I've been watching, reading and listening to all of the commentary regarding the last St George round for 2014 on this site, in the pits, on social media and in general conversation both during and ever since the meet.

The opinions of course are varied, what is written here will simply be mine.

There was a lot of frustration. There has been some well thought out and considered points but a lot of the statements made have been so broad and sweeping as to be purely insulting. But its easy to do that by picking a group and crucifying them together. Thats the way society gets off on itself nowadays, puffs up its collective pigeon chest and points its claw at the easiest target.

What was the problem ? The problem seems to be a very high number of dangerous and inconsiderate moves made on track by other riders in a club racing scenario.

Note that i didn’t say slow riders, or mid pack riders, or D graders or inexperienced riders. For the most part I don’t know who they were, where they were, what they are, their grade etc. But the majority of commentary or opinions that i’ve read over the last month have been expressed with some form of classification attached. Put simply, there are a bunch of fuckwit’s on track that are making us feel uncomfortable. In the dissection of the event many seemed to very quickly turn it into a who can we tell to fix this, who can we collectively blame for allowing this to happen, or the enduring favourite of a faceless society, someone should put a system in place to repair this….

Let me backtrack a bit. How did we end up with this problem in the first place ?

There are fuck all racetracks in NSW. There is very little road racing in NSW. There are very few road race motorcycle clubs in NSW. The busiest circuit in NSW is SMP and there is a ride day monopoly in place there that makes track days fucking expensive. Everyone is told that ARDC days and racing are better value for money than track days and it seems so much more accessible, so few rules. You are not treated like an infant like you are at SMP Ride days, after having handed over your money. The SMP Ride day model is expectant on first timer turnover and you are treated accordingly. People move to ARDC days for the value for money, the freedom to ride and improve without being chastised. They need to get their race licence to do that. Its simple, its just another form, a written test and a fee.

This new found freedom we all have. Find the easiest way to do whatever we want with the least amount of red tape, minimal conflict, remaining completely faceless and blameless. Not a care in the world until something goes wrong, and then we can gather and accuse.

I don’t think you can blame St George for how their race meet went. I don’t think you can demand that they do something about it. I don’t think you can complain that they’re not doing enough to enforce things. I think you’re wasting your fucking time with all of your complaints if you’ve been affected by a situation and not done something about it. Particularly when you have all of the systems in place to do something about it.

I choose to live with a culture of responsibility rather than exist in a culture of blame.

When you get your race licence there is a big book full of rules that comes with it. You may have had to read a couple of pages of it to get your licence. There are an awful lot of rules in that book that relate to exactly what you should do at a race meet if there is a problem with the meet. When you enter a race meet there are a lot of rules on the entry form. You sign a declaration agreeing to those rules. When you’re at a race meet there is a riders briefing. In that briefing you are reminded of what is in the big book of rules, in particular about what you should do if you have any problem with the race meet. They introduce you to the appropriate people that you should speak to if there is a problem and you sign a form stating that you attended and listened to that briefing.


At every one of those steps you are expected to behave like a responsible individual adult and recognise that you are signing an agreement to do your part in making things go as smoothly as possible by followings the rules. This includes notifying the officials if one of the fuckwits out there makes you feel uncomfortable. Look at how much shit is going on at race meet manned by volunteers, how are they expected to know anything thats going on in your head without you making it known properly and effectively. By the way, if you can’t work out which fuckwit it was on track that was causing you so much pain and suffering, maybe you’re not riding within your limits either.

Lets face it, most of the people who put together these club meets for us are doing it for free. The only one who gets paid at the meet is the guy who enforces the rules. All of the money we give to MA for our licence every year. We know they’re not spending it improving the sport for us, we know they’re not creating an awesome State or National Championship series for us. They’re sitting around making up rules and enforcing them. It is our responsibility to act within the rules at each and every step of the way to improve our sport.

If thats not enough for you, if you don’t like the rules, be a voice with a face and not a mumble or a whisper.

I think the vests for D graders are a good idea. in NSW a D grade is a novice rider. After their first year of racing if they do a couple of meets they will become a C grader. I think its important for the novice racers to know that they are being viewed as a novice in the hope that it makes them assume some responsibility for all of the rules they have agreed to abide by every time they’ve signed something.

Now, back to Katy Perry…..