I was riding with a VC guy named Greg a few weeks ago. Old guy with LOTS of race experience. We were talking about crits and racing in general then he lays that little gem on me. "You know, making it to the stating line is half the battle..." And it kind of sunk in...and has continued to.

Tomorrow is the last night of our local crit series. A gem of a night and I can't go. Too much stuff to do in my non-cycling life. And this weekend there is a race in Cold Springs - the last for quite a while around here. Again, I can't go because of other obligations.

Hmmm - I think Greg just might know what he's talking about....

Except in the case of the NY City Spring Series 6:30AM start races, where making to the starting line is 90% of the battle.

you'd know better than me. I don't have your creaky back old man...

i think that advice is spot on. thanks. (nice to know that it's not just hard for me)

It's not the sore back. It's the 3:30AM wake up bell, the 1+ hour drive to the venue, the 25ºF temps, the wind, the rain, and of course, getting that last bathroom business completed in time for the start of the race. Pre race jitters? Get the F outta here. By the time you get to the starting line after all that crap the race is the relaxing part.

Spring Series my ass. More like the Yukon Series.

I know - I'd have all of the same minus the creaky back, old man.

Hell, my season hasn't even really started yet. I've done two races. TWO. I woke up at 10:30 or so each day, I believe.

And I have 30+ more to go. The earliest starting time I know of is 12pm. Most are at 3, 4, 5 or even 6pm.

You know, this reminds me of my gym rat days. I'm warming up on the treadmill one day which looked down on the fee weight area. I see this guy - I'd seen him a dozen times before - working out. A dude in a wheel chair. Never gave him a second notice because he didn't want anyone to and worked d@mn hard at it too. Anyway, I was thinking to myself I didn't really want to be there. I was tired from a long day. I had a lot of stuff to do. Then I look down, and just happen to catch this dude flippin' himself outta his chair and onto the bench. Then grabbin' a pair of big f'ing dumbells and start doing presses. F'ing hell I say - if anyone has an excuse to not work out today its this guy. And he's totally kickin' my @ss.

It struck me then as it did when Greg said what he did - just showing up and putting forth the effort is a helluva thing sometimes.

Pcad has your gallon of whoopass right here ravenwuss. Come and get it.

ah hell - say when and where old man.

I have dipped into my bag of excuses early and often this year causing me to miss a road race I really wanted to do and every training race so far. Actually, most of the excuses have been pretty legitimate, but frustrating nonetheless. Glad I'm not alone, and I really hope to make it to a few this summer.

Hard to be scared of this guy:



You old softy.

A great and time-proven cliche. Right up there with "just get on the bike for 15 minutes" and "you can't win if you don't finish" in the wisdom of the sport.

I would only add, I can kick any Junior's ass with a 39x15.

Oops, wrong thread.

It's that killer dog you have to worry about.

you're a better man than me. D@mn those kids are fast these days...

Holy hell! I didn't know there was an end to the series!! I thought it would go all the way to the end of daylight saving time.

I missed the whole entire thing? Because of soccer coaching?

I agree with the OP though. Whenever someone credits me with training so hard, I always say that "The hardest part of any ride is swinging your leg over the saddle." I have to dodge and decline meetings, skip team lunch trips, etc. etc....

I hadn't heard the series was ending. Where did you hear that? It looks that way on the TXBRA calendar, but I figured that was just a computer thing.

I'm starting to think this too. Often, the organizers just do a couple months of them at a time. They missed some entries on the calendar last year, but still had the races those days. If there wasn't an announcement, then I think it's still on. (please)

I've been in Redmond on business, too busy to keep completely forumed-up

btw - in all seriousness most of you guys would kick my butt in a race (although I've thought it would be fun to race with/against a lot of you guys just for the h3ll of it). The reason is that you all have a ton of experience. I've developed a profound appreciation of that. I wish I could get there, but its not going to happen if I can't get my butt to the race.

Yeah, from what I've heard they're ending the series today. Also, they opened up the full track last week, so the circuit is a lot bigger now.

Hey raven, let's go to Bermuda and have a race to the bar for Tiki drinks.

^

bajan rum punch ftw.

Lol - you're on! That's a race I stand a chance of winning...

+1. We need to have a 1st annual BF TX roadrace where we watch RacerEx and Waterrockets ride off into the distance.

What crap are you going on about? Thats not a little gem that is one of the stupidest comments I've ever heard. Making it to the start line is half the battle? Whoever said that is a certified idiot who has never come close to be being at the top of any sport anywhere in the world.

Stop posting rubbish.

** Walks away shaking head muttering...'getting to the start line is half the battle...fark me I've heard it all now'...**

And once again seppomadness saves us all from pansydom.

Well played, sir.