YogaKat

I put the thread in the general section, but here's the link:

https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cy...ts-please.html

Racer Ex 

You race who shows up, and if there are two of you, it's a race. My guess is the guy you beat would have liked it the other way around. Congrats!

shovelhd

What Ex said.

Enthalpic

You can find way better for not too much money. Anything with a step-through / low-step top tube is not designed for performance.

Doge

Is it better to find races where you likely will win, or find races where you likely will not?

beatlebee 

Cheers.

echappist

look at it this way, your professors are probably happy to hear that you are applying to grad school (as opposed to B-school). if it's a related field, and if you left at least a decent impression, i'm sure you'll be fine

Racer Ex 

We're pretty warped sometimes. We forget there's a huge swath of folks for who just making it up that mountain is a big deal.

I don't know how many TT's I've done where I've won my class and then started going "yeah, but where would I have finished in the pro field..."

valygrl

Please do not buy that and plan to race it. Just don't buy it at all. Save your money for a bike from this decade.

mike868y

yeah that's my thought. i think the prof who's lab i worked in as an undergrad was kind of disappointed I went into consulting so I think he'll be happy I've come back to "the good side"

Homebrew01

Depends on the purpose. 10 mile rides around the neighborhood ?? Sure
Racing ? Not so much.

Sounds like you're planning on getting "real" bike also ?

YogaKat

I'm still far away from actually racing.

Yes, this one just caught my eye as more of a cool old retro thing. More of a fun alternative to my cruiser in the meantime until I can afford a really nice one. I have a local triathlete friend that is helping me scope out some good deals over the next few months.

beatlebee 

Thanks again.

Duke of Kent

I suffer from the same comparison problems.

"Damn, that guy beat me by four minutes over 24 miles. That's a minute a lap! Damn."

And then, I make myself remember that the guy who beat me by 4 minutes has been racing U23 World Cups and is the 2014 collegiate D1 MTB omnium champ.

But, if you don't make those comparisons, and don't push yourself to decrease the gap or catch that guy in front of you, what's the point of even being out there? So, I still think about it, but I've accepted the fact that I won't be taking Nino Schurter to the line in any World Cup races next year. Other local pros? Yeah.

echappist

that's on him for not knowing about the realities facing someone with a B.S. degree. they all get disappointed without fully thinking through just how many can get into academia

himespau 

I don't know. Those of us only very tenuously in academia don't want the competition.

Hell, I think we've got too many undergrads and would be better off with more people going to trade schools than wasting mommy and daddy's money (or their student loan dollars) on something that's not a right fit for them. Of course, I don't want to bite the hand that feeds me by saying that out loud because if enrollment goes down so does my job. At least he's not one of the many delusional kids I see passing through my office/classroom with C averages telling me how they're going to get into med school.

One thing I tell anybody who asks, if you think you're going to want me to write you a letter, please do it when I still remember you. I have no problem sitting on letters for a year or two. It's a whole lot better than having to write a letter for people like the girl I wrote one for last summer where I had no idea who she was and it amounted to, "She was in my class, it's a hard class covering X, Y, Z aspects of molecular biology and is the first truly hard class majors run into, so averages are a bit lower than in other classes. She got a B- (or whatever, I have no idea)."

When I look at admissions for people who want to join my lab, I put a hell of a lot more weight in the opinion of supervisors who actually know you (regardless of whether or not they're in academia) than some professor from 8 years ago who wants to tell me about your grades. I have your transcripts for that. Someone you worked for is another matter. Showing initiative in a lab (and to join a lab), is important. But then again, I'm junior faculty at a minor university in the midwest (and most of my applicants are from asia/the middle east and more interested in a green card than my research) rather than a high profile east coast lab.

ridethecliche

Getting a PhD doesn't mean you have to go into academia though. Since mikey already has an 'in' for consulting, it should help him get in the door again if he should choose to after.

Also, med school is kicking my ass. We have a mid block exam on weds where we have 30 pages of anatomical diagrams that are fair game. I haven't cracked open the textbook yet. Whoops...

I like anatomy lab a lot more than I thought I would though tbh.


He worked in the lab though, so that'll be more of a thing. I did keep in touch with my professors a fair bit though. I should email some of them again. It's been a while and I genuinely miss learning from a few of them.

himespau 

Yeah, the lab is a big help.

I'm not saying no one should go to med school, obviously (and it's good you're there and I'm glad to help any former student who wants to try), but there are a lot of kids who are being told to keep on dreaming when they have no shot. Part of me wonders if it's all just a ploy to suck in more tuition dollars rather than thinking in the best interest of the student (my wife calls me the "dream crusher" and, while it's not a role I relish, sometimes it is important). Sure the 33% 6 year grad rate we had 10-15 years ago at my university wasn't good for all those kids with student loans who weren't getting degrees, but pumping them through with a degree they can't do anything with isn't useful either. Someone wants a reference for something other than grad/professional school, I'd love to help them. Right now I try pushing as many students as possible into thinking about how they can get into some sort of science communication/policy advising. There are so many people out there with so many misconceptions, that's where we need more educated people. The jobs for that sort of thing are few and far between unfortunately.

None of that has anything to do with mikey, but I guess I'm responding to the idea that we only want other people to join academia like us. I look at a number of the colleagues with whom I interact in other departments who only teach grad students in a discipline where they only thing they'll be able to do with their PhD is get a faculty job teaching grad students how to teach other people how to teach undergrads whatever their field is. We get so far divorced from reality, I start to wonder what's the point.

Again, not mikey who is going for a degree in something that he can do something with, make a little cash and probably help some people.

mike868y

yeah, for what it's worth i only graduated in 2014 so I'm not really that removed from these profs. one of the profs i'm asking is the PI in the lab i worked in and the other I had for two classes, both with <20 kids and generally had a really good relationship with. i'm also applying to masters programs, not phd right now. still want to get a doctorate eventually but some programs (hopkins) required a masters and a lot of them required at the very least some statistics background...of which i have none.

himespau 

Oh hell, 2 years? Yeah, that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

rideaz

Congrats!
A lot of people won't make the drive to Graham if they're not in great climbing shape. You only get the die hards at that race! So wear it with pride! :-)

beatlebee 

Thanks!

hack

Oldest LBS in town got bought by the semi-big NorCal chain MikesBikes. Somewhat sad, but somewhat good. The shop is about a half mile from me and it was somewhat inconsistent in the past (mechanics and selection), hopefully that will change for the better

Not sure what that means for the local crit that the old shop team hosted twice a year. Could either be picked up by the new shop, the old team (recently affiliated with a different shop out of town) or another LBS in town. Either way .., hopefully it still stays on since it's less than a mile from home.

caloso

Folsom Crit Presented By Data Driven Athlete.

hack

Sounds rough and then I'd have nothing to gripe about if it went awry. I still think there is a dream of putting an event on in old Fair Oaks one day p/b DDA. There would be an element of chicken dodging to the crit scene, too.

My guess is the old BP guys will host it with Kinetic, but I'll poke around to see if there is an opportunity to kick in. I'd hate to see it fall apart because it is literally a crit I can coast to and it's now the only game in town with Cyclebration dead in the water.