So since I did the burke race and saw alot of the U21 100 racers...I can agree with what Kris said. Of course Kris is out there with Pros, the kids I was seeing were not.... I think alot of it is that these races are just so much exponentially harder than a Mass or ESC enduro....Like prior to burke... I can really only think of the mountain creek enduro as one where I needed my XC engine and my ability to suffer. I think in general, while the kids are insanely fast and talented, the older people are usually better equipped to deal with suffering. And thats not a knock on the young people as much is it me just learning from 15 years of racing...knowing how im feeling, and being confident that I feel like ass, but ill survive, keep pedaling. Im sure alot of the young people who are focused on their downhill speed have never experienced 13,000 ft of climbing over 2 days.....and on that second trip up the toll road I was thinking about how thankful I was for all of the idiotic adventures @JimN and @Wrong Way Dan have taken me on....and how they prepared me well for that day. Of course...this opinion on young people does not apply to @Meatball Mia....her abilty to suffer is like something out of a Stephen King novel.
My wife loves to tell me that in the ER its the men who are by far the bigger crybabies....and I can only speak anecdotally about the women who I know and ride bikes with. After riding with Mia and Kris, seeing them take some huge crashes.....I'd rather not have to get into a pain tolerance contest with either of them.
