To win

One of the other forums I frequent was off on an interesting thread. Somebody asked, innocently enough, what it takes to win. As in, what specific training protocols, wattage levels, hours per week of riding, diets to follow, therapies to undertake, etc, etc, etc.

The question turned into a discussion, the discussion to a debate, the debate to an argument and finally to an all-out verbal war.

Seems guys, and a few gals, take all that they have learned and earned pretty seriously. What I initially found an interesting subject and worthy of discussion, had turned into a fistfight. And nobody was winning despite all the blood.

The old school roadies dug their heels in the 'just ride more' approach, while on the other end of the spectrum the skinny tire geeks worshiped all their power numbers. As you might expect, there was also everything in between, from extreme mental toughness to the yoga, tofu, and zen namaste.

Seems to win you also need have outstanding DNA, perfect bio-mechanics, off the chart VO2, the ability to withstand torture, a ten thousand dollar bike, six coaches and a unconditionally loving and supportive family. Having an extra large heart, a PHD, two cars, and a yacht was also mentioned.

Additional skills necessary to win, also tabled and considered, were, the ability to train twice a day, to travel to Spain in the winter, to assimilate ibuprofen, turn perfect circles, fix a flat in less than a minute, recycle lactate acid, understand the subtleties between tactics and strategy, drink Belgian Blond and hate to lose. Wow.

Man, that's a lot.

But then again, there is only one winner per race. So it's really not a lot. More like one.

After a week of debate, it was agreed that there should be two categories for the remainder of this exercise, as winning was obviously a result of two things:

1) Training, and
2) Racing.

The thinking being that you could never win if you didn't train, and no one has ever won that didn't race.

The question morphed to a more koan like query. Ah, my home turf. Can an undertrained rider beat a savvy, experienced gamey veteran? Or, will a faster well trained athlete ALWAYS beat a older, master tactician?

Train more? Train smarter? Race more, pay more attention? Eat well, recover well, sleep well? Become a student of the game? Choose your parents wisely? Climb lots of hills and train twice a day? Sail to Majorca in December?

As you would expect from the RCVman, I gave this matter my deepest respect and focused consideration before coming up with the answer.

What does it take to win?

Everything.

Junior and I enjoyed some sushi in the park after our muddy buddy ride this afternoon. He won.