Hmmm, interesting. So in the end, you guys are bascially supporting doping via USAC*,**.
*or at least "doping controls**"
**or at least in the past
Wielding Jehovah's Cyclocross Battleaxe
- Thread starter Norm
- Start date
Hmmm, interesting. So in the end, you guys are bascially supporting doping via USAC*,**.
*or at least "doping controls**"
**or at least in the past
wow, I just read your reg page and I can't believe someone complained. There are many cycles in which racing passes through. I have a hard time keeping up, but can say that I have seen this cycle before. Speak up if you do not like what those above dictate. I did not attend this race because I stayed in bed when Art said it was raining in the morning, which is pretty normal for us.
I really don't want to discuss NJBA, but hope that any cross or mountain bikers have not been lost into a negative hole because of a narrow minded few. The sheer joy of riding a bike can be so positive, and racing can add even more. Grassroots racing on all levels is relevant!
I really don't want to discuss NJBA, but hope that any cross or mountain bikers have not been lost into a negative hole because of a narrow minded few. The sheer joy of riding a bike can be so positive, and racing can add even more. Grassroots racing on all levels is relevant!
BiknBen
Well-Known Member
So here I am. Feeling the need to clear the air a bit.
I am the one who provided the feedback to Norm about the BikeReg page. Last week, I had a conversation with a couple that were considering what race to go to over the weekend. Parents of a junior racer. As I am on Team MTBNJ, they felt comfortable asking me questions and providing their thoughts.
The conversation went something like this:
Them: Hey Ben, What's up with your race?
Me: What do you mean?
Them: I read the registration page and...well...I thought it was very unprofessional.
Me: Really? What do you mean?
Them: Well...I read it...and it is just off. (as I begin to bring it up on my phone)
I'm genuinely concerned that there is some type of huge grammatical error or obvious inconsistency. I try to skim the page's text and notice nothing. I look up at them kinda dumbfounded. As they didn't really offer much help, I read the entire thing again in search of some hidden message that I'm overlooking.
It was then that I realized that they didn't like the negative messages within the text. As I didn't have any way to explain away what they were thinking, we kinda just moved on in the conversation.
Knowing them and thinking about it further, I know they went to the reg page to learn more about the race they had no experience with. They are new to cross and gather info from wherever they can. In their mind, instead of info about a race, they read a long rant and were turned off to the event. As they are dog owners, I think the part about having to charge bike racers more while dog owner can let their dog shit everywhere for free really turned them off. With other race choices, they went elsewhere.
So, that was it. As Norm asked for feedback, I thought it was appropriate to bring this to his attention. No one complained. No one was being too serious or professional. It had nothing to do with NJBA or USAC. They read our reg page and were left scratching their head. Some people have only the BikeReg page to gather info and ours didn't encourage them to come to our race.
I have absolutely no issue with the text on the BikeReg page. Fun and edgy! As we read Norm's blog posts here, I think we are all used to it. In hindsight, I can understand why someone may be turned off.
Norm, you owe me a return phone call!
And for those that think I'm too serious...Don't make me pull Shaniqua back out of the basement.
I am the one who provided the feedback to Norm about the BikeReg page. Last week, I had a conversation with a couple that were considering what race to go to over the weekend. Parents of a junior racer. As I am on Team MTBNJ, they felt comfortable asking me questions and providing their thoughts.
The conversation went something like this:
Them: Hey Ben, What's up with your race?
Me: What do you mean?
Them: I read the registration page and...well...I thought it was very unprofessional.
Me: Really? What do you mean?
Them: Well...I read it...and it is just off. (as I begin to bring it up on my phone)
I'm genuinely concerned that there is some type of huge grammatical error or obvious inconsistency. I try to skim the page's text and notice nothing. I look up at them kinda dumbfounded. As they didn't really offer much help, I read the entire thing again in search of some hidden message that I'm overlooking.
It was then that I realized that they didn't like the negative messages within the text. As I didn't have any way to explain away what they were thinking, we kinda just moved on in the conversation.
