"the most INSANE EUC and E-BIKE URBAN STREET RACE EVER!" - Not my words but the title of the YT vid

[Scottie888]

I'm kinda surprised there's no mention of this vid on these pages but after some thought, I'm also kinda not. To say that the title all by itself is controversial (nevermind the vid that has a coupla close calls...& thats Hsiang alone) would be an understatement. 

To be honest, I'm kinda conflicted as well. On 1 hand, I get the thrills & chills of racing. Nevermind that, to be able to ride freely at my limits on the streets is something I envy & perhaps tinged with alot of jealousy. Where I am, I can almost guarantee to be arrested & my wheel confiscated - hey our cops arrest & jail Pastors for having church services so I ain't kiddin. Maybe our Dear Leader has changed his name to Kim somtin somtin.

OTOH, watching it fills me with trepidation, apprehension & consternation. I mean how can we not? Racing on & thru the streets with cars, suvs, trucks, taxis, cyclists & pedestrians? Maybe this can only happen in NYC. The title of INSANE is indeed a very apt word.

Its does remind of my motorcycling hooligan days during my misspent youth so perhaps I'm far from qualified to judge. What do the rest of yous think. Is this anyway good for our hobby or should we be allowed to do as we wish cos its our skin?

 

 

[Surfling]

    I'm nowhere near these riders skill level but yeah, plenty of close calls being as a pedestrian or rider in NYC. Once, I had to duck under a swinging truck door riding 15mph on my bike. Very recently, over 100 quad/dirt bike riders was in our local Park. Popping wheelies and doing donuts where most folks/family were just trying to relax on a warm Sunday evening. 

    But I've had my share of recklessness. There was "Bladenight Manhattan"; up to 500 rollerbladers converge into Union Square at 7pm every Wednesday and do a 10-mile roll around the city. Good times and some casualties with that mob mentality. There was also the "Critical Mass" bike ride every last Friday of the month - same incidents. The "Broadway Bomb" skateboard race from uptown to downtown. I've seen riders "coffin" ride under trucks on that one. 

   Red lights get no respect. Misspent youth? I will agree.

   Now, is this good for the EUC community? Maybe not but IMHO, it's not much compared to other riding communities. I'd say the scooter delivery guys here are the most dangerous. My perception is, tech and social media is devouring better sensibilities. That little screen dominates.

Edited May 19, 2021 by Surfling

[shellac]

It was an entertaining video, and I didn’t have a huge problem with it. People are going to do what they want to do to have fun, and these are experienced riders who seem to know the risks involved.

In the past I’ve expressed my disdain at videos of EUCs on the highway. I guess the difference here is the risk is (mostly) to the riders themselves rather than causing a broader highway accident. I guess I draw the line at putting bystanders at risk. 

[GoGeorgeGo]

13 hours ago, shellac said:

It was an entertaining video, and I didn’t have a huge problem with it. People are going to do what they want to do to have fun, and these are experienced riders who seem to know the risks involved.

In the past I’ve expressed my disdain at videos of EUCs on the highway. I guess the difference here is the risk is (mostly) to the riders themselves rather than causing a broader highway accident. I guess I draw the line at putting bystanders at risk. 

I feel like the risk to the community is far greater in the city than on the highway. To race in an open circuit setting like that is putting a lot of people at risk. Personally it leaves a bad taste in my mouth to see wreckless abandon for ones own home. The person driving that hits and kills someone has to live with that for the rest of their life. Pedestrians are everywhere in the city, i get wanting to hunt the adrenaline rush, but this just feels like something teenagers would do, not grown men. 

I would argue that they clearly dont know the risks involved. I would expect someone that was experienced to know how horribley wrong things can go in the blink of an eye and not put themself (and more importantly others) in that position.

I know i probably come off like a grumpy dick, and maybe thats a signal that im getting old. But its our responsibility to protect our own communities, no matter where you live. Set up a closed circuit somewhere, get a permit to shut down some streets for a "parade". Engaging in wreckless activity is one thing, but when it involves innocent bystanders it crosses a line. What if it was your mother or grandmother or brother or child who ends up hitting someone or getting hit? I dont expect to stop anyone or change anyones actions, just my 2 cents

That said everyone in the video seemed to be respectful enough not to cause an incident. But we all know someone is going to spoil that eventually

Edited May 19, 2021 by GoGeorgeGo

[Gasmantle]

To be honest I think these guys are selfish idiots.

It's only a matter of time before they hit somebody or cause an accident that causes serious injury then that will start the police taking more forceful action toward all riders.

In a lot of countries EUC's are still illegal and while we have idiots like these guys we'll never get legalisation.

 

[Planemo]

Putting aside what happens to the rider themselves, how it looks to pedestrians, what it does for the wider EUC community etc etc I am becoming increasingly concerned with the weight and speed of the bigger wheels we have nowadays in a runaway situation.

With my fag packet calculations, a 35kg Sherman at 40mph with a distance of 2 metres from impact to stop (I plucked that 2m figure out of the air, assuming it hits a pedestrian) has a peak impact force of over half a ton.

It's not going to change anything, but I thought it quite interesting.

[Unipsycho]

I think its awesome, the race itself, what I think is stupid, is filming it, posting it and sharing it with the world.  Illegal street racing (cars, motorbikes) has always been around, its legendary and for those who want to do it, go for it, however it was traditionally a secret for a reason, to keep it that way.  Same as people who post videos about themselves trespassing or climbing towers and then getting busted when they share it online.  That's the only stupid part, if you wanna race, go race, but you can race a lot better without your stupid selfy stick trying to film it and then exposing it publicly.