The Mental Argument
What is it about racing bikes that makes us become so obsessed with the sport? Racers will jump from being a Cat 4 grinder one year, to putting in 20 hour training weeks, while they consult with a coaching staff, a nutritionist, and get a nice deep tissue massage.
Maybe it’s because cycling doesn’t have the established system in place to crush hopes and dreams like other American sports like football and baseball have. Newbies don’t have to face a pasty half-drunk coach reminding them of their mediocrity (and telling them nasty things like they can’t go left, or hit a curve ball, or scream like a girl when they have to block linemen – but I’m getting sidetracked), and therefore dare to dream and hold hope that they will get a call from T-Mobile or Discovery in desperate need of a 35 year old all-rounder.
So, are you sitting by the phone as you recover from your 6 hour training ride?
just step up and enter a nrc race or any race with a prize list of $5000 or more., you find out really quick how slow you are when they ring the bell for a $1000 preem.
i rode the trainer for 35 minutes this morning – my 6 hour training rides are a ghost of ironman past.
funny you bring it up…i ride because my hopes of supermodel stardum were dashed by the illusive left turn.
Discovery call nothing, I’ll settle for winning a club race
Is that you Toni? Where is Toni?
I’ve actually wondered this very thing. I think it is partially because of field sizes. Most of us have a strong competitive desire, but there are few other outlets where we at least think a decent number of people care. For example, if you win an intramural basketball game, at most 10 people care. If you win the Bear Mountain 4 race, you figure that probably at least 100 people care to some (possibly very small) extent.
Also, I think a lot of us get off on the fact that most people would never race bikes so it makes us feel badass.
It’s like running, it does not require much skill to start or get decent. If you train right, eat right and rest properly, combine that with some natural talent – and bang, you are a decent amateur racer.
Pick a sport like basketball, soccer, swimming, tennis, you need to have the physical strength, but these sports require skills that takes many many years to develop. Chances are you will never be a good amateur soccer player if you decide to pick up the sport ar age 25. Bike racing, at our level, you can disgusie a lot of that lack of skills or techniques, when blended in the pack(sans occasional triathletes who crushes in park races). The difference between bike and running is may be bikers are more obsessive types and toy geeks ?
Lack of tangibles helps as well. Sit in the back of a Pro (yeah right) 1,2,3 race in PP and finish with the pack and you get to thinking and deluding yourself "Hey, maybe, just maybe I could hang with the big boys" etc.etc. With track (running) you’ve got tangibles, you might be a local hero with a 15 min 5k and win a few local races but you know straight away that puts you somewhere around 1.5 to 2 laps behind the top international level.
Nothing wrong with dreaming though……
Cycling is a rare sport, where adults can race with their peers at their own strength/ability level. We’re able to immerse ourselves as participants while, it seems, other sports only have pick-up games.
Two words……Rubbin’s Racing.
this seems to be a sport that attracts loners and social misfits (not meant to be pejorative, btw) who find serenity in solitude and glory in motion. And I think the motion is emotionally more "away from" rather than "toward." We neveer "get there" in other words. This explains the "excessive" hours spent.
In spite of our exaggerated conceptions of ourselves, as a species we’re very nearly the slowest and clumsiest warm-blooded creatures on the planet. The bike is a synergy between human and machine. It represents a uniquely heightened potentiality that allows a slow and clumsy primate to move (at times) as quickly and gracefully as a cheetah, while still using his own power. This, I think, explains the "obsession" with the sport and its equipment.
Finally, we spend hours upon hours in relative solitude enjoying (or suffering through) this condition of heightened potentiality, which begins to induce a megalomania that can become an entrenched character flaw, whereby the rider experiences abnormal cravings for recognition and admiration (mostly from his peers, since no one else cares). This explains the neurotic dreams, fantasies, and hopes of kit-wearing middle-aged amateurs that make them appear so ridiculous to the outside world (and unwelcome in Central Park).
Disclaimer (before you begin the hating): these are not moral judgments. It’s all much nobler and healthier than virtual reality. ;–)
George
"Mr. By and Large" sounds suspiciously like the mysterious Coach L. Not that I pay attention to this website in the off-season.
I wonder if in countries where cycling is more mainstream. like Belgium, there are coaches right now telling kids, "You’re no Merckx – try curling."
No hate George, I understand.
But going back to Justin’s point. I agree with him. I also think that cycling in the US in unique in that it has such well organized racing for lower categories. I think that racing should have 4 categories: Men, Women, Juniors and 40+.
Impressed by the thoughtfulness of the previous replies.
