Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Reasons not to raise hands when crossing the line in victory

The number one reason is that, well, no offense to anyone, but really, what did you just win?

  • The Expert Age group local mtb race?
  • The Cat 3 crit?
  • A Pro 1-2 race with 20 riders in BFE?
  • A Mid Week Training race?
  • The Bigwheel circuit race (well this may be an acceptable venue)
  • A small town festival race with 20 guys on huffy's and you on your 5,000 dollar super bike?
Seriously, this is small, the self aggrandizement does nothing but turn me off, even in big races.

Look At Me. I'm a WINNER, WHOOPPPEEEEEEE shit.

More tangible reasons


Go Eric Z

Go MTB Race

Have you ever tried to ride no handed on a Lefty? Not impossible, but not easy.

Plus, it has a tendency to accentuate the mooseknuckle.

Discuss

13 comments:

primetime formerly known as slyfox said...

over 15mph and the lefty speed wobbles no handed. it takes a few months of practice to learn the skill.

there was a guy at revolution last month getting his front wheel trued cuz when he rode no handed the front end wobbled. he thought the wheel was bent and caused this.

i told him not to bother.

UtRider said...

How about a small fist pump ala Jeff Kerkove at the B-68 race this past weekend?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffkerkove/2685479354/

If I ever beat Warren in a race you can bet there will be a victory salute of some kind - regardless of my overall placing! :)

Come on man, fill us in on what inspired this post.

KanyonKris said...

If someone aims their victory celebration at another person (aka taunting), that's lame. But to just pump the arms into the air seems like just a joyful expression of happiness and amazement to me. Of course the take-away from the video is, wait until AFTER you cross the line.

If I took first in a race with people at my same level (not sandbagging), I'd be thrilled. Not because I'm so great, but because I was able to accomplish something (and had some good luck). Seems pretty innocent to me. But it can turn ugly.

So are you saying that any ego in racing is bad? Then why do you race so much?

StupidBike said...

Utrider the arm pump is muted enough to be more of a joyful celebration. Nothing led me to post this, except maybe being on a 3 hour conference call. KK. I believe we live in a world of selfish, self centered beings. Nothing wrong with joy, but I see very little difference between the arm raise and a touchdown dance. Just bad form.
Why do I race. I like the people/community, I like to push myself and I find it all fun. That and I am dumb

KanyonKris said...

Bob said: "That and I am dumb"

Me too, just in slightly different ways. I hope this is the path to enlightenment, otherwise it looks more fun to be an egotistical jerk. :-)

Eat Sleep MTB said...

If I feel some kind of personal accomplishment, or I dug into depths I didn't know I had, I may put up one tired fist.

It's funny because generally you only see people scream and yell "Yahhh!" with their arms up at the Cat-1 or Cat-5 race finishes.

Anonymous said...

that is one of the things wrong with mountain bike racing these days there is no emotion. I think if you have a large enough ego to train all year and spend every weekend out trying to beat the other like minded souls who travel in our circles, then you should show some emotion if you take a win, whether it is a fist pump or popping a wheely... show something.

StupidBike said...

I think slapping my own booty while pulling away from blaney is enough emotion, bu then again, we both took second.

Anonymous said...

I love the touchdown dance...

MtbAllDay said...

My Caffeine doesn't wobble. I think it is the Scalpel and not the Lefty...

drrna said...

You can pretty much count on me raising my hands if you happen to fall down and I finish in front of you. Be ready.

drrna said...

The Lefty speed wobble thing seems like a message. I mean if it takes Fox a couple months to master this, there's a problem.

Faceshot said...

To master the 15mph speed wobble, you must hold a 40oz.(not a 12oz. or a 24oz.) in your right hand to offset the Lefty's weight. BTW, if I beat you in a CX race this season Bob, I'm going for the Zip-up-double-arm-pump-crotch-grab!!!