Trail Etiquette: Mtn Biker on Mtn Biker Violence

If you ask me. Both of those riders were A-holes.

The guy in the RS jersey was wrong for not letting the quicker rider by when a spot opened up to do so.
The guy with the camera was a total douhe for pushing the issue like that on a trail ride(I assume this was not a race).

IMO- The camera rider forced the issue and then seemed to inflate it by telling the guy he had a camera and could be arrested. That just sealed the deal.

what a cry baby. both the guy and the girl. every time the guy says im sorry she takes the opportunity to jump down his throat and he just keeps taking her crap. at a certain point move on dude, you apologized and she wont accept. just because she is on the verge of crying doesnt mean you have to sit there and take her temper tantrum. typical chick. i love how she slips on the root at 2:35.

Skip to 3:20 to see where the slower rider lets the fast rider pass. The fast rider did not take the opportunity, which tells me that he was just looking for a fight. I’m not saying that the slow rider is right for waiting so long to pull over, but the second rider’s behavior is what bothers me the most.

Both videos LOLZ

second video i can’t load it, about first video, both are big assholes. In a single track, no body has to let you pass; if you go faster just stop yourself so you will have more space to go faster. First rider, the one recording ws an a**hole, the one with the rock shox jersey, sure he can’t control himself but man, if i´m in the countryside, don’t stress me like that, cause you deserve to be punched, and so he got punched as he deserve. If you pressure on other people’s nerves you might get punched, and that’s what the guy got, just what he deserved, he deserved violence. So please bike rumor, cut the paternalist drama, we are all adults.

Vid 1: If the slower rider was going to be a douche and not pull over for all of a few seconds then the faster guy should’ve just pulled over himself and waited a few minutes to give some separation. Foul on them both for making an issue out of it.

Vid 2: That girls needs to shut up and stop whining. She stopped in the middle of a trail at what looks like a heavily used DH riding area. NEVER STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TRAIL, unless you are crashing. She wasn’t stopping at a drop-off or anything either, I can’t even tell why she stopped. Even so, his timing was just bad, although he should have called it out that he was going to make a pass.
But then the guy kept apologizing and she wouldn’t acknowledge it as an accident and kept berating him. Foul on them both for that.

Awesome trails! Riders on the trails could be more teeny bit more courteous though

Vid 1: After DB in sweet vintage jersey wouldn’t move over after a polite heads up the dude should have stopped and let the moron get farther down the trail.

Vid 2: What a dumb chick. That type of reaction just makes women look stupid. She stopped in the middle of a clearly HEAVILY used DH course. So weird that someone was right behind her…

Great vids, keep them coming.

Guy with a camera is twice a douchebag. First, for pushing the issue, like that is a frigging race, second for posting this video online in a fit of butthurt.

the guy that wouldn’t let the other pass was an a $$….come on the other guy wasn’t cursing at him…he got violent first and he was confrontational the first time he pulled over and then I don’t know how got back in front of the other guy almost in order to have a confrontation!!! When someone comes up on me like that I pull over and try to get on that guys tail in order to push myself camera guy was not out of line!

Good points by all. In the first vid, there is no need to treat a ride like a race…the guy with the camera needs to chill out. He clearly had a more aggressive bike with a modern thru axle fork…the ‘slow’ guy was riding an older hardtail with barends. I hope camera dude got a trophy for winning the secret race.

@Gashman
If you are a member of IMBA, you are IMBA. Not all message spreading needs to start from the top…it is up to all of us members to embrace the culture of karma.

Vid #1 What a waste of a beautiful day, both guys are c**** for that type of behavior… I love riding single track, and most of the people you find out there are in the same bliss. I’ve only encountered this douchery from hikers (trail nazis) and motorists whilst on my road bike.
Vid #2 That girl got p’owned… at first I thought she was dressed for paint ball or a Halo fan club re-enactment on MTBs. Noob! Don’t stop in the middle of a busy trail, and don’t attack someone for an accident – the dude was way too apologetic, but I guess it’s easier to pad a wounded ego than tell the truth… My favorite part is she says “he’s going to pay for this” then “If you’re on a blue, I don’t think you should be going, like 100mph – go ride a black and be with the big boys” then “just don’t do it again” and he says “I promise I won’t” lol

She hit her brakes in the middle of the damn trail and got what she deserved for it. Hilarious, though vid felt a bit fake/scripted….