For sure racing bikes has novelty value – as someone noted 90% of people would never consider racing so right there you get to feel superior to other people. Real issue is that racing, because it is somehow related to improving one’s health is beyond reproach. It is in fact the ultimate way to tune out and avoid the rest of your life – without the stigma of drug or alcohol addiction – It achieves the same end result. Your social life becomes more and more made up of cyclists (like and Alcoholics spending time with AA friends or drug users hanging with people in recovery) you don’t leave time for much else – but "hey its good for you" – You can be 40 and have the fitness of a 30 year old while your peers get fat and out of shape. Agian feels good to feel superior!
I applaud the people who race successfuly with kids- they shoot this whole theory in the foot…. but we know they are the exception…rather than the rule…
huh?
I identified myself specifically so as not to implicate the innocent in my criminal musings. I find it scary that anyone else would think even remotely like me, and -still- call himself Coach L!
—George G.
I just love riding and messing with bikes. No real preference for me whether road, mountain, fixie, and in the old days bmx. Racing and training is fun and some additional motivation to get out and ride on the crappy days. I discovered that for me at this stage, too much racing ruins the passion I have for the bike, it becomes a burden.
Sorry George. I didn’t know if you were "George" or "George". This site is full of wacky posters with aliases and such. But tell us the truth, do you also post as Coach L? Kidding.
I could very have Coach L’s business card in the back pocket of my CRCA jersey, which has elicited more than one offer of "professional" help. Not the kind I need, as you have probably already inferred from my other posts. . . ;–)
then you’re not doing it very seriously.
I’ve been seriously into volleyball, and to do it right you should practice, read, sleep and think volleyball. Like cycling. I think this is true of most sports. If you just want to have fun, then you can dabble mentally. Nothing wrong with that.
But if you want to truly explore your potential, then you should be thinking about it a *lot.*
who came back from Belgium, where he was told, "You’re no Merckx, go back to Brooklyn!"
(and no, it wasn’t Brooklyn Pro. . . man, at least I hope it wasn’t)
—George
You guys all think you’re so fast and tough because you can ride around in a PACK doing 15 minute laps in the park, in a race…. BIG DEAL! I’m training for an Ironman and I regularly do FOUR laps that fast on my own, without drafting anybody…. and I blow by groups of so-called ‘real’ bike racers whose idea of training seems to be rolling around at 15 mph wearing their ‘cool’ team uniforms…. I have some news for you – most of you would get blown out of the water if you ever attempted an IRONMAN…. Go ahead, sign up if you want to see what REAL endurance athletes look like…. but you probably want to stick to your little hour-long social rides so you can pretend bike racing is so hardcore….
I’m personally finding it very hard to just dabble in this sport. It seems to me that you have to boarder on obsession just to keep from getting spit out the back door at Floyd. That brings up an interesting point: In a long hiatus from bike racing I was able to dabble pretty successfully at golf, tennis, and beer-league hockey, but I immediately got dropped my first three attempts to race again. This sport summarily rejects dabblers in my opinion, which is why there are so few of us. . . But it’s all relative, I guess. . . I’m sure John Loehner thinks he’s just dabbling, too. Anyway, a very interesting thread, indeed. . . NYVelocity at its best.
George
Tri guys are spendthrift weenies.
can I assume that we must at least be more interesting and amusing than your mates on the message board at triguy.com?
—G.G.
ps: schmalz, is this just you disguised in short, short knickers by any chance?
"I’ve been seriously into volleyball, and to do it right you should practice, read, sleep and think volleyball."
But would this make for any semblance of a successful life?
If I were to wear short, short knickers, I would announce it to the whole world!
To Triguy – Thanks for subsidizing the cycling world. Now go back to slowtwitch. Nothing wrong with triathalons but you’re comparing apples and oranges while you wear out your zipp disc and carbon aerobars on park potholes with your blazing speed.
The reason why bike racing is so much more difficult and hardcore than Triathlons is exactly what you state: you go at your own pace… NOT at the pace of whoever feels strongest at any one point in a race. You must maintain contact with the peleton at all times or else you are out. In Triathlon you you are doing whatever amount of work you feel like unless your oneof the 20 guys/gals who are competing for the win (you’re not) so your "just doing it to finish" In a bike race if Johnny flyweight climber decides to go 2o mph up the 1 miles climb you must do that too. When Gorilla gear mash man wants to go 32 mph on the flats – you must go with him too. In tri, you just go at the same boring-ass pace you do in training… So you see, bike racing is <Macho sport. Thanks for stirring things up though – I thought this thread would go 12 comments before the hate came back…
there are plenty of us with kids, relationships etc…although these things do cut down on the level of obsessiveness. And podium finishes.
having said that tell a non racer that you rode to rockland county (from brooklyn) and back before lunchtime on a leisurely training ride and you will get some pretty incredulous stares.
