I remember when Pitracer first became available. It was an excellent source to get info on tracks regarding practice and racing and poke at your friends. I seemed to bring the local riding community together and everyone was "in the know" . That lasted for a decent amount of time. Then at some point the Pitracer site became more "Clicky" like high school. A core group of individuals seems to rule the site in turn making people feel as though we had to agree with everything these people believed and followed. In other words, keep our opinions to ourselves if we didn't agree with these regulars users. These people had to chime in there opinions on everything and chastise those of us who had different opinions Many of us put up with this for years and then finally stopped logging in. This is probably my first time in almost 7 years that I have logged in.
That all said many things have changed since we all started using Pitracer to plan our weekly riding. Mainly the fact that many tracks are gone now. Spring Valley, Broken Spokes, Crow Canyon, Shecks, Battlesburg, Outlaw, Area 330, Scenic. All Closed and gone. District 12 ..Gone... Shops have closed. Midwest Motorsports, Boulevard Honda (Apex Closed too now although Extreme bought it), The Honda Shop in Cleveland..Closed)
Side by Sides are the new craze and anyone that can drive a car can drop $18000 and buy one so that they can act like they are an expert rider while they are blocking the trail in front of you. By the way RZR people.... Your driving not riding... there's a huge difference. Your not nor will never be a rider. Run a motocross bike around the same trails you putt around on and then come talk to us riders. The most ridiculous thing I have seen to date is 5000 rednecks driving around in their mini Jeeps down at Powerline Park in St Clairsville. They checked everyone coolers for glass bottles but helmets were not mandatory and they weren't looking for them.
The local motocross scene has dwindled down to crumbs compared to what it was and this cycle has happened before. One of my biggest complaints has always been that the shops that sell dirt bikes don't get involved nearly enough in promoting the local tracks or riding areas that generate the need to sell a bike. Couple that with the fact that our area does not compete well when it comes to selling bikes/ATVs at a competitive price. Bikes are ridiculous in price but why can I drive to another state and save enough to warrant the drive. I live 2 minutes from Bairs Polaris yet I had to drive to Steubenville (Extreme Honda/ Polaris) to save $1000 plus dollars on a machine.
I love to rant and its my right to do so.. The post topic, "Where is Pitracer Going?" It hasn't really gone anywhere or changed much.There's no need to. it worked fine for what it was intended for. The problem is that the sport it was designed around is currently in bad shape. There's not near as many people riding right now at the tracks that do exist. I myself have gone back to my roots and woods ride. Maybe if everyone would start chiming in about the places they are able to ride (non track) with some background on the type of riding, we could create a buzz and get people back on their bikes. Has to be more places to ride than Bear Creek and Crow Canyon (Membership Only anyway) and Hatfield trips are damn expensive but they sure are fun.
