bodaciousguy

I wanna turn pro and I'm not kidding.

NomadVW 

I'll race this year to have a reason to get better next year.

BKVR6

I sent this to some guys on my team after a couple weekend training rides getting our butts kicked by the 1/2's.

Why we do what we do.

Racing is fun

Hanging with the guy's before, during and after a race is fun

Coming up with a race plan and seeing it work even when you didn't think it would is fun

Being strong in a race so you can effect the outcome is fun

Making people hurt during a race even if you know you are only working to help a teammate is fun

Sacrificing yourself for the team may not be fun but you can feel good about yourself after the race

Doing things in 4/5 races that people usually only see in 1/2 and pro races is fun.

Working as a team is fun

Your buddy sharing his prize money to buy pizza even though he makes you buy the drinks is fun

Training is not fun. It is the one thing that makes all of the above possible. Getting your but kicked during training by 1's and 2's isn't fun. What it does do is make us stronger so when we race we can have fun and represent our sponsors with pride.

slvoid

I can spend a month at base camp too.

pedalhard

If you enjoy road biking and worry about training time then do not ruin it by going to the dark side and race unless you enjoy riding with your nose up another guy's butt for miles,spending lots of money on stuff to make you go faster and believe it means something,risk your safety and health again believing it's worth it all to prove what?your the alpha male.Ride for your self train when you can ,use your results as a guide not an obsession,have fun.

Scooby Snax

Piece of cake....

We have twins, I get more sleep at a 24 hour maintain bike race...



Now, back to the OP...

Why race? I dunno, just to see if you're doing it right?

You dont need a reason.

Snuffleupagus

Whoa there.

Thats kinda an angry post, what gives?

UmneyDurak

Looking at some of his other posts, he seems like an angry person in general. Not a good way to live.

GuitarWizard

Ehhhhh......I'm not talking about the tourist walk-up with people to carry your gear for you (Everest)....I mean some remote mountains in Canada (Mt. Logan) and Alaska (Mt. McKinley). When the summit is 25-50 miles from where you start....and you're on foot dragging 100-150 pounds of gear with ya.....it puts things in perspective.

Besides, an Everest climb usually takes at least 6 weeks. Sometimes you can waste quite a bit of time waiting on a weather window. On McKinley, it's not uncommon to get snowed in at 17,200 feet for a week while waiting to make a summit bid. Even if the weather appears to be clear when you leave 14k feet, if you don't have at least a weeks' worth of food and fuel, you're asking for trouble.

Jon Waterman wrote a pretty good book, "In the Shadow of Denali" - should check it out. He even goes into a little bit of his famous climb when him and 2 other guys climbed McKinley in winter, and faced windchill temps of -148 degrees F.

Here's the book that Art Davidson wrote regarding the winter climb:

https://www.amazon.com/Minus-148-Degr...e=UTF8&s=books

Climbing is good for riding....provided you don't injure/kill yourself . Mountaineers are some of the fittest people going.

DrPete 

You just described any group ride.
Uh, non-racers do that too, probably moreso than serious racers.
You risk your safety and health any time you get on your bike. Don't kid yourself. Yes, your chances of minor injury are probably higher when racing, but it's the SUV that didn't see you that'll take your life...

And the alpha male thing seems to happen more among the rec riders. At the end of the day, nobody judges your bike/clothing/anything else in a race--only the results and your riding ability. So in that respect, it's actually a much more "pure" version of cycling.

We all admire your anti-racing crusade, pedalhard. Please stop blaming us for your lack of motivation, courage, desire, or any combination thereof.

patentcad

Consider a higher paying profession. McDonald's is hiring.

yonderboy

He's just mad he dropped 5k on a bike and got spanked by some masters twice his age.

DrPete 

A solid guess... definitely bitter about something.

Snuffleupagus

Another 400 Watt victim I fear

DrPete 

Impossible for one's psyche to recover from that kind of thrashing...

merlinextraligh

.


Dude you can't have it both ways. Either you want to be competitive and measure yourself against others. Which means buying a license, registering and putting yourself and your ego on the line, or you don't.

If the answer is you don't. you don't ahve the privelege of yapping about how you sqaut more than others in the gym. Either your willing to compete and be measured or you're not.

patentcad

Pedalhard's anti-racing rant strikes me as too silly and bone headed to warrant a thoughtful response. He's entitled to his perceptions. And the best part is those are HIS ideas, not yours.

Don't worry about it boys. Bike racing is life and death to those who are talented at it and take it seriously - but at the end of the day it's an amateur sport that we do for FUN. It's difficult, challenging, and not everybody can do it. But it's still a recreational sport if you're not a pro (and even if you are it doesn't tend to pay very well). So take Pedalhard with a grain of salt - AND the sport of amateur bicycle racing.

I love riding and I do enjoy racing even though I'm not very good at it. But it's secondary to my love of cycling. And racing ENHANCES my cycling experience enormously. So do the friendships I have made through the sport. If it didn't do those things, I wouldn't do it. What would be the point?

merlinextraligh

^^^^^^

I'd completely agree with your take Patencad. What bugs me is Pedal Hard's inhernet contradiction. You can't denigrate competition, at the same time you proclaim yourself as superior.

Either you take the postion that you want to compete, or that you don't choose to compete. Either one is a valid choice; but you can't say "Competition is stupid, and by the way I'm stronger than you."

pedalhard

I really find it funny how pissed my posts make some people,not a thicked skined bunch are we!I have however found out why, your all AMERICANS dumbest people on the planet, living in the world of dreams,we are the best.

DrPete 

And we find it really funny how pissed our posts make you. Almost as funny as you saying that bike racing is somehow an American thing, when really it's infinitely more popular in Europe. Do all those French/Germans/Basque/Spanish/Belgians/Dutch etc. have "wantabe racer dreams" too? Far more Europeans work much harder at bike racing than any of us ever will... and let's not forget the Aussies.

I'll remember to tell the patients I'm operating on that I'm one of the dumbest people on the planet. I think I owe it to them.

So far, the only thing that you've conclusively proven in your posts is that you're too slow to race and don't like Americans. Did I miss anything?

DamianM

I'm not American, and I think you're an idiot too.

UmneyDurak

We are not pissed, we make fun of you. I guess ignorance is a bliss.

bodaciousguy

I thought pedalhard was serious until you guys pointed out the sarcasm.

Racing can be fun but I think it's more satisfying than anything else. To know that my body is at the limit brings peace to my mind for some reason.

2manybikes

Endorphin addiction.

stea1thviper

hm apparently pedalhard is from canada. i thought canadians were suppose to be nice, and i thought they were suppose to have good grammar...