By "successfully", do you mean you were able to go to tournaments, with a bunch of people competing for cash prizes, and advance beyond, say, the first round?
Playing a couple rounds of golf with some buddies is like going for a ride with a couple guys — yeah you might make it to the top of the hill once or twice or beat your friends on some holes, but unless it’s an organized event competing for prizes, it’s not comparable to an organized race.
Sports in general — sports that you do to win over other people who are also trying and preparing to win — are hard. I don’t think bike racing has a monopoly on that.
This seems like an opportune time to revisit the mankini. Tell us, Mr. Triguy, how you actually get yourself to put one on? It’s hypnosis, right? Some of my friends say it’s a product of a person having been ignored by their mother during ages 2-5, but I stick by the hypnosis theory. So which is it?
Let’s put the typical ironman competitor in a classic, four corner criterium and let’s see what happens.
Oh yeah, Ironman Hawaii requires qualification, so let’s up the ante to a p-1-2 crit and see what happens. I think Tri guy would be lapped and pulled within 15 minutes. No shame in that — it’s not his sport.
Triathlons are not mine.
To CML – I’m not the one buying a Powertap so I can compare my watts with my cool Cat 4 friends on my cool team…. Ooh, you’re a Cat 4 – BIG DEAL! Wow you finished 10 entry-level races and only crashed 6 times – how much equipment have you destroyed getting landed on by other fat ass Cat 4s, CML? …. Ooh you can do 20 mile races in a PACK…. what a tough, MACHO sport.
TRI GUY,
Are you sporting a tank top and a mankini while you talk (type) trash? Just so I can get a mental picture…
Not sure why I’m responding to you but … I must confess to having been a triathlete a number of years ago and I have to say that what I’ve gone through so far in this sport, where I’m racing with pro/1/2 women at times, is far harder than what I went through competing in triathlon (sadly I blew my knee out while training for Ironman but I had the fitness for it nonetheless.) No disrespect to anyone who trains hard (including triathletes), but these days, when everyone and their grandmother are entering triathlon, it’s so easy to just build up some aerobic endurance and then get lost in this huge mass of starters and see if you can finish or improve on your numbers. No one even notices you really because of the sheer number of people often competing. I’ve done bike races where only 12 women show up and look there, it’s Laura Van Gilder in my race. I’m riding so hard I feel like my head’s going to blow off and it’s not for any glory as I’ve been dropped and possibly lapped by Ms. Van Gilder at this point. I’m ready to puke my guts out only to be that sad guy who sympathetic spectators can urge to say "it’s okay! don’t stop! you can do it!" I’ve never had to tell my ego to go wait on the sidelines nor suffered as much as I have in this sport. Not too many of us just tinker around for an hour with our mates in the park when we refer to our racing (a lot of these guys are at Green Mountain and other very challenging races), and even if we do, so what? Not everyone can or wants to be elite or pro. Just ask the thousands upon thousands of triathletes happy just to run a 10 minute mile. Lise
Cycling is by far the most convenient and interesting sport to do in NYC – you can roll out of your apartment and be in a pretty and relatively natural setting in less than an hour. If I lived in Aspen I would be probably be skiing every weekend, if I lived in Malibu I would probably be surfing. No delusions of grandeur, aspirations of a pro contract, or misanthropic behaviour, I for one am just looking for a fun way to blow off some steam outside of my real life.
Triathlons are for bragging to your friends and wearing speedos. You sound like a cage match fighter – I’ll see you in the octagon!!!
Well put.(Tri-guy: Ok I’l take the hate bait)
Having the mental toughness to withstand the stresses put upon by – "Johnny Flyweight and Gorilla gear masher" when the pressure is applied is leaps and bounds more difficult to deal with than doing a Tri-event. I’d say if you dumped a Tri-dude "mankini and all" into a bike race, if the fitness was there, they’d still have to overcome the mental stress loads of actually being competitive. Horner said it best in that DVD Pro – "Some guys that you close the door on in a race will remain behind the door and even though it aint locked they dont bother trying to open it again and with some racers ya have to have that door locked or else they’ll keep tryin to open it up again and again."
nuff said
Triguy you ignorant slut. You confuse macho and masochistic with the same ease with which you slide into your mankini and suck in your gut while admiring yourself in the mirror.
Looks like I hurt some people’s feelings…. they can’t compete in a real sport so they make cracks about ‘mankinis’…. WHATEVER – I’d like to see you try to keep up with Simon Lessing on the bike…. He would blow by you in his speedo, dude…. ‘Mental stress loads’? You guys make me laugh.
