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Did you win?
What kind of question is that? Did you win only if you finished 1st? Or did you lose if you finished other than 1st? Are we all losers for not winning? A better question might be “Did you lose?”.
Maybe the answer depends on how you define winning and losing. Merriam-Webster gives the following definitions:
Verb: “win” ~ 2 a: to gain in or as if in battle or contest (won the championship)b: to be the victor in (won the war)
Verb: “lose” ~ b (1): to fail to win, gain, or obtain (lose the prize)
Racing is all about winning so why race if you know you can’t win? After all, at the end of every race there is only one person who is declared “the winner” which may assume the rest of us are losers. So if you are fairly certain that you won't be crossing the finish line in first place, why bother racing and if you do race, how do you motivate yourself in the race?
Without sounding too politically correct or cliché, winning really does mean different things to different people. Each race presents opportunities, challenges and obstacles that may be bigger than finishing in first place.
Whether you are 10 years old or 100 years old, no one should hang their head in shame on the finish line unless they wandered aimlessly around the race course with no plan and no goal.
Bike racing is both a team and an individual sport. You may spend part of or all of a race supporting a teammate or two only to finish in last place. Perhaps you are the new 4th person on a Pursuit Team and can't let your mates down. Or you are racing your first or your 10th Points race and have never scored a single point before. Maybe your Flying 200 PR is your age. Maybe you’ve never won a prime before and today is the day. Or you’ve never stayed with the peleton up a certain hill or survived a particular tight cornering opportunity. There are plenty of worthy goals to keep you training hard and racing ferociously that are at least as big as winning and definitely don’t involve being a loser.
So the next time you are tempted to ask someone if they “won”, whether they are a junior, a Cat 4 or a Pro, you may want to rethink and rephrase the question. Try asking them what they learned, what goals they achieved or how they placed before simply asking if they “won”.
If bike racing is all about winning, then it should not be all about losing.
Have Fun!!
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Race Report ~ Saturday May 3rd ~ The Encino Velodrome presented “The Long Rider Endurance Omnium”. What a fantastic night of Women’s Racing!! The women’s Cat 1-4 field set a new attendance record for a non-Championship event!! We had 13 women toeing the line for the Women’s races!! It was awesome racing together with so many Ladies. The racing was safe, fun, fast and tactical. The 40 lap Points Race was fast from the gun with someone driving the pace on nearly every lap. No points were given away ~ everyone definitely had to earn them! The 20 lap Scratch Race was no disappointment either. The heat was on from the gun as everyone worked hard to stay in a good position near the front. Thank you Bike Barn for bringing your Ladies Team! Thank you everyone who made it fun to race!
Saturday June 7th and Saturday July 5th are the next/final 2 races in this year’s 4 race Series at Encino. Ladies please make your plans now to race with us! You won’t want to miss out on the fun at the Encino Velodrome!!
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August 14-17th ~ Junior Track National Championships
Sponsorship ~ This year the LA Velodrome will be hosting the 2008 USAC Junior Track National Championships. While plenty of work has been going on behind the scenes these past months, the race organizers are still in need of both private and corporate sponsorship. As with almost any sporting event, sponsorship money is essential!
Did you win?
What kind of question is that? Did you win only if you finished 1st? Or did you lose if you finished other than 1st? Are we all losers for not winning? A better question might be “Did you lose?”.
Maybe the answer depends on how you define winning and losing. Merriam-Webster gives the following definitions:
Verb: “win” ~ 2 a: to gain in or as if in battle or contest (won the championship)
Verb: “lose” ~ b (1): to fail to win, gain, or obtain (lose the prize)
Racing is all about winning so why race if you know you can’t win? After all, at the end of every race there is only one person who is declared “the winner” which may assume the rest of us are losers. So if you are fairly certain that you won't be crossing the finish line in first place, why bother racing and if you do race, how do you motivate yourself in the race?
Without sounding too politically correct or cliché, winning really does mean different things to different people. Each race presents opportunities, challenges and obstacles that may be bigger than finishing in first place.
Whether you are 10 years old or 100 years old, no one should hang their head in shame on the finish line unless they wandered aimlessly around the race course with no plan and no goal.
Bike racing is both a team and an individual sport. You may spend part of or all of a race supporting a teammate or two only to finish in last place. Perhaps you are the new 4th person on a Pursuit Team and can't let your mates down. Or you are racing your first or your 10th Points race and have never scored a single point before. Maybe your Flying 200 PR is your age. Maybe you’ve never won a prime before and today is the day. Or you’ve never stayed with the peleton up a certain hill or survived a particular tight cornering opportunity. There are plenty of worthy goals to keep you training hard and racing ferociously that are at least as big as winning and definitely don’t involve being a loser.
So the next time you are tempted to ask someone if they “won”, whether they are a junior, a Cat 4 or a Pro, you may want to rethink and rephrase the question. Try asking them what they learned, what goals they achieved or how they placed before simply asking if they “won”.
If bike racing is all about winning, then it should not be all about losing.
