Peer Pressure
Saturday, I caved to the pressure of a motivated team. Tripower is leading the team points race in VA Cyclocross series, and I have sat out the first 6 of 9 races. Bennett's Creek (#7) was scheduled for this weekend, and since I have been feeling left out, I headed out to Suffolk. Well, "left out" is not the right way to say it. I feel on the one hand pride in my team for leading the series and on the other hand like a huge slacker. They certainly don't need me to win the series, and I thank them for the fire to get me moving. It's like when, unprompted by extra money or orders from the boss, you step up to help a colleague with a project that will ultimately benefit the whole workplace. Or you step up to help even when there is no projected benefit, just because you are on the team and that's reason enough.
I find myself racing for different reasons as the years pass. I started some 20 years ago with the belief that I had some talent and that I may be able to take it somewhere. That quickly was resolved, and then it became about competing against certain people within my ability range. In recent years, it was about trying to "get back" to where I was at the beginning. Now, I think it's all about stopping for a moment in time to block out the rest of the world and immerse fully in kicking my own a$$. The one thing that never goes away over time--the temptation to quit in the middle of the race.
I finished 4th out of 5 women cat 1-3, with 3 of about 15 cat 4 women catching me. Next stop is the State Champs at Trashmore next week!
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