addicted to pain
After the crit in San Rafael, another Velo Girl and I met at Summit Bicycles to ride over to China Camp on our cross bikes for some sweet singletrack. China camp is good for my mental training, because there are lots of the 3 Rs (rocks, roots, and ruts) and I'm trying to be fearless on my bike this year. My buddy Skot and his friend Scott tagged along with us on their mountain bikes (and were very respectful, stayed in their middle rings and made for an enjoyable ride).
There's a bit of a small world story here. Skot and I worked together at Schwab. His buddy, Scott, also worked at Schwab, although I don't think we knew each other. And Scott's girlfriend, Jeanne, also worked at Schwab. Jeanne now leads beginner mtn bike rides for REI, and she was also out at China Camp with a group of riders yesterday. When Scott told me her name, somehow I remembered that she and I were on Team Schwab together for one of the AIDS Rides. Whew! If you can follow all that, good on ya!
Anyways, post-ride Skot, Scott, and I went to the Marin Brewing Company in Larkspur. There's also a small-world story about MBC but I'll skip it here.
As we were eating and chatting, Scott described how he wished Jeanne would push herself and be more fearless on the bike. I can tell it's an area of frustration for him, and he suggested Jeanne and I ride together. I mentioned that lots of riders (men and women) don't know how to push or don't like it.
Skot's a racer. Scott has also been involved in competition of various sorts througout his life. I was never an athlete until my adulthood, but I was competitive in other areas like music and scholarship. Jeanne, on the other hand, has never really competed in anything.
You can teach someone skills and improve their fitness, but I firmly believe that the one thing you can't teach someone is to be competitive.
Why do we race? Competition is only part of it. There's a social aspect and of course, the one underlying reason.....we're addicted to pain. We like the way it makes us feel -- alive, vital, and hungry.
posted by Lorri Lee Lown -- velogirl @ 9/10/2006 10:29:00 AM
5 Comments:
i am not sure fearlessness and competitiveness always go together
you can be fearful yet competitive
or fearless and not competitive
but i guess the fearless/competitive combo works well for bikeracing
and i think you can learn to be less fearful but i don't see as many people learning to be competitive
blah blah blah
this is way to much to make me think about on vacation....
Yeah, I don't think being fearless and being competitive go hand-in-hand.
But being fearful can be a barrier to being successfully competitive.
And I think they make drugs for both of them.
addicted to pain - ugh!
Everytime I say it -- addicted to pain -- I visualize Robert Plant's wenches dancing on the sidelines of a race in their little black dresses and slicked back hair. So 80s.
I love competition but hate pain.
IS there a category for lazy racers?
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