Mud Lovers

I am not sure whether all cyclists are on the juice to improve their performance, and I don’t care to know after having seen men and women, more or less adults, revert to a state of child-like wonder for an hour or so on those cold winter days of singlespeed cyclocross. When racing they do their utmost focusing entirely on the task at hand, finding joy and fun in their muddy endeavor just like kids, totally absorbed by their games and oblivious to the passage of time. I have got to know these people, ordinary folks with jobs and families that follow them to the races most of the time, who regard the bicycle as an enjoyable way to get outdoors, who view cycling as an opportunity to meet with friends, who race with all their energy but without the rivalry that causes friction with whoever is competing against you. Having met such people, I am not really interested in cyclists who take themselves too seriously, who must win no matter what and who, at the end of the day, probably don’t enjoy what they are doing all that much.