Have Fun!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Race Report ~ Saturday May 3rd ~ The Encino Velodrome presented “The Long Rider Endurance Omnium”. What a fantastic night of Women’s Racing!! The women’s Cat 1-4 field set a new attendance record for a non-Championship event!! We had 13 women toeing the line for the Women’s races!! It was awesome racing together with so many Ladies. The racing was safe, fun, fast and tactical. The 40 lap Points Race was fast from the gun with someone driving the pace on nearly every lap. No points were given away ~ everyone definitely had to earn them! The 20 lap Scratch Race was no disappointment either. The heat was on from the gun as everyone worked hard to stay in a good position near the front. Thank you Bike Barn for bringing your Ladies Team! Thank you everyone who made it fun to race!
Saturday June 7th and Saturday July 5th are the next/final 2 races in this year’s 4 race Series at Encino. Ladies please make your plans now to race with us! You won’t want to miss out on the fun at the Encino Velodrome!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 14-17th ~ Junior Track National Championships
Sponsorship ~ This year the LA Velodrome will be hosting the 2008 USAC Junior Track National Championships. While plenty of work has been going on behind the scenes these past months, the race organizers are still in need of both private and corporate sponsorship. As with almost any sporting event, sponsorship money is essential!
Junior Track Nationals is a well attended event that brings together hundreds of kids (and their parents) from all across the United States. Any company that appreciates a junior aged target market will definitely want to be involved!
A sponsor request letter is available upon request. We encourage you to either print it or email it, but please pass it along to anyone you know who might be in a position to provide any amount of sponsorship!
Junior Track Natz Training Camps ~ The LA Velodrome is pleased to announce that it will be hosting summer Junior Race Training Camps this June, July & August. These camps are designed to give juniors from around the country the opportunity to ride and train on the LA Velodrome before Jr Natz. For more info, please visit the LA Velodrome’s website.
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Saturday May 10th ~ The next LOTS Session is this Saturday. Sign-in begins at 11:30. Track opens at 12:00. Please be early & ready to ride!
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Saturday May 10th ~ The next LOTS Session is this Saturday. Sign-in begins at 11:30. Track opens at 12:00. Please be early & ready to ride!
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Saturday May 10th ~ The Encino Velodrome presents Part 3 of the monthly “Low Key Time Trials”; a USAC Non-Competitive Event Series. March 22 (done), April 19 (done), May 10, June 14 & July 19 2008. The TRACK & REGISTRATION Opens at 8:15am & Closes at 9:15 am. RACING starts at 9:30am. Entry $10, One entry free gets you into as many events as you like. No Pre-Reg; Race day entries only.
Please note: Rental bikes ARE available for all races at Encino.
For additional Race information, please email: Trattenero@hotmail.com
Please visit the Encino Velodrome’s website at http://encinovelodrome.org/
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Sat-Sun May 10th-11th ~ The SCNCA State Masters & Elite Road Race Championships will be held in Bakersfield this weekend. Masters Women 34/45/55 race on Saturday AM. Elite Women Cat 3-4 and Pro Women 1-3 will race on Sunday. For complete race and registration info, please see the Event Flyer.
Saturday May 10th ~ The Encino Velodrome presents Part 3 of the monthly “Low Key Time Trials”; a USAC Non-Competitive Event Series. March 22 (done), April 19 (done), May 10, June 14 & July 19 2008. The TRACK & REGISTRATION Opens at 8:15am & Closes at 9:15 am. RACING starts at 9:30am. Entry $10, One entry free gets you into as many events as you like. No Pre-Reg; Race day entries only.
Please note: Rental bikes ARE available for all races at Encino.
For additional Race information, please email: Trattenero@hotmail.com
Please visit the Encino Velodrome’s website at http://encinovelodrome.org/
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Sat-Sun May 10th-11th ~ The SCNCA State Masters & Elite Road Race Championships will be held in Bakersfield this weekend. Masters Women 34/45/55 race on Saturday AM. Elite Women Cat 3-4 and Pro Women 1-3 will race on Sunday. For complete race and registration info, please see the Event Flyer.
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Sunday May 18th ~ Ontario Crit #3 ~ This will be the short 4 corner course. WCat 3-4’s race at 8:20. WCat 1-3 race at 9:50am. Please see the event flyer for additional info.
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Friday Nights at ADT ~ Attn Ladies: the State and National track Championship races are coming up too quickly! There are plenty of opportunities for you to race individual time trials, team pursuits, team sprints and many other events. If you are interested in training for these events and more, please plan to join me at ADT each Friday evening for open (ie co-ed) training from 6-9PM. Last week we had more women than men attending this session!
If you are planning to attend, please send me an RSVP email so I know who to expect this week. Normal track fees apply.
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Attn Ladies: The Ladies Only Track Sessions is going on a road trip!! We will be packing up and heading up to the Encino Velodrome this Summer for the July 12th & Aug 9th LOTS sessions. Stay tuned for more info later.
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Have you seen USA Cycling's Web article featuring the LOTS program? If you, your employer or anyone you know, is interested in sponsoring the LOTS program, please contact me. The LOTS program is dedicated to introducing women to the exciting sport of track cycling and we intend to grow this program as far into the future as we can see!
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The 2008 USAC Athlete Waiver is available on-line.
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The 2008 SCNCA Racing Calendar is available on line.
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The 2008 USAC Rule book is available on-line.
The 2008 SCNCA Racing Calendar is available on line.
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The 2008 USAC Rule book is available on-line.
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Have a super week Ladies!!
Julia Cross
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