Good thread by Grumpy McTrumpy asking people why they compete. Since I don't compete with anybody but myself, I didn't think it would be appropriate to respond to that thread. But it did get me thinking.

I have several reasons for not competing, even though I really admire those who do.

First, I don't like biking around anyone else's schedule. I go when I want, go where I want and come home when I want. All the training, group riding, racing, etc. required to effectively compete largely depends on meeting someone else's schedule much of the time.

Secondly, I prefer to compete with myself. I don't want to hold anyone else up, or be held up by others.

Third, I want to ride my bicycle, not get hurt riding my bicycle. Call me wussy, but I think it's safer to ride alone.

Looks like you ARE competing...........with Grumpy McTrumpy.

nah. I like the concept.

It's just not worth the cost of the race or the travel these days, nor is it as fun. I raced road, mt, and cross from 1988 to 2000 in the 4/5 and sport catagory. The entry fees and licenses were a lot cheaper back then and we had some great off road racing around here with the WIM and Wild Rockies series. Both series folded and down sized many years ago. This year I amost entered a local cross race but paying $30 to do a 30 minute race on a course that I can ride anytime I want didn't make sence to me.

I'm not above launching a parody thread, but this isn't one of them.

Anyway, I can't compete with Grumpy.....

I think your reasons pretty much sum up my feelings, too. I ride because I like to ride, and have personal goals that I'd like to achieve (whether they be related to improving my overall health or reaching certain cycling milestones). I don't mind riding with someone, but my personal enjoyment and goals don't involve riding against someone.

competing would greatly hinder my lifestyle; booze, broads, cigars, my wife and son... plus i'm terrifyingly slow. not to mention i like to ride solo...

I did 3 straight races last year where they hauled someone in my pack away by ambulance - usually because some idiot took an unnecessary risk. I also broke a few ribs in one of the crashes and was off the bike for a month. I decided I didn't need that anymore so I cut way back on races.

I love road cycling. I like the speed, I like the hard work, the exhaustion...all of it. Likewise, I am the type of person who would enjoy the intensity and danger of racing, but at this point in my life, it just doesn't fit in. With family and a career that I enjoy very much, I don't have a lot of spare time, and while I'm sure I could find the time, the training would almost completely replace the riding time that I currently enjoy, which presently includes a mixture of road biking, mountain biking, commuting, riding with the family, etc.. Racing (and sticking to a rigorous training regime) is a dimension of cycling that I would enjoy but it would eliminate my ability to experience other dimensions of cycling.

Because for me, the only difference between a race and a solo ride is the entry fee.

I'm too damn busy, a klutz, and afraid of turning into more of a jackass.
That being said I intend to race a bit next year.

Old. Fat. Slow.

Actually, I just have no interest whatever in competing. I walk and I have hiked a lot, but I have zero interest in Olymic walking races. I drive, but have zero interest in racing cars. I eat but I have no interest in eating contests. I've never quite understood where the idea that every cyclist ought to be racing comes from.

I enjoyed competing and still miss it but don't have the time for what it takes to be competitive.

Huh? Who's idea?

I just suck, but I am trying to get better so that I will be able to compete. My first race is on March 14th from what I have been able to plan out. I know I am going to get dropped like a deuce at a truck stop. Oh well

I can't afford the aftermath of a crash.

Because I can't commit the amount of time to cycling that I'd need to. Too many other things i also want to do: rock climbing, and now that I've moved to Denver, skiing. Too much to do any of them at any kind of a competitive level.

I really like a lot of the answers above! I agree with a lot of them. *Apparently my reading comprehension is broken today*. When I want a little push, I ride with faster friends. Yep, I also don't want to get hurt. I've already broken bones and hurt myself in other sports and I HATE rehab! And yeah, I like to ride when I want, not on someone's schedule. In all honesty when I see in the 2009 pic thread people posting shots of themselves racing or riding with a bunch of forty year olds all wearing the same kit, helmet, shoes, etc. I think, "Wow, I can't imagine something I'd rather do less..." Cycling is about fun, not training on a schedule, or with the same dudes every day.

