Why does one do this bicycle thing?

Ride time: 45 minutes at 145 BPM
core workout, stretching, sit-ups

Today, Coach Whale suggested I write about why I ride.


This is quite the topic, so I’ll try to give it the time it deserves. We’ll call this installation part one, and it will cover the basics. The obvious, clear, and easily understood motivations for a post-undergrad 23 year-old to spend an entire year living in his parent’s basement to train for a sport in which he has shown little previous talent.

As an outline:
Part 1: Personal motivations
2 Lifestyle
3 Culture
4 Competition
5 Health
6 Socially
7 Philosophically


The immediate gratifications I get, the most fleeting and temporary beauty I feel in riding a bicycle, come in racing. In a race I can focus like I cannot in any other aspect of my life. There is no outer world, no bike, no trail, and other riders are only peripheral. No longer am I the mastermind type with a hand in everything and invested in no one thing. A rider passing me quickly becomes nothing more than the urge to accelerate. Going as hard as possible, absolutely to the limit, gives me joy.

In a criterium, attacking just after the last preem sprint and doing the ITT for a few laps until the finish. It requires speed when I’m usually pretty spent, and it requires timing and forethought, cleverness, and the slightest amount of disregard for safety. When it works, everyone else it too smoked from the final preem to chase, and I’ve ridden away solo a few times. Occasionally some have come with me, but otherwise I can ride on my own.
In mountain biking, getting into the flow and rhythm of a trail is my goal. When I can stay off of the brakes through a corner and lean into it, keeping speed, and come out accelerating, it’s magic. It is necessary to focus, and the focus keeps me happy.

How about winning? I’ve only ever won one race; a practice crit in the 5s. Maybe it’s because I’ve never taken myself seriously as a racer. Last year, coming off of brutal bronchitis and an offseason plagued by schoolwork, I was somehow pretty quick on the bike. Suddenly, I could ride with the faster group on spring break, and I held my own in a cat. 5 road race coming in for 4th. I hadn’t raced the mountain bike in nearly a year, so I wondered whether I could stand up on my own in a WORS comp race.

It went reasonably well. My once-strong handling skills were rusty from all of the road riding, and my core muscles were weak, so I dogged it in for a mid-pack finish. But after a summer of riding the MTB, I had my handling skills back and landed a top 10 at the Fall Color Festival, 2nd in my age group.

So I’ve taken myself seriously, trained and stretched, done the sit-ups (I fucking hate sit-ups) and core workouts, and eaten better (I’ve only had Taco Bell once since 2008). However this season goes, I will someday look back and say I went for it and found my actual limits. I tend not to take many chances in other parts of my life. I am a calculating person, highly logical, and serious.

So I am focusing for this season. I am focused on winning, focused on always passing just one more person, focused on 2nd being a loss, focused on not letting the weather or course conditions influence my attitude. This season I have an opportunity that I will not have in other seasons, or perhaps ever again in my life.

For now, this is why I ride. More next time.