Originally Posted by
furiousferret
It boils down to risk reward. Bike Racing is a high risk sport, and for the average cyclist has little reward. In a beginner race (Cat 4 or 5) you typically have a straight 1 in 30 chance of winning, but at least 3 of those guys have put in over 10 hours a week for over a year, and another 3 are just naturally talented. Racers say you don't need watts to win, and that's true, but it also takes years to get comfortable enough in a race to win that way, and you're probably going to go down a few times learning it.
Its a sport designed where 10% win 90% of the races, the only saving grace being the upgrade system. Even then 4's and 5's are really competitive; no one out there just bought a bike at WalMart last week. Everyone is putting in a lot of time to get fast.
As a bop Cat 4 racer, the only reason I stick it out is because I believe my high watermark in this sport hasn't been achieved yet.
Cycling is also much more demoralizing than running.
You go run a marathon, and there's almost definitely someone slower than you, and a group to run with, and you'll get to finish if you're able.
It also doesn't matter much if there's a group with you or not, you'll go essentially as fast as you would otherwise.
It's hard to stick with a sport that demands lots of training just to avoid getting your teeth kicked in and then not even being allowed to finish. It takes a certain masochist to race bikes, both psychically and mentally.