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druidh - Member
No offence Al, though I'm struggling to see where this artificial divide (what is/isn't real racing) arises. For anyone likely to be posing on this thread, it's surely all just a bit of fun?
What SB said...and if you've pummelled yourself through a winter, done intervals/weights/power max tests, compromised other aspects of your life for race days, you'd understand - I guess that's what gives it more meaning to the individual. You can't just ride a bit and then turn up and participate at the same level, which sportives seem to be about, you have to earn it.
I guess that's why we feel it's different and if you've not been in our shoes I don't think you can comment validly.
How much racing have you done druidh?
I've taken part in a few timed events - more for the craic, or to raise funds for charity.
So that's a "none" then - I know it's not the thing to agree with the cynical one, but I think he's summed "it" up pretty well - there's a whole different mindset between doing any sport as a hobby and as a competitive activity......
ride smart. ride endurance.
Unless you are being paid to do it, it [i]is[/i] only a hobby.hilldodger - Member
there's a whole different mindset between doing any sport as a hobby and as a competitive activity......
Looks like you don't get it then?
Ian Wright never slows down, multiple national XC/CX Vets champ.
Unless you are being paid to do it, it is only a hobby.
Hobby? No, it's a passion, an addiction, a compulsion, you don't function right if you don't do it.
You should try it. 😉
It's fun.
SB
Oldgit
You have been posting up this stuff for a while now,and every time I read them ,I think "What does he want,what does he really,really want?".
As Mr plop pants said ( who I think I have raced with ,if he has the Mike Bell target thing going on 🙂 ) set yourself a target,a target you will enjoy when you get there.
This is without turning yourself in to a soulless obsessive with the thousand yard stare ,and nothing else going on in their life.
I am 53 BTW ,old enough and ugly enough to know what I want.
There are thousands of great things to be competitive about on a bike,go find what will do it for you,just don't beat yourself up about it.
Personally I'm too competitive to be happy training all hours to place mid field in the 3rd or 4th cat race. I'd need to be in with a chance of placing. That's why I don't race because I know no matter how hard I trained I'd never be competitive.
. On one hand I can train hard with guys from my club, and they just picked up a 2nd place Saturday in a 3/4 road race. On the other hand I just feel like a slug.
Previous poster thought you were over training and you dismissed him. I agree with him. If your local club guys are either more talented or younger than you you're probably knackering yourself trying to keep up with them and its no surprise you've nothing left for racing.
Have to say oldgit, from seeing your posts, you seem to ride a hell of a lot without any specific goals or training, it's easy for me to say but it does sound like you train without thinking about what you want it to do.
Yes, I would say sort your goals out first. What specific objective are you visualising that gets you out on a wet winter morning, or makes you do that final interval when you would rather just stop?
If you just train hard, then enter events randomly hoping for a result, you need to be comfortable with the possibility that your outcomes will be a bit random. If you train for a specific target, and really put your eggs in one basket, you will have more chance of really getting that special peak. Of course, the downside is a big disappointment if it doesn't work out, but the buzz of getting that win is what you are really after, isn't it?
The tricky thing is setting proper SMART targets. You need something that is possible, but is really challenging. If your target is too easy, you are not really testing yourself, and ultimately you won't get that sense of achievement. Equally, set yourself an unfeasible objective that you are guaranteed to fail at, and you will just feel frustrated and unmotivated.
I'm never going to beat a full time pro racer in their prime, but I still get a buzz if I can ride against other people with the same sort of external constraints (work, family, age, etc)and get on top of that podium at the end of the day. Looked at objectively, racing has no intrinsic value, but competition seems to be something that humans are hardwired for (to a greater or lesser degree) and in the modern world that often manifests itself in sport. It doesn't really make sense, but if you've ever crossed that line first with your hands in the air, you'll understand it!
Going back to your roots, if you aren't enjoying your solo racing, how about combining your experience with some youthful speed by entering some Gentleman's 2-ups? These often have good age-related handicap prizes, and you might get the satisfaction of encouraging a younger rider by helping them to a good result.
Sportives are racing? One word. No.
But Sportives ARE races.
From dictionary.com
race
noun
1. a contest of speed, as in running, riding, driving, or sailing.
From oxforddictionaries.com
noun
1 a competition between runners, horses, vehicles, etc. to see which is the fastest in covering a set course:
Is everyone at a sportive there to race?
I'd guess not, in which case it's not a race, albeit certain entrants treat it like one.
But I don't really care any more.
Unless you are being paid to do it, it is only a hobby.
No, that's the difference between amateur and professional, that is, as a profession. Which is not to say that the amateurs don't treat it as seriously as the professional.
Bloody hell I agree with cynic-al for once 😉
It comes to everyone in time, nick 😉
If I was to enter and turn up at a "Road Race" and use it just to check out my progress over the winter - i.e. not racing to win - would that invalidate it as a race for everyone else?cynic-al - Member
Is everyone at a sportive there to race?I'd guess not, in which case it's not a race, albeit certain entrants treat it like one.
nick3216 - Member
> Unless you are being paid to do it, it is only a hobby.
