One of my pet peeves in life would be riders not calling it. What I mean by calling it is the mere courtesy of letting riders know which side you’ll be passing. This practice has long been used in road biking, and I remember when I was a young pup riding a road bike, I quickly learned what “Rightâ€, “left†meant. Ok ok for you folks that get all angst about which side you need to pass on, common practice leads us to pass on the left. But in mountain biking, sometimes its ok to pass on the right, but call it!
Anyhow, I’m sure you’re wondering why am I bringing this up. Well a few weeks ago, during our weekly night ride at the Fullerton Loop, I get buzzed by some douche bag passing me on my right. He completely spooked me and caused me to jerk my handle bar which could have ended in a crash. I yell out to the guy in a sarcastic manner, “thanks for letting me know!†He was completely oblivious to my statement as he raced further ahead.
A couple things came to my mind, this guy was probably pretending to be racing and wanted to feel good about himself by passing up people on the trail. Another scenario I could think of was he had the runs and needed to get to a restroom ASAP. But by all means, you a person still needs to call it.
For Pete’s sake (he’s a really cool guy), at all the races we’ve been at during the Shimano Winter Series, the pros and all the way down to the little kids were calling which side they were passing and because of that reason, I can’t figure out why that douche bag or any other douches out on the trails do, or should I say, don’t do that.
By the way, after that chump passed me, two other guys on CycloCross bikes came up from behind, called left, and as they passed by they asked me if I knew (in their own words) “who that ass was?†I said no and the CX riders just shook their head and said, “what a punk†(anger directed to the douche). We eventually caught up to some trail runners and they asked Priscilla and I if we knew who that guy in the orange (local bike club) jersey was. We said no, and the runners mentioned that they want to give that guy a stern talking since they too, were buzzed by without warning.
By the time we finished our ride, I felt really tough and I scanned the parking lot to see if I could spot the guy…no luck. But if I did, I would have kicked his ass! Jk, no I would have talked to him and ask him to start calling it. Not only is it important for safety, but if you act like a douche on the trail, people such as hikers, walkers, runners, and equestrians will start to stereotype mountain bikers as rude people…
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Show CommentsFunny you posted this, I read somewhere else where guys were complaining about this rider from a “local” bike club. Not the first time this has happened w/this person at the Loop.
There must have been a race at the Loop we didnt know about 🙂
Policar,
It’s just plain ignorance, especially if this guys is from a local group, he should know better.
Do you guys ever post rides you are going to do?
Stoner
Stoner,
We normally send out ride announcements. But you have to be part of my Super Cool Club to get these emails. Just send me an email to [email protected] and I’ll add you to the list.
Well R.L. it is amazing who many people don’t know proper trail etiquette but what really gets me is at my level of racing is when you go to a big race and experts don’t move over when you call out right or left or when you call out they move to the side you are going (“NO YOUR OTHER LEFT”!!)
All we could do is teach others and hope they learn.
Take it easy.
Every sport has its d-bags… LOL
But Joe’s right. I believe this guy is a known character; he’s been mentioned on another forum before. He’ll get his one day, I hope he just doesn’t involve someone else…
I ” called it” when coming up on some hikers once and they proceeded move to the “called ” area….I hit em’, no one got seriously hurt though.
BTW, horses don’t understand this concept. They just freak out and take up all the “callable” areas of the trail, don’t ask how I know this.
Happened to me once too. Called out ‘your left’ and jogger moved to the left. Good thing I already anticipated this and was able to slow down and go around.
Out where I ride on a regular basis is a paved bike path and one thing I noticed is that a LOT of roadies do not call it. Whether is a gaggle of riders or a solo rider, its rare that someone does. Haven’t been buzzed bady yet though, the path is wide enough and I am always off to the right usually riding the white line.
Well, I think that guy must be taught of his lessons and make him remember of the basics.And also don’t forget to teach him good discipline. If he ever had some.