Knowing them and thinking about it further, I know they went to the reg page to learn more about the race they had no experience with. They are new to cross and gather info from wherever they can. In their mind, instead of info about a race, they read a long rant and were turned off to the event. As they are dog owners, I think the part about having to charge bike racers more while dog owner can let their dog shit everywhere for free really turned them off. With other race choices, they went elsewhere.
So, that was it. As Norm asked for feedback, I thought it was appropriate to bring this to his attention. No one complained. No one was being too serious or professional. It had nothing to do with NJBA or USAC. They read our reg page and were left scratching their head. Some people have only the BikeReg page to gather info and ours didn't encourage them to come to our race.
I have absolutely no issue with the text on the BikeReg page. Fun and edgy! As we read Norm's blog posts here, I think we are all used to it. In hindsight, I can understand why someone may be turned off.
Norm, you owe me a return phone call!
And for those that think I'm too serious...Don't make me pull Shaniqua back out of the basement.
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So here I am. Feeling the need to clear the air a bit.
And for those that think I'm too serious...Don't make me pull Shaniqua back out of the basement.
I think it is certainly the right time to break out Shaniqua again.
Thanks for the clarification, Ben. There is all sorts of irony all over this like MTBNJ is some kind of rogue racing team when the leader literally used to work for THE MAN.
When I read the bikereg page, I thought "oh boy, that's going to ruffle some feathers," while lol'ing to myself at my computer. Im a big fan of being yourself and seeing what happens versus being vanilla and P.C. and trying to win the heart of everyone you come in contact with.
In the end people will remember the race for having an awesome course, great support, cool trophies, etc. and your creative writing won't even matter. I know I'll continue to support your races because I like your team and I know to expect an awesome event!
In the end people will remember the race for having an awesome course, great support, cool trophies, etc. and your creative writing won't even matter. I know I'll continue to support your races because I like your team and I know to expect an awesome event!
Lots of good discussion, always good to see.
So this thread was started with this idea I would dip myself into the cx season completely and make it to this coming weekend. I would line up my cross plan and do the stuff that cross racers do, train, sweat, hurt, etc. I did, then I didn't, just like in years past. You can line things up, and hope it works out. But then when you go to push the dominoes it doesn't always work out the way it's supposed to.
I think in life there are things you can control and things you cannot control. But there are also a lot of things in between. Things that you can influence but at the risk of other things. As an example, you can have a perfectly controlled climate in your house year round but it costs you money. You can eat McDonalds every night but you'll get fat. Likewise, with 3 kids that are 8 or under in the house, you can plan to do a bunch of cross races but when the proverbial rubber meets the road, at what expense are you willing to do that?
This coming weekend just ended up having conflict after conflict, so it seemed that it was carrying a trade-off no matter what. There was this, then that, then something else. And as my results did not thrill me, the life cost of racing plus the actual time & money cost just made me not want to push for it. So I took the foot off the pedal, and let the car coast.
There is a Daoist philosophy that says you try to live in harmony with the things around you. They call it the way, or the path. I think it is better to think of this as water. The philosophy is like a river making its way to the ocean. There is no right way, just the path of least resistance in the journey. I don't think life is always like that, or maybe it is. Sometimes you run up against a boulder and you flow over it and slowly break it down and wash it away. Sometimes you hit a big cliff and you drop down to the pool and continue your journey. But you can't flow uphill. No matter what, gravity always wins.
Chief Joseph was a member of the Nez Perce tribe in what is now Oregon. As far as I know he was not Daoist, though in the end he managed to say something that I think embodies the philosophy. At least, this is what the culmination of his fight to run uphill taught him. I think we all go through life trying to fight to go uphill. Some people always wage that war, never accepting the truth of gravity and their own limitations. Some people fight, then learn. Some people always knew.
