Anyone have anything they'd like to rant about?

[HAB]

I would buy 10 pairs of these today if it existed.

eThirteen does make a version of that, but it's definitely a case of good idea, iffy execution. The biggest issue is that they use the removable outer part of the valve to clamp against the rim (the role normally covered by the threaded ring) but the problem with that is that you can't grip the inner part that goes through the rim to tighten it if there's a tire installed. Sometimes you can get enough friction to get it tight, other times you're fucked.

[grinch]

Haaa well they are consistent

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[jm2e]

eThirteen ………….. it's definitely a case of good idea, iffy execution.

Kinda sums it up for me.


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[joetron]

The guy who decided to ‘race’ me up Pass Creek trail this morning.
I pedaled up the road from the bottom of my ride and at the start of the singletrack climb I encountered a group of 4 or 5 riders getting their stuff ready at their vehicles. A couple folks had their bikes ready and standing, but there were still 2 bikes lying on the ground. I rolled by, said hi to one of the crew and started climbing.
The trail starts at 10k, goes up about another 1.2k, it’s got some short steep efforts, some challenging tech moves but plenty of nice spots to recover and soft pedal for a bit in between the grunts. I just wanted to get out in front of their group and not deal with any traffic jams at the tech spots.
After a few minutes on the trail, I hear one of the guys clicking through some gears behind me. I tell him to just give me a holler when he wants to get by. But he never goes for the pass, he just kinda sits on my wheel.
When we get to the first techy spot, a tricky, low angle rock garden climb with greasy rocks and plenty of holes, I nail my line and make it through (I’m maybe 50/50 on this spot). I hear him clip out and I keep going, hoping for some separation.
Note: he dropped his friends by the first switchback.
But then I hear him grabbing gears and panting again. Then the same thing happens on another little rock garden.
I usually soft pedal in a few spots so I have the power for the tech moves and that’s when he’d catch back up - only to blow on the rocks.
We go through this accordion move 3-4 times and I finally stop to put my glasses on my helmet and let him by.
I know it’s silly to be so annoyed by this, but I’m just out trying to ride my own ride and not get caught up in the middle of another group - or have some hero catch up to me and then pant on my wheel for half the fucking climb.
Instead of riding with his friends or waiting for them at the tech spots and giving a few goes at clearing them, he decides to clack through the slippery rocks on his shoes, cx mount, and pin it to catch up to me for some reason.
Congrats buddy, you beat me to the top, really stretching that gap when I stopped for the elderly hikers whom you passed with a labored “Excuse me”.


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[skaredshtles]

The guy who decided to ‘race’ me up Pass Creek trail this morning.
I pedaled up the road from the bottom of my ride and at the start of the singletrack climb I encountered a group of 4 or 5 riders getting their stuff ready at their vehicles. A couple folks had their bikes ready and standing, but there were still 2 bikes lying on the ground. I rolled by, said hi to one of the crew and started climbing.
The trail starts at 10k, goes up about another 1.2k, it’s got some short steep efforts, some challenging tech moves but plenty of nice spots to recover and soft pedal for a bit in between the grunts. I just wanted to get out in front of their group and not deal with any traffic jams at the tech spots.
After a few minutes on the trail, I hear one of the guys clicking through some gears behind me. I tell him to just give me a holler when he wants to get by. But he never goes for the pass, he just kinda sits on my wheel.
When we get to the first techy spot, a tricky, low angle rock garden climb with greasy rocks and plenty of holes, I nail my line and make it through (I’m maybe 50/50 on this spot). I hear him clip out and I keep going, hoping for some separation.
Note: he dropped his friends by the first switchback.
But then I hear him grabbing gears and panting again. Then the same thing happens on another little rock garden.
I usually soft pedal in a few spots so I have the power for the tech moves and that’s when he’d catch back up - only to blow on the rocks.
We go through this accordion move 3-4 times and I finally stop to put my glasses on my helmet and let him by.
I know it’s silly to be so annoyed by this, but I’m just out trying to ride my own ride and not get caught up in the middle of another group - or have some hero catch up to me and then pant on my wheel for half the fucking climb.
Instead of riding with his friends or waiting for them at the tech spots and giving a few goes at clearing them, he decides to clack through the slippery rocks on his shoes, cx mount, and pin it to catch up to me for some reason.
Congrats buddy, you beat me to the top, really stretching that gap when I stopped for the elderly hikers whom you passed with a labored “Excuse me”.


