[zenlikeme]

It's funny to me.. all season long the forum has been, for all intensive purposes, dead compared to the previous years. I too found this forum to be so useful and helpful, especially when I was learning. I even had a concern, for the new riders, that they weren't benefiting from it the way myself and so many others had.

And now this...! The most involved thread all season... and the most views... and all for bullshite. Truly Sad. We're all friends here. You guys have been through so much together. To exert so much energy on the negative is truly a waste of everyone's time. I've been sorry to witness this all unfold.

I do want to chime in on only one point here. I was present the day that started this thread. I agree that there was unacceptable behavior that day. Not only on the new guys, which at least can be understood from some degree.. bc they're new. But also from seasoned riders. It was the seasoned riders that actually made me feel embarrassed. The situation was not handled well at all. I now regret not being the one to go and "talk" to the guys that clearly had no clue. Instead, I watched others berate them and laugh at them. Not cool. Someone finally told them they needed a leash and they put one on. But I continued to hear people make comments, that these beginners could clearly hear, that made me feel ashamed.

Listen guys.. we're a community here. One that I've been so proud to be a part of. Everyone has been so genuinely friendly and helpful. Perhaps as the sport grows it's inevitable for the tides to shift. But I wouldn't expect to see it from the core founders in the area. And not from my friends. Calling newbies "Kooks" and pointing out they're "kooky" behaviour is negative. Laughing at them is negative. Not helping out is only hurting everyone. It'd be nice to see everyone jump when they see something that could potentially end disastrously. I know we can all witness so many events in a day, especially at east beach, that raise a brow. That we can become complacent and end up sitting back and listen to the "circus music" instead of trying to stop the record. But this is irresponsible and a move in the wrong direction. I've certainly been guilty of it but after this expose, I know I will try to isolate myself from what I see as detrimental to our scene and do what is right for now on. If only to make amends for this shameful situation... even tho I shouldn't have to be the one making the amends...

Wow.. that was a long point. At least for a "lurker" that never posts :mrgreen: Let me summarize. We all were beginners once. We have ALL needed help from time to time. Most of us have had our asses saved by someone looking out. Grow up and do the right thing!!!

Peace
Your dread headed buddy
Kevin