…no, I pretty much sucked at all three, but I was still able to participate. No one left me behind on the links, walked off the court, or sent me to the lockerroom due to my suckiness, whereas in cycling if you suck, you’ll get dropped the first climb up Tiorati Brook Road, in which case you’re no longer participating. I do agree that excellence in any sport does require what most would call obsession. . . I guess what I’m saying is that just to qualify as pack filler in this sport requires a certain degree of obsession (excluding certain sad-sack races, of course). Or to put it another way: the cost of admission to mediocrity in cycling seems to be higher than the cost of admission to mediocrity in hockey, etc., etc.
—G.
Hey Tri Guy – You have such an insatiable need to brag about your tric-omplishments you come on to a roadie website to do it. I would be shocked if you were even a mediocre triathlete. Most of the good triathletes I know train on the bike with roadies because that’s how they get faster for the bike leg. They certainly don’t brag about 15 minute park laps.
Tri TTs are not as fast as roadie TTs. Roadies would destroy Tri geeks in a TT.
Simon Lessing would probably lose huge gapping chunks of time on a long high percentage grade climb though. Or if its like 40 degrees outside and it starts to sprinkle a little. Lets see how far to the front he rides – if he can get to the front. Or perhaps he’s bombing down a descent @ 50+ with some 30-40 other dudes – Is he takin the right line to not wind up in the hospital or perhaps pushin up daisies? ….mental toughness is huge in bike racing – but you wouldnt know that!
Who the hell is Simon Lessing? Some tri geek? Who cares. Tour de France is 10 times bigger than the Ironman. And when you see the Ironman on TV, 99% of what you see is a bunch of fat people waddling through the run and flopping around the swim, and pedaling squares at 15 miles and hour on the bike. They suck.
It does suck to fly all they from bumfuck to do Tri-event and get a flat on the bike section! It happened to this German dude that won Hawaii the previous yr. He was in the hunt to repeat and boom flat tire – buh bye – back to germany for another 6 mo.of training for one event. Tri-events seem to have piss poor athlete support structure for the bike leg. What joke!
Is the worst post ever. You are saying that tri’s are easier becuase they don’t have good bike support? Or are you supporting TRI GUY. I am more confused than ever now.
I bet TRI GUY does 1 or 2 races a year. SO hard. I raced 40 times last year. And sometimes I was training through the race. Now that is Hardcore!
JFK:
"And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?"
"We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too. "
Nope sorry… that was the worst post ever.
For those who think South Park is wholly original, Lee3 actually invented the Chewbacca defense
Lee3 – please – more thought – less writing – please.
Maybe the tag should read "and another thing" instead of "then again"
I’m saying the sport sucks because they dont have good support for the bike leg of the event.
Data run for office and then shoot yourself!
Lee3 – please – less writing – please – more thought – please.
maybe I should respond to posts with JFK speeches to get a point across?
Do you guys mind if I just sit here and watch?
if you ever meet a tri guy who has done Kona, ask him or her if they actually qualifyed or got in on the lottery. the tri world is loser central, even more mental disorders than road cycling , i have met people who have left good jobs to go to master tri worlds, Companies like Zipp Kestrel and SRM wouild not exist with out these retail paying disposable income infused, bipolar, speed buyers
or something thought-provoking or informative or amusing to share, then don’t write anything. There is no need to use the computer to express random thoughts in one’s head. Just let them float around inside for awhile.
humm, you could say the same about the road scene in NYC. Where else in the world can you find lower level club racers with Lightweight wheels and SRMs?
Ooo, did you just flame kwk?
Apparantly I’m quite popular with you all – thanks for the props. Speaking purely from the physiology perspective, cycling is just more interesting. There are 3 energy systems in the body – aerobic, anaerobic, and a "hybrid" which is what gets emphasized in the 400 and 800 meter runs on the track. When I write training, I think of them like instruments in a band and have to put notes around a baseline and have to get kind of creative with it. It lends itself to an entrepreneur and I think most cyclists have a little bit of that in them. That describes the "loner" draw that one of the earlier posters talked about. Then add the tactics and strategy of racing, plus the visualization work and you’re really composing a whole symphony. I don’t mean to sound cheesy about it, but its not hard to cyclists can get so passionate. Its really unique in that regard.
Ooo, did you just flame kwk?
I’m sure of that now. You hit-count mongers!
So don’t take his flames too seriously.
kill yourselves
It’s not like hockey players or soccer players have any need to combine endurance and speed. We sure don’t see close sprints at the end of 50K ski races either — no need for speed there. Cycling is unique!
