It’s just like riding a bike
September 2, 2010
This post is not related to my cycling, or the team, but it is related to cycling and how it is more difficult than it looks.
I recently had the pleasure of being a spectator at a sprint triathlon. Cyclists are known to make fun of triathletes riding bikes maybe a little too much, however, what I saw cannot go without saying. I expected to see funny outfits and backwards helmets, which is more common than you think, but what I did not expect was the spectacle I saw at the swim/bike transition zone. In a short period of time I saw at least 3 crashes, people riding off the road almost into the woods, and countless close calls. I could not drag myself away from it, I had to keep watching. I thought that most of these people would have ridden their bikes a good amount in preparation for this event, however, it looked more like the majority of these people had never ridden a bike before. As entertaining as it was, it was actually hard to watch. I wanted to help these people get on their bikes, or at least give them a push. There were a handful of people who had such a hard time getting on the bike that I thought they were going to just call it a day and go to their car. It was amazing. I saw one girl try to hop on her saddle but couldn’t seem to get on, so she opened the quick release on her seat post and dropped the saddle no less than 6 inches, tightened it up and took off for her 16 mile ride. I imagine she had some minor knee pain after this race. Another guy came running in with his bike, shoes clipped on to the pedals for time savings, only to find that he could not get on his bike. He then stops, pulls his shoes off his pedals, straps them on to his feet and takes off. So much for saving time.
Like I said, us cyclists are known to make fun of triathletes a good amount. I hate to feed the stereotype, but come on triathletes, you guys aren’t doing much to help your cause. All in all this made me realize that maybe what we do is harder than it looks. When people say, “it’s just like riding a bike” maybe they don’t know how hard that really is.
