The Race Of Truth

From the NY Times…

Just Me and My Pessimism in the ‘Race of Truth’

By GINA KOLATA

Published: September 20, 2010

My husband found the bike race, but then he refused to train seriously for it. He was ambivalent, not sure he wanted to compete. But I signed us up anyway. I like having goals, and we had never raced on our bikes before. I wanted to see how we’d do.

It was not what we expected — in fact, that race was quite a shock. But it certainly taught us some lessons. Our experience turned out to be a perfect illustration of the power of one sort of mental strategy in racing and a perfect example of what motivates some people to stay with a sport.

The 36-kilometer (22-mile) race was a time trial: racers go off one by one at 30-second intervals and are ranked according to their speeds. I’m used to running races where everyone starts at once and you can be energized by the crowd and pace yourself by watching other runners. There are markers at every mile, and often there are clocks or race volunteers calling out times so you can gauge your effort.

Here you are all alone. No mile markers. No crowds. Just you and the lonely road. Bill, my husband, says that is why time trials are called the “race of truth.”

Read on here.