Mountain Bike Mike
Well-Known Member
Last edited:
Running With the Foghorn Leghorn
- Thread starter Norm
- Start date
Growing it out brah.
I only get Kev's angle. I think when you are pushing yourself though stuff that can result in serious injury or death it tends to help you see that losing as few minutes or an hour in a cross or xc event is really nothing to even think about. I'm sure Kevin has sat with some 20 or 30 ft gap, alone in the woods for days, working though the internal mechanics of "self improvement" and that really helps you with personal focus and goals. BTW, I'm pestered all the time about not racing as well
Pearl
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
just posting this for flashback friday:
this was my favorite:
Mountain Bike Mike
Well-Known Member
Yay. -@pearl came out to play today. missed you
Edit - Seriously.. My face is red with embarrassment while I reread all that.
Well Done!
Edit - Seriously.. My face is red with embarrassment while I reread all that.
Well Done!
I think the lesson learned here is, don't overreact to things people post on the internets. Mike over reacted to criticism he received( as JP points out) and so did Lou when Kevin acted like a dick. I mean Kevin had a point but he just comes off like a dick sometimes. Regardless of what people say about you on the internet or in life it doesn't really matter, the important thing is to not lash out with your first reaction. Process it and deal with it, if you don't want to deal with it then don't put out your thoughts on the internet.
Now, thats not to say you can't give shit back without losing your cool. If I were Lou I'd be like... hey Kevin did you check this out?
Now, thats not to say you can't give shit back without losing your cool. If I were Lou I'd be like... hey Kevin did you check this out?
soulchild
Well-Known Member
To no one's surprise, this has gotten way off track. I do not want to digress any further than we already have, but in an effort to get everyone on the same page here I want to clearly state that I did not act in haste. 5 hours passed between the original post and my reply which was deliberate and concise. I haven't the slightest of inclinations to retract a single word. I said what I meant and I meant what I said. More people should try it. I have neither the time, nor the energy to waste with passive aggressive innuendo or subtext.
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...
You use fancy wordsTo no one's surprise, this has gotten way off track. I do not want to digress any further than we already have, but in an effort to get everyone on the same page here I want to clearly state that I did not act in haste. 5 hours passed between the original post and my reply which was deliberate and concise. I haven't the slightest of inclinations to retract a single word. I said what I meant and I meant what I said. More people should try it. I have neither the time, nor the energy to waste with passive aggressive innuendo or subtext.
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...
So ok, lots of good/interesting comments here. But this idea that anyone gives a slug's shit about anyone else racing is preposterous.
To Clarify
There is some small nuance I think most people here are missing. I cannot say for sure that Lou is in the same boat here but I think he is. Here is what I am saying about last week. I am not unhappy I came in 13th. I am unhappy I did not show up firing on all cylinders. My power from last week was 30-40 watts lower than all my other races. So not only did I not feel great, the objective measurement from the race says my power was down.
Cross Results has a post-mortem feature that takes into account day-of reg. I was supposed to finish 11th and according to them I did exactly that. It ignores Utah & Ben as they have no previous results. So according to all reasonable objective everything, I did exactly-precisely what I was supposed to do. And that's not the problem.
The problem is, I did not feel good getting there. And therein lies the issue I have right now. I would rather show up, fire on all cylinders, and come in 14th. I feel like I have some potential on the cross bike right now. Call it X. And I show up and feel like I am bring 4/5 of X to the race. I know that the potential X is going to be 10% or 20% higher at some future point - that's the whole "work in progress" part that I'm fine with. But when I'm at 1.25 my current potential, I want to show up and leave all of the potential on the playing field, so to speak. If that nets me 10th place, so be it.
I think @ChrisG gets what I was saying and replied in kind. But I think the "it takes time" responses to @soulchild were misplaced. I think he knows it takes time. I think he is having the 4/5 problem that I have had the last few races. I know that some people are replying to Lou and some to me, but I think you guys are mistaking that we are feeling the same way. Lou does not expect to show up and win. He merely wants to show up and say that he came to the game, was able to give it all, and the shit ended up where it ended up.
Riding Publicly
@stb222 asks the question about racing at all anymore. So admittedly the last 2 races have not been what I call "oodles of fun" but I also know that sometimes you eat the bar, sometimes the bar eats you. But more than this is that these races are part of an overall goal that I am (constantly) striving towards. It is a cycle where racing helps me focus and cut weight, which helps me feel better and makes me go faster, which in turn helps me race better. So it is a sort of cycle where A helps B which helps A, etc.
