Asshole bike racers(long)

TritonRider

This is a long message from the NE list:

I just want to inform everyone that the Monson Road Race will no longer be
held due to a variety of incidents that occurred this past weekend. You
should also be aware that the incidents that I am referring to are a direct
result of many of the racers themselves. Unfortunately, their
inconsideration and inability to respect the town and community has resulted
in the Chief of Police denying any further request to hold this race in
Monson.

I have just been informed by the Town Selectmen that the Monson Road Race
will no longer be approved due to several reasons: (1) Unsafe warming up
on the race course. Many racers thought they could warm up on the course
prior to their event, forcing cars toward oncoming racers. You were warned
not to warm up on the course, yet many of you disregarded this announcement
and it resulted in unsafe conditions and one of the main reasons for the
denial of future events here. (2) Many riders off the back of the main
pack felt that the entire road was now theirs. Again, this resulted in very
unsafe conditions and traffic backups. The Police felt that these
straggling riders were unprotected since they seemed to be riding all over
the road.

As many of you know, it is very difficult promoting bike races. I have
strived to provide the best racing conditions possible, trying to create
optimal racing conditions for everyone. After eight years of putting on the
Monson race, it is my extreme displeasure to announce that it is over. I
think that we, as conscientious racers, need to be more aware of our
surroundings when we race. We do not own the town when we race there for a
few hours, and need to be aware of the communities who are kind enough to
allow us to utilize their roads. Unfortunately, Monson will no longer be
one of those communities, but you have only yourselves to thank for that.

Please be aware of what you do and how you conduct yourselves at future
events or else Monson will not be the last to begin denying events. As is
usually the case, it is the actions of a few who ruin many things for the
majority. For those of you who raced responsibly in Monson this year and in
years past, thank you.


This is from Mike Norton a NEBRA board member and promoter of several races
here.
This has become a huge issue here with several races in serious danger. All
you fuckheads need to wake up and stop blaming everyone but yourselves. You
have a huge chunk of the responsibility whether the races continue to happen.
Bill C

Ro

We are having exactly the same problems here in New Zealand and it is mostly the Elite and A graders that are to blame.
The C,D,E,F, grade riders seem much more aware of the traffic around them.
Small comisseration I know, but you are not alone in having events stopped.
Last fun ride an Elite rider told a cop to F Off when told to get on to the correct side of the road, that incident will probably cancel the ride next year and about 3 thousand riders again have no ride.

Ro.

B. Lafferty

SSDD. Back in the early 1980s we lost one of the best venues I've ever seen
for road racing---the course at SUNY Old Westbury (Empire State College).
Sunday morning noise complaints from neighbors whose homes were near the
start finish area over several months culminating in vandalism on the campus
during the annual race run by the Columbian Bicycle Club from Queens, caused
cancellation of all racing by the college administration. I don't think
there's been a race there in over 20 years.


