Thetford

Thetford

Saturday 26 April 2014

Not racing

This happens every now and then, stuff happens and family commitments get in the way so you end up missing out.  That is all it is though; its just that feeling that all your mates are racing and having 'fun' and you are not...but to your work mates and friends (who do not ride bicycles) they see it as you get a break and get to hang with the family.

This is true, but it does 'mess' with your noggin.   Anyway I will put up a picture of a race from last year as it happens, and as it happens I didn't finish that race either (its a good picture though).  But this blog is to get a message across about how I feel about the 'scene'.




The fact is I have lost motivation to actually race (it will come back) but its a problem because this sport is hard and you cant rely on team mates to help you; this is because they are the ones who normally want to beat you.  I have found a great friend in Jon Lightfoot though, and he is going great at the minute.  So that's the first thing off my chest in this blog; also I have good friends who are now in other teams which is not a bad thing either.


Which leads me in to what I actually want to get across; no matter what you do or how seriously you take this sport, it is just a sport.  It was 2008 when I decided to put shop kit on and pretend I'm a cyclist.  From then I have started my own clubs, been in super teams where the earth was promised as long as I coughed up some money in the first year (oh yes I fell for it) and now ride for the shop where it all started.  Two pieces of advice have stuck with me, the first was from Andy Cockburn "forget the team stuff just enjoy riding your bike", the second was from Gareth Hayes, "stick to riding with that fast bloke (Mick Powell) and stay with your local club".


And that's the rub folks, Sherwood Pines Cycles are my team, they are my local shop, they are a meeting point for so many of my friends and the staff are a great bunch of personalities.  Its a local shop for local people as Edward would say.