HOW TO GAIN RESPECT IN THE BUNCH
WHEN YOU'RE NEW TO ROAD RIDING, or riding in a new area with a new group, it's superduper easy to feel dissed. Trust me, it's real and they know their doing it...
... because they don't know us.
We are an unknown,
a potential danger...
... a newb.
How to fix that:
- Be nice
- Be confident
That's it,
that's all you can do.
The dissing can come in many forms: cold shoulders, yelling at us, not letting us pull through, chopping our wheels, mocking us, etc...
... none of it is cool as far as I'm concerned.
As long as it's not dangerous, I mostly find it entertaining...
... even hilarious.
For example, at BWR UT this year, I was in the second group and we were closing on the leaders.
It was a hard effort, and I wanted to be as efficient as possible while still making it up to the front...
... I was spinning like a hamster wheel.
This tan, chiseled dude for a well-known team rides up and says...
... You're spinning too much.
Talk about a diss!
I just smiled, and said...
... Thank you.
We connected with the leaders,
flew out of town to the rollers.
I knew, having done the race before, that the rollers were deceiving and that there was a stout little hill at the end...
... then it was very fast double track for miles.
I let them go,
cleared the top on my own and did my thing...
... passing blown or unskilled rider after rider.
By the time we hit the pavement,
just in time to get in a paceline...
... I was back with the tan, chiseled disser and his merry group of graveleros.
We were rotating nicely,
his demeanor changed...
... Where are you from?
Yeah, we struck up a pleasant, friendly conversation.
Nothing changed.
I was the same rider.
- Nice
- Confident
After about 30 minutes of riding in a well-working paceline...
... we hit another challenging section.
I moved to the front...
... never saw them again.
It's always better, whenever possible, if we really feel it's necessary...
... to let the legs do the talking.
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163.1
8 hours
1 Rip On RaceDay circuit + more pushups, pullups & squats
20 minutes recovery
60 minutes reading + Journaling
