why race?

Race season is soon approaching and it makes me think of a question I’ve asked myself quite often…Why do I race?

I find my self diving on average 6 hours most weekends of the summer to go to races, often times places that I would never go if there hadn’t been a race there, sometimes in conditions (very hot, raining) that I would normally never ride in, and After adding up the cost of gas , race license, normal wear on car, registration, it costs me about $75+ a week. Plus all the time involved, an entire day maybe more because the evening before the race you need to …

Find and Pack all race gear and food in car………..1.5 hours

Making fixes to bike to make sure it is race ready……….. On average 1 hour

Another less measurable cost is the mental one. There is less riding just to ride, when you race you do training rides that are sometimes not very fun and painful (hill intervals, LT intervals, sprint intervals) you may feel under pressure to train hard to perform at you personal best come race day.

Why would anyone want to put themselves through all of this?

Some may say that they want to find out how good they are. this is an ok reason for the first few time s someone races but after that you should have a good idea of how you stack up.

Professional athletes from more popular and lucrative sports often say they compete for their fans or God and country. I don't believe people who say that . There may be others that motivate these athletes to better themselves but in my opinion the root of why we compete is the same…

1…….So we can have some sense of accomplishment that comes along with training and being better than others.

2…….So others will like and respect us, so we can have a bit more self worth.

3……..To have fun

4…….. To make money (not really a factor in mountain biking unless you are one of the top 5 in the nation)

Depending on the person and the situation varying degrees of these four reasons
In future deep thoughts I will explain in greater detail just what these reasons mean and how to determine which reason is driving you to race and how it effects others around you.