"TritonRider" <tritonrider@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040427223544.17672.00000175@mb-m23.aol.com...
> This is a long message from the NE list:
>
> I just want to inform everyone that the Monson Road Race will no longer be
> held due to a variety of incidents that occurred this past weekend. You
> should also be aware that the incidents that I am referring to are a
direct
> result of many of the racers themselves. Unfortunately, their
> inconsideration and inability to respect the town and community has
resulted
> in the Chief of Police denying any further request to hold this race in
> Monson.
>
> I have just been informed by the Town Selectmen that the Monson Road Race
> will no longer be approved due to several reasons: (1) Unsafe warming up
> on the race course. Many racers thought they could warm up on the course
> prior to their event, forcing cars toward oncoming racers. You were
warned
> not to warm up on the course, yet many of you disregarded this
announcement
> and it resulted in unsafe conditions and one of the main reasons for the
> denial of future events here. (2) Many riders off the back of the main
> pack felt that the entire road was now theirs. Again, this resulted in
very
> unsafe conditions and traffic backups. The Police felt that these
> straggling riders were unprotected since they seemed to be riding all over
> the road.
>
> As many of you know, it is very difficult promoting bike races. I have
> strived to provide the best racing conditions possible, trying to create
> optimal racing conditions for everyone. After eight years of putting on
the
> Monson race, it is my extreme displeasure to announce that it is over. I
> think that we, as conscientious racers, need to be more aware of our
> surroundings when we race. We do not own the town when we race there for
a
> few hours, and need to be aware of the communities who are kind enough to
> allow us to utilize their roads. Unfortunately, Monson will no longer be
> one of those communities, but you have only yourselves to thank for that.
>
> Please be aware of what you do and how you conduct yourselves at future
> events or else Monson will not be the last to begin denying events. As is
> usually the case, it is the actions of a few who ruin many things for the
> majority. For those of you who raced responsibly in Monson this year and
in
> years past, thank you.
>
>
> This is from Mike Norton a NEBRA board member and promoter of several
races
> here.
> This has become a huge issue here with several races in serious danger.
All
> you fuckheads need to wake up and stop blaming everyone but yourselves.
You
> have a huge chunk of the responsibility whether the races continue to
happen.
> Bill C
>

TritonRider

>From: "Ro" ro@.net.nz

>Last fun ride an Elite rider told a cop to F Off when told to get on to the
>correct side of the road, that incident will probably cancel the ride next
>year and about 3 thousand riders again have no ride.
>
>Ro.

Unfortunately as an official this frustrates the hell out of me. It's only a
handfull of riders doing this kind of crap. The same ones pissing on the church
lawn 100 meters from the portable toilets. I could probably guess who was
involved in this and some of the other problems that are likely to cost us
another good race next year. Being on a motor I can sort of control things
towards the beginning of a race but once things start to break up my job is
really with the front group where the race is and the riders off the back need
to police themselves.
It's a shame that a small number of idiots keep doing stupid shit in the weeks
leading up to races when practicing on the course, then follow it up with more
stupid behavior during and after the race.
Ours insist they weren't doing anything wrong even when caught in the act and
get all offended. All of the racers who want to keep good races alive need to
talk with these dickheads and explain reality to them, not just us officials
and the promoters.
Bill C

Wayne

Reminds me of a race in Maryland last year. Similar warnings,
including specifically to ride single file after the finish when going
back to the parking lot. After the finish, I was behind 4 riders from
the same team who were completely blocking the lane, chatting away
while spinning at about 10 mph. A car went around me and as it
approached them (there were racers coming in the opposite lane as well
as some traffic) and gave them a non-agressive beep to let them know
he was there so they could move over, they freaked out. Started
giving the guy the finger and cursing at him. Amazingly the race has
continued despite assholes like these jeopardizing a good course for
everyone. Oh well, the industrial parks are available on weekends.

TM

"Wayne" <wscott@udel.edu> wrote in message
news:de90a9b6.0404280408.4a07975d@posting.google.com...

> they freaked out. Started
> giving the guy the finger and cursing at him.

The same personality type as the drivers that give us a hard time. It all
depends on whose ox is being gored...

B. Lafferty

Bill,

While I agree completely with what you say, I've seen and heard of this kind
of behavior for some many years that I really think you're spitting into the
wind.

Brian
"Spitting In The Wind Comes Back At You Twice As Hard" --Lou Reed, Strawman
(New York)

