If you're shelled why bother finishing?

That is the philosophy of the large majority of bike racers, myself included. That's why I like TT's, nobody gets shelled. There IS a reason to finish. There might also be a reason to finish in a RR if I'm in one of the chase groups out of contention for the top spots, just to see where I stack up in a race that gets shattered. In a crit, if you get dropped you should get off the course lest you become an obstacle to other riders on the circuit. In a circuit race with lots of races (like NY's Central Park) ditto.

The closest thing to the Kum Bay Ya of a 5K run or a triathlon the USCF offers is an individual TT, and that's one reason I enjoy them so much. I have finished 15/20 and 27/39 in my two outings vs. other 45+ riders, but that was fine. Even if I was 99/99, I'd still get my time, still know what my average speed was, and still be able to measure my performance against every other rider in a 200+ person event via my stopwatch results. That's very cool.

Part of learning to bicycle race is getting enough fitness together so that you do NOT get shelled or dropped by the peloton. I got to that point fairly quickly in my first stint at racing (1993-1999). I think I raced 150-180 times over those 7 seasons (many weeks I'd race twice) and probably only got shelled 10x during that time frame. Once you get dropped I'm not sure I get the finish 20 mins. behind the peloton concept, but if the officials don't pull you, you payed your fee, that's kind of what you're there for, so why not, as long as you're not encumbering the race in progress?

Again it doesn't matter what I think or anybody else thinks, it matters what YOU think. Keep racing, keep showing up, and two things will happen: you will figure it out, and you will get faster. One thing we can all agree on: people that quit racing don't get faster.

Racing rocks on many levels. The camraderie/personal challenge/focus for your riding/training adds so much more value to cycling, and that's why I'm doing it again @ age 50. That's why guys I ride with who are 60+ still do it. You don't have to be as fast as Dr. W. to benefit and enjoy racing. I'm living proof of that.

Und of course, better Dead than Fred mein schatz.