Last week, we did a local century on country back roads. There were signs along the way for a couple of participants: family put up signs that said, "so proud of you." etc.
We did a century in Amish country a few weeks ago. Rode with a group called the Spokesmen for awhile. They live all over the PA, VA, MD, DC, DE area and get together for these events, some from as far away as IL, just to meet up and ride as a group. They were having a total blast. There was a young woman who got into the middle of the group. She'd been riding alone and had been struggling. The group came along and she felt the slipstream pull her in. She worked hard to make sure she didn't get dropped, then snugged into the middle of the group. Whee. You could see the look of relief on her face.
She looks over at one of the riders and says, "wow. This is so much easier. I don't think I would have made the 100 miles if you hadn't come along." (you work about 35% less when you're drafting)
Girl next to her says, "No one can do these things alone honey."
Of course, we can and DO complete centuries alone, it's just that there's nothing wrong with a little teamwork. No one even gave a shit that she never pulled - took the lead.
I thought that exchange was so emblematic of why these things are fun - the interesting mixing of individual and communal experience, of stoic aloneness combined with the good fun of riding in a pack where you have to coordinate and get into a rhythm.
But yeah, I agree that the fad for sports these days is mainly about the fact that people know they need to exercise to stay healthy. Sitting on our asses is turning out to be the prime cause of so much of our problems - healthwise. As far as I can see, everyone is having a blast taking up these sports - whether it's running marathons, ultramarathons, centuries, randonneuring, triathalons, the mud runs/races, etc.
The recent emergence of the Gran Fondo is another example of that mix of doing it for fun/for a fitness goal . At the ones I've been to, there will be marching bands and cheerleaders at rest stops, with people on the front lawns cheering you on. They turn it into a big celebratory event and you get medals and chip-timed. Some can compete if they wish, but I'd say only about 100 out of the 1000 riding were actually racing competitively.
At 09:52 AM 9/22/2013, Andy wrote:
>I think there are a couple of things going on here. One is that running
>has gotten far more popular - not just major marathons get sold out
>regularly to the point that they have qualifiers - and the sport is no
>longer the realm of fanatics. I just find it funny how the author takes
>both a national threat and a knock on one's own achievement that his PB or
>whatever was against not just his performance cohort but less competitive
>people. Like, so what? Your time is your time. Run your own race, as the
>ultramarathoners say. And you have your own cohort to mentally goad you on.
>That can be part of the fun of it.
>
>I went on a Color Run last year, and as you put it, it was all about the
>play. Not everybody can run all of a 5K, so what. You do it, have fun, get
>plastered with brightly colored corn starch and there's a mini-rave at the
>end. It's a little commercial, but it's a touch of the dancing in the
>streets that Ehrenreich wrote about.
>
>There is something similar and more widespread in cycling, the invitational
>ride that many clubs organize. Usually it's centered around a century, 100
>miles, with options for shorter distances. Often there are rest stops with
>somebody's special dish for food and some live music, and a picnic at the
>end. It's something people train up for, but emphatically not any sort of
>competition, nor a "disease ride" as one sage described them. Alas, I'm
>missing out on one right now because I spent my summer getting my exercise
>with physical therapists.
>
>There are also other opportunities to shoot for excellence without
>competition per se. There's this form of bike riding that emerged in France
>around the same time as The Tour where a group of cyclists will try to
>cover long distances over a set time period. It evolved so as to discourage
>professional participation - there are no prizes for first or whatever,
>just a certificate of completion (it feels very French that way). Unlike
>pro racing you can't get outside mechanical assistance outside of
>checkpoints except from other cyclists, and teamwork is encouraged. It's
>more of a challenge than the invitational rides -- the capstone is a 1200km
>ride to be completed within 90 hours. The original, the Paris-Brest-Paris,
>is a major event. I think the average age of the participants is close to
>50.
>
>
>--
>Andy
>"It's a testament to ketchup that there can be no confusion."
>___________________________________
>http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
-- http://cleandraws.com Wear Clean Draws ('coz there's 5 million ways to kill a CEO)