"B. Lafferty" <Magni@Italia.com> wrote in message
news6Mjc.5667$g31.3328@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> SSDD. Back in the early 1980s we lost one of the best venues I've ever
seen
> for road racing---the course at SUNY Old Westbury (Empire State College).
> Sunday morning noise complaints from neighbors whose homes were near the
> start finish area over several months culminating in vandalism on the
campus
> during the annual race run by the Columbian Bicycle Club from Queens,
caused
> cancellation of all racing by the college administration. I don't think
> there's been a race there in over 20 years.
>
>
> "TritonRider" <tritonrider@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:20040427223544.17672.00000175@mb-m23.aol.com...
> > This is a long message from the NE list:
> >
> > I just want to inform everyone that the Monson Road Race will no longer
be
> > held due to a variety of incidents that occurred this past weekend. You
> > should also be aware that the incidents that I am referring to are a
> direct
> > result of many of the racers themselves. Unfortunately, their
> > inconsideration and inability to respect the town and community has
> resulted
> > in the Chief of Police denying any further request to hold this race in
> > Monson.
> >
> > I have just been informed by the Town Selectmen that the Monson Road
Race
> > will no longer be approved due to several reasons: (1) Unsafe warming
up
> > on the race course. Many racers thought they could warm up on the
course
> > prior to their event, forcing cars toward oncoming racers. You were
> warned
> > not to warm up on the course, yet many of you disregarded this
> announcement
> > and it resulted in unsafe conditions and one of the main reasons for the
> > denial of future events here. (2) Many riders off the back of the main
> > pack felt that the entire road was now theirs. Again, this resulted in
> very
> > unsafe conditions and traffic backups. The Police felt that these
> > straggling riders were unprotected since they seemed to be riding all
over
> > the road.
> >
> > As many of you know, it is very difficult promoting bike races. I have
> > strived to provide the best racing conditions possible, trying to create
> > optimal racing conditions for everyone. After eight years of putting on
> the
> > Monson race, it is my extreme displeasure to announce that it is over.
I
> > think that we, as conscientious racers, need to be more aware of our
> > surroundings when we race. We do not own the town when we race there
for
> a
> > few hours, and need to be aware of the communities who are kind enough
to
> > allow us to utilize their roads. Unfortunately, Monson will no longer
be
> > one of those communities, but you have only yourselves to thank for
that.
> >
> > Please be aware of what you do and how you conduct yourselves at future
> > events or else Monson will not be the last to begin denying events. As
is
> > usually the case, it is the actions of a few who ruin many things for
the
> > majority. For those of you who raced responsibly in Monson this year
and
> in
> > years past, thank you.
> >
> >
> > This is from Mike Norton a NEBRA board member and promoter of several
> races
> > here.
> > This has become a huge issue here with several races in serious danger.
> All
> > you fuckheads need to wake up and stop blaming everyone but yourselves.
> You
> > have a huge chunk of the responsibility whether the races continue to
> happen.
> > Bill C
> >
>
>

TritonRider

>From: "B. Lafferty" Magni@Italia.com

>Bill,
>
>While I agree completely with what you say, I've seen and heard of this kind
>of behavior for some many years that I really think you're spitting into the
>wind.
>
>Brian

You're probably right but I just live for having to explain to riders why
pissing on the front lawn of the church on a sunday morning is a bad thing.Then
there are the racers who spend half the race attacking on the wrong side of the
yellow, even after repeated warnings who want to know why they were relegated
or DQed. Dodging all of the empty water bottles that come flying out onto the
road before the last big 5%, 1/2 mile climb in the cat5s is really cool too.
And the perfect end to a long day is arguing with a racer or three who finish
in the last 1/3 of the results in a single day, or omnium scoring style stage
race about their bike computer time being 7-10 seconds different than their
posted time when it wouldn't change anything in the placings. They are
convinced that we should go back through and redo everything to accomodate them
because they obviously were keeping the official race time and we should get
full results with times and corrections up 2 minutes after the protest period
ends.
To be perfectly honest I'd guess these types are maybe 5% of the racers but
they really screw it up for everyone else. On the other end are the racers who
say thanks, pick up shit others tossed on the ground, wait until the official
isn't trying to do 7 things at once and have a resonable polite discussion
about things that happened, or questions they may have had.
I go out of my way to tell these people, and racers who worked their ass off,
rode clean, and smart thanks and great job out there.
That's one of the great things about being on a motor, you get to see who
makes the race, and how. A lot of times these people don't win but they really
make it a race. It's a blast to watch and fun to talk about after it's over to
find out why they did some of the things they did.
Maybe I'm a glutton for abuse, but the good massively outweighs the bad, and
if enough people work together we can make things better for everyone.
Bill C

