Bike Year Part 3 - The Races

I was gonna start this by saying that racing is suffering. But that’s not really true. Suffering is living in poverty, having no home, coping with infirmity, loss and the like. Suffering is something that happens as the result of things you can’t control…well usually. Choosing to test yourself physically and push your limits is just that—a choice. It can hurt and stress you out, drain you physically and emotionally, make your nads hurt and cause you to vomit blood, but you could make it stop if you want. Not so with true suffering. Racing is only slightly more like suffering than the reality TV show Survivor is actual survivorship…or even reality for that matter.

That said, racing puts me in the ouch box. And with my move up into the Expert class in 2006, the hurt came faster and harder and lasted longer than I’ve ever experienced in competitive athletics. In the Sport class one can bluff their way through a bad race and still do OK. In Expert, there’s no place to hide. You mess up, or let your fitness wane (i.e. CCCX#4 & 7 below) or have a mechanical and it’s to the back with little hope of return. And while I feel I belong in the Expert class, I think the odds of me breaking through and making a podium are slim. I do see progress and get better every year, but it actually doesn’t matter. For me, racing is just a form of motivation.

The handful of official races I do each year, really don’t amount to much in and of themselves. I probably raced less than 200 miles the entire year, but the prospect of doing so is what got my ass in gear, out the door and on the bike. On those chilly mornings when a ride over the hill seemed a preposterous undertaking, it was usually the thought of a race that talked me back into it.

Then there are the unofficial races. If you count these, I probably raced much more than the stats would indicate. Trying to drop Scott on the Bonny Doon climb, or set a new mark on the Branciforte Loop, or catching the guy on the Gucci bike**, making him hurt then riding him off my wheel—these are the races that happen all the time. And these organic races are as much, if not more, motivational than the official ones.

So yeah, racing is a competitive thing and I can be a competitive person, but the real competition is to get my booty off the couch, away from the computer and out the door. THAT’S the race that matters and it’s one I’m winning.

To close, I’d like to pass some thanks. Though they derive no possible benefit from their association with me, there are none-the-less several companies—or more precisely several individuals at those companies—whom help support my racing in one way or another. Principle among these are Top Dog Illustration and Bell. Additional assistance from Easton, Blackburn, SRAM, Shimano, Avid, Fox Racing Shox, Maxxis, Fizik, Stan’s Notubes and, of course, Superdawg is also greatly appreciated.

** - For the record I myself ride some very Gucci bikes. But at least mine are dirty and disheveled from use. They are for go, not for show.

Racing by the numbers
Mountain Bike Racing, Central Coast Series
2/12 CCCX#1 Expert 35-44 - 8th Place
2/26 CCCX #2 Expert 35-44 - 7th Place
3/19 CCCX#3 Expert 35-44 - 9th Place
3/26 CCCX#4 Expert 35-44 - 16th Place
7/2 CCCX#7 DNF
2006 CCCX Overall Expert 35-44 Rank: 12th

Road Racing and Time Trials
2/4 CCCX Road Race 16th Cat 4/5
5/4 Swanton TT#2 - 7th Place 32:41
6/6 Swanton TT#4 - 5th Place 32:08
9/7 Swanton TT#6 - 6th Place 31:31

Bike Year 2006
Bike Year 2006 is a series of five posts about bicycling and me. 'Cause I'm a nerd like that. And it's all about me.
Part 1: The Numbers
Part 2: The Places
Part 3: The Races
Part 4: The Bikes - Next Post
Part 5: The People