Attention road riders

http://forum.epicmtb.com/showthread....up-Navan/page2

I am furious beyond belief over this !, its been my one concern all along about EPIC in the road that one day, one clown would get our name dragged down because of stupidity. I want whoever is responsible to apologise to that rider straight away . I've seen my own fair share of road crashes over the years, this wasn't caused by a mountainbiker, this was caused by a gobsh*te . I am not happy seeing inexperienced people racing on the road , I think its stupid and dangerous to think you can just rock up and race road races. I certainly don't like reading comments like " putting manners on the roadies ".
Richie

Richie, PM sent to you RL and Morty, I can't PM you so I trust they will pass it on.
J

I totally agree with Richie here as an experienced road racer as well as mountain biker... there is nothing bravado about a mountain biker turning up to a road race thinking they're going to show the 'roadies' a thing or two... Its plain stupidity! There is equally as much skill in riding a proper road race as there is riding a mountain bike race. I recommend if you're thinking of doing some road races, you go out with a road club on a few spins and get used to riding in a bunch or do the Epic early season road spins. There are members of Epic that are experienced in road racing (Morty, myself etc.) and they/we will get tarred with the same brush if inexperienced riders turn up and cause crashes or near crashes. Don't get me wrong, a lot of road riders are hopeless at riding mountain bike races but this is a safety issue and not who is better at each others chosen discipline! Get some experience before you put yourself in an 'out of depth' situation... I am willing to take groups out on the road and give road racing advice if you are interested in riding future road races. K

In fairness I think John had a few road races under his belt so it's not like he was completely new to the road racing. Knowing him I find it hard to imagine him riding recklessly but I never raced with him on the road so I don't know what he is like on the road... I'm sure he didn't put Will into a ditch deliberately though.
A4 is supposed to be an introductory category anyway so it's full of inexperienced riders, some crashes are bound to happen. I've seen a fair share of crashes in A3s last year and at the beginning of this year and it put me off road racing big time for a while.
For getting to know road riding I thought Morty spins in Naas were/are brilliant, I couldn't do them this year but I'd highly recommend them to anyone wishing to race on the road in 2013.
Anyway, no point going about it here on the forum, I'm sure John will make everything right and he'll enjoy any future races he might decide to do!

Sorry, I don't even know the rider in question, just general comments... A4 or A1 races, the ground feels the same when you hit it at 40km/h. But yes, get some experience riding road spins and gain confidence...