#!markdown
In chocolatefoot parlance… 'meh', really. I ride, I race. Entering a race acts
as additional motivation to get out on the bike when the weather isn't so
great or encourages me to make time to ride rather than thinking 'aaargh, too
much work to do'. I'm approaching 40, and I hate gyms, which means riding is
my only chance at keeping the gut at bay so having the additional incentive to
do that extra 10km, climb another couple hills and session that descent
another couple times before heading home is a good thing.
I'm not going to win, but if I've paid £50 to enter a race and another £100 on
accommodation and diesel - I want to do the best I can, so getting a couple
more rides in as 'training' all contributes to reducing the excuses for a crap
result. I'm never going to win - there are ex-world cup racers in almost any
Masters category enduro start list in the UK, it's about doing as well as I
can and comparing myself against the other guys, and making the most of the
bike that i justified spending as much on as my car.
Most of my riding buddies don't enter races but it doesn't mean they don't
race in their own way. Whether against each other or the random dude ahead on
the trail… who doesn't? Some used to do races when they were in their youth
but doing it every weekend sucked the fun out of it, and now it's anathema to
them. So yeah, for me, and 80% of the pack racing is just another facet to
this amazing thing called mountain biking, and some of us just want to do all
of the things because why not?
May 8, 2015, 10:48 a.m. - Nick Harewood
#!markdown In chocolatefoot parlance… 'meh', really. I ride, I race. Entering a race acts as additional motivation to get out on the bike when the weather isn't so great or encourages me to make time to ride rather than thinking 'aaargh, too much work to do'. I'm approaching 40, and I hate gyms, which means riding is my only chance at keeping the gut at bay so having the additional incentive to do that extra 10km, climb another couple hills and session that descent another couple times before heading home is a good thing. I'm not going to win, but if I've paid £50 to enter a race and another £100 on accommodation and diesel - I want to do the best I can, so getting a couple more rides in as 'training' all contributes to reducing the excuses for a crap result. I'm never going to win - there are ex-world cup racers in almost any Masters category enduro start list in the UK, it's about doing as well as I can and comparing myself against the other guys, and making the most of the bike that i justified spending as much on as my car. Most of my riding buddies don't enter races but it doesn't mean they don't race in their own way. Whether against each other or the random dude ahead on the trail… who doesn't? Some used to do races when they were in their youth but doing it every weekend sucked the fun out of it, and now it's anathema to them. So yeah, for me, and 80% of the pack racing is just another facet to this amazing thing called mountain biking, and some of us just want to do all of the things because why not?