The takeaway here is the most important thing. I'm going to be 44 years old this year and we all know that I have the propensity to put on mad weight under the wrong circumstances. I have kids that are going to grow up and be little adults of their own 1 day and then have lives of their own and I want to be old & healthy and best able to enjoy that. In addition to that I want to be a good example to the kids. At this stage they are all still amazed at what I can do on a bike and I want to keep it that way for as long as possible.
Racing is an integral part of all that right now. Maybe someday I won't need it. But right now I do.
And as such, sometimes you need to do something that maybe isn't fun to get where you want to be. How many things in life that are really rewarding are easy? Pushing yourself through the shit is a good thing. Sometimes I think our society has turned into a bunch of sissies because anything that is hard is labelled taboo. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting we wipe our asses with sandpaper but I also think sometimes we need to do things out of our comfort zones.
I mean sure, @pearl thinks it sucks to be doing intervals some days and I get that it does. But you know what? He can ride his mountain bike 100 freaking miles. There's your reward. It's a pretty awesome reward, if you ask me.
Sorry I Missed Your Call
There is a lot of good content here and just because I did not specifically comment on it doesn't mean I didn't read it and like it and have a thought on it. But in the interest of keeping this post only "really long" I am going to stop now. Maybe I'll go back and comment further or maybe I won't. I think there were some fantastic posts by many of the regulars, specifically @pearl and @1speed and I think they both add some really good content/perspective to the racing mindset.
But I will go back and read a lot of what was posted a second/third time. And I'll try to draw out some things that people have pointed out and talk more about it.
I would ask that people take some time when replying and think about more than just one perspective when they post stuff. However, I know this is the Internet and this is not how people operate. Still, one can hope.
To Clarify
There is some small nuance I think most people here are missing. I cannot say for sure that Lou is in the same boat here but I think he is. Here is what I am saying about last week. I am not unhappy I came in 13th. I am unhappy I did not show up firing on all cylinders. My power from last week was 30-40 watts lower than all my other races. So not only did I not feel great, the objective measurement from the race says my power was down.
Cross Results has a post-mortem feature that takes into account day-of reg. I was supposed to finish 11th and according to them I did exactly that. It ignores Utah & Ben as they have no previous results. So according to all reasonable objective everything, I did exactly-precisely what I was supposed to do. And that's not the problem.
The problem is, I did not feel good getting there. And therein lies the issue I have right now. I would rather show up, fire on all cylinders, and come in 14th. I feel like I have some potential on the cross bike right now. Call it X. And I show up and feel like I am bring 4/5 of X to the race. I know that the potential X is going to be 10% or 20% higher at some future point - that's the whole "work in progress" part that I'm fine with. But when I'm at 1.25 my current potential, I want to show up and leave all of the potential on the playing field, so to speak. If that nets me 10th place, so be it.
I think @ChrisG gets what I was saying and replied in kind. But I think the "it takes time" responses to @soulchild were misplaced. I think he knows it takes time. I think he is having the 4/5 problem that I have had the last few races. I know that some people are replying to Lou and some to me, but I think you guys are mistaking that we are feeling the same way. Lou does not expect to show up and win. He merely wants to show up and say that he came to the game, was able to give it all, and the shit ended up where it ended up.
Riding Publicly
@stb222 asks the question about racing at all anymore. So admittedly the last 2 races have not been what I call "oodles of fun" but I also know that sometimes you eat the bar, sometimes the bar eats you. But more than this is that these races are part of an overall goal that I am (constantly) striving towards. It is a cycle where racing helps me focus and cut weight, which helps me feel better and makes me go faster, which in turn helps me race better. So it is a sort of cycle where A helps B which helps A, etc.
The takeaway here is the most important thing. I'm going to be 44 years old this year and we all know that I have the propensity to put on mad weight under the wrong circumstances. I have kids that are going to grow up and be little adults of their own 1 day and then have lives of their own and I want to be old & healthy and best able to enjoy that. In addition to that I want to be a good example to the kids. At this stage they are all still amazed at what I can do on a bike and I want to keep it that way for as long as possible.
Racing is an integral part of all that right now. Maybe someday I won't need it. But right now I do.
And as such, sometimes you need to do something that maybe isn't fun to get where you want to be. How many things in life that are really rewarding are easy? Pushing yourself through the shit is a good thing. Sometimes I think our society has turned into a bunch of sissies because anything that is hard is labelled taboo. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting we wipe our asses with sandpaper but I also think sometimes we need to do things out of our comfort zones.
