Spent some time in the Mudville Nine

We went to the Brockton Rox baseball game last night. The team has been around for about three years, and they play in the beautiful new Campanelli Stadium built next to the largest high school in Massachusetts (4300 students). The Can-Am League team provides a bright spot for the often maligned city, and the entire project has been quite a success, with excellent attendance and community support. We had a lot of fun for our $4 admission (the $2 16 oz Naragansett drafts didn't hurt) and three of us stayed all the way until the 12th inning when the Rox lost the game 6-5 on two questionable calls by the umps.

This level of independent minor league ball is probably about the equivalent of regional Pro 1-2 bike racing. The independent leagues tend to have more older players than the MLB affiliated "A" ball, because those teams are required to have a certain number of young players on their rosters. So it is said that the Can-Am league is at a level between "A" and "AA," with some players on the way up, and more on the way down, sometimes including a few who mades it all the way to the bigs. Like the second-tier domestic pros, and many Cat 1's and 2's, most of these guys cannot rely on the sport as their sole source of income. The better guys make a few bucks from this, but for the most part they make sacrifices in order to pursue a sport that they are pretty damn good at, just not good enough to make a real living.

Some years back I remember reading a quote from somebody who said "we'll know cycling has arrived as a sport when there are as many cycling coaches in the yellow pages as there are tennis and golf coaches." Well, we don't use the yellow pages very much anymore, but at least a few riders and others have made a successful transition to valid employment teaching the sport of cycling. Believe it or not, fifteen years ago this was not the case. Almost all coaches were volunteers, with just a handful getting a salary or stipend from the USCF.

Cycling may not have reached the status of tennis, golf, or baseball, but at least its popularity and acceptance as a sport has grown to the point where the numbers are getting large enough for a coaching market to exist. Some of the Rox players, as well as many players in the post-college Cape Cod League work as youth league or high school coaches. Wouldn't it be nice if semi-pro type Cat 2 cyclists could supplement their winnings with a job as a high school cycling coach?

This may never happen. There are a few obstacles in the way of the growth of cycling. We have all see the impact of sprawl on the availability of good race courses, or even decent training routes. Cycling is expensive too, at least compared to most stick and ball sports. The biggest factor though, and the reason that I don't believe in aggressive outreach programs that target juniors, or anyone else, is that the sport is damn hard. You have to want to participate. Nobody can push you into this, nor should they. This sport is for people whose drive comes from within. Anyone who takes shortcuts or refuses to take a realistic view of where their abilities lie will never achieve much in cycling. A coach, or a local, regional, or national development program can provide support and guidance, but the rider has to be the one who gets out there every day and makes it happen. You can survive at the local novice level with a half-ass commitment, and maybe have some fun and get some social benefits, but you certainly don't need a coach, or much else, to do that.

This sport is totally cool. In contrast to baseball teams, our teams are more like gangs (link to half-written explanation). You don't need anyone else to go train. What the hell am I talking about anyway? I don't know. Maybe some of that 'gansett just hasn't been metabolized yet. This (bike racing, not blogging) must be a lot of fun, or else why would we love it so much?

Today is a vacation day. Not just a vacation day, but a glorious June vacation day. KL is on her way down now (school is out for the summer!) and we are going to go out for a nice long ride. I'd better get re-hydrated and fed so as not to delay our departure. Maybe I'll rig up an elastic band on my front brifter so that I don't have to listen to it rattle all day. Sunday is the Hoosatonic race. Zephyr Cycling has some pictures of the course on their website, and the roads sure look small. We have 84 preregged in the 45+, and about 35 riders from the 55+ will start with us, so I guess I should not hang out at the back of the pack reading the paper. I've heard the race goes up the road on the first climb, just 12k into it, so you have to make sure you are in the front split. This will be a real test. I suppose I should give myself a haircut too, as temps in the 90's are predicted, so promoting a little airflow through the helmet might be a good idea. Congratulations if you made it this far. Did I say anything? Truth be told, a harsh story lies hidden in here, but maybe I'm getting too old and nice to tell it like it is anymore. Thanks for reading!