Are those fake? Just very weird vibes in both videos. If I’m riding and someone is in front of me I either stop and let them go ahead more, go a different way, or follow and pass them at a wide spot. IMO it’s also better off not to say a thing at all ever. Just gotta wait to get the right spot to pass. If that camera guy was so much “faster” he could have done that at those cross trails.

Entertaining stuff. Would love to ride the trails in the first video, hats off to the group that did all the work. Violence at the end is silly for certain, no reason ever for it. There’s only one person guilty and that is the guy who initiated the contact. Fast rider is sort of a doink too as he could have passed and seemed to want to incite a reaction. He got it.

2nd video is just silly. Guy who hit the stupid chick gets bonus points for apologizing and being a nice guy. After the 20th apology and listening to her I would have bailed on the whole scene. She needs a new sport or her group needs to help her with her poor riding habits.

Saris, do you have a link to the Reddit post? I’d like to read more on the story.

If I’m faster than the guy in front of me, and they don’t know the etiquette, is it good etiquette to ride their wheel and give them a lecture on what they should be doing? Two antagonists just ruined each others’ day, and one of them took it far enough for the other to bring the law into it. Welp.

Funny how people are when equipped with video.

Anybody wonder how Mr. “I’ve got you on video” would have behaved without such documentation? He’d just have to live like a bog boy and deal with the results of his actions. Whether or not someone “should” not attack you is somewhat irrelevant if your actions cause it to happen. Right or wrong you’d better man-up and play your part without crying when you start a game with no rules. That game being going beyond acting like a generally nice person. Step over the line and you get a grumpy pudgy dude knocking you down 😉 SO FUNNY.

That girl might like to clean all the GREEN routes without all that silly body armor before running nearly out of control on the blue endangering everyone else. Would she stop dead center on a busy stair down to the subway at rush hour? WTF!

In both videos, it is obnoxious of the camera owners to tailgate the other rider. Since when is such behavior acceptable? They do not let you through, move on. Stop and let them get away, then go on. Neither one owned the trail and should determine that another person has to stop, interrupt their ride, to pull over. In the second video, while it was a mistake of the woman to stop in the middle of the trail, camera guy would not have crashed if we was not tailgating.

@notanMTBrider
“Stop and let them get away, then go on” ? says the obviously slow rider …

If the following rider is not close enough to be heard, then there is no way a lesser experienced leader is going to know they are being followed and will therefor not know to let the follower pass.

“stopping” is not at all required to allow a pass – GOOD GRIEF – does nobody know how to ride with any common sense? You don’t stop on the highway do you? When you’re in the left lane you are supposed to move over, not stop, not just sit there like a boob. This is basic stuff.

To the noobs reading who don’t “get it”, if you hear a follower, especially one who ASKS to pass, you can simply say “ok, just a moment up here”. Then, when you see a good spot coming, you can also ad “ok, here” and when you begin to slow or to move over, any good follower will take the safe opportunity and likely thank you for being so helpful. (some followers don’t mind hanging out for a while or bother asking if the section is difficult or the end is close).

If a person ‘refuses’ to allow a pass, then they fully deserve a constant heckling. Not saying ‘threats’ but if you want someone on your wheel who will actually endanger you if you falter, then you do deserve to be heckled or run into if you are refusing to allow the pass.

The girl didn’t seem to get a full/long warning/request to pass but that’s not what it was about from what I saw, she just rode poorly and freaked out mid trail on what was clearly an easy section. That sort of route is typical to have multiple people in a train so you just have to be mindful of your actions in front of anyone regardless of your ability. If you have to slow or stop, you just have to try going to a side so it’s at least easier for followers to miss you.
Aside from that, going off on the guy is like crying you got hit in a boxing ring. There’s a reason people wear all that body armor!

Both riders are at fault in the first video. Faster guy had a few good spots to pass and chose not to. The slower guys still shouldn’t have freaked out. It’s embarrassing to see grown men act like children.

The girl is the second video rides as poorly as she walks and shouldn’t be allowed to ride bikes. Wow, you suddenly came to a stop on a downhill trail and a rider behind you hit you, but only after trying to stop himself the best he could… how can you be surprised there? You slammed your brakes in the middle of a trail full of people. If anything, they should be yelling at you. On the other hand, I commend the guy for not escalating the argument. If one of the people in the first video had acted like him, they probably wouldn’t have fought.

On the second video, looks like the distance between the guy in front of her is about the same as the distance she had on the guy behind her. You can argue about if she was wrong for stopping abruptly or the camera guy was wrong for following closely. But if the girl was mature, she should have realized it was a mistake and not have acted like a bratty child. After the guy showed sincere apologies, the girls should’ve piped down.