Is sportsmanship dead?

[grimpeur]

Apparently not! I was racing for the line this weekend (ok ,not for a podium finish) in the Joostenberg ride, with failing legs, and a gap opening up in front of me that I could do absolutely nothing about when, lo and behold, a get a huge push from behind... I look around but see only strangers, so I put my head down again, but still I can't close the gap... until I get another push! This time the gap closes and fly past a good 15 guys over the line. Whoever it was, thanks! It's not my position that made my day - it's the fact that there are guys out there who haven't forgotten what the sport, and life, is really all about.

[no calves]

I still give a push or a helping hand quit often. I am not going to win it so why be an @sshole?

[grimpeur]

I'm generally trying so hard to improve my seeding (or my ego?) that I can't think of helping anyone beat me!

[no calves]

Its about time for me. and the odd feeling of wat goes around comes around.. In last years burger i pushed a cycle lab rider and 5k before the end i started cramping badly when poof the same rider hands me and eno. afterwards he said i pedaled his heart out to stay with us just so he could thank me afterwards. gives me a good feeling to know wat i do is apreciated.

[Yang]

Yep- something similar happened to me in one of my first Amashova's, when I got a push from behind going up that bump just up to Tollgate Bridge before plummeting down the freeway canyon a few k's from the finish, from a guy in Germiston Wheeler's kit- never forget it and the warm feeling it gave me . It gave me the legs I needed to stay in that group and do my part in the front in the last few k's going in towards the finish.

[Dicky DQ]

And sometimes it is easier to help the due in front of you close the gap than bridge you and the gap you left.

[andydude]

This time the gap closes and fly past a good 15 guys over the line.

 

Just for our clarity - did you pass 15 guys after the finish line, but before the timing mat? If you did the irony in your subject line and this would be awesome!!

 

I think there is quite a strong negative correlation between salaries paid to sportsmen and sportsmanship. The stakes are just becoming too high to give an inch.

 

And by the way - if I have the legs I still try to sprint for 99th place!

[Zac.A]

 

And by the way - if I have the legs I still try to sprint for 99th place!

 

I always try to end my race with a sprint, even if I've had a crap ride and am near the back.

It will help next time i'm in the front, dying and am in contention for a podium place to know that my body can still do it.

 

"When your body says no more and you've had enough - Thats when you go again"

[Frosty]

The best sprint finish, for 99th place, is one done in granny gear - especially if you have a few mates fighting for the same position.

Sometimes you even get the crowd's support.

[grimpeur]

Just for our clarity - did you pass 15 guys after the finish line, but before the timing mat? If you did the irony in your subject line and this would be awesome!!

 

I think there is quite a strong negative correlation between salaries paid to sportsmen and sportsmanship. The stakes are just becoming too high to give an inch.

 

And by the way - if I have the legs I still try to sprint for 99th place!

 

Ha ha, before the line, dude. I also try not to be jerk!

 

Agree, but if it's only about the money, why do us amateurs behave like jerks sometimes? I love the competitiveness of the final sprint, even if I'm 199th. But let's not lose perspective. Give the struggling guy a push next time - it'll make his day and put the fun back into the sport!