No way Tri Guy is the site. Most Tri People think that way. He just hit a nerve. I think it is fun.
This site is still free.
Cycling gives us a sense of self-determintaion and personal achievement no matter what amateur level you compete at. There is no better feeling than finishing a 6 hour training ride.
True. 6 is a lot, I unless you count the coffee stop
tri bikes are the riced-out honda civics of the bike world.
lets see how much crap tri-guy is talking after a few sprinting sessions
I think JT already talked about that. Tri guy would get dropped in sprints, but that is a different sport than what he does. Lance got his ass kicked in the NYCM but that doesn’t mean the TDF is easy.
Heck, I almost never do 6 hour rides at all.
What’s the point? Unless you’re racing 100mile road races, or at least long cat1-2 races, 6 is probably counterproductive.
It might be fun and it might be satisfying, but for 90% of the races in NYC, two 3 hour riders at higher speed would be better than slogging out 6.
frank mauro, i think you are the only one who gets it.
flame on people,
Let’s bring us down to OUR amateur level…forget the Tour or Kona Ironman…I quit Triathlons b/c it seems like everyone was doing it…and everyone talked about their bikes and trips…and everyone got their T-shirts, free food at all races. Everyone was happy…Bunch up upper middle class folks who want to be a part of some sort of luke-warm-weekend event…Bike racing, you get nothing if you do not finsih in the top 3.There are no T-shirts or freebies like you get in Triathlons. There is no smile b/c you participated in the race. No friend will pat on your shoulder and say "hey good job! I am so proud of you" after finishing in 20th out of 100 racers. In triathlon, that would be a huge accomplishment.
I know there are many serious Tri folks out there – and good for them, keep training and keep racing. And yes, bunch of us Cat3/4 love to talk about the power tap data and the bikes we dream about(we are dorks) .But Tri-guy, please don’t compare us with your fellow amateur triathletes.
Brilliant discussion. I am so obsessed with this sport that I even irritate myself. I’ve become the most shallow individual walking the earth and all my conversations lead back to cycling somehow. I only read running and cycling magazines and I read them over and over. I’ve spent so much money on cycling that $500 for a bar and stem sounds reasonable to me. Something wrong with this picture. After my first CRCA B win (and I know it was a weak field per Toni) I was floating on a cloud for the next week at least and all I could do was think and talk about cycling and I know that I still suck badly but for that one race it sure felt good. I think this is why we get so obsessed. You get some results and even though it means nothing to anybody but yourself, it still feels good. And of course, bikes are beautiful!! Tri guy, you don’t play nice.
Who’s down for a special showdown in the park?
trigeeks versus road dweebs. points race?
oh, and no aero bars.
kwk is cool. He has balls to post with his real initials
Who’s down for a special showdown in the park?
trigeeks versus road dweebs. points race?
oh, and no aero bars.
Okay, then how about we do a swim / bike / run battle afterwards. You roadies couldn’t chew gum and run at the same time. And in the water, you would sink.
I like the medals I win. And people I work with think 3 sports at once are harder than just road riding.
alot of crca cyclists were former tri’s. I, personally find cycling to be more exciting and challenging.
If you won a race, you don’t suck badly. You are good. Congrats.
randomtri guy, last time i checked, the mankini wearing tri guy came HERE to harp on road cycling and how inferior it is to tri’s.
what it comes down to is this: road cyclists are better cyclists than triathletes. triathletes are better triathletes than road cyclists. one would whoop the other in their respective disciplines.
in a better comparison, i’d like to see a tri-geek face up against a professional marathon runner, and i’d like to see a tri-geek fo up against a pro swimmer. the same thing would happen.
You have to admit it. Coach L has a good point.
tri people are not good at any one thing. Even the pros are not close to the top in each sport they do. Putting three real sports together does not make a real sport.
jack of all trades, master of none
You act as if cycling AND running AND swimming is some grand feat of agility. Almost as hard as having 1 thumb in your butt and the other one in your nose at the same time. It just isn’t that hard.
good flame
Answer: It would just be a site that sold aero wheels and aero bars.
Whats up with the tri guys that believe they are more aero with their water bottles behind the saddle? Idiotic.
