Trust.
For better or worse, society is based on trust. We are constantly trusting that the other guy is going to follow an endless list of written and unwritten rules. We have no way of knowing what the other person's exposure to those rules are and how much importance they place on each one, but we have to trust our fellow man. Otherwise, we couldn't leave the safety of our own beds. Come to think of it, that implied "safety" relies on trust of thousands of nameless and faceless people. As the Shakespeare of our time, George Michael, once said," I gotta have faith, faith, faith. Baby." Such artful wordsmithing gives me the vapors.
When that trust is somehow betrayed, either intentionally or unintentionally, we feel hurt. In certain situations, sometimes we get hurt. I certainly trusted the driver of the municipal vehicle not to plow into the back of my car years ago. I trusted that the pack would lay off the brakes in that crit in July. In both cases, my trust was misplaced. In both cases I slapped on the Tegaderm, healed up as much as possible, and went right back to trusting. The alternative is to stay off the roads and not race anymore, and each of them seem to be equally unacceptable options to me.
It took me a while to fully trust the other drivers on the road (if that's even possible). My head was on a constant swivel for a while, which probably made me less safe because I was a constant ball of nerves and tension. I expect my next crit will be the same way. Maybe even every crit I ride from now until the day I stop pinning on a number. I hope not. Just because this unruly pack of individuals looking to simultaneously compete and protect their own skins failed to live up to my standards that one time shouldn't prevent me from giving them the opportunity to slow unexpectedly again. Wait...
I think the Road Division could do a bit more to convey the social norms of the polite world of criteriums. We sometimes make assumptions that because someone has raced for X amount of years or can put out X amount of watts they know what they're doing. We leave a lot unsaid, based on that assumption. I'm as guilty as anyone. I do stupid shit all of the time, and while sometimes being called on it stings for a while, I generally realize I'm a dumbass after a decade or so of reminders and correct my behavior. However, the best way for everyone to stay off the pavement as much as possible is not to wait for something to happen and then yell a lot, but rather state expectations up front. Education. We need more of that.
We need to build a trust based on mutual understanding, rather than blindly assume. Only then can I point fingers at everyone but myself because I fell down and went boom. Until then, it's all on me, because I'm the one that trusted. This is also unacceptable, because I'm never wrong. Except that one time.
One time is all it takes.
When that trust is somehow betrayed, either intentionally or unintentionally, we feel hurt. In certain situations, sometimes we get hurt. I certainly trusted the driver of the municipal vehicle not to plow into the back of my car years ago. I trusted that the pack would lay off the brakes in that crit in July. In both cases, my trust was misplaced. In both cases I slapped on the Tegaderm, healed up as much as possible, and went right back to trusting. The alternative is to stay off the roads and not race anymore, and each of them seem to be equally unacceptable options to me.
It took me a while to fully trust the other drivers on the road (if that's even possible). My head was on a constant swivel for a while, which probably made me less safe because I was a constant ball of nerves and tension. I expect my next crit will be the same way. Maybe even every crit I ride from now until the day I stop pinning on a number. I hope not. Just because this unruly pack of individuals looking to simultaneously compete and protect their own skins failed to live up to my standards that one time shouldn't prevent me from giving them the opportunity to slow unexpectedly again. Wait...
I think the Road Division could do a bit more to convey the social norms of the polite world of criteriums. We sometimes make assumptions that because someone has raced for X amount of years or can put out X amount of watts they know what they're doing. We leave a lot unsaid, based on that assumption. I'm as guilty as anyone. I do stupid shit all of the time, and while sometimes being called on it stings for a while, I generally realize I'm a dumbass after a decade or so of reminders and correct my behavior. However, the best way for everyone to stay off the pavement as much as possible is not to wait for something to happen and then yell a lot, but rather state expectations up front. Education. We need more of that.
We need to build a trust based on mutual understanding, rather than blindly assume. Only then can I point fingers at everyone but myself because I fell down and went boom. Until then, it's all on me, because I'm the one that trusted. This is also unacceptable, because I'm never wrong. Except that one time.
One time is all it takes.
Comments
Post a Comment