Asking myself the question

[Guppy88]

Mark, I apologize if this sounds stupid, but I've been feeling guilty about this, and it has been on my chest for a while now.

I know what your thoughts on cyclist are, but stay with me. I was on the U23 national cycling team for a while, and I've raced against some tour de France winners at the age of 18. At around 19 years old I quit because I really wanted to do something else with my life. Now, I'm 21 years old, and much like you, I don't really care much for other road cyclists. I find them to have strange obsessive compulsive problems, and I'm not interested in dealing with them.

And the time I have spent off the bike, I discovered SS/actual non-bullshit training, I've been building muscle-cars and I'm becoming a paramedic/wildland firefighter. In that same time, however, I've had people saying they just see wasted talent in me. I've even had scholar ships offered to me.

I'd like to know what your thoughts are if I should get back on the saddle or not. Perhaps I should ask myself the question: am I being a pussy?

Again, sorry if this sounds stupid. Perhaps I’m letting other people get to me too much. I'd just thought you might have some valuable insight.

[Mark Rippetoe]

If you really want to get back up, and you don't because you think that anybody else's opinion matters, you are a pussy. I don't think you necessarily have to indulge these morons to train on the road with them. They might even learn something from you now. But if you have the talent and ability, it does seem a shame to waste it just because the fools in the sport have made it distasteful to you, which I completely understand from my own perspective. Give it a shot for a few months, and see what happens.

[Dave 321]

I agree with Mark... Would you stop going to your gym because it was full of 'bro's'?

[halbritt]

Ask yourself if spending 20 hours a week on a bike sounds like fun to you, because you'll need to be doing that few years before you're competitive as a national pro. If you have ample natural talent and a good doping program, you might be able to move up to a continental team after a couple years going broke as a national pro.

In what race were you able to sit in the peloton with a TdF winner?

[Steve Hill]

Mark, I apologize if this sounds stupid, but I've been feeling guilty about this, and it has been on my chest for a while now.

I know what your thoughts on cyclist are, but stay with me. I was on the U23 national cycling team for a while, and I've raced against some tour de France winners at the age of 18. At around 19 years old I quit because I really wanted to do something else with my life. Now, I'm 21 years old, and much like you, I don't really care much for other road cyclists. I find them to have strange obsessive compulsive problems, and I'm not interested in dealing with them.

And the time I have spent off the bike, I discovered SS/actual non-bullshit training, I've been building muscle-cars and I'm becoming a paramedic/wildland firefighter. In that same time, however, I've had people saying they just see wasted talent in me. I've even had scholar ships offered to me.

I'd like to know what your thoughts are if I should get back on the saddle or not. Perhaps I should ask myself the question: am I being a pussy?

Again, sorry if this sounds stupid. Perhaps I’m letting other people get to me too much. I'd just thought you might have some valuable insight.

Guppy,

I think you have to decide what YOU want to do. You're 21. You have plenty of time. If you love cycling, and want to do it, then do it. At the top level of any sport, people are weird. And we're talking about a subset that's weirder than most (road racing cyclists). I know because I know most of them, just 1-2 generations ahead of the ones you know. I "retired" from my racing in the late 80's, and started again in 2002. It hadn't changed all the much - except the equipment.

But Mark's right: letting other people determine what you do is what makes you a pussy. Mark's opinion or my opinion shouldn't factor into the equation any more than those weird raodies you used to know.

My only advice would be to try track racing instead. You won't see as many of the body image issues there, and the riders are generally more well-adjusted.

Not to mention better looking and smarter.

Far, far smarter than those pathetic roadies. This is fact.

[halbritt]

Track racing also gives you a good excuse to keep squatting three times a week.