… and mankinis
Is there a Tri-site where cyclist can go trash?
tri-guys — we, here at this silly cycling site, wanna just focus on how hard we work at this sport and wonder the question "why"’…so why don’t you go brag about how well you can multi-task somewhere else? Why are you looking at this site anyway? Is it b/c you are secretly jealous? or there are no tri-site like this b/c face it, you guys are not just into it…you are happy with your medals and T-shirts…
if you are a mental health worker specializing in treating dellusional disorders, please go to the next tri athalon in your area.
you will double your practice and help many people in need
ironman started with a fairly colorful group of guys back in like the 70s who wanted to see if they could pull it off. They raced beater bikes and ran in chucks or some inappropriate footwear and used beer as a recovery drink. I don’t think all the bikini waxing, body oiling and halter tops were what they had in mind.
Ben H – – do you ski and surf, or are you just saying that you would if you happened to live in Aspen or Malibu? We need to know.
Re: Random tri person
"people I work with think 3 sports at once are harder than just road riding"
That’s just it! Most NYC tri people that I’ve ever come across compete in short "sprint" tri’s and join "Team In Training" or somesuch. All that gear for a 12 mile ride? They race maybe once a year and make a massive deal about it at the office for months on end. These are the same people who call the NYC Bike Tour a "race" and chat loudly all day about how they went to the gym that day or are going that night.
How CAN we think highly of our local tri folk if this is the most visible representation?
You could say the same thing about cyclists and all the Freds out there… BUT, we’re neither, we’re RACERS and we’re passionate and hardcore all year round. We’re the ones out there in the freezing temps of February and literally risking our lives in sprints.
I’m sure there are some serious tri people in this city, but i haven’t seen them yet so this is my only impression. Oh, this and Rob at Equniox who teaches spin in a mankini.
Ps. Cycling is far more Euro and clearly better on that point alone.
Ben used to be a serious ski racer but I doubt he found much surfing growing up in Canada. His point still stands though.
Good flame about the medals. I come home after a bike race where I worked by butt off for 18th but no medal and kids think I’m an idiot. Run a marathon and finish 5836th but with a medal (cold in color mind you) and my kids think I’m a hero. Tri guy must also like his medals.
Ixnay on the eye-treys! Without those tri wingnuts who buy absolutely everything and then let it sit in the their garages – there would be no product development in cycling. They’re subsidizing us…
I think it’s the combination of endurance sport and chess match that makes road racing interesting.
plus it’s one sport where you seemingly get better as you get older. There are some ageless wonders out there who can put the hurt on just about anyone and I find that inspiring.
"Question: What would NYV for TRI GUYS be like?"
The answer is so funny.
My first rule as to determining whether a sport is, in fact a sport, is: whether you can play defense against your opponent.
I don’t see how you can defend against an opponent winning a triathlon. I would therefore classify triathlon as an exhibition of conditioning. (same as a cycling TT)
Enjoy. Argue.
So golf is not a sport?
DOOOSH!!!
Golf is a technique.
good point by schmaltz, i think that sums up pretty well why i like riders who deal with tactical situations in a heads up way.
And also why i think the TT is pretty dull to watch and compete in, and additionaly why I hate tri guys who follow me in the park
You could do some reconnaissance in a TT and not blow yourself completely on the first uphill bit and then loose time in the flat sections because you’re too tired. It could be construed as defense as your opponents are under the impression that you’re going slow. No, TT is a sport and they have nice bagels and coffee at Silvermine and that’s got to count for something.
CP – nice try, but WRONG! Defense is directly preventing your opponent from scoring or executing their game plan.
Tris are mass start so you can pace yourself off of other people. Plus, is some now you can DRAFT!
Oh look that tri-fellow is drafting another! Imagine the tactics, the suspense, zzzzzzz………
One can gain chunks of time on a hilly stage one day and then turn around and "defend" ones respective GC spot in the TT the next.
That makes stage racing a sport, but a TT by itself is still just an exhibition in my mind.
Ben H…I take offense, I ride past malibu every saturday and sunday (and some weekdays when I get off early or the sun sets later) and all those surfer guys are old and fat! We cyclists are WAY more HARDCORE! (I’m being sarcastic btw, isn’t it interesting, and refreshing, to find that the higher up in the cycling world racers tend to be the more humble they tend to be about their shortcomings?)
I think the reason that cycling makes you mental is that it is pretty difficult to get results. Think about it, in most team sports there’s only 2 teams on the field, so you pretty much have around a 50% chance of winning. I went out of the 2005 season feeling pretty good and strong, and after a winter of half-assed training I was pretty much totally out of the running for any type of placing even in CP or FBF races. Also triathlons and marathons do tend to be about personal bests or improvement which can be very satisfying in and of itself, just look at how roadies in NYC often fall back on their CP TT time whenever they get smoked in a race! Just my opinion. Enjoy the weather out there guys!
Schmalz, you say these things to enrage Andy. Why do you want to do that?
