Hey, everyone.
As you all know, we’re willing and eager to host constructive dialogues about all things cycling related on the TrainerRoad forum, including conversations on the climate of US Crit racing. The direction of this topic, however, seems to keep diverging from a productive discussion, so we’re going to close this thread.
I want to clarify some of the common themes of Community Guidelines violations in this thread, in contrast to discussions that we are willing to host.
Name calling the athletes involved with statements like “they’re a joke” or “both are idiots” is a violation of 1. Being Excellent, and 2. Challenge the idea, don’t attack the person. This applies to those not active in the forum thread as well when any sentiments of a personal attack can be harmful to the forum climate and to the direction of the dialogue.
Posts that discuss danger being somewhat inherent to crit racing, normal contact to expect in a race, or expressing that “post race brawls are not what cycling is about” are all examples of very productive ways to talk about this topic.
Discussing racist microagressions that may be at play when athletes are considered “aggressive” or having “attitude” are also valid points for discussion, and can be approached from a place of learning and wanting to create shared understanding.
Constructive debate on this topic looks like this reply: “Fair points, I don’t like the way their sweeper races’.” This is a great response that can offer a perspective without a personal attack.
Alternatively, engaging in back-and-forth debate with one other athlete about any issue removed from the context of the topic of US Crit climate is an example of a violation of 3. Constructively Contribute. Exchanges that arent founded in principles of constructive debate do not move the conversation forward, and ultimately harm others’ participation in healthy, constructive debate.
On future threads moving forward, please keep those examples and principles in mind, and as always, feel free to message me if you need clarification or feedback on what upholding our Community Guidelines looks like while participating on the forum.