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For some people competition is a undeniable necessity - in *everything.*

Fucking weirdos, if you ask me.

[grinch]

Its kind if buddies issue , not yours. Enjoy your beer knowing he pulled himself inside out and prob still hasnt recovered.
I prefer to recover and clean the tech sections but some times i like those challenges(less these days because im beat) and it can be fun whether you have it or not on the day. It can be fun to clean the sections knowing these guys struggled and have jacked their HR. Thats when you put a little kick in to really make them blow. Even when i wasnt feeling great it was fun to put a bluff kick in. Amazing how many times i knew they were fitter or i was tired and it pryched them out. Bonus points when you tell them after that you were bluffing and if they had any response it wouldve been different. I miss those days. I cant even bluff now. Not foolin anyone

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[Bunion 2020]

Not really a rant as much as a comment.

https://racebozeman.com/challenge-details-1

Basically about 5 courses laid out that you ride with your GPS and upload your times to compete against others doing the same. Yesterday me and a buddy were riding what turned out to be this weeks segment. We are in the middle of bum fuck Egypt and I am crossing a small creek when a guy comes blasting past me out of nowhere. To say he startled me is an understatement. Since I know the guy I am not pissed, I do question the logic of running this on one of the most popular and busy trails in the valley, especially on a weekend.

Oh well.

[hick]

Not really a rant as much as a comment.

https://racebozeman.com/challenge-details-1

Basically about 5 courses laid out that you ride with your GPS and upload your times to compete against others doing the same. Yesterday me and a buddy were riding what turned out to be this weeks segment. We are in the middle of bum fuck Egypt and I am crossing a small creek when a guy comes blasting past me out of nowhere. To say he startled me is an understatement. Since I know the guy I am not pissed, I do question the logic of running this on one of the most popular and busy trails in the valley, especially on a weekend.

Oh well.

I’ll say it then, that is fucking stupid!! Every Montana trail is contentious these days. Why add to the problem?


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[evasive_MT]

I’ll say it then, that is fucking stupid!! Every Montana trail is contentious these days. Why add to the problem?


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Yeah, having lots of people ride at race pace during a scheduled event with advance notice, signage, and course marshals is one thing. Encouraging people to do it whenever they choose on open trails is something else.

[El Chupacabra]

More of an amused-while-biking than a rant --

I'm adjusting a friend's shifting in the middle of a ride, because her derailleur and/or hanger is bent, and SRAM 12-speed is finicky. Random other rider on the trail barges in to offer the unsolicited advice that "shifting bad? it's the B-screw!"

I asked him if he had the SRAM red gauge tool with him.

Crickets.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

I think any kind of organized competition on public trails is bullshit


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[muted reborn]

I’ll say it then, that is fucking stupid!! Every Montana trail is contentious these days. Why add to the problem?


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But the organizer says to "remember to Stay Classy on the trails, treating your fellow trail users with respect and courtesy!" so he/she is totally managing the riders effectively, so I'm not sure what the issue is.

[evdog]

A race organizer here holds one that sends riders through one of the busiest trails in the city at the busiest time on a Saturday morning. No trail closures, no marshals (would cut into profits $$). But they do announce that anyone riding dangerously will be disqualified. By the course marshals they have posted all....oh wait. But..."trail is open to other users so please pay attention and be courteous to other trail users!" Gotta love someone profiting from sending riders into a situation where conflict is inevitable. And if not conflict, will definitely piss off a lot of other users. I don't even like riding these trails on a weekend, far too busy.

[brutah]

I like when race organizers flag a course and then leave the flagging up for weeks afterwards.... *cough cough* wastach trail run series *cough cough*

[bagtagley]

There were a couple self-timed races here last year. They worked pretty well, but the trails were closed to non competitors during the “race”, signage was really good, and most importantly, they were on private trail systems. I can’t see any way for the same thing to work well on a public system. Someone is definitely gonna get pissed, and worse, possibly injured.

[Dantheman]

I can’t see any way for the same thing to work well on a public system.

It could work if the descents are all on DH-only bike trails. Doing it on multi-use bi-directional public trails is seriously irresponsible.

[Wes Mantooth]

Encouraging people to do it whenever they choose on open trails is something else.

So basically Strava...