Today is a sad day for me, and it has nothing to do with biking. I guess eventually the river reaches the sea and the journey ends. Some rivers are long, some are short, but in the end all rivers run their course and return to the ocean. Today I learned a dear friend's father is close to returning to the ocean. And this makes me sad. While I know this is the end of all of our rivers, that we all flow to the sea and pay taxes according to the 2 immutable laws of life, I wish his river were longer. We always wish this, I know. I get it.
So the river of my bike season is over, but there are many more to come. This is just 1 tributary in a series of them that continue to build up as one. As I know I cannot change the course of reality without too many consequences, I will stop trying to go uphill and let things flow as they may. As Chief Joseph said at the end, I will fight no more forever. I will try to let things flow as they may.
I am sad today. For things that have been, things that are, things that will never be. I am sad for the people who stand and watch the river run its course, back into the ocean. As I have seen some of that river mix with my river though the last 25 years of my life, it saddens me to think that something that is there, should be there, will be no more. I know, this means we are growing up, getting old, moving on to our parent's place in life where people look up to us as old, but rocks in their world. We have become the pillars of what is, of normalcy, of reliability as our children grow up and make their mistakes and try to figure out life.
We are all part of a cycle, we are all in it together yet separately. Our rivers start, they flow, they end. They flow together, they mix, they separate. They run the course they run, and it is best to take life as it comes, as it flows. Sometimes you wash the rocks away, sometimes you have to go around, but there is always a way to flow.
Best of luck in your journey, wherever that may take you.
So this thread was started with this idea I would dip myself into the cx season completely and make it to this coming weekend. I would line up my cross plan and do the stuff that cross racers do, train, sweat, hurt, etc. I did, then I didn't, just like in years past. You can line things up, and hope it works out. But then when you go to push the dominoes it doesn't always work out the way it's supposed to.
I think in life there are things you can control and things you cannot control. But there are also a lot of things in between. Things that you can influence but at the risk of other things. As an example, you can have a perfectly controlled climate in your house year round but it costs you money. You can eat McDonalds every night but you'll get fat. Likewise, with 3 kids that are 8 or under in the house, you can plan to do a bunch of cross races but when the proverbial rubber meets the road, at what expense are you willing to do that?
This coming weekend just ended up having conflict after conflict, so it seemed that it was carrying a trade-off no matter what. There was this, then that, then something else. And as my results did not thrill me, the life cost of racing plus the actual time & money cost just made me not want to push for it. So I took the foot off the pedal, and let the car coast.
There is a Daoist philosophy that says you try to live in harmony with the things around you. They call it the way, or the path. I think it is better to think of this as water. The philosophy is like a river making its way to the ocean. There is no right way, just the path of least resistance in the journey. I don't think life is always like that, or maybe it is. Sometimes you run up against a boulder and you flow over it and slowly break it down and wash it away. Sometimes you hit a big cliff and you drop down to the pool and continue your journey. But you can't flow uphill. No matter what, gravity always wins.
Chief Joseph was a member of the Nez Perce tribe in what is now Oregon. As far as I know he was not Daoist, though in the end he managed to say something that I think embodies the philosophy. At least, this is what the culmination of his fight to run uphill taught him. I think we all go through life trying to fight to go uphill. Some people always wage that war, never accepting the truth of gravity and their own limitations. Some people fight, then learn. Some people always knew.
Today is a sad day for me, and it has nothing to do with biking. I guess eventually the river reaches the sea and the journey ends. Some rivers are long, some are short, but in the end all rivers run their course and return to the ocean. Today I learned a dear friend's father is close to returning to the ocean. And this makes me sad. While I know this is the end of all of our rivers, that we all flow to the sea and pay taxes according to the 2 immutable laws of life, I wish his river were longer. We always wish this, I know. I get it.
So the river of my bike season is over, but there are many more to come. This is just 1 tributary in a series of them that continue to build up as one. As I know I cannot change the course of reality without too many consequences, I will stop trying to go uphill and let things flow as they may. As Chief Joseph said at the end, I will fight no more forever. I will try to let things flow as they may.
