The Omerta

I am going out on a limb here today and breaking the omerta. I am going to tell the truth. Here it is...

Bike racers lie. There it is. In it's simplest form it is cat 5 racers lying about how much they train. Bike racers never tell the truth about how much they train. They have to lie to use it as an excuse, or leverage when they are successful or unsuccessful at their next event. I can always tell when someone new to the sport starts being a bike racer - it's about the time they tell me they haven't been riding at all leading up to a race.

So part of the lying gig is making excuses. I didn't eat enough, I was coming down with a cold, my bike broke, some dude let a gap open, the lost river guy cut me off, I ran out of water, my dog ate my number, etc... I have decided to buck the trend. I am going to tell the truth. In the race sunday, some of the guys were better than me. In fact, most of the guys were better than me. They went faster, and I went slower. They were in a break, and I couldn't hold a wheel when it started.

Hmm, that wasn't very fun. I am going back to using excuses and lying.

Speaking of excuses, after the break went up the road with two team mates (and without me) I had the perfect excuse to sit in and do nothing most of the day. It was great. I sat near the front and gummed up pacelines, sat on chase groups and generally made myself a nuisance. I know its hard to believe, but I did. All until the last 5 miles or so. Then everyone left went faster than I could.

If I start working now maybe I can keep up next time. Or maybe I should just have a beer and make up some excuses...