Posts
14
Joined
9/14/2013
Location
Haverhill, MA
US
Edited Date/Time
4/9/2018 2:12pm
Hey guys, I'm just coming into , idk like my 30th season of riding at the ripe age of 35. Ive raced most of my life..until now. Times have changed though..I have a wife,a 6 year old that just had her first year at school, a house to take care of, lots going on. LIKE, most of you.
This is my situation and didn't know if anybody could relate? I only have time to maybe do one Enduro race a month and only train maybe twice a week if that, if you want to call it training, between Daddy Day Care duties, anyways, I need to get back to riding for fun. I don't have time for test laps, and bike setup, and to go kill Strava! I want to get back to the basics and I'm having trouble shutting off the racer inside me. I'm still messing with tire pressure, suspension setup Non-Stop, bar height and roll, just basically bike setup, non stop trying to make it the most efficient, fastest weapon I can. Honestly I just want to stop that crap! It takes up a lot of time, when I could be playing with my daughter, or shredding! I'm no longer sponsored, on the payroll... so why can't I stop racing myself???Can you relate?
This is my situation and didn't know if anybody could relate? I only have time to maybe do one Enduro race a month and only train maybe twice a week if that, if you want to call it training, between Daddy Day Care duties, anyways, I need to get back to riding for fun. I don't have time for test laps, and bike setup, and to go kill Strava! I want to get back to the basics and I'm having trouble shutting off the racer inside me. I'm still messing with tire pressure, suspension setup Non-Stop, bar height and roll, just basically bike setup, non stop trying to make it the most efficient, fastest weapon I can. Honestly I just want to stop that crap! It takes up a lot of time, when I could be playing with my daughter, or shredding! I'm no longer sponsored, on the payroll... so why can't I stop racing myself???Can you relate?
I live it like an addiction. If I know there is a local race close by and I'm not attending, I feel bad and sweating at my desk..
With job and kid duties, I have no time for bike setup and training but even if I know I'm going to be spanked, I take any chances to take a race run.
There is nothing like these 3 minutes of adrenaline fully focused on the moment. I don't care one bit about the result but I want to chase this feeling until my body stop letting me ride.
I have been a little bit less obsessed this last few years, I let my body heal if I have to and I cherry pick a bit more where I'm going but I still live for racing.
If you really love racing for what it is, regardless of what you do before or after the race run, NEVER GIVE UP.
I could have just ridden on weekends and not raced, but riding new tracks (or at least not my local trails) and focusing my whole weekend on getting a single perfect run is my drug and I didn't want a bike without it. All I've thought about the past 3.5 years is racing; when I hear the start beeps on the UCI live feed I get goosebumps and just thinking about the last 10 minutes before a race run gets my heart "racing". There's no better feeling than pushing your own limits, whether it's on a bike, work, or anywhere else.
Now after a few years of trail running, borrowing trail bikes every now and then, and getting a better job I can finally scratch my long term itch for DH racing. I've bought a bike, will be buying the stupid $200 UCI license, started going to the gym, and plan on doing a few CO/NM races, possibly National Champs, and maybe the Mammoth Pro GRT. I'd love to race a world cup by the end of next year as it has been one my goals since racing day one.
In short, racing rules!
P.S. I'm hugely excited to race the Pro GRT here in Durango
Ther is alot of kids racing in BMX and XC + you gett to train and spend time with her at the same time!
You learn alot trying to explain and teatch things.
6 years old is a good time to start as long as its kept on the fun-level.
As far as racing more, since what I felt was an early departure from BMX, MX was injury after injury, I found DH and Enduro late. I always xc'ed, but didn't know DH was so rad til 2012! I wish I could just do one big year and make it to a world cup or do crankworx! So bad! I think about it though, and the selftalk starts and I shut it down for whatever reasons. But I would love to be able to say one day, I reached those goals. Not sure though.
Love where this forum is going guys! Thanks for sharing all your awesome stories, keep them coming. Ride Or Die
Turning off Strava helps with the "did I go faster?" obsession. Every now and then I go long periods without using Strava just to remind myself that the real reason I ride a bike is because its really really fun. Sometimes I make riding a trail with as much style as possible my ultimate goal. That can be a really fun task to try and accomplish, even if its one that can't really be measured. I'm not a very stylish rider so I practice a lot on my jibs, drifts, wheelies, schralps, steeze, etc. Improving on the bike in different ways feels like an accomplishment.
Hopefully the season pass at the bike park for the DH bike doesn’t turn back on the competitive side of me...
Seriously! I was in your same predicament a few years back, but with motocross (motorcycles) - losing my edge, feeling slower each passing month because I couldn't afford to ride/race/train as much as I needed to. I finally decided that I was just going to let go and let the cards fall where they may. I was already too old to make it as a pro, and that never really was my goal anyway. I had raced and won +30 Vet class races at some prestigious levels and I had all the success I could ask for. Why chase more? If it isn't at the highest level, who really cares?
Instead, I started riding MTB a lot more often. I'm nowhere near as good on a bike as I was on a motorcycle, and that's OK. It's actually a nice little challenge: Will I ever be as good on a bike as I was at MX? How much can I improve at this age? (I'm 47.) I can approach it with a lot more humility and just enjoy myself. I don't feel any pressure to be better than everyone else like I did in my "main" endeavor.
Now whenever I ride an MX bike, it's more about being fast and loose enough to enjoy myself. I might have a much different (less satisfying,) feeling about it if all I did was try to race MX.
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