Finding fun in un-un-racing

[Bill Lindsay]

Being the team mechanic for the local High School Mountain Bike Racing team has been pretty inspirational.  Seeing the kids set goals and make competitive progress has been an almost fountain of youth experience for this 47 year old un-racer.  At the end of season team party, the head coach announced the kids one at a time, and among other accomplishments kept referring to the kids' time in "the time trial".  I didn't know what that was.  The coach pointed me to a Strava segment, called "BHS Time Trial".  Here's a link:  https://www.strava.com/segments/1963179

So, I went ahead and got my free Strava App on my iPhone and went up into the Berkeley Hills to check it out.  My goal was to beat the time of our slightly plump 50-something Coach Gary.  I was told he was in the 14:45 range.  The ride is a short but steep climb, and it is extremely rocky.  Climbing out of the saddle is completely out of the question and it's a physical challenge maintaining balance and keeping the bike pointed up the hill.  My first attempt was last week, the 11th, and I did it in 13:32.  My second attempt was this weekend, and I did it in 12:16.  I'm told that 12:00 is the traditional cutoff for the A-Group of racers, so I've got a measurable training goal.  I'm not racing, but I'm not un-racing either, so I'm going to call it "un-un-racing".  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[Jan Heine]

Good job! A career change to mountain bike pro may be in order! Or more likely, it's surprising what a lifetime of cycling will give you in skills.

I think what people mostly are reacting to when they identify as "Un-Racers" are the attitudes of racers (or more often, wannabe racers), rather than the fact that pushing yourself a bit can be fun. When we are returning from a long trip in the mountains with panniers on our bikes, and every "racer" on the (flat) bike trail picks us as a target, passing us, and then slowing down exhausted, it gets tiring. 

But that doesn't mean that riding a performance bike isn't fun, and the better the bike performs, the more fun it can be. In fact, I sometimes give in to the temptation and up the pace myself, drop the wannabe racers, and then keep up the pace, if only to get home sooner. Feeling the bike in sync with my pedal strokes and my entire body working hard is fun.

The true high-level racers I've known are usually very pleasant. They don't need to prove to everybody how fast they are – if you want to race, line up at the start line! It's the non-racers who treat every commute as a competition, and every guy (or even better, woman) on a heavily loaded bike as an opportunity.

It's easy to confound "anti-attitude" with "anti-performance", but I think that is a mistake. Cycling is fun in part because of its speed. Otherwise, we could be walking. That doesn't mean that we should prioritize speed over everything else – comfort and fun are more important. But when the gains come without penalties, such as wide supple tires – faster, more comfortable and more puncture-resistant – or frames that get in sync with your pedal strokes ("planing") – lighter, more fun at any power output – then it makes sense to embrace them.

Fortunately, the image of a "performance bike" is changing. No longer is it a harsh-riding machine with skinny tires pumped to 100 psi or more. With the new "Gravel" and "Allroad" bikes, the industry finally is espousing what this group has been about all along.

Jan Heine

Editor

Bicycle Quarterly

www.bikequarterly.com

[dstein]

Ha! That is literally the first 'mountain bike' ride I went on when I briefly owned a salsa el mariachi, except I did the loop all the way around seaview and down quarry back to the parking spot where you started. It almost completely turned me off mountain biking all together. 3 mtn bikes and several trails later I'm still going strong though. I do take my dog on that hike all the time though and often think about that first ride and how shitty it was. So many loose rocks.

[Mark in Beacon]

I think this is true to an extent. But you are in an elite bracket of riders, and have obvious innate abilities combined with a keen interest in performance maximization as well as fun and comfort. When you say "But when the gains come without penalties" it's not like speed is always free. I know you've written that many of the equipment performance gains happen in the final 5% zone, just like with the motor--ie, training and conditioning the body. So there is the literal cost of lightweight frames that plane--to get that 5% you are probably going to spend proportionally a lot more money. (Ditto supple tires.)