As for me personally:
Well, from around the time I was eight until I was twenty-two I played competitive sports. I played lots of them, but there was one I played and practiced non-stop, with serious goals from a very early age. (I had older relatives and siblings that I was emulating). I enjoyed it for the most part. Then I played four years of Division I college sports, under a coach I absolutely didn't trust, respect, or admire. It was fun for a few seasons, but then I broke my leg, rehab was terrible, and it took me quite a long time to recover my speed and quickness. One entire season (my senior year) was hell. Underachieving team, coach was horrible. The only reason I didn't quit was because of pride and a commitment to the teammates I'd spent four years training and playing with. Between practice, games, weight training with strength coaches watching us, rehab, man-up practice, agility drills, cardio work...it was more or less work and dedication for four years, with a day off here or there, but not really. This was a follow-up to a lot of the same during high school.

I think for me it was the years of competing and the way it ended that turned me away from competing against others. For a few years after my college playing days I didn't do anything at all in terms of competing. In the past few years I've started playing in semi-serious leagues/games in a few different sports. I like the thrill of a game, but even in these I get frustrated with how willing old dudes are to lie and cheat, even though it is just a game for fun!

At this point in my life I'm not willing to elbow someone in the face or cleat their foot to score. A few years back, yes I was. I think my competition drive was maxed out, which is fine.

For me, cycling is about stretching my legs, letting my mind wander, and having fun. I continually get more serious and dedicated about it, but I make certain that it remains a source of leisurely pleasure. I like to see what I can do, and even what I can do in comparison to other people on group rides, but that is about it. Cycling is about fun for me, not beating others.

**I'm always interested in the background of people who DO compete. I wonder if they grew up playing others sports competitively? I wonder if they've been cycle racing since they were young? Or, did they find something that you can be pretty successful at without having a wonderful genetic make-up. (I know Larry down the block isn't going to win the TdF, but he was the biggest weakling nerd in high school and yet since he rides 60 miles a day, every day, he is still faster than everyone in town.) I've met some of both while riding - some dudes who probably were the high school quarterback and ride in sleeveless jerseys and want to tell everyone what to do and crush you with their biceps if you don't listen and then the skinny, nerdy neurosurgeon who didn't play anything growing up, but now is an adrenaline freak from his type of work (and the risks involved) so wants to show up on Saturday at 7am with Metallica pumping out of his Porsche and chew the legs off of everyone on the A ride.

Old, fat and slow? Check.

No time to train seriously? Check.

Afraid of crashing? Check.

Not really why I ride? Check.

Yeah, I think everyone else covered it.

In hindsight I should have raced when I was younger and kept getting asked to join races by the racers who I knew. I had the time back then, plus I was putting in a lot of hard miles so I probably would have done ok though I suspect my racer friends just wanted me to show up so they can crush my soul. I'd still be up for racing but finding the time is really hard because my weekends aren't free and having enough time to train the way I'd like to isn't easily available. I'm pretty humble so I expect I'd be pack fodder if I did, but I'd give it a go.

I have never really looked into racing, that, and I don't consider myself as ridiculously fast as those who do race. And... oh yeah, don't have life insurance at the moment...

I was a competitive runner for 20+ years. I've been through all the hard core training, dieting, obsessing over workouts. Been there done that...no longer interested in living that way. That being said I do still have competitive desires and I will feed that need in other ways.

riding a bike is a nice hobby spent in my own company. i don't want to surround myself with others.

I compete on my bike every day - climbing the steepest longest passes in the Pyrenees and Alps: sprinting like mad after getting a really solid lead-out: powering solo across thin roads through thick fields of wheat: all for the glory of the jersey. Why enter a race and ruin all of that with reality.

Genetics.