On racing and sadism

Triathlon Forum
1

i’ve been in an ununusual position a couple of times this cyclocross season… while racing, i’ve found myself in a position where it was tactically advantageous to go very very hard and make people hurt.

time #1:
men’s B race, chainbiter. i’m somewhere between 60th and 70th (of 110, which i’d thought was a huge field until i saw the start lists for nats), riding at the back of a group of about 6. i see that 2 riders ahead of me is a UConn rider. since this is one of the ECCC (collegiate) races, it is in the best interest of the team for me to finish ahead of him, even though i’m not exactly racing for the win. so i muster up what little fast-twitch muscle and what little roadie know-how i have, and i attack the crap out of him, making him work to pull me back and re-attacking whenever he catches me. of course this shatters the group and pisses a bunch of people off, but i put the hurt on UConn guy and he eventually dropped out. Rutgers, by the way, took 1st overall at that race.

time #2:
collegiate race, nittany lion 'cross. since this is a collegiate-only race, everyone from the go-fast guys to the riding-a-full-susp-mongoose guys are lined up together at the start. wonder of wonders, i get the holeshot (this NEVER happens). at the first turnaround, i look back and see that i’ve got UPenn on my wheel, with two more Rutgers guys behind him. there’s about a 2 second gap to the next group, which contains 2 more Rutgers and 2-3 Penn State guys. There’s only 1 UPenn in the race, but there’s a lot of Penn Staters… with regards to the overall, it is best to drop the Penn State guys, even if that means working for UPenn. so i drill it, leading for 3/4 of a lap. when UPenn finally attacks, i let one of my teammates cover it… but the gap between my group and the Penn State group is something like 30-45 seconds.

i enjoy training and racing, and i have that same masochistic streak that we all do. however, now that i’ve finally experienced circumstances in which i can see the effects of my efforts (i love hairpin turns, where you can see the faces of the guys in the next group), i’ve realized how much of a thrill it is to put the hurt on people.

has anyone else expereinced this sadistic pleasure? maybe at the turnaround of a bike or run, or after a race? chime in!

2

Do you continuously strike yourself with a jockey whip as you ride? Heeyah!

3

I did that kind of thing in road races all the time. Just for the fun of it.

4

I did that kind of thing in road races all the time. Just for the fun of it.
Nurd

5

so you know what i’m talking about. even when it’s not a tactically sound move, going hard for the sake of putting the hurt on others is just plain fun.

6

yes indeed…enjoy doing itin training sessions when some dork decides he’s gonna sit on my wheel to the whole time …

7

I think I know what you’re getting at. In running races I used to like the turnaround - you get to see what the people in front of you and behind you are doing, and HOW they are doing. When I’d see them hurt, I knew it was time to push just a little bit harder…

8

You’re just pi$$ed that your tongue got caught in your spokes… ;^)

9

yes, exactly! or, when you hear ragged breathing behind you, even if you don’t know/care who they are, you run just a little faster, exploiting their weakness because you can.

i’ve tried racing within myself, feeling all zen. it never works, so i leave that to training. when i’m racing, i’m in it to tear someone’s legs off.

10

something to ponder:

if you read the title too fast, it sorta becomes “racism”… which is bad

11

bump (i’ll only do one)
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