why am I training???



Mark Andrews

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Jan 21, 2004
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I am a reasonably strong cyclist and I train hard quite often although I often wonder why...

I live in South Korea (I am not Korean) and there are seemingly no real road riders or road races here, there are a few track riders and I recently went for a training ride with them (on the road) and it was really dumb because two of the riders were wealthy pro track riders and I spent half of my time waiting for them on the hills etc. which was funny/annoying.

There are some roadies? here with really nice bikes (colnago 10sp. etc.) but they are so slow and they have no style at all when they ride, some are even stupid enough to put mtb spd (egg beaters was the worst I saw) pedals on carbon Record cranks???

I enjoy riding although sometimes I wonder why I bother, I don't care if a bunch of Koreans pat me on the back and wow at how strong they think I am nor do I care for track racing at all.

Do you suffer a simular situation and if so how do you deal with it?
 
What's the problem; your the best rider you know! Go do some racing!!!!! What's to deal with.
 
Wouldn't you even consider the track or could you travel to another country to race? How about starting your own races (open roads or closed circuits)?
 
If there was road racing here I would be more than happy/rich although even trying to arrange any kind of racing here would be a bit of a joke considering the ability of what I have seen.

The people here (and in most of Asia) lack any sporting aggression and that seems to be the main reason for the lack of any real competitive cycling here.

They only have track racing because the riders get rich and the betting here on track riders is huge...
 
If I start riding track I think that it would be a bit boring (sorry to complain) compared to the road riding that I enjoy so much.

I like to see nice things when my lungs are almost bursting and I like the different situations that the road offers.

There are good mountains here and that is good for me, short sprints are one thing (that is what the track riders mainly do here when they train) but to do that and only that would be more than I am willing to accept...
 
And you don't fancy track racing? I'm sure you would like the endurance events and some of the Asian competitors at the world masters held in Manchester are very good riders.

What about non competitive goals, like riding around the country or making a record attempt at crossing the country (like the end to end ride)?
 
I may consider going over to Japan specifically to race if there is anything of real interest over there (I am sure that there is) even though it would cost quite a bit for me to get there and back etc.

My g/f is here and I get pretty much everything for free because of that which is a good reason to stay I suppose, I guess I will just try and see in the future what is available here.

There are some really nice bike shops here (c-40's etc.) and it seems impossible that I am the only one here is is really keen to try hard to be a better rider...
 
Why don't you put on a race and show them how it's done then? It has to be easier to host a race overseas than in a Western country. Maybe that will inspire the recreational riders to ride more competitively? Maybe the lack of road races is having the same effect on them as it is on you, making them wonder why they bother training?
 
I used to ride long distance and cycled from Tokyo to London (roughly 16,000 k's) with a minimum average of 150 k's each day and although that was nice I hve now switched to road riding (high tempo) and long distance touring is something that is pretty much in the past for me now (my touring gear/bike is not in the country and I cannot ride long distances on multiple days wit my road bike).

Thanks for your suggestion though.
 
The organising of races seems to be a good idea, there would be a few interested riders (I think) and with some money up for grabs (through sponsorship) may also give the guys here a reason to get out a bit more and become a little better at competitive riding...
 
Is there a national governing body that might be ablt to help you set up a race? You might even be able to make some cash from it (if money is an issue for you).
 
There might also be some people who use this forum that might be interested. Why not put a post in the Bike Cafe part?

You could also look at www.britishcycling.org.uk as they (I think) have some info describing what is involved in organising a race!
 
Originally posted by Mark Andrews
If I start riding track I think that it would be a bit boring (sorry to complain) compared to the road riding that I enjoy so much.

I like to see nice things when my lungs are almost bursting and I like the different situations that the road offers.

There are good mountains here and that is good for me, short sprints are one thing (that is what the track riders mainly do here when they train) but to do that and only that would be more than I am willing to accept...

Hi Mark,
I was browsing some old posts and yours struck a chord. But I think you answered your own question in this referenced post. You train because you enjoy riding, and being a better rider even if it is only measured against your own past performance is rewarding. You can ride a bit farther, a bit faster, with more confidence and skill on descents or in traffic. All of these things make riding more fun. Competition is something else entirely. You gotta love these kids who are able to devote a dozen or more hours a week to the bike, but personally, those days are behind me. I am simply looking for balance between family, work and me. Maybe you helped me answer the question for myself. SM:cool:
 

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