So the skinny fast kid on Team FMVC (Matt) asks, "Hey Brian, do you ever race on the road? You know, like in crits?" My response..... "Dude, one thing I learned real quick standing in the neutral pit at an ACA criterium race is that there is a serious amount of skin and flesh left out on the street surface. I tear myself up enough just racing CX. I have zero desire to join the crash fest that is crit racing and hit the asphalt at 25mph ." "But", I continuted, "you might be OK running in the Cat 3s if you can stay off the front." Matt repsonds, "Naw, I am going to start with the 4's and try to learn some first."
Then today, my sis sends me this link. BSNYC mentioned it so that means that nearly half a million cyclists have viewed it. But for those few who have not viewed this video, it sums up Cat 4 criterium racing in a tidy 10 seconds.
You race the Crash 4's Matt, I have a big ol stack of Tegaderm that I will bring with me in case the line to see EMT is too long and you are afraid you will bleed out before he can get to you.
You are all winners!...and losers.
ReplyDeleteFor just a moment we should consider road racers as a species. You may choose to consider them as a virally infected subset of the hu-man species (think Zombieland)... Maybe more refined like a pack of nervous whippets ready for the rabbit chase. Associating with them is... troubling. They are so stoic, so ... hot.Think of narrow hipped, dare I say, metrosexuals ( to be so 90s). Now, I get fitness, I get the thrill of the psycho drama. Hard man sport and all, but Jesus - lighten up, there are other sports that are hard too. So, just recognize you are going across the border into a foreign border town. The customs and rituals are different. Culture shock is inevitable. Be prepared.
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