Quote:
Originally Posted by bigbill
This has turned into a collection of anecdotes and generalisms about rural folk as if all people who choose to live away from the city are the same. Every event is cool until it gets too big. From grassroots to a lottery for an entry. Too many cars for road racing, mountain biking went from flowy trails to rock gardens, and now gravel is attracting the wrong attention.
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Yep, The Ragnar Relay is a good example where I now like. They run right alongside my property as they pass through our mountain valley. A lot of the route they run is also part of my daily ride route. Yes they do bring money into the area for a day. But they leave trash all over the place, I mean really bad. They make a ton of noise supporting the runners which is what it is. But the worse part is how stupid and dangerous so many of the drivers are in the support vehicles. You'd think they'd be super careful with all the runners out on the roads but my experience has been different. First time was a huge Suburban pulling off the side of the road right into me as I pedaled by. I was able to push off the vehicle that time. Then the following year I had a stupid lady brush by me in a minivan, swerve over in front of me to pull off the road, and then she opened her door and jumped out. I braked but still banged into her and her door. And yes I didn't feel bad about my chainring totally chewing up her leg. After that happened I turned around and decided to try riding in a different area. About 3 miles later bumped again by a support van from behind as we all waited at a 4 way stop. That was it, I went home and since then never ride when that race is coming through.
We have very limited roads up here so they do disrupt everyone's lives. It probably wouldn't upset locals that much if it was the only event in a year. But it seems like each summer we have some kind of "event" every week where you have to figure out if it's even worth it to try to leave you house and do anything. Should anyone really have to feel like a prisoner in their own house? And yes, I am a hypocrite as I do try and do at least one ride event myself each year.
