Credit: Robert LaBerge/Allsport
Every weekend, theres a race somewhere around New England. Whether its a stage race in Vermont, a mountain-bike race in New Hampshire or even a duathlon just outside of Boston, competitive cycling is alive and well.
At any one of these various races, a few riders win and then hundreds, if not thousands, of or others place somewhere below the top 10.
I am in that latter group.
Dont get me wrong Id like to win. Id like it very much. But I realize that I dont put 100 percent into training to win, and my, say, 70 percent effort is reflected in my midpack results. And thats OK.
Even without winning, Im in pretty good shape, and I enjoy being competitive. I like the races, I like the excitement at the start line, I like pushing myself past the point where Id like to head back to my van for a nap. The other racers finishing around me must feel the same way, but it seems like the rest of the world just doesnt get it.
It starts on Monday morning, usually at work, because the typical hello-what-did-you-do-this-weekend line of questioning dominates the first hour or so.
I had a race on Sunday, I reply. Im asked, Howd you do? before I even finish my sentence. Good, I came in 15th, or 25th or whatever, I say.
Invariably, the person who questioned me gets confused. They dont know how to deal with this. Is that good? Is that bad? Isnt second place really just the first loser? Because most mainstream sports only have two opponents, be they teams or individuals, many people cant comprehend competitive results that fall outside of this norm.
The next question that always comes out is, Out of how many? This is a reasonable question, as 25th out of 2,450 is pretty damn good, but 25th out of 25 isnt.
Of course the answer here varies, and it establishes your place in the results hierarchy: front, midpack or bottom. On a side note, I had a friend that always placed in the top five in his class, and he had medals and points and everything that went with the top-five finishes, but his class rarely had more than five people.
Anyway, because there are usually 30 or 40 racers in my class, I havent been able to claim I won. At this point in the conversation, excuses get queued up in my mind. I crashed, I got a bad start, my back was sore, I took a wrong turn, my bike wasnt working, I suck. Pick any or all of the above.
Id like to open a line of questioning to them. Something along the lines of, Yeah, even though I came in 26th out of 40, I still battled mud and roots and rocks and cramps and rode my bike at race effort for over two hours. What did you do? Go to the mall? Watch a few hours of TV?
But lately Ive just been saying what place I came in and leaving it at that. Im not trying to prove anything to anybody, and really, who cares if my chain slipped or whatever? This isnt the Olympics; this is local, amateur racing. Even though racing can get expensive, and unless you are out to win, it can seem illogical, it is supposed to be fun.
One of my friends is always asking me why I do it. Why would I drive 5 1/2 hours round trip to do a race that lasts two hours? Why would I spend $30 to register, plus pay for gas and food, when I can ride out my front door for free? Why deal with the idiots that take these races too seriously and are going to try to kill themselves for the difference between 24th and 25th?
As long as I can come away from a race and say that I had fun, then thats all I need. (I need to beat my friend Mike too, but thats another story.)
Ive noticed that other amateur athletes, while still asking about what place you came in, will also ask about the fun aspects of a race: What was the course like? What was the weather like? And they can better sympathize with the flat tires, broken chains, cramps, etc., that arise in a race.
Contrary to popular belief, racing doesnt have to always be about winning and losing. It can be about being competitive, setting personal goals, challenging yourself, and having fun.
But damn, it sure would be a lot of fun to win sometime.
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