While following Fiona Koplingers amazing performance in the 2019 edition of the Trans Continental Race (TCR No. 7) on various internet outlets (Facebook, Trackleaders, etc) I came across a comment about whether or not she'd be doing Paris Brest Paris (PBP). This was followed by a bunch of comments denigrating PBP because it was "supported" (had controls with showers, beds, etc) and dismissing it as a "recovery ride".
I was disappointed, but not surprised, to see this. Cycling, like most other human endeavors, has an element of elitism that I find very unfortunate. I'm reminded of a routine the late George Carlin used to do about drivers: "did you ever notice everybody that drives faster than you is crazy and everybody that drives slower than you is a moron?".
The cycling analogue is "did you ever notice anybody who rides more than you is nuts and anyone who rides less is a wimp?"
I remember before I started randonneuring a number of friends referred to me as a "century rider" i.e., someone that rode centuries but hadn't "moved up" to randonneuring distances. This despite the fact that I'd ridden 10K miles for 20+ years (more than them, as it happens). I just didn't want to do brevets. The idea of being out on the roads at night when the bars close was just something I wasn't ready for (NB: this still scares the shit out of me).
I gradually got over it and have been doing (and enjoying) brevets since 2013. Of course there are lots of randonneurs who've been at it longer and I am, and always will be, a "newb".
But back to the "century rider" label. I recall my next door neighbor in Texas - a guy in his mid-40's who appeared to be in pretty decent shape - tried 5 times to do a century and didn't finish each time. What a pathetic loser.
Even among randonneurs, I have friends who aspire to longer (600K+) brevets but one thing or another (job, family, illness, etc) have prevented them from doing a longer ride so that remains an unfulfilled goal. Wimps.
It's disappointing to me that the sport of cycling is so willing to eat its seed corn. At every distance, we should be encouraging rather than disparaging. So what if somebody's longest ride is 10 miles down to the coffee shop and back? Good on them!
On a recent brevet in Europe I was amazed by how many elderly people I saw on E-bikes. Most of them had panniers on and were doing e.g., trips along the Rhine from hotel to hotel. I suppose the "purists" would shit all over them: panniers, hotels, electronic assist, etc. I thought it was the coolest thing! So impressive to see them out and enjoying the world on two wheels.
OK, rant over.
p.s. for what it's worth, I finished London Edinburgh London within about 12 minutes of Fiona in 2017 - how cool is that!