Casey Kerrigan

In article <1ENjc.1299$Hf.841851@newshog.newsread.com>, TM
<xyz@yahoo.com> wrote:

> "Wayne" <wscott@udel.edu> wrote in message
> news:de90a9b6.0404280408.4a07975d@posting.google.com...
>
> > they freaked out. Started
> > giving the guy the finger and cursing at him.
>
> The same personality type as the drivers that give us a hard time. It all
> depends on whose ox is being gored...
>
>
Here is another one that really bugged me from a race this past Sat. On
the first lap of the women's 4 RR a new rider went into a downhill turn
to fast and ended up crashing. She was in the middle of the lane pretty
badly hurt and she wasn't going to be moved until medical help could
get to her. since the downhill was a narrow two lane road having a
rider down in the middle of the right lane was a safety issue. As the
CR of the race I went to the top of the hill to tell riders they were
neutralized until the passed the crash area. when I told the masters
35+ 4/5 pack about the situation one rider said " did you neutralize
the break". I guess this rider didn't care about his safety, the
safety of the injured rider or the people trying to assist the injured
rider. All he cared about was trying to catch the break. This was early
on in a long hot hill road race so it was really important to catch the
break as soon as possible. If riders don't care about their safety I
would at least wish they would care about an injured rider's safety but
I guess doing well in a low key Cat 4/5 race is more important.

John Forrest Tomlinson

On 28 Apr 2004 13:21:00 GMT, tritonrider@aol.com (TritonRider) wrote:


> To be perfectly honest I'd guess these types are maybe 5% of the racers but
>they really screw it up for everyone else.

Well yeah, but there are a larger percentage of whiners who really
drain on the handfulof doers in the world. Like I was warming up at
Monson (on a trainer BTW) having to listen to some guy complaining
about how he didn't pre-register because the promoter was so
unreasonable as to close online prereg on Wednesday or Thursday,
rather than Friday night. "Like it takes them a couple of days to
assign numbers" he grumbled. What a fucking loser. If I hadn't been
busy and stressed I'd have told him off. There are way too many people
out there like that.

But yes, the handful of real assholes are bad news.

JT

I'd be lying if I said I never pissed in the woods (though it is very
rare for me) but at least have the good sense to really, totally hide
from every possible spectator, race official, homeowner, etc). Or
better yet, do it in a bottle in your car...

And hiding in the woods after walking across a huge playing field in
plain sight (I saw this at Palmer) is not really hiding.

B. Lafferty

"TritonRider" <tritonrider@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040428092100.05848.00000224@mb-m01.aol.com...
> >From: "B. Lafferty" Magni@Italia.com
>
> >Bill,
> >
> >While I agree completely with what you say, I've seen and heard of this
kind
> >of behavior for some many years that I really think you're spitting into
the
> >wind.
> >
> >Brian
>
> You're probably right but I just live for having to explain to riders why
> pissing on the front lawn of the church on a sunday morning is a bad
thing.

That all depends on the denomination that they're pissing on. It could be a
good thing and the correct thing to do.


>Then
> there are the racers who spend half the race attacking on the wrong side
of the
> yellow, even after repeated warnings who want to know why they were
relegated
> or DQed.

Easier to just put some sweeper SUVs on the other side of the road with
instructions to not give way.

>Dodging all of the empty water bottles that come flying out onto the
> road before the last big 5%, 1/2 mile climb in the cat5s is really cool
too.

Very funny. I have a picture of you picking one up, motoring up to the guy
and asking if it's his.

> And the perfect end to a long day is arguing with a racer or three who
finish
> in the last 1/3 of the results in a single day, or omnium scoring style
stage
> race about their bike computer time being 7-10 seconds different than
their
> posted time when it wouldn't change anything in the placings. They are
> convinced that we should go back through and redo everything to accomodate
them
> because they obviously were keeping the official race time and we should
get
> full results with times and corrections up 2 minutes after the protest
period
> ends.