I am sad today. For things that have been, things that are, things that will never be. I am sad for the people who stand and watch the river run its course, back into the ocean. As I have seen some of that river mix with my river though the last 25 years of my life, it saddens me to think that something that is there, should be there, will be no more. I know, this means we are growing up, getting old, moving on to our parent's place in life where people look up to us as old, but rocks in their world. We have become the pillars of what is, of normalcy, of reliability as our children grow up and make their mistakes and try to figure out life.
We are all part of a cycle, we are all in it together yet separately. Our rivers start, they flow, they end. They flow together, they mix, they separate. They run the course they run, and it is best to take life as it comes, as it flows. Sometimes you wash the rocks away, sometimes you have to go around, but there is always a way to flow.
Best of luck in your journey, wherever that may take you.
ChrisRU
Well-Known Member
Sorry to hear about your friend's father, Kayla has a close friend whose father is in the same situation, and we just recently lost another close family friend too young to cancer. It really makes you pause and check your perspective.
Your narrative/theory is interesting, but I disagree with the premise of taking the path of least resistance/take life as it comes. Sure, some things are out of our control, but other times you need to intervene with a big ass bulldozer and redirect your river.
Your narrative/theory is interesting, but I disagree with the premise of taking the path of least resistance/take life as it comes. Sure, some things are out of our control, but other times you need to intervene with a big ass bulldozer and redirect your river.
Peace to your friend's Dad, his family, and you.
River metaphors work well. They do seem to have everything. The ratio of the meandered distance to linear distance is pi. everyone likes pi.
momentum plays a role in changing the path of least resistance. getting and keeping that momentum is getting tougher - at least in one area at a time - maybe total momentum is conserved? transferring it to the kids, and they can push it right back when they succeed (positive feedback loop?)
been thinking about this as i've gone through my day. plans and reality diverged quickly this year.
keep writing, good stuff.
oh, nom de plume contest? preference native american, or asian?
River metaphors work well. They do seem to have everything. The ratio of the meandered distance to linear distance is pi. everyone likes pi.
momentum plays a role in changing the path of least resistance. getting and keeping that momentum is getting tougher - at least in one area at a time - maybe total momentum is conserved? transferring it to the kids, and they can push it right back when they succeed (positive feedback loop?)
been thinking about this as i've gone through my day. plans and reality diverged quickly this year.
keep writing, good stuff.
oh, nom de plume contest? preference native american, or asian?
Mountain Bike Mike
Well-Known Member
Wow Captain, you just steered the ship into a very serious and touching place~! GREAT WRITING and Mindset!
Bravo & Condolences!
Bravo & Condolences!
I like to think in death we celebrate life. Imagine if people lived forever, would we value life as much? Knowing we don't last forever puts the value of life into perspective. Losing a loved one is not easy but the best way to honor those who have gone before us is to live a life they would be proud of.
Mountain Bike Mike
Well-Known Member
In the past couple years, my family lost some great people and those loses sucked royally, but helped me realize how short life is and how we should be trying to live every day to the fullest and doing the things we love to do with the most important people in our lives. There were days I used to talk about what I would dream of doing.. Now I do it and live it and don't look back with no regrets! I used to tell my kids of the great things I did... Now - Instead of talking about it, we now do it and make great memories. I learned most of that from losing people when they were young. I don't know how long I will be here but while I'm here, I plan on leaving as many lasting positive impressions as I can. What would you want people to say about you at your funeral? I want people to say I died living a full life!
RobW
Well-Known Member
Wow it's nice to read something from someone in the cycling world that I have really felt that "this dude gets it!"
Food for thought-- a river meets the ocean at the mouth of the river. At the mouth of the river, the tide rises, it falls, fresh water becomes salt water. It adds something to the legacy of the "river". It is the place where newly hatched fish and creatures begin their journey in the ocean, sort of like a stepping stone.
If and when you get to the mouth, you will have a legacy and new journey... So continue to float down your river and try a raft and paddle to stay afloat. Do what you can, try and remain afloat during the Rapids.