No, that's the difference between amateur and professional, that is, as a profession. Which is not to say that the amateurs don't treat it as seriously as the professional.
from dictionary.com
hob·by1 ? ?[hob-ee]
noun, plural -bies.
1.
an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation: Her hobbies include stamp-collecting and woodcarving.
while you've got the dictionary handy check the definitions of amateur and professional instead of only those sources that suit you
-1
I'm confused.
When I turned 40 I won a local road race that I had never won before I was 40. I had finished 2nd in a previous year and in a faster time.
Given that I won it in a slower time than I was capable of a few years earlier does that mean I should not have run it given that I was clearly past my peak?
Does that invalidate all the runners that finished behind me or only those who were also past their peak and slowing.
In seriousness as an aging competitive runner I am at a loss to understand anyone asking some of the questions above.
oldgit you post quite often on here about not being very good, maybe you should just give up on racing, or thinking you can win, and just enjoy riding your bike.
You need to find a challange you enjoy and stop beating yourslef up about 'not being very good'.
I'm 44 and I've felt quite slow at the start of this year but I'm starting to pick up speed again and I'm feeling good now and looking forward to a year of great riding. I don't race anymore as I just don't feel the need. I understand you may need that though.
[i]Is everyone at a sportive there to race?[/i]
Most are there to race themselves but yeh some people do treat them like proper races.
🙂
My mate way back from the days of black and white reckons I've always been like this when I'm not actually racing.
So in theory a 100 mile round trip to race at the Hog Hill circuit in a few weeks should cure me.
Hello Oldgit. Having ridden with you a bit over the years, I kind of know your strengths and weaknesses, strength = good endurance/diesel engine type rider, weakness = no top end speed. As you age, you need to spend proportionately more time on proper speed work and less on endurance.
You know all this, and you know what you need to do about getting quicker (we've gone through it endless times...), but I don't think it fits in with what you like doing (long rides, group rides). As far as I can tell you don't do the speedwork, so you won't improve your weak points. Simples.
From what I know about road racing, a lot of the old boys are ex 1st cats, elite riders who have a fair bit of natural talent as well as knowing how to train smart. Oh, and Druidh - racing sportives and road races are worlds apart.
So, change yourself to meet your goals (ie train right), or change your goals to match your strengths (ie pick long events, enduros, etc).
druidh
If I was to enter and turn up at a "Road Race" and use it just to check out my progress over the winter - i.e. not racing to win - would that invalidate it as a race for everyone else?
Of course not, but its explicit purpose is to be a race.
You should do it tho, you might understand a bit better.
And stop obsessing about your age in a negative way, maybe try focusing on building a bit more power instead. That's what goes as you get older.
I agree -but they are both races. 😛ChrisF - Member
Oh, and Druidh - racing sportives and road races are worlds apart.
Remember ...protect your bubble
I'm sorry to burst anyone's bubble but SPORITVES AREN'T RACES.
They're no more competitive than my local chaingang.
Anyone who thinks they are is kidding themselves.
If they were races they would need far more marshalling and their courses would be severely restricted.
The only bubbles being burst here are those of the wannabe Pros who've just never been good enough to make it and who therefore like to pretend at the weekend that their hobby is something a lot more serious than it really is.
Edit: actually, that sounds a bit harsh. At least they're not clogging up the end of railway platforms....... in their anoraks.
sportives are road racing for golfists who keep fit.
& that's from someone who likes sportives.
[i]The only bubbles being burst here are those of the wannabe Pros who've just never been good enough to make it and who therefore like to pretend at the weekend that their hobby is something a lot more serious than it really is.[/i]
...said the man who never raced.
How do you think sport works?
Do you think that professional sports people emerge, fully formed from the womb?
Or maybe the grass roots of sports are important, maybe that is where the professionals of tomorrow learn how to do a sport well, maybe there is the opportunity for people to pass on skills, to support others, to help them reach their goal. Fannying about in sportives isn't going to produce the next Roger Hammond, David Millar and so on, racing will.
Poor troll druidh. Poor troll.
Passing down any of the knowledge I have has been a fairly rewarding substitute in part.
Forming the club last summer, teaching newcomers how to ride fast in a group, sharing the etiquette, letting them know what to expect on the day etc and then to have one of your guys pick up a second place in the clubs first race of the year. Well that was more than pleasant.
Ah yes - passing on the old ways is important. How else will the next generation of trainspotters know where to get the best view of the 10:18 from Doncaster? 😛
[i]Ah yes - passing on the old ways is important.[/i]
That's why you have a blog?
Are you suggesting I'm old??
AGEIST!!!!
No, I'm suggesting you are being deliberately obtuse in your disparaging of racing at any level other than world championship. It's a poor trolling attempt, and you have fallen a great deal in my estimation due to it.
Mere children! The guys I ride with are late 50s - early 60s and they just ride the events they feel happy with. Some of them are elite vet triathletes, some like me are old bimblers who tour round at the back of events. Don't obsess about it, just ride what you enjoy.