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You're at a trail-centre on a red/black graded route when you come to a considerably slower rider in front of you...
Should you hang back discreetly until the end of the section or should he or she move over at the earliest safe opportunity giving you the chance to pass
I can't quite decide which one it should be - What do you think people?
a quick tyre buzz is polite, if you do it more than three times it's a touch rude though
"elite rider on your left"
If you want to pass, its your responsibility to let them know you're there and theirs to let you through when it's safe/practical to do so. Always give plenty of lead and don't shoot through unless invited.
Oh and say thanks FFS!
Run em down, who gives a **** about some slow, fat IT ponce on a fully-hung skill compensator!
😈
if its a downhill section then if they hadnt noticed I was there I would stop and give them 30 secs headstart or maybe more depending on the speed differential, and then restart again.
If its uphill/flat, then I'd cycle patiently behind ad wait for them to pull over. if they didnt pull over I'd politely request that they do.
I cant remember seeing that many 'passing places' at trail centres?
"Make 'em wait, who gives a **** about some, tw*t IT ponce on a fully-hung skill compensator!"
If you were hammering down ewer favourite trail balls out as fast as you could go and and Liam Killeen appears from nowhere on your tail, how would you like him to handle the situation?
block-pass, don't evar give them the opportunity to come back at you
I always stop and wait for 30 seconds or so, although it rarely happens. If they are going slower than me then the last thing they need is someone sitting on their wheel or trying to squeeze by.
Ooh, sounds as though I might have met you yesterday at Cannock...All you had to shout was "OUTTA MY WAY YOU 29er WEILDING **** I'M COMMIN' THRU!!!!" I woulda moved over and everyfing... 😉
The rider behind should wait. It's just a trail centre and IMO they're best-suited to beginners anyway. So coming screaming past is only going to alienate new riders. If you're that Elite that you're catching people up all the time, go ride some proper trails with rocks and stuff?
Hang back and don't pressure them. You were that slow once. But they should move over if they can.
I politely ask if I may pass. Conversely, I stop and let faster riders pass when I notice them.
"go ride some proper trails with rocks and stuff?"
Some trail centres have them. Less and less bridleways seem to have them as they get levelled?
let them draw level as though you were going to let them pass then knock them off. it's the only way they'll learn 🙂
A little of both, it's not always easy to let people pass - but it's a bit inconsiderate to be holding people up for ages.
Never really found this to be a problem, though. People tend to be pretty reasonable.
If you were hammering down ewer favourite trail balls out as fast as you could go and and Liam Killeen appears from nowhere on your tail, how would you like him to handle the situation?
For him to offer me lessons! 😆
IMV though it's a trail centre so definitely don't hassle people. I tend to reassure people and say "no hurry" so the rider in front doesn't get flustered. The 30 sec idea is a good one, but of course someone else then comes through and you're left waiting again! Where possible, I like to ride trail centres earlyish in the morning before everyone else arrives.
Hanging back is polite as is getting out of the way when someone faster than you wants to pass...
I politely ask if I may pass. Conversely, I stop and let faster riders pass when I notice them.
Yep, me too.
I move over to give them room, then clothes line them as they attempt to overtake me. By the time they have recovered I will be well down the track
I was wondering about this myself when I went to Glentress (with Ridelines) for the first time at the weekend. There weren't very many places to let people by though.
Only saw one person that looked much faster than the rest anyway and he was going uphill.
T-bone them on a corner and call them a "clipped in gay".......from the Nigel Page book of trail etiquette 😀
There weren't very many places to let people by though.
I cant think of a trail at GT that doesn't have loads of places to let people through 😕
That's why I have Pro 2 hubs! 😉
Smash them into the ground and make them feel like the dirt they are.
You must be thinner them me, legend. Passing never really came up though because my group stopped on the roads between every section.
yep, Pro2 hub alerts them of your presence
if you don't get a response, then a bit of backpedalling to noise it up
then maybe a gentle *cough*, *COUGH*
then an "excuse me"
then rubbing is racing as Rob Warner once put it; elbows out
Would love to see all 8 stone of you pull a block pass on any full grown adult 😆
A quick slap in their face from your willy being waved should give them a notification of your intentions.
A little of both
A whole lot of both IMO. Everyone should be trail savvy enough to know that they're likely to come across both slower and quicker riders, and how to deal with the situations. If somebody comes barrelling up behind me, I will let them past as the next available SAFE opportunity to do so. If I come barrelling up behind someone, I will back off a bit, and if they have a safe opportunity to let me through within say 5-10 seconds I will take it, otherwise I will just stop and give them a 30 second or so gap before I set off again. It's a trail centre, we're all there for the same reason, it's not fair to spoil someone else's enjoyment.
Where possible, I like to ride trail centres earlyish in the morning before everyone else arrives.
