Race Day: Biker in Need?

[dave303e]

As said above, if they have spares and are struggling i will gladly stop and help especially if they are churning through bombs and plugs or have broken a bomb adaptor or something like that, if they don't have spares and haven't tried to fix it themselves it is a case of smile and wave- 'As jy dom is, moet jy k**'

 

Selfish to start a ride and not have the means to get to the end of the ride and fix a puncture/chain/general issues along the way.

 

Same goes for guys who are running super light tyres, you run those stupid paper thin tyres in Africa, you know deep in your heart you are going to walk one day, with no one to blame but yourself. Me I may run super heavy solid tyres, but I know if I end up walking there was little chance of avoiding it.

 

To finish first, first you have to finish...

[FrikkieMeyer87]

As a mid pack sometimes lower 40 percent rider I have stopped to help and been helped several times in races. Once a pair of grizzled old mtb ancients repaired a bust chain and jerry rigged a broken derailleur.

 

I've given away tubes and bombs and lent out my bomb nozzle. I think it's a great part of the sport that people stop and help.

 

Funnily enough I wouldn't expect it or offer it in a road race!

 

Good point, I think it's probably less common in road races because help is much easier to get due to the accessibility. When you're a few kms up a mountain, the odds of cars passing through is relatively slim (depending on where you ride) and for that reason downed riders become a lot more reliant on passers-by.

 

Judging by the poll (thus far), the average rider will stop and help until the stranded rider is able to continue, or until they are no longer able to be of assistance, which is awesome to see. Makes me feel better about venturing up the mountain, although after almost being stranded myself due to a silly problem like a tubeless burp, I now carry a water bottle toolkit containing all the necessities to get myself going again. I've based the contents of this kit on what I've read in threads on the hub discussing just that, so thank you 

[NE1L]

On a training ride Ill always stop.

 

I haven't done many races and always used to stop however the last time I stopped for about 3 people in one race. I've since decided that long term Ill probably help them more by not stopping as they will probably learn a thing or 2 that being said Ill always stop to help a lady. 

 

[Thor Buttox]

I will always stop for an accident or an incident, and had the worst 45min of my life giving someone CPR who didn't make it, and will enquire politely on a normal ride if everything is ok. But sorry, no, in a race when I have spent money, time, and effort to enjoy myself and be competitive, if only with myself, I will wheeze on by if someone ahead of me is being a fool and not carrying spares. (To assuage the guilt, I assume they are on PED's or students without cash. And the student is likely to call me 'oom'. So he must suffer.)

[Hamstring]

If not a podium/ category / contender or have a technical (race over and just enjoy)  I will stop and ask if he/she needs anything and if he/she does, I tell them to pass it forward.

[Mountain_Goat]

If im out on a training ride and I come across someone that is having mechanical issues, I will usually stop and try to help out but not during a race unless its someone that I know. I always take it that a race is a race and there are sweeper vehicles should you not able to continue. Just my opinion.

[shaper]

If racing, No

if training or just riding then yes

[Brakepad]

i also had to vote for No but i would definitely help as long as it takes if it was a fun ride

[Prince Albert Cycles]

Frikkie doen wat vir jou reg voel .

[leeubok]

It's all good and well not helping people who didn't take tools/spares to help themselves, but sometimes you honestly forget something, or you just don't have the right tool for something that broke, or you lost something on the trail.. Or you've already used up your 2 bombs and tube.. That happens. During a race I'll ride past but always ask "are you ok"? If the answer is NO, then I'll stop to help

[OemD]

Scenario

 

This weekend, I rode my very first mountain bike race ever. It's also the longest distance I have ever ridden, having only started cycling in April this year. As a result of my noobism, I was in the last group to start for the day, which kicked off at 10h35. Roughly 5km into the race, I spot two cyclists on the side of the road with a flat tire. It's obvious from their expressions that they do not have the means to repair this flat, and asking them confirmed this.

 

Being the type of person I am, i.e. knowing that I had the means to assist, I stopped and helped them, which due to some unforseen complications took a solid chunk out of my race time resulting in me finishing with them pretty much last of our group. Seeing as the object of me entering the race was merely to partake in an official event and have fun while doing so, I wasn't too phased about the delay.

 

Question

 

I have been the object of much ridicule within our MTB chat group since then, with my riding mates being of the opinion that I should have left these riders for the sweepers (assuming that these were in place). So my question is this: If you find riders in these situations, is the common practice to just leave them there to fend for themselves, or do you help where you can? No one else stopped which leads me to believe that it's perhaps not the way to do things, albeit in stark conflict with my first instincts?

 

Each person will answer in line with his own set of believes (and there is nothing wrong with that)...for me...Stop and help...irrespective of race or training. 

 

Enjoy

[scubes]

i always try ask if things are ok on a normal ride and will stop to help as i always carry spares just in case. in a race i assume there are sweepers. but i have stopped in a race to help a lady who didn't know how to bomb. That said i just do races for fun.

 

i do have a friend who bought a new mtb but prefers to ride her old 26er tubed with one tube being presta and one schrader. she carries no pump no spare tube no nothing. selfish and dumb.

[Escapee..]

If I see someone standing I will always ask. Tube or bomb or bomb adapter I will always help with.

 

Anything else, sorry you are on your own...I dont know how to fix anything else 

[Milosh]

Easier for the non mechanical guys among the back markers , offer any parts needed , but don't really know enough to help, and getting home before cutoff is the target  and keep extra load off sweepers 

 

Training - stop and offer parts or companionship