2011 Addison Oaks Fall XC Classic

[Wolverine]

I appreciate the kuddos, but like Wayne I did what I hope someone else will when it's my kids turn out there.

It was awesome to see the MiSCA teams out there, especially the girls!!

[lovemybike]

I appreciate the kuddos, but like Wayne I did what I hope someone else will when it's my kids turn out there.

It was awesome to see the MiSCA teams out there, especially the girls!!

I appreciate Chris' shout-out, but like Angie said, I only did what I would hope anyone else would do. It's easy to get caught up in the moment, but in the grand scheme of things, a medal doesn't feel nearly as good as helping someone out. As a relatively new father, I cannot imagine seeing a crying young person and just riding by.

Riding with the young guy exposed me to the Sport and Beginner class riders. To chime in on some earlier comments, the Sport guys were the ones chiding the young people. There was some close and tough racing going on back there; fun to watch. If you do not want to get mixed with the MISCA, or any other group you deem too slow, move up. The drama is pretty low in the Expert field. You get an extra lap, an earlier start time, and no traffic to deal with.

[kms662]

Great Race, great weather, great turnout! I took some photos out at the race, mostly of the sport category. If you see one of you feel free to save it, yes, you can save it for free - just don't use it for commercial purposes. http://www.bikeblurb.com/2011-addison-oaks-fall-classic-race-photos.html FYI, they are not in any order.

Great photos! Thanks for sharing!!

[R.Noonan]

Since we are talking about race educate and kids racing with the sport riders. There are a couple of older sport group riders that need to learn some manners. this incident happened at the stoney XC race. A older sport rider man handled my son by pulling him by the shoulder while he attempted a pass when he clearly voiced his intensions “on your left” before attempting the pass two times before this and this wasn't the only incident on another pass he had another older age group sport rider cuss at him. He is a MiSCA varsity rider that is trying to move through the sport riders. What’s the point in holding them up when they are not in your class to begin with? Sport is one step after beginner!

[pongomoto]

+1 to Mr. Browns post.

I didnt see any rudeness in the expert class, ....

Agree! I have only seen rude behavior in the Sport class myself...

Yeah, I don't know what it is but when I moved up to Expert a few years ago, all the hot headedness, rude passes, trail blocking and general rude behavior was no where to be found. I wonder if it is because the Expert and Elite numbers combined are so much lower than the Sport and Beginner combineb making for less traffic to deal with.

I remember when I was a faster Sport class rider and started lapping Beginners on the courses. Some places made for easy passing and others you just had to wait. I remember some of them used to stop on the side of a hill and I felt obligated to slow down just so I could tell them any decent rider would pass you after the climb and they should never stop while going up a hill, it makes it harder to get going again. Then you had the Detroit Country Day kids who rode in packs.....you just had to be creative and polite at the same time when it came to passing them. Heck, I got all kind of stories but it goes back to the Ex/El being more polite overall.

Now I am not saying all Sport/Beginner riders are hot heads, I know quite afew that are good people. Maybe it just goes back to numbers. The more people in a group, the odds of having more bad eggs increases.

[mmba6896]

Had a great time (and also a poor time) at this well-run race. Big THANK YOU to the guy who saw my phone go flying, and had the decency to stop, pick it up, and give it back to me when he saw me off my bike cursing and searching.

[chrismaltby]

+1 to Mr. Browns post.

I didnt see any rudeness in the expert class, ....

Agree! I have only seen rude behavior in the Sport class myself...

Yeah, I don't know what it is but when I moved up to Expert a few years ago, all the hot headedness, rude passes, trail blocking and general rude behavior was no where to be found. I wonder if it is because the Expert and Elite numbers combined are so much lower than the Sport and Beginner combineb making for less traffic to deal with.

I remember when I was a faster Sport class rider and started lapping Beginners on the courses. Some places made for easy passing and others you just had to wait. I remember some of them used to stop on the side of a hill and I felt obligated to slow down just so I could tell them any decent rider would pass you after the climb and they should never stop while going up a hill, it makes it harder to get going again. Then you had the Detroit Country Day kids who rode in packs.....you just had to be creative and polite at the same time when it came to passing them. Heck, I got all kind of stories but it goes back to the Ex/El being more polite overall.

Now I am not saying all Sport/Beginner riders are hot heads, I know quite afew that are good people. Maybe it just goes back to numbers. The more people in a group, the odds of having more bad eggs increases.

I think the hot-head atmosphere may be better than it was in the 90's sport and beginner classes. I raced the SS Elite/Expert last weekend -- which started with the sportos at Addison. I never had a problem, but I didn't get passed. The lapped riders I came up to held their lines well and slid over when they could. A couple stopped -- which I don't like, but it was a much better experience than I remember. I think the Elite and Expert class could be huge and still have everyone get along for the following reasons:

A. They race the same people (more or less) over and over most of the year. If you are a *beep* to someone, you may line up next to them the following week
B. They have a better concept of their place in the sport. The faster you get, you realize how slow you are when compared to next level of athlete (this may just apply to me).
C. They know better fitness can overcome a tough passing section or any other excuse -- except the excuse of poor fitness.
D. They know everyone deserves an unfettered race -- bad passing or making people stop interferes with people's races. i.e. they know racing is just as much fun in expert as it was in beginner.

Just my $0.02

Chris

[utabintarbo]

... off my bike cursing and searching.

Hmmm, sounds familiar.

Glad you had a good time regardless.