S & M

You have to know pain to ride a bike. If you race bikes you have to have an intimate relationship with it. There is no casual about it. It is full on unadulterated agony. You know what I am talking about. Describe how you feel on your fifth interval on the trainer. I'm sure you don't use happy, smiley, sunny, peaceful. We use words with fewer letters and divisible by 2. Count the letters in PAIN, coincidence...I don't think so. FTP, if you know what stands for then you have taken Pain out for drinks and a movie.

Bridging a gap. Last K of a TT. Getting dropped on a climb. This is all voluntary pain that we put ourselves through willingly. 30mph North wind with a wind chill of 25*, spitting rain-sleet-snow-ice. 100* Wednesday Night Ride with Heat Index of 115*. I've seen you there, no one made me go...no one made you go. We do this why? Suicide attacks. Hill repeats.

Road Rash. Not getting un-clipped in time. Things that we have no control over. Broken collarbone. Stitches. Having to watch, unable to participate. We've lost control, but we can still say NO. OR can we? Surgery. Dr.'s orders. We can't control another rider in the group who causes a wreck, or the dog that runs into a front wheel. No control over slippery wet train tracks, wood bridges, streets. Sticking to the sheets.


A man was banging his head against a wall and someone asked why he was doing it? The man replied "because it feels so good...when I stop."

How good does it feel when you are done with a race or hard ride? You can't find that feeling anywhere else. When you attack or push the pace, the little Devil on your shoulder is laughing and telling you how much you are hurting everyone else. Your legs are beyond cooked, molten lead pulses in your veins, you are cross eyed, but you can't help smiling on the inside. You know that someone is hurting worse than you.

Congratulations, you are a Sadomasochist.



Photo: REUTERS/Bogdan Cristel