I mean sure, @pearl thinks it sucks to be doing intervals some days and I get that it does. But you know what? He can ride his mountain bike 100 freaking miles. There's your reward. It's a pretty awesome reward, if you ask me.
Sorry I Missed Your Call
There is a lot of good content here and just because I did not specifically comment on it doesn't mean I didn't read it and like it and have a thought on it. But in the interest of keeping this post only "really long" I am going to stop now. Maybe I'll go back and comment further or maybe I won't. I think there were some fantastic posts by many of the regulars, specifically @pearl and @1speed and I think they both add some really good content/perspective to the racing mindset.
But I will go back and read a lot of what was posted a second/third time. And I'll try to draw out some things that people have pointed out and talk more about it.
I would ask that people take some time when replying and think about more than just one perspective when they post stuff. However, I know this is the Internet and this is not how people operate. Still, one can hope.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015 - Chimney Rock on Ted at lunch
Thursday, November 5, 2015 - Chimney Rock on Ted with the sun
Friday, November 6, 2015 - Went to Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty with the kids
Saturday, November 7, 2015 - Pretty low key day, stuff with kids
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Westwood, a venue I typically enjoy and do well at. I will break this recap up into 4 parts.
Part 1. The Start.
Coming into the weekend I have made plans to not start too hard this race. I am going to ease into it because I don't think I have the juice to explode off the front and hold it. As previously discussed, I am struggling at these races to bring the A game. So I think a bottom-up approach makes sense for me today.
Side story - @Delish can tell you how I do with plans.
So the whistle goes and I BLAST THE FUCK OFF like my life depends on trying to cross the S/F first in 100+ yards up the road. I come damn close, launching out in like 2nd place then settling in around 4th as we hit the grass.
Then I bleed every single spot on the "hill" as my body refused to do anything and told me to go eat shit. I went from 4th to last in about 100 yards.
Part 2. Laps 1-3.
I hate this sport, why do I do this to myself? I go from DFL to like DFL+4 or +5 maybe.
Part 3. Laps 4-6.
My body recovers a bit and things hurt a little bit less. I am starting to have this battle with the Kissena guy in front of me. Here is how it goes:
1. The first run up, I literally lose ~15 seconds each lap here. I am simply too fat to ride this. Everyone else in the known universe can ride this. I cannot.
2. I then spend the rest of the lap catching up.
3. I make time on all the turns.
4. Against all odds I make up 3-4 seconds every time we go up the stairs
5. I ride the second run-up 4 of 6 laps (first was a CF and one other time I screwed it up) and make time
6. I make up time in the fields on the turns
7. I do the barriers better
8. I ride the flat straights faster
So I tried to approach this first run up a few different ways.
A. Try to get ahead of him before it. He drafts me, passes me before the run-up.
B. Put in a HUGE dig to gap him on the straight away. I hit the run-up ahead, then he just rides by me while my HR is 2000
C. Last lap, let's think about this a bit more.
I decide to run the whole thing. I get to the top and he has the same gap, but this time my heart is not beating so hard the spectators can feel my blood pressure. I now go into No Brake Mode and perform steps 1-8 above.
Part 4. The Very Very End.
2 straights to go. One grass, one pavement.
In the grass I catch up to his wheel at the end, he makes the turn. I corner better so I am in good position but he has put in a dig to try and hold the gap. I have put the bike in the big ring in the front.
We hit the pavement, I put my all into it. I shift down, he tries to pull away. Vic yells at me to catch that guy (yes, our fellow racers are long done by now, and I would not be surprised if part of my class is on the Palisades Parkway driving home already). I launch for the final sprint, doing some mental math I have not done in a long long time.
I know the kids are watching and we have some contingent of teammates as well. I leave it all out there, and pass the guy with feet remaining and take the glorious 17th place spot from this guy. The kids cheer, and at the very least I can roll out the day having done something the kids may think is memorable one day. I can later tell them I won the crown as the King of Siam with that sprint. It's all I have left at this point.
To Recap
I had precisely 2 good parts of the race today:
1. The first 100 yards, from the start line to the finish line.
2. The last 100 yards, from the start line to the finish line.
The remaining 10.85 miles of the race were kind of lackluster. My legs are done. Power is beyond bad compared to every other race. So that's it for me. I am going to end the season with that sprint in front of the kids and as big of a cheering section as I am likely to get this year. I am on the back side of the curve and I have done 11 cross races this year, which is the most I've done since 2010.
