Dirty Racing?

[kbud]

Yesterday i raced a Harescambles. IT WAS A BLAST!!!! The track was 4 miles long. The race lasted 2 hours. I finished 4th in my class. I was riding this berm and someone cut across the track into my line and took out my front tire and there just happened to be a brire patch where i landed which resulted in some nasty scratches on my neck. I just thought this was part of racing but people kept saying he was racing dirty. I think that that is just part of racing agressively. Was that dirty racing?

 

[Lemming]

Aggressive riding - If you were holding him up. Had he been behind you yelling for you to move to the side (tight section). If so and you held him up for some time then an aggressive pass was warranted.

Dirty riding - wide open track, he comes up on you quickly, never yelling once, and then takes you out (no reason for that).

When I catch someone in a tight section, I start yelling from 30 to 40 ft behind him. That way he has more time to find a place to move to the side. If I come up on him and he is still not moving over (and I'm still yelling) then I consider a "love tap" (front wheel to back wheel). This usually motivates the guy in front to move over. If not then go into aggressive pass mode by taking the inside line and forcing the other rider to the outside.

If I'm caught by a faster rider I signal which side I want him to pass on then move to the side. The only time I might not pull to the side willingly is on the last lap and the person behind me is in my class. However, I know at that point that the person behind me may get aggressive.

 

[fishhead]

No reason to race that hard in amature stuff, its for fun right! Changing lines and taking a guy out is borderline IMO unless it was a botched block pass for position which means he's riding over his head. If he does it a lot he's a hazard and once he's known he'll get his comeuppence. Usually a competent faster rider will show you a wheel to let you know he's serious before making a hard move on you. A faster rider can set up a late brake point and slip under you or square off the corner to pass on the exit or squeak by on a tight section. Once you know he's there signal your intentions. Most HS are pretty open so it's not a single file enduro type deal. Banging pegs and rubbing elbows is part of the fun. Simple fact, A faster rider has more options to pass than the slower guy has to stay out of the way. Most guys with a little class will square up with you after the race if they made a mistake and clipped you hard. Most guys remember that we are all beginners at first.

don't lose any sleep over it !

 

[kbud]

EXACTLY!!!!! i was just having fun. i let everybody who let me know that they were behind me pass cause im not that good. i stll thought it was fun. i encourage anybody to race Broken Spokes in New Philadelpia Ohio.

 

[MikeT]

Lemming has it right.

 

[BunduBasher]

Fast riders need horns on their bikes ... hey my Pamp has a hooter, and all it does is squeak. Wonder why A and B riders don't introduce a horn, or do you guys prefer shouting ? :)

 

[Tod]

Fast riders need horns on their bikes

Saw (and heard) one at a hare scramble before. It seemed to work. I was following the guy through some tight woods and when he caught up to someone BEEP BEEP. First time I heard I just about crashed from laughing so hard
:) :)

 

[High Lord Gomer]

I used to mount the squeeze type bicycle horns on my bikes (for enduros and MX). Nothing like getting in the air and reaching over to honk the horn. People can rarely hear it at an MX track, but it's still fun.

I figure if you have to take someone out to pass them, it was a dirty pass. If you block them and hold them up, even to the point of them having to stop, that's OK, but not if you don't even leave them that option.

 

[ride_red_15]

I had a similar problem this weekend, just i was the one wanting to pass. Some kid on a CR80 would not move, no matter how much i yelled.. was racing 4-stroke A on my 450, and this kid would just look back at me, and when i tried to pass, get in the way...it made no sense, so about 2 miles later, i made a little "love tap" to his back wheel in a mudhole, and that was the end of him..i think that warranted it, didnt it?

 

[Blue Thunder]

How about a coach/referee whistle, that will get someone's attention! :p

 

[jeffw]

In MX you race against your peers. In an HS you're out there with other people's sons, daughters, parents, and sometimes grandparents.

Contact of any kind with a little kid on a CR80 for any reason is frowned upon by most.

 

[ride_red_15]

i'd hardly call him little...he looked like he should be on a 125, but hey...you gotta learn somehow to get out of the way, i know i did when i started racing

 

[yzeater]

At my 1 race ;), the course was pretty crowed, and tight enough that at most points you'd have go into the unmarked woods to let people pass you. I got rammed and yelled at every corner. Not really fun. One good part. I got seriously stuck on a root ledge. After working it for about 10 minutes I left the bike and moved over to the side of the track. Some KTM rider came by and got stuck in more or less the same situation. I came up behind him and pushed / lifted his bike to the point where he could get out. He went about 5 feet. Got off his bike and helped me move my bike. What a nice guy!!