We are all mental. Why else would we get up at the crack of dawn week after week on saturday mornings, in all weather, to be humilated on a regular basis, while wearing tights. It is complete idiocy…Dammit Men we are nuts!
But those few times when the gods smile upon your feeble little body, and give you the right combination of luck, position and strength to get a result, the feeling is so amazing it keeps us coming back for more. This is not a sport it is an addiction.
I have been checking this site all day for new posts.
If i wanted to enrage Andy, I’d just call him a poodle-walking TTer and leave it at that…
> how about we do a swim / bike
> / run battle afterwards. You
> roadies couldn’t chew gum
> and run at the same time.
Do two things at the *same* time? I’m not impressed by triathlete’s ability to do that. How about this tri guy — can you do a typical roadie task like taking off a rain jacket while hanging onto a fastmoving group, uphill, in the rain. With 40 other riders around you? No?
> And in the water, you
> would sink
Well, I’ll grant you that.
Geez, I have no computer access for a day and I come home to this. By the way, I’m a mutt-walking cartoonist now.
Out in the Malibu lineup vernacular, the equivalent of the tri guys would be a kook, with most being total kooks. It’s not flattering. Surf shops do love ’em though.
Out in the Malibu lineup vernacular, the equivalent of the tri guys would be a kook, with most being total kooks. It’s not flattering. Surf shops do love ’em though.
When did Andy get a poodle?
instant classic. deep thoughts, tri-bashing, a Coach L cameo, and poodles. off-season rules.
There was a poodle in this week’s Toto, and there was a Clouseau in last week’s Hangover. Scary.
I race, and intend to do it until maybe I can become a 2, because all aspects of my life are quite boring. Dead ends. Leading to nowhere. I am done with mental masterbution (college and all the intellectual stuff). Is time to put my body to work. Hopefully I can achieve something greater than myself in racing. Tri guy is partly right. I regularly do 2 hours solo high tempo riding in PP. I have guys drafting my wheels and I don’t mind towing them for couple of laps. But I am getting a workout (building my base) while these guys are just getting a free ride. And you see them off the front but couldn’t hold the pace and eventually just dropped out.
Old saying #1:
If you’re not good enough to be a swimmer, a biker or a runner in your own right – then become a tri-guy.
Old saying # 2:
Swimmers want to be runners, runners want to be cyclists and no-one wants to be a tri-guy.
cycling is better
the races are cheaper and more intense
…and more importantly…you don’t have to dork up your bike with tri bars, bento boxes, tri bars, aero bottles, tri bars, rear seat bottle holders (especially the ones with co2 cartridge holders), tri bars
i did many tris after i finished school. my weakest link was the bike. I competed for two years at mostly olympic distance.
i found the prep that went into my first cat 5 race was much more difficult and lengthy than the tri s i did. the technical side of our sport is so much more dynamic.
mental masterbution ???
Lets not get all hung up on spelling here. Until our Dumbass Jenius leader gets us a speelchecker we’re at the mersy of our qualety pubic education system.
speling is for sukers
and what’s with all the tri-life idiots riding in packs when they train? i see them drafting off each other every morning in the park. good call, guys….
wow you guys have a lot of time on your hands in the off season, despite all those 6 hour rides.
how about this….small adjustments to tactics, or technique, or equipment can yield improved results. that’s pretty exciting, and when you experience it you want more. taking a crit corner badly throughout a race can screw your race….nailing its execution might change everything. or a lot anyway. etc etc. just the way a win keeps you on cloud nine, reliving the great moment when you broke away, or nailed the sprint, for some time, the days you don’t win are usually followed by hours or days of thinking about what you could have done. i have come in second and spent way too much time thinking about missing first….for example.
sick, i know, but it’s one of the things i like about the sport.
This is getting boring
yeah, i feel like i’m watching a triathalon…
good flame
Does Tri Guy = JP.. If so pay up!
How much does JP owe? Does he really owe $ or is this just a joke?
JP can walk on water so he’d probably do well in the swim leg.
I am not JP whoever that is, or schmalz, or any of your other lame ass attempts at insults…. Goddamn – GET A LIFE you people…. you sit on this site all day long in your little mutual ‘masterbution’ club talking about how dangerous your little sport is and how TOUGH you are because you ride your bikes in the winter and sometimes you even ride downhill in a pack – Ooh, you might get cold fingers for a few minutes, or ouch, fall down and scrape your knee without mommy there to kiss it…. BIG DEAL! You want to talk about pushing yourself to the limit? Let’s see how you stack up against Chris Legh…. oh wait no he doesn’t have a cool Cat 4 team uniform so I guess he’s not a REAL athlete like you guys – well sorry to rain on your little parade but I guess with such HARDCORE athletes you might even ride for a few laps in the rain, except your Powertap might break so you couldn’t’ compare your watts with your cool teammates…. so maybe you should just stick to looking at pictures of yourselves on the internet and making stupid jokes about ‘mankinis’ while you shave your legs.
