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Is sportsmanship dead?


grimpeur

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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.

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

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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.

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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 :clap: . 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.

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

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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? :P 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!

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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"

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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.

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Just for our clarity - did you pass 15 guys after the finish line, but before the timing mat? :P 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!

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