When I was riding a lot 2-3 years ago there were a lot of 40 and 50 somethings in the local hammerfests; some overly vocal and created a very clear and distinct caste system. If you did something remotely questionable and they didn't recognize you there would be some yelling and cussing. Those guys were just fast enough to keep up and compensated their ego's by being a sheriff type controlling the group. While I'm fine with correcting egregiously wrong behavior, some took it overboard and it seemed like they were looking for reasons to yell at people. I remember one time a guy sprinting after a truck who passed too close (but not really) saying he was going to kick his ass and expecting the rest of Raincross to back him up. Another time a guy got threatened at for bad cornering but it wasn't that bad and it was obvious he was targeted because he was a shorter, quieter rider. It was a clown fiesta to the max.
Fast forward to today. The last two years our youth program has blown up, and now the scene is more teens and 20 somethings, and much of that old guard has disappeared. After riding with an old friend, he confirmed those young guns (some of which are killing it in SCNCA) have upped the pace enough that many of the louder older guys have hung it up. We still got some fast older guys, but the ego's all seem to be gone.