I think there are still some comments I want to reply to, but my race season is all done now. Thanks for reading, and if all goes well I will have another pointless aimless thread where I talk about things that may or may not make you think about stuff.
So long, and thanks for all the fish.
Thursday, November 5, 2015 - Chimney Rock on Ted with the sun
Friday, November 6, 2015 - Went to Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty with the kids
Saturday, November 7, 2015 - Pretty low key day, stuff with kids
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Westwood, a venue I typically enjoy and do well at. I will break this recap up into 4 parts.
Part 1. The Start.
Coming into the weekend I have made plans to not start too hard this race. I am going to ease into it because I don't think I have the juice to explode off the front and hold it. As previously discussed, I am struggling at these races to bring the A game. So I think a bottom-up approach makes sense for me today.
Side story - @Delish can tell you how I do with plans.
So the whistle goes and I BLAST THE FUCK OFF like my life depends on trying to cross the S/F first in 100+ yards up the road. I come damn close, launching out in like 2nd place then settling in around 4th as we hit the grass.
Then I bleed every single spot on the "hill" as my body refused to do anything and told me to go eat shit. I went from 4th to last in about 100 yards.
Part 2. Laps 1-3.
I hate this sport, why do I do this to myself? I go from DFL to like DFL+4 or +5 maybe.
Part 3. Laps 4-6.
My body recovers a bit and things hurt a little bit less. I am starting to have this battle with the Kissena guy in front of me. Here is how it goes:
1. The first run up, I literally lose ~15 seconds each lap here. I am simply too fat to ride this. Everyone else in the known universe can ride this. I cannot.
2. I then spend the rest of the lap catching up.
3. I make time on all the turns.
4. Against all odds I make up 3-4 seconds every time we go up the stairs
5. I ride the second run-up 4 of 6 laps (first was a CF and one other time I screwed it up) and make time
6. I make up time in the fields on the turns
7. I do the barriers better
8. I ride the flat straights faster
So I tried to approach this first run up a few different ways.
A. Try to get ahead of him before it. He drafts me, passes me before the run-up.
B. Put in a HUGE dig to gap him on the straight away. I hit the run-up ahead, then he just rides by me while my HR is 2000
C. Last lap, let's think about this a bit more.
I decide to run the whole thing. I get to the top and he has the same gap, but this time my heart is not beating so hard the spectators can feel my blood pressure. I now go into No Brake Mode and perform steps 1-8 above.
Part 4. The Very Very End.
2 straights to go. One grass, one pavement.
In the grass I catch up to his wheel at the end, he makes the turn. I corner better so I am in good position but he has put in a dig to try and hold the gap. I have put the bike in the big ring in the front.
We hit the pavement, I put my all into it. I shift down, he tries to pull away. Vic yells at me to catch that guy (yes, our fellow racers are long done by now, and I would not be surprised if part of my class is on the Palisades Parkway driving home already). I launch for the final sprint, doing some mental math I have not done in a long long time.
I know the kids are watching and we have some contingent of teammates as well. I leave it all out there, and pass the guy with feet remaining and take the glorious 17th place spot from this guy. The kids cheer, and at the very least I can roll out the day having done something the kids may think is memorable one day. I can later tell them I won the crown as the King of Siam with that sprint. It's all I have left at this point.
To Recap
I had precisely 2 good parts of the race today:
1. The first 100 yards, from the start line to the finish line.
2. The last 100 yards, from the start line to the finish line.
The remaining 10.85 miles of the race were kind of lackluster. My legs are done. Power is beyond bad compared to every other race. So that's it for me. I am going to end the season with that sprint in front of the kids and as big of a cheering section as I am likely to get this year. I am on the back side of the curve and I have done 11 cross races this year, which is the most I've done since 2010.
I think there are still some comments I want to reply to, but my race season is all done now. Thanks for reading, and if all goes well I will have another pointless aimless thread where I talk about things that may or may not make you think about stuff.
So long, and thanks for all the fish.
It would be interesting to have a hole-shot race at a cross race. At that time of the day when there are kid's races and everyone's eating lunch and wondering what to do. Just have a scheduled hole-shot race like at Cross practice. Line everyone up, 10 seconds in between each row, winner of each row competes until there is a final winner.
Was the run-up the one that was in previous years? 10 foot high really steep?
Was the run-up the one that was in previous years? 10 foot high really steep?
RobW
Well-Known Member
hole shot suicides? I like!
Ditto this.. That's commitment!!! Nice season @Norm