Tell him the problem is an inaccuracy with his cyclocomputer and then ask if
it's still under warranty


> To be perfectly honest I'd guess these types are maybe 5% of the racers
but
> they really screw it up for everyone else. On the other end are the racers
who
> say thanks, pick up shit others tossed on the ground, wait until the
official
> isn't trying to do 7 things at once and have a resonable polite discussion
> about things that happened, or questions they may have had.
> I go out of my way to tell these people, and racers who worked their ass
off,
> rode clean, and smart thanks and great job out there.

Yup. It's amazing how a small group can fuck things up for everyone. Just
look at what the Bush/Cheney Junta has accomplished.


> That's one of the great things about being on a motor, you get to see who
> makes the race, and how. A lot of times these people don't win but they
really
> make it a race. It's a blast to watch and fun to talk about after it's
over to
> find out why they did some of the things they did.
> Maybe I'm a glutton for abuse, but the good massively outweighs the bad,
and
> if enough people work together we can make things better for everyone.

You're in danger of contracting contageous pollyanna disease. Be careful!
One last suggestion. Ride your bicycle more and leave the assholes to their
own devices.

John Forrest Tomlinson

I toss waterbottles a lot in races -- almost always where I can get
them later.

I've suggested to at least one race promoter that it might be
worthwhile to actually tell racers they can throw bottles in a
particular place (sort of like an anti-feed zone), but not to throw
them in other places.

JT

TritonRider

>From: John Forrest Tomlinson usenetremove@jt10000.com

>I toss waterbottles a lot in races -- almost always where I can get
>them later.
>
>I've suggested to at least one race promoter that it might be
>worthwhile to actually tell racers they can throw bottles in a
>particular place (sort of like an anti-feed zone), but not to throw
>them in other places.
>
>JT
>
>

I think your idea is a good one, and I don't say much when people toss bottles
for a decent reason. If I had to actually ride my bike up some of the finishing
hill's we race on I'd be tossing more than bottles. It's the random barrage
tossed out the back or onto the road that pisses me off. 99% of the time you
can't get a number for sure so it's tough to do anything about.
The other thing I like to see is the sag wagon, or a volunteer going behind
the last race and picking the stuff up. I know of a few races that do that.
Bill C

Amit

tritonrider@aol.com (TritonRider) wrote in message news:<20040428092100.05848.00000224@mb-m01.aol.com>...
>
> You're probably right but I just live for having to explain to riders why
> pissing on the front lawn of the church on a sunday morning is a bad thing.Then
> there are the racers who spend half the race attacking on the wrong side of the
> yellow, even after repeated warnings who want to know why they were relegated
> or DQed. Dodging all of the empty water bottles that come flying out onto the
> road before the last big 5%, 1/2 mile climb in the cat5s is really cool too.
> And the perfect end to a long day is arguing with a racer or three who finish
> in the last 1/3 of the results in a single day, or omnium scoring style stage
> race about their bike computer time being 7-10 seconds different than their
> posted time when it wouldn't change anything in the placings. They are
> convinced that we should go back through and redo everything to accomodate them
> because they obviously were keeping the official race time and we should get
> full results with times and corrections up 2 minutes after the protest period
> ends.

I can sympathise. There is way you can handle some of these things.

I'm not sure what rules your races are run under, but probably as an
official you can warn or fine riders. Even if you can't stop and talk
to the rider they can get a fine in the mail, which has to be paid off
or their license gets suspended. If a cat 5 wants to be pro and toss
thier water bottle and Gu packets, they can be pro too and pay a $20
fine for it.

Of course you do have to actually see the offense being committed for
you to penalize the rider. But, if the existence of the race is
jeopardized by rider behaviour I would not be merciful with penalties.

If someone wants to protest there are offical ways to do it, and under
our rules you have to put up a bond and file the protest in writing.
This is of course meant to eliminate frivolous protests.