The great majority of cyclists are not interested in performance as defined by setting goals, or beating one's times, or racing. Many people use bicycles as a means to an end (I know you do, to), and in that capacity can have, arguably, just as much fun on a heavier bike not built for maximum speed performance, but, for example, for maximum hauling and longevity at a price point. And let's remember, speed is often an illusion, which is why people on those skinny 100psi tires think they are going faster. To go faster, I often ride at night. Sure, if all your optimizing gets you an extra mile or two an hour, that makes a big difference on a 400k brevet. But not so much on a 6-mile commute. Still beats walking by a few hours.

I have had my share of bicycles oriented to speed performance over the years, the latest being a Lyons 650b, purchased after reading your review in BQ. I like it. But these days--to be fair partly due to circumstances--most of my riding is done on my Rivendell Clementine, which is a blast to ride (but doesn't plane and is decidedly not fun to carry up a couple flights of stairs.) I'm a big fan of Compass tires and I had plans to upgrade to Switchbacks but I'm not sure how much I would notice after the initial couple of rides--not for the riding I do with this bike, anyway. Still, if only to satisfy my curiosity, and because BQ has turned me into a bit of a tire snob, I am saving up!

I don't think it's anti-performance as much as not feeling the need to chase every speed optimization. I think the majority of the bicycles in the world don't need to be built to plane, and even if they were, this factor would go unnoticed by 98% of non-elite, non- "enthusiast" riders. I am currently working on a test to prove this statement ;^)

In any case, most future Compass customers will in all likelihood be recruited from the pool of those very same wannabe racers that need to be converted to fat tires, not the people who bought the gazillions of relatively wide-tired comfort and mountain bikes that sit in the garage because they are the equivalent of the majority of home exercise machines, which end up functioning as clothes butlers. Those folks will stay in their cars to the bitter end.

On Monday, June 20, 2016 at 6:44:12 PM UTC-4, Jan Heine wrote:

It's easy to confound "anti-attitude" with "anti-performance", but I think that is a mistake. Cycling is fun in part because of its speed. Otherwise, we could be walking. That doesn't mean that we should prioritize speed over everything else – comfort and fun are more important. But when the gains come without penalties, such as wide supple tires – faster, more comfortable and more puncture-resistant – or frames that get in sync with your pedal strokes ("planing") – lighter, more fun at any power output – then it makes sense to embrace them.

[Philip Kim]

Well said, Jan. I agree. I usually "race" my own times on my commute to and from work. Though in the morning it's just called "woke up late again, pedal harder to get in on time".

On Monday, June 20, 2016 at 6:44:12 PM UTC-4, Jan Heine wrote:

[Patrick Moore]

I agree with Jan, but also with Mark -- but then, I see no real conflict, just 2 different populations. Me, I am a recovering compulsive time trialer who used to turn every commute into a record effort, and as I got older -- into my mid 50s -- that became less and less fun. So, over the last 5-7 years I've gradually learned to take it easier (I removed all the computers), and I enjoy riding more. 

But, I still like to ride "energetically", still time myself, and especially -- and this is a key point, I think -- I enjoy the feel of a bike optimized, at least to a degree, for efficiency and speed. After all, one of the great pleasures of cycling is, to use my brother's phrase, the sensation of efficient motion.

I think that even casual riders will get more pleasure from a relatively efficient bike than from one that, say, is needlessly heavy or that has wooden tires.

[Mark Reimer]

Jan, ya nailed it!

I've been racing for the last 6-7 years, and it's been fun, but lately have been focusing much more on pushing myself in other ways - longer distance, more consecutive days of long distance, extreme cold s24o's, whatever. Just new things to challenge myself. And at the same time, I enjoy putting around the park on my albatross atlantis with a beer in hand. Point is, you don't have to be a "racer" to enjoy pushing yourself. And you also don't have to push yourself to enjoy yourself :) 

Today I rode to work an averaged about 15km/h haha. Smelling the flowers. Then on Saturday I'm doing a 180km/h trail ride in the rain, followed by another 240km of trails over the next two days, camping, and forecast calls for a lot of rain. I like to think I'm a balanced human being. 

