Monday, April 28, 2008

I don't get it...

So despite a reasonable amount of experience in a few years and effectively no success to speak of in that time period, I clearly still don't get this whole road racing thing. There are a number of things that I just can't seem to get my head around:

1. The strongest and best trained rider has very little guarantee of winning. Maybe if you're Marky Mark you do, but I'm not, and neither are you.

2. You're at the liberty of the other 99 bozos in the race (completely accepting that I'm a bozo too). Past history tells me that the clowns are out to get me.

3. Everyone is just too freaking high strung. You so much as brush a guy's hand and it's like "Oh my God you touched me... hold your line asshole... I must swerve... ah a crash... OH THE HUMANITY!" Relax guys... ride rollers for a while, you'll learn how not to over-react. Better yet, have kids... you'll learn that overreacting makes things worse and just wastes your energy.

4. The amateur peloton is like the high school prom... look my bike is prettier than yours and I have the wheels you can't get. Kudos to the guy in Sunday's race who was riding a bike that was obviously not that new and not very shiny. And he was riding the crap out of that bad boy too.

5. The line between a good move and a bad move is so subtle and unpredictable. Maybe it's because I don't know enough or because everyone else doesn't either so we all just act like we know what we're doing.

6. There's too much thinking involved. I do this stuff to relax and not think. The simple fact that I've been thinking about yesterday's race enough that I bothered to write this proves that I'm not able to turn my brain off. Again, maybe it becomes easier/more relaxing when you know more and/or suck less.

7. My instinct is somewhere else. I'm more of a fastball throwing closer... I'm going to give you all I've got and you just try and beat me. Never was real good at strategy. I won most races in high school and college by just taking off and running away from everyone. Sit and kick... no thank you.

Anywho... ironic that Solo posted a comment about sucking others into the roadie scene. I think someone's going to have to try and keep me. Then again, it could just be the beer talking...

4 comments:

solobreak said...

There are never any guarantees. However, some races are more selective than others. Sturbridge over Palmer, for instance. Not sure about Sterling, but I think it's known for exactly the type of stuff you mention. You need to get out of the 4s. Then do the harder races where the wankers are gone early. At least some of them. Why do this? It's occasionally possible to operate as a team, which is rewarding. The other factor is the same catch that makes it suck - road racing is an equalizer. Everyone in a given category ends up being very close in ability, because if you aren't then you can't keep up. "Roadie fitness" does not come from riding alone out on the road, it comes from hanging on for dear life on the climbs in races. It elevates you to the minimum level needed for whatever category you're racing in. Then, hopefully, you take it to the next level. So, more than any other discipline, it's racing as training, which is why road riders do so many races and don't always focus as hard on getting results as athletes in other disciplines do.

You have to develop a knack for avoiding trouble. Sometimes it means doing some extra work or sacrificing a chance to place. The choice is yours... Eventually you get stronger, get placings in the challenging races (i.e. hill finishes, unless you're a crazy and talented sprinter), move up in category, get older, ride in a more predictable group, begin focusing on results instead of survival, etc. See how easy that was?

BTW, cx, tri, road, mtb, whatever, they've all become boutique sports. It's no different than golf and skiing. Any activity with equipment, marketers hype stuff and people buy it. Targeted internet marketing really does work, and we're seeing that as people drain their wallets for the latest and greatest gear, regardless of whether it helps them or not.

gewilli said...

rich - you are like the circus - your freak status just attracts the clowns :D

a team mate said last week or so (about upgrading out of the 4s) you need to learn to sprint.

go to all the super short crits, wait till the end and sprint.

if you can sprint you can upgrade...

once you are a 3... then well you can keep sprinting or start playing in the smooth long road race groups... or you can just get old and get dropped like some other tall freak around here...

trackrich said...

One problem is the adjustment to the results not telling you everything... you could finish 29th and do absolutely nothing and finish 29th and be the one animating the race. You're pack fill in either case, but it's two different races.

On top of it I don't have nearly the time right now to do the twice (or more) a weekend racing thing so I have to make the most of the ones I do. Targeting races when you do very few leaves less room for error.

I'll get there...

Colin R said...

or you could just race mountain bikes.