As we attempt to get the scene going here in Michigan more and more races are popping up. From my point of view, these races are more about getting people together than winning. That being said, I notice a lot of people are afraid to push it hard in the race. I feel this is for a few reasons, but mostly because people are afraid to take out other people. Below I will outline some etiquette and pointers.

1) Don’t be afraid to charge it hard! After all, we are racing. Don’t take a stupid line (aka if you’re on a dropped/drifty board don’t try to take the inside-inside line) and think of other people around you, but go for the gusto when you think you’ve got it. If you’re in back, your main job is to not injure the person in front of you, so be extra careful about rubbing wheels with the guy in front of you. This will hurt someone.

2) If you aren’t into pushing it, chill in the back. You’d be surprised how far you can come, especially if there’s a crash corner.

3) Don’t slide to a stop if there’s a lot of people around you or if there’s people behind you. This is recipe for disaster. Run it out, footbrake it out, or announce that you’re about to slide (throw your hands up in the air and wave them like you just do care.)

4) The guy putting on the race is extremely grateful if you bring exact change for the pot.

5) And last but not least, the ugly. There’s always people who are not content with the organizer’s rules. Unless a complete idiot is putting on the race, there’s a reason why he picked the rules he picked. If you don’t like the rules, don’t come to the race. It’s pretty simple. If you want different rules, take the time to make your own race, which includes getting your own sponsors and advertising the thing.

6) If it’s a slalom race, NEVER ask the timer, who has typically graciously donated his/her time to doing it, what your time was right after your race.

Racing is awesome, and winning is fun, but ultimately it comes down to having fun. There’s very few people who are out there only to win. I’d rather just get together with a group of guys and rip it. So come out and have fun.