I Learned Something I Already Knew.

Despite what the bicycle industry will tell you, no matter how much technology or money you throw at the problem, no matter how much you optimize stiffness/weight/compliance/whatever, one fact remains unchanged.
  
I can lose on anything.
  
I've lost races on every bicycle imaginable. I've lost races by large margins on carbon superbikes. I've lost races on lower-tier aluminum by small margins. I've flipped that script in any number of ways. I've managed to lose races across the spectrum in such a comprehensive fashion that I can't make any real correlation between how much a bike costs and how much I'm going to lose by while riding it. All I know is that if it has two wheels and a crankset, I can probably avoid winning on it.
 
You have to admire my consistency.
  
Saturday's crit was another example of that. I opted for the Moots with some low-profile aluminum wheels because of the wind. It was plenty stiff and had the requisite snap. Even in my weakened state, I still probably had the best jump in the pack. However, I decided to pile mistake upon mistake when it came time to go, and managed to pull off a spectacular loss. It wasn't my choice of frame material or depth of my wheels that lost it for me. It was purely my inability to realize what everyone else does.
  
I suck.
  
Still, I love my bikes. I was reminded of how pretty they are as I finally got around to cleaning them on Sunday morning. Deep section wheels may not make me win any more, but they certainly make a bike look faster, and if I can't ride fast, at least I can look fast at the start line.
 
And fat. Really, really fat.
 
I don't think I can race myself into shape this year, as if that was possible. If I brought some sort of form to the table, I could race myself into contention in a real race, but it's kinda obvious to me that I'm going to have to put in a lot of miles and find a way to put down the fork.
 
Otherwise I'm just going to keep losing on any bike that happens to be unfortunate enough to be ridden by me.

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