The Smack Talk Forum and Utah

This forum is so underused... thought I'd post a quick observation.

Nate and I were just discussing our race in Salt Lake last weekend and we both noticed that many racers down there were just plain rude and need to be smack talked about.

We were both cussed and sworn at several times while fighting for the good lines and corners. I saw another racer push a guy off the worn route into the deep snow as they passed (while both yelled at each other). One guy pushed me twice while I tried to pass him... he crashed himself and went down in a flaming ball of expletives (obviously because he had taken his hands off the bars... it was impossible to remove them and stay in control in the snow). I saw several riders run right over other riders bodies & bikes when they could have easily gone around. Even saw one guy kick a bike out of his way that had fallen in his path. As the leaders started to lap the back of the field they would yell "get out of the way" to whoever was in front of them expecting all sorts of entitlement since they were so fast. At one point the guy I was following came up onto a slower rider and yelled to "move over!"... the rider pulled over and actually had to stop in the deep snow while we both passed. Am I wrong in thinking this was all a bit agro???

Now I don't know if people were just super fired up in the snow/ice/mud or what... but it definitely did not seem like how our 'cross scene runs locally. I think it was so obvious to us both because it was so different to what we were used to. I regularly hear "sorry", etc in our own races when somebody screws up and everybody is way more laid back in general. I've had guys around here actually help me ride the corners faster by suggesting lines etc... even during a race! The guys down there were SERIOUS and it reminded me a bit of the road racing scene. In my book I'd say we've got it good up here in Idaho...

(This isn't meant to bash them at all... just what stuck out to me. We had an awesome time!)