with loose shaley nonsense on each side, then bog or brash outside that.
I can usually get past people quite easily if I'm out enjoyoing the trails of and evenin; and in a race situation it can be a bit of a parade for half of the first lap, then it all kinda settles down and you slot into your placing and ride on your own to the finish or the cramp gets ya and everyone goes past pishing themselves.
Posted 7 months ago #
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