[Scott McLain]

Hi Bill,

I think it is great that you are serving you community as a volunteer!  So I am just curious... What kind of bike are you riding the hill climb on?

Scott

[Bill Lindsay]

Hi Scott

In order to familiarize myself with the equipment my kids are riding, I bought a contemporary mountain bike.  It is a Niner RLT9 Carbon hardtail.  It's got a 2x10 drivetrain, a suspension fork, hydraulic disc brakes.  After I've done the hill climb a few times, I'm thinking of tackling it on my FatLantis.  It will be interesting to see the time comparisons.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[Deacon Patrick]

That will be fascinating! Let us know. I would imagine no suspension will speed the climb.

With abandon,

Patrick

[ascpgh]

Very true. Stumbled into Mountain Bike Specialists in Durango, CO, having wandered over the mountains from Lake City to Silverton then into town from the north, my friend in dire need of some truing work on his RockHopper's front wheel. The sign at Lake San Cristobal south of Lake City said "SIlverton 28 Miles". How could we go wrong for a lunch and back trip? Look at a topographic map, we didn't.

In the store (owner Ed Zink was early advertiser in the Fat Tire Flyer), a short, slight guy named Ned helped us and was very nice, knew plenty about the area trails and complimented us on our Supra24O that brought us to town. Only months later did I put it together that it was Ned Overend who helped us. 

Trail damage righted and more climbing and descending than we bargained for, we headed to Pagosa Springs on the road and east up Wolf Creek Pass hoping to make good distance towards Creede before dark. All the good fortune collected on that trip to protect us and a westbound truck stopped when they recognized us. They gave us a ride back to Creede and asked "how'd y'all get all the way to Pagosa to climb Wolf Creek Pass?"

"These bikes." we said.

"Damn. That must've been a hell of a ride." he said.

It was.

Andy Cheatham

Pittsburgh

On Monday, June 20, 2016 at 6:44:12 PM UTC-4, Jan Heine wrote:

[Bill Lindsay]

The Deacon speculated:

 

 "I would imagine no suspension will speed the climb."

That's a possibility, but the trail is extremely rocky, so I think the suspension fork allows me to plow through things that a rigid fork might get bounced off-line.  That's why it's worth experimenting.  To dstein's point above, this is an extremely un-fun trail to ride.  If 'mountain biking' was exclusively that kind of trail, I also would probably never do it.  I think of it purely as a benchmark and a fitness test.  

Ironically, when I was doing that ride, the thing that occurred to me was Grant's writing about exercise in Eat Bacon, Don't Jog.  He say's exercise should be intense and unpleasant.  You should be elated that it's over with.  I definitely feel that way about this hill climb.  It sucks!  

Regarding rigid-vs-suspended, I also ponied up for a Niner rigid fork, that I haven't set up yet.  When set up full rigid, my Niner is expected to weigh just a hair over 21 pounds.  So if I can do the climb in 12 minutes on a 24lb suspended mountain bike, how fast will I be on a 21.5lb rigid mountain bike, and how fast on a 27pound Atlantis with 2" knobbies?  I have no idea how it will shake out.  My guess is that my time will have more to do with how I'm performing on a given day, and will actually have very little to do with the equipment.  All my kids think that the only thing slowing them down is the weight of their bike.  I think they are mistaken

Bill

[Deacon Patrick]

Ahhh, yes. I suspect that kind of climbing that would justify a suspension fork. What truly matters, is that you have fun not having fun! Grin.

With abandon,

Patrick

[Bill Lindsay]

The embroidered badge for the El Cerrito High School Mountain Bike Racing Team should have the slogan:

"have fun not having fun! Grin."

[Deacon Patrick]

Go for it!