Racing philosophy

[RyanC]

I may be moving on at the end of the month, so I thought it timely to share my thoughts on my years with TS.

I have learned a lot about myself during my time with TS. I am grateful for the intensity of these early morning rides and for the opportunities these rides afforded me to try out strategies that might potentially prove worthless in races. I learned to constantly push the pace, no mater how much I was suffering, knowing that everyone else was suffering too. That experience taught me to take risks I would never before have tried, such as kilo-long attacks that looked for all the world like kamikaze efforts, only to find I could hold those charges and get to the line first. Much of my racing confidence in the past 3 years has come from these experiences. I want to thank you all for being so frickin' tough. I have raced for 25 years and have rarely experienced such a bunch of nutbars dedicated to making sure each ride is a sufferfest. I tell from personal experience that this syle of training (with some suggestions toward winter LSD riding for mental rest purposes, at the very least) is what has made me -at 46- into a better rider than ever I was in my 20s.

Whatever your philosophy of racing, please let me offer this testimonial: Racing is about driving the pace. Listen to Roland and follow his lead. Watch Josh destroy himself in the last k and learn. Making the race yours is about attacking and recovering - and attacking again and again. Find your limits and exceed them in training; ride like you're insane in these events and you will surprise everyone, most of all yourselves. Don't follow wheels looking for a sucker to rope in the last kilo. Rarely is racing about conservation - no matter what anyone tells you, making it to the podium is not half as rewarding as making the race. If you sit on wheels all day, in training or racing, only to charge the last kilometer and hit the line first, it's all for naught. Raise your stakes and take huge risks to make the race your own. Anyone can sandbag and then sprint but can you find that extra little bit of courage when you're on the rivet and the game is on? Can you pick the time to blow the race apart and risk being second? Which rider do you want be?

What successes I have found, I have created because I believed that making a race was more important than winning one. I am most proud of the races I have been in this year where I was not first but arguably the most aggressive rider. Barry's Roubaix comes to mind. I was third that day but, in some of the most horrendous riding conditions I can ever recall, I chose to drive the race. I attacked decisively with 5 laps to go and held off the entire field except the two strongest guys in the race, who powerfully chased me down and worked me over in the last 2k. While third place might not seem like much, I was just as proud of that result as I was this past Sunday at Cherry Point, where I pushed myself at a limit I had learned I could hold for the duration and won. I would never have known that limit had I raced or trained conservatively.

So, I challenge you, racers and newbies, all. If you want to ride at your limit, that's great. However, if you want to find new ground, ride in training the way you dream you can ride. Who cares if you blow apart the first dozen times? Eventually you will outlast the bunch and, if my experience is worth anything, you will feel like twice the rider for the effort.

Regards,
R

[Dylan J C]

Ryan,

You will be missed in morning rides, races and everything else (even helping to keep the human chicken wing warm)

I enjoyed your sentiments about always pushing the limits, in racing and training. This ties into other posts on the forum about strong b riders moving up to a, c riders moving up to b and so forth, even if you get dropped you can ride into coffee and laugh about how hard you pushed yourself before getting dropped. When I started coming out with Tripleshot in February I was usually dropped by the group around Clover point or even King George

So thanks Ryan for all your help over the past few months and helping me become a stronger rider and racer, from the freezing kid at Armstrong Hill, to helping Adam and I manage at race the ridge all the way through passing me at the BC TT championships, I have learned a lot from you, in many aspects.

Thanks,
DC

[Josh.E]

Hey Ryan

I'm also going to be very sorry to see you go. There's a small handful of people I've met so far in my years with tripleshot who have truly inspired me as a rider, and you're one of the people at the top of that list. You've redefined what tough on a bike means to me, and what a willingness to suffer and lay it on the line on a bike can teach you about yourself.
As recently as this morning.....I read your post last night and it inspired me to get my sorry ass out of bed and to my 1 minute intervals workout, even though every muscle in my body is shredded, and I had myself convinced my rest day needed to be shifted to today. Whaddya know? turned out to be a great workout once I pushed through the pain of getting going.

Hopefully we'll see eachother a whole lot during the race season next year. Maybe still meet or travel to some races together? There's no reason you couldn't still fly the TSC colors while living in Vancouver, right?

Josh

[Jimmy]

Ryan,

Very inspiring and insightful reading for all of us and I'm sorry to hear that you'll be leaving. I hope to see you out with us again when back on the rock.

Cheers,
Jimmy

[Alan]

We'll miss you Ryan, even though I didn't see a lot of you in the last few months (you're too fast for me), your sheer guts in racing reminds me of a quote of that famous US middle-distance runner Steve Prefontaine who once said:
"A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into an exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more."

Best of luck in your future endeavours....

[jj12]

Best of luck ryan with everything it was good to meet you at tripleshot. Cheers.

[Evan.Carey]

5 out of 5. Thank you as well for all the direction and dedication to the club.