magnus backstedt

magnus backstedt is a road cycling oddity
actually .... he is a cycling anonomally
in the elite class there are no Clydesdales
one-ninty eight is big massive for a cyclist... road or mountain

on the sport level...
the distinciton of classes is a level of motivation
to give more people the goal of racing
the comparision
the breakdown
the smaller classes
it all adds up to many opportunities for various people to race their own races

this is vital in mountian biking
it not only acts to motivate
this separation of classes can also aid in staggering the starts
which breaks up the riders leading into the singletrack
hopefully released in such a way that faster racers are not bogged down by slower racers
and that
timid racers are not being run off the trail by the more aggressive racers

but
the classes can be arbitrary....

at the 24 hour and 12 hour races
or any race with a mass start... the separation of classes is all on paper
all racers are racing the same course for the same duration
there is no expert loop versus sport loop
there is no additional lap for experts
there is no turn where the experts get more technical or more distance than the other classes
there is just one course for all the riders

at these races it is clear that there are just racers
the pros are faster than everyone else
the measure of finishing overall becomes a measure in itself
the comparision of lap times
that is the race
everyone gets bragging rights

bragging about participation is more sensible than boasting about winning sport
win too many beginner races...
heck ride with a bike over a grand.... have a heart rate monitor.... use a coach... ride for a team and race beginner
heck.... any one of the above and racing beginner... well... step up to sport

enough on this
the topic of sandbagging is a blog for another day
I am excited to shuffle some pictures around
ran into cargo mike sans his cargo bike
had the camera.... so I took some pictures
lets see what I got....
okay
chances are you scrolled by what I have not created yet

where are we in the tour?