Hey, dude, it must be hard to type while looking in the mirror.
triathletes shave their legs too
and why are you wasting time reading a cycling website if you hate cyclists so much? wait…is this one of those self hate things (like how mark foley hated gay people)? are you a closet cyclist?
Tri girls are hot.
And there’s more of them.
Schmalz could TT against them.
Tri Guy is Cheese from Old School. He just got out of the dumpster and he’s pissed.
take the lemon out of your pussy and stop being so bitter.
Roadies are sweeter.
TRI GUY – the check’s in the mail, thank you sooo much.
Another Ironman completed and once again I realized that the only certainty in Ironman racing is the fact that my right shoe is usually full of pee and my left shoulder is covered in vomit.Excluding the bike and run turns, I never got to see the head of the race, maybe I needed a few more turns to get a feel for the pace of the race or to intimidate my opponents with my race day stare.
don’t blame me… it’s not my fault his dad was making him swim, run, and bike with a pickle up his butt…
but i’ll lay ten to one he’s todd. all the WELL-TIMED capitalization to express when he really means BUSINESS is the dead give-away. if you keep taking this joker’s bait (please do, beats working) i guarantee he eventually cracks and tells you to SHUP UP AND RIDE!
????????????????
Todd is a legendary NYVC urban myth.
Having lemons in your pussy is expressly prohibited under current WADA guidelines.
Sacre Bleu! Eez zat lemonade or pee pee?
Sacre Bleu! Eez zat lemonade or pee pee?
What about sand in the mangina?
are you kidding me? you haven’t heard about tri-guy’s, errr…, todd’s awesome 4th place WIN in the night ride in the winter of 2005? the 4th place win that wasn’t a 1st place win ONLY because of the one-legged 400lb LEG PRESSES he was doing earlier in the day? (schmalz claims he was in a loin cloth at the time, but you’ll have to ask dan-o how he knows that)
You get medals for the top 50 places in the night ride, just like a tri, so you can understand Todd’s mix-up.
Think about it Derek. Male models are genetically constructed to become assassins. They’re in peak physical condition. They can gain entry into the most secure places in the world. And most important of all, models don’t think for themselves. They do as they’re told.
Who’s got a Cosco card I can borrow? I need some fixins to go with this chicken cutlet.
Dear Tri Ladies in the Park, I’m grilling at Coney Friday and Saturday night.
you triathletes are bigger pussies than the roadies. Pentathalons are where it’s at!
you little tri-babies whine about how hard three sports is, while you shave your legs and wear mankinis. REAL men rock 5 sports in short shorts!
you triathletes are bigger pussies than the roadies. Pentathalons are where it’s at!
you little tri-babies whine about how hard three sports is, while you shave your legs and wear mankinis. REAL men rock 5 sports in short shorts!
kill yourself
kill yourself
Decathlons are where the really HARD-CORE dudes hang. If there was a sport with 50 different events, I would ROCK that too. (I’m borrowing Tri-guy’s use of the capital letter because it is so expressive)
I love The Ric. That post is really funny.
"I need some fixins to go with this chicken cutlet."
I think Tri-Guy needs the chicken cutlet, but the sand may slow him down in the swim.
I am god.
100 sporting events. you know you’re hardcore when you have to transition from unicycle to curling to fluffing a porno movie.
Is that Ric Stagg? Stagg you know what you did. YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID!
Ric if i catch you grilling with any tri ladies you best believe you’ll have to deal with me. Tri girls stay the F@#$ away from Ric if you know what is good for you. Your 4th sport will involve pulling your head out of your @##.
Everybody knows The Ric cant cook! cmon thats a give ‘n’
stagg?
Please post that Ric Stagg link again. Does he update it?
‘Do or Do Not…there is no Try, that is why you fail.’
-Yoda
I represent Ric Stagg. Ric went on a little "vacation". He doesn’t have a computer available where he is, so the blog likely hasn’t been updated recently. I will try to let everyone here know when he has been released.
And where is Don Sasso?
You have to blame the drug companies who tell doctors to dispense drug as if they were candy so that the drug company can make more money. WBR LeoP
You have to blame the drug companies who tell doctors to dispense drug as if they were candy so that the drug company can make more money. WBR LeoP