Made me LOL... 😆
I GUARANTEE that pretty much every man and his dog at every trail centre thinks like you do, which is why they're always ridiculously busy even by 9am. Conversely, I wherever possible, prefer to go as late as possible. If you go to a trail centre and rock up there at 2-3pm on a Sunday afternoon, you'll probably come across almost nobody on the trails as they've all got their fix and gone home already!
Out of curiosity (not having ridden much at trail centers), what does it say on the map / info leaflet / info board at the start of each trail?
IMHO whoever is ahead has right of way, and unless it's a sanctioned race, it's not a race. I'm sure most would pull over at a safe spot. If not, then pass them at the end of the section.
"elite rider on your left"
LOL going to use that to pi55 my mates off.....
Either ride behind them politely or stop and give yourself a gap. They have as much right to be on the trail as you, no matter how quick you think you are.
The faster rider should stop and wait. The last thing anyone needs is some asshat buzzing their back wheel, descending is challenging enough, jeez.
Don't do what I did once when i was young and foolish; rather than wait I kept bombing along. I was fast closing in on the rider in front. His friends had stopped further down the trail and warned him that I was coming through, and to stop and pull over. As I sailed past I nodded and thanked them for acquiescing to my superior skillz , misjudged how much space I had, clipped one of their pedals, sent two bikes flying and managed to deck myself."Rad".
bodge your way past and don't bother to say excuse me or thanks, then hold them up as you mince all the way down the next descent, braking to a stop for every small bump
I'm a cautious/patient passer, but when someone faster is behind my preference is a quick and concise 'on your left/right' and get it done. I don't really enjoy being tailed by someone faster who I know wants to pass.
Black/red trails are designated for 'experienced' riders, and part of this is acknowledging that you are sharing the trail and to give appropriate consideration to slower AND faster riders.
There's not going to be one right answer, is there... If I hear someone closing fast on me, then frankly they are shifting and it's no bother to get out of the way.
I do catch more than I am caught though, and all I do is approach once, see if they move over quickly, if they don't then I don't want to hover behind them and have my own pace knocked down so I'll stop for 30 seconds or so.
It's all just do unto others as you would be done to, really. Race-style passes aren't on though IMO, even when there's plenty of space to do it safely it's a crap thing to do to a less confident rider.
But it's not so simple... If you're, frinstance, a relative beginner on Glentress blue being bombed past by a horde of fast riders, that could be pretty damn frustrating. But being followed isn't much fun either.
And then there's the dreaded sandbagger... The tools who stand around at the top of a trail section waiting for someone to pass so they can chase them down. Used to get this a lot and frankly- screw 'em. It's easy to leave a gap between groups and you can usually figure out the pace of a rider quite easily. If they're choosing to be behind you then behind you they can stay IMO.
mboy - MemberIf you go to a trail centre and rock up there at 2-3pm on a Sunday afternoon, you'll probably come across almost nobody on the trails
This, absolutely. I was amazed by the amount of people at Glentress on Sunday, then realised it was because I'd actually got out of bed before noon, and I was mixing with the civilised folks who routinely see 9am at the weekend.
RandomJ that's "rad to the power of sick"
It was totally gnar
You could be cheeky and shout
"much slower rider passing on left"
They might have to pull over and grasp that for a second.
That is your moment to strike!
The Elite mens DH rider should hold back. If I was suddenly startled and fell off I'd feed you your wing mirror back in the carpark.
No I wouldn't but you get the idea.
There was a post earlier in the week where I was criticised for saying how I'd not previously (now they are fast enough) let folk past when I'd my kids in front, and that at the beginning of a section (e.g. Spooky Wood) would say to the next rider "just give us a couple of minutes space, otherwise you WILL be baulked".
How hard is it to wait two minutes?
But at GT on Sunday a family set off on the downhill blue section (on the last decent from the fire road, before the red splits off), so my elder son and I waited. Two other guys said "aren't you going?", "no, that family will get in the way". "Oh, we'll go then". And off they charged.
If though I catch someone who'd I not seen before, I just let them know I'm there (Pro 2's). They either stop, or I stop.
And then there's the dreaded sandbagger... The tools who stand around at the top of a trail section waiting for someone to pass so they can chase them down. Used to get this a lot and frankly- screw 'em. It's easy to leave a gap between groups and you can usually figure out the pace of a rider quite easily. If they're choosing to be behind you then behind you they can stay IMO.
I've probably been unintentionally guilty of this.
Sometimes hang around to chat and stuff, and get reminded of that whole riding lark when people go past - and then misjudge how quick they are and end up catching them up.
Normally do try to put enough distance between to stop the leapfrog-chain, either by stopping extra-long the next time or keeping the pace on.
The easiest thing to do is ride early in the morning. Then you'll have ZERO issues.
Why go to a popular trail centre at peak time? Bad enough trying to find a car parking space.
I've not ridden one for a while but when I do it'll be a <9am start. That cuts out the families and not-bothered too much about riding types.