Radelaides senior skaters are stepping it up a notch. Groms beware!

This was posted on our Adelaide thread yesterday after Mikey Rivers had a horrendous crash. After what happened in Sydney on the weekend to with Matty Ado has asked that I post this on here in the hope that senior skaters all over will think about it and maybe put a similar plan into action. Mikey is still in hospital with a broken shoulder, arm, ribs, vertebrate and a punctured lung. He is lucky to be breathing and he is lucky to be walking (or he will be anyway).

''Ok. Mikey had a really bad crash today on hayward. He ended up in the guard rail shoulder first at 60 or so. He likely has a broken arm, ribs and something wrong with his hips/pelvis. Thank someone that his back seems to be ok. It was probably the worst crash I have seen and I have seen many.

Mikey is an experienced racer/rider from England. He has ridden and competed all over the world and is a very capable skater. Still though, this shows that one mistake can really have a huge impact and everyone is capable of making them no matter the experience they have. Luckily for us we had phones to call ambulances, we had friends around, we have first aid knowledge and we had the common sense to call the Ambulance instantly. If this was two kids walking up the hill with no car, possibly no phone, no water, no medical supplies things could end a lot worse.

Leigh, Bow and myself are now stepping things up a notch. My stomach turns just thinking about what could happen to young, inexperienced riders on certain roads in Adelaide. I think many or most of you take this sport much to lightly. If you bugger up a turn and hit a car, post, cliff edge, pile of rocks or anything else you can and most likely be seriously injured. People have died riding downhill and unfortunately, more will in the future. I would be absolutely sick if anything like this happened to anyone in our community.

We now have a list of roads.

1.Hayward

2.Corkscrew

3.Mt Osmond

4.Norton summit rd (not the pins, they are fine)

5.Pole rd

6.Greenhill

These are roads that we know you grommets have been skating. We have people telling us who skates roads they shouldn't and every video you post up we watch. We will recognise these roads and from now on we will pull you up on them. Anyone caught riding these roads in the future or if we hear of anybody riding these roads in the future, will be banned from future South Australian events such as races or freerides. You will never ride with any of us, we will never invite you to sessions with internationals or interstaters, we will never reccomend you for interstate races that require our approval (such as BTS) and we will encourage others not to ride with you.

Skating down a hill is one thing. Most people can do it. Skating in your lane is a step above. Skating safely when something unexpected happens is something you will only learn over time. Cars in your lane, trying to pass you or tailgating you. Animals jumping onto the road. Someone crashing in front of you. These are all things that very few of you have the skill or knowledge to deal with.

If you think this is unfair, tough. Laws prohibit kids and teens from smoking, drinking, driving, film and television content and a lot of other things. Your parents prohibit you from certain places, activities and other things. This is the way the world works. Kids and teenagers have an opinion that they are invincible. You are not. I believe that the 3 of us are obliged to look out for your safety. As far as the law is concerned, we put ourselves at risk for under age kids every week. 

The RAG's were all selected (have to talk to intense squad who we overlooked with the list) as groms we skate the listed roads with regularly and believe are up to a safe standard. If you wish to skate these roads with us I would suggest hooking up a session with a few guys from RAG's and they will let us know of people who are skating at a high level. It will then be up to us to invite you to a session and see how you go. You will not get to a weekend session with us by sending us facebook messages.

It is shitty that it has come to this but we have a lot of things riding on the line currently. The Willunga boys are still in the midst of their court case and it is predicted to carry on until June. Daily Grind and myself are finalising our council proposals for regular road closures in Adelaide and Duff is currently working on having a particular road closed also. Not only is seeing a friend crumpled up in a guard rail screaming at the top of his lungs with unthinkable pain one of the worst experiences ever but it put's many other things and risk.

Skate safe, skate within your limits, wear your helmet, do the clip up and watch out for one another.''