A follow-up on yesterday's Quabbin Road Race report. I've been in touch with two friends (who will go anonymous) who race on the local scene, and both emphatically confirmed my take in that post on the unpleasant vibe of the local road racing scene. One of them said that he disliked the attitude of local road racers so much that he tries to race as many mountain bike events as he can (because the attitude is more relaxed, according to him).
The other friend was actually in the Quabbin race. In a chase group, about halfway around the course, he heard another guy literally shouting at a teammate, "I didn't bring you here to suck wheels all day! Get out there and execute the plan!" My friend then playfully said something like, "You all heard it -- the plan is being executed!" Instead of taking a hint and lightening up, the first guy simply shouted at my friend, "Shut up!" Nice.
Now here's the good part: Which category was this guy in? Pro-1-2? Nope. Cat 3, maybe? Nope. He was a 45+. I would have hoped that by that age (i.e., my age) one would have garnered a morsel of wisdom or self-posession. As my friend put it, "It's not like we're competing for spots on the Olympic team."
Stories like this do nothing to tempt me to try racing. Dang, I already take myself way too seriously!
Ugh. That's gross. Some people take it too seriously.
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky to be on a club filled with really friendly people. Maybe if it were a more exclusive, limited team, people would *have* to take it Very Seriously, but where Kissena CC is at is full of pretty positive vibes. I think doing a lot of things in life is about making sure that you're surrounded with people who bring the positivity, so that it can outweight the utter hammerheads who act like their masculinity is perpetually on the line.
NOL, I agree with you 100% about finding people who bring the positivity. Sadly, I've heard that the club nearest me is mainly hammerheads. I still intend to check them out, but I'm not too eager. The club that's second-closest is the one that put on the race yesterday, so again, I have my doubts. Right now, I email my friends and say, "Hey, want to ride on Sat.?" That's how I ensure a positive cycling experience.
ReplyDelete45+, wow, those guys are cranky! Good thing I'm only 44 :-)
ReplyDeleteI rode the 4/5 35+, had a great race and total feel-good vibe post-race, chatted with a lot of my fellow combatants and re-told the race's war stories. We left it out on the course, it was all good.... -JD
JD, glad to hear your experience contradicted the overall impression.
ReplyDelete