[skaredshtles]

So basically Strava...

[panchosdad]

So basically Strava...

Exactly.

[Bunion 2020]

It sure seems to bring out the worst in people.

It could work if the descents are all on DH-only bike trails. Doing it on multi-use bi-directional public trails is seriously irresponsible.

Funny thing is we got to the decision point and decided to ride it Clockwise on what amounted to a coin toss.

Could have very easily ridden it Counter in which case we would have been riding the descent when the other guy was climbing and it is narrow, twisty and not real steep so the tendency is to go kind of fast.

[Boissal]

It could work if the descents are all on DH-only bike trails. Doing it on multi-use bi-directional public trails is seriously irresponsible.

I ran into the mid-week MTB races a couple times last summer cause I'm too stupid to look at the calendar and avoid Solitude on race days. The course was all on bi-directional trails and every volunteer I talked to said they couldn't stop people from riding the trails, only strongly discourage them. Both times I changed my plan so I was going uphill the same way the racers were and got way off the trail the second I heard someone coming. What spooked me is that both times I popped onto the trail and rode about 5 minutes before running into anyone affiliated with the race. I could have been going against the current with no idea that a race was going on and run into the leading pack on a DH, that would have been pretty.

[Canada1]

Two of my children ride mid week races. In my experience they do a good job at having people at intersections to tell people what’s up. That said, if I arrived at a venue they are at, I would go somewhere else. They are really popular, and attract a ton of people. While it is generally a friendly positive vibe, I just wouldn’t want to be a part of it unless I was involved. That said, I prefer to ride and ski alone because I’m weird like that.

[VTskibum]

I've been in involved as a marshal and part of the organizing team hosting a race at a public venue/state park, usually in early May. Most people are pretty respectful of it, but it's pretty challenging to handle some interactions. Put up signs at park entrance about race, have marshals at every road crossing, but park service won't let us truly close the course. One of the worst was strongly suggesting a different route for a large group of hikers with dogs (most of which were off-leash which is very much illegal), who were insisting using the entirety of our race course for their hike. Suggested multiple other trails that would be completely away from the race which coincidently don't allow bikes anyway, but the group leader initially wouldn't budge. A few in her party finally stepped up to talk her off the ledge, which would have been a huge disaster I'm sure.

Also I think I'm 1 and done for tubeless inserts. Put a Tannus in rear of my new HT which took way way longer than anticipated, 45m+ and was sweating my ass off. Stopped to have a beer at 10pm just to regain motivation to finish it since I'd spent so much time. I have already made use of it when my valve came loose on a rooted descent w 0psi, but still pretty sure it's not worth the faffing about.

[toast2266]

The whole race on public trails thing is tricky. Like many have said, land managers often won't let the trails be completely closed. And it's often hard to get permitted for lesser used trails - land managers want to focus the use. And on top of that, a race venue needs parking and facilities for a large event, which you're usually not going to find on more out-of-the-way trails.

That doesn't mean some races aren't poorly organized. But people that get all worked up because an event is happening and they can't ride the same old trail for the 500th time need to simmer down a bit.

[Boissal]

Two of my children ride mid week races. In my experience they do a good job at having people at intersections to tell people what’s up. That said, if I arrived at a venue they are at, I would go somewhere else. They are really popular, and attract a ton of people. While it is generally a friendly positive vibe, I just wouldn’t want to be a part of it unless I was involved. That said, I prefer to ride and ski alone because I’m weird like that.

As I said, I was unaware of the race for the first 20 minutes of my ride. I never park on the main Soli lot so I didn't see the hordes gathered there which would have alerted me. And once I popped onto the race course it was another 5 minutes until I ran into a volunteer who told me what was going on (not much flagging when you're on a trail with no intersections). There were no other options to get to where I wanted to go and really nothing else to ride in the area so I kept going since the risk of getting mowed down by people going uphill is pretty low. Had I been going the wrong way I'd have turned around for sure.

Soli has no directional trails so the point is moot but when mid week races happen at PC it would be ideal if they could send their super fast bros down dedicated DH trails. I see plenty of people climbing CMG and there are 5 different ways to get onto that trail without going through the base of the resort where all the signage is located. Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. There are plenty of opportunities to get creamed by someone chasing a KOM and hauling too much ass on a bidirectional trail already, no need to make it even more likely by racing on the same trails...