Please, not another bike story. Worst news: no pics, just words.
Sorry, it’s Sunday night and Will and I raced bikes today. Bikes are the vehicle, the real story is community. The community of people who do this cyclocross thing. I consider myself very lucky to be a member.
I grew up in a large family. We had a Sunday ritual. Our present day Sunday shares many similarities.
The families: The Redzone cycling team of junior bike racers defines family! It is a veritable army of families. Brothers, sisters, parents, pets and even grandparents were witnessed today. There were husbands, wives, girlfriends, boyfriends and friends of friends. I saw spectators who brought their families. Thanks CT, Bob, Glenn, Sammy, Staci and many others.
Mutual respect: The fan support for all the days races is striking. Spectators are so close. Close enough to see the angst, the exhilaration and focus. I’m talking laser like focus. Many of the fans are well versed in cross but even those who are new to the sport, seem to get the internal battle that is cross racing. Racer’s goals are varied. Some strive for the podium (like the 20$ for 3rd place in 45+–grin), some battle to improve on last week, some try to keep someone in sight, some battle to finish and so on. The respect felt seems palpable. I respect racers in other races and I feel the same when I race. While coaching cross country all those years, I always thought that we should have a coaches or parents race. That’s how it feels when I race. Thank you.
Courage. Although its not life and death, racing takes courage. The guts to register and “toe the line.” Racers know they are exposed. Spectators see your results first hand. The results are published in public forever. Fatigue, frustration and as I once yelled in a race, “adversity” invariably ensues. This is witnessed for all to see. One has to be comfortable in your own skin. Self worth makes good peoples. So, to those who pin numbers and race their cross bike, I respect you and am pleased to share this community with you.
To the BikeClicks team who gave of their time to host this event; to those “peoples” who support us, cheer for us, band-aid our knees, and seem to get this craziness, I say thank you.
JMM
2 replies on “Cyclocross: A community worthy of gratitude…”
Great post and great perspective.
John – Loved this post so much it was the basis for one of my recent posts (http://www.runzen.com/). I am so glad to have 'found' CX a couple of years ago so I, too, can enjoy the families, mutual respect and courage. Oh and the cowbells.