Why do I bother?

I always come last (or so close to it that it doesn’t matter).

Another MTB race over the weekend, and another wooden spoon for the mantle piece. So I am forced to ask myself the question “Why am I doing this?”.

If I do a bit of navel gazing, I see that when it comes to competitiveness, I must have been standing behind the door when this “spirit” was dished out. To put it bluntly, I don’t give a rats arse about not coming first.

BUT (note the emphasis using capital letters), I am passionate about not coming last. The very thought of coming last at something raises my blood pressure. So, if that is the case, then I am just as happy not winning as I am at not coming last.

My last 2 MTB races have seen me place in the last 5 at each event, so on a personal competitive level, I am kicking goals. However, if I really put some grey-matter into it, I must be racing for more than just the placing.

So what is it that motivates me to participate in races where I know I’m going to be close to last?

Here’s my top 3 things I love about mountain bike racing:

1. The competitive banter on the start line. As I’ve already said, I’m not a competitive person, but I love hearing and engaging in the bullshit that gets spoken on the start line; “hey mate, your front tyre is looking a bit flat” is a favourite. The nervous energy that seems to engulf even the calmest people brings out some excellent jest.

2. Being photographed by professional looking photographers. This makes me feel like a superstar, even though I’m usually sweating like a Sumo wrestler when the flash pops, and probably looking like a crazed loon with a look of extreme pain on my face. I say probably here, because even though these professional looking photographers take pictures of me and post their images on the web, I’ve never EVER seen a photo of myself at a mountain bike race (I put this down to my sweat-stained grimace not being attractive enough for the internet).

3. The mid-race encouragement from the speedsters. I am always in awe of the “elite” riders who pass me like I’m standing still (I’m not far off being stationary most of the time during a race). You can hear their wheels hammering over rocks and obstacles, then the call of “rider” from behind, which tells me to get out of their way while they zoom past. Of course, they could leave it at that, but I really love it when they give me a bit of encouragement: “c’mon, keep pedalling” or “keep going, you’re looking strong”. Even though I know they are lying, it tells me a lot about the person who has just passed me, and I really get a boost from it.

So why do I bother participating in mountain bike races? Because I love it, that’s why!!

6 Hour Training (Generally) Ontrack

I’ll be riding the Jarrahdale 6 Hour with a mate, in a team of two. I am told the track is about 9.5km, so the target is to ride a minimum of 9 laps (assumption we average 15km/h between us), barring mechanical or biological breakdowns.

I’ve left myself a pretty short period to get in shape for this event. There is a very good reason for this.

Time. Or more appropriately, lack of it.

I often wonder just how much better I would be if I just had TIME to put into training. Prior to my effort at the Karri Cup late last year, I spent a lot of time training, to the detriment of my home life (unhappy wife and a child who barely recognised me). And I still only managed to finish in the back half of the field (8hrs 1min to ride 100km, average ~12.5km/h).

I take from that a bit of a Homer-ish lesson. “Can’t win, don’t try”. Well, maybe not going to that extreme, but there is another lesson there, I believe. Know your limitations, and work within them.

And my major limitation is TIME. With work, fatherly duties and husbandly duties I have very little time left for training duties. Basically, I have only a few hours a week (at maximum maybe 7) where I can spin the pedals and improve my fitness for riding/racing (that includes travel to and from trail heads, which is why I have put more focus on interval training and gym sessions this time).

So the plan was to begin (in earnest) my training this week (I started on Monday), and try and get my 7 hours training in each week for the next 4 weeks. I plan to basically train right up until the event, with a day or 2 off prior to the race. So I am doing a combination of riding on the wind trainer (2 x 1 hour sessions/week, before work), gym sessions (2 x 1/2 hour sessions/week, after work) and trail riding (1 x 2 hour session/week, sometime on the weekend, plus travel time of about 2 hours). This is carefully planned to avoid any “disappointment” from the better half.

Already I have a spanner thrown into the cogs this week. I have met my goals for the wind trainer and the gym, but the fatherly and husbandly duties have once again taken precedent this weekend, so no trail riding time for me this week. I might be able to swing an extra long trail riding session next weekend. We’ll see.

I just hope I don’t let my team mate down on the day.