Racer Ex 

Having initially mistaken the "off the front" thread to mean going forwards rather than backwards, it got me to thinking while I was out destroying muscle and brain cells on the fugly TT practice bike.

Why?

Why do you race? Racing, for me, has always had an end point: WINNING.

But maybe I'm a rarity. So here you go:

Would you rather have a lot of "nice" placings over a season or win one race?

merlinextraligh

Difficult question for me. I started to answer, one win. However I race for 2 reasons, 1) to have fun, 2) to have a goal to get in shape.

So being competitive, with a shot at doing well each week is probably in the long run more consistent with the reason I race, than winning one race, and not being competitive in the others.

substructure

30th? Some of my crits only have 30 or so riders in them.
I'd rather be competitive in every race.

Racer Ex 

I'll keep the question as is, but I didn't really consider the upgrade thing into the equation. I rode a bit more conservatively when I was chasing points, but still rode to win in most cases.

merlinextraligh

Actually since I've made it one of my season goals to upgrade, I think it is making me more conservative.

2 races this year, each time I gave up on moves that had a chance of winning, but would have meant no points if they failed.

My only defense is each race I ended up 3rd wheel in the final turn, and I'm not a terrible sprinter. But both times Iplayed it conservatively.

mollusk

This poll is flawed because this is a team sport. I'd rather have a bunch of "OK" placings all season while helping teammates place well than have one victory while screwing over teammates all year. Call me the anti-Vino if you will.

aperez8264

I would rather have several nice placings. I think that several top 5 is better than one win and several meh performances. For me several weeks of consistently doing well is better than one good day out of the whole season.

merlinextraligh

The result I am most proud of from last season, and the race that was the most fun, was 19th, where I spent most of the race, with teammates working to make sure our teammate in a 2 man break stayed away.

mollusk

+1

dmb2786

This. I want to say winning, but once I get that one win, i might as well sit on my ass for the rest of the year.

umd

I enjoyed my win. I would take a win and mid-field finishes over a string of podiums but just missing the W.

kudude

I'd love to win. In the 3s. I'll take podiums until I get there.

Racer Ex 

It's flawed in several ways. There should have been several sub questions, both "have you won a race" (easier to be happy with 3rd if you've never been on the top step) and also the team question which I hadn't even considered initially, more because of the OTF thread was an example of doing much less to help your team by pulling off vs. killing it.

Although the Vino analogy is not accurate, I do believe HE was the guy who got chased down by his own team. T Mobile was weirdness.

But let's leave it that you're riding unattached.

Lithuania

at this point in my racing i would take a bunch of good placing and no win in a given season. Have not had any its an easy choice. If I got a win right now and and a bunch of also ran 30+s I would just think I got lucky and wouldnt be satisfied.

Now if you asked me after I had a couple seasons with a lot of good placings but no win Id glady take a win and a bunch of also rans.

cedricbosch

Great question. I'm all about the category upgrades, so I chose the 2nd and 3rd finishes for the points. Winning is fun but being a higher cat is even better.

Unfortunately this is a moot question, if you are good enough to win, you'll have a few top-5 finishes to go with it.

umd

Not necessarily... I had mixed results for most of last season, partly because I fancied myself a "climber" and sought out hilly races. Turns out my threshold sucked but my medium-short duration (e.g. 5m) power was pretty good and it took a flatish race with short punchy climbs for me to realize it. Also, after being frustrated with my results for much of the season, getting tired of driving all over the place, and changing my training to prepare for Everest Challenge I had stopped racing for a while but continued to get much stronger and probably wouldn't have even done the race except for prodding by my teammates because of improvement.

So I guess now having had the win it would be harder to be satisfied with lower placings but I see the point above about wanting to prove (to yourself) that it wasn't a fluke. Upon reflection of last season with the win I do think that it was more satisfying than if I only had a string of top-5s.

MDcatV

having been fortunate to have experienced both the W and "nice" placings, I'd take the W and a bunch of nothing else over a season of top 10s but no top steps.

But, I've found, after many tries at getting a W by going otf - trying the get the kind of win where there's no one else in the frame, that my best shot at winning races is such that I'm going to get a bunch of "nice" placings ... but way more "nice" placings than Ws.

aicabsolut

If you're asking the "sisters," on the forum... well, I've only done a couple of races where a 30+ finish was even possible....

I'd love to have a win, but I wouldn't want to totally suck the rest of the season either. My most satisfying finish so far was 4th in a field of about 36, and I was 1st in my conference. That was more rewarding than some 2nd and 3rd place finishes, even though the 2nd was in a 12.5mi TT where I cut about 4 minutes off my time from the season before.

El Diablo Rojo

If that one win is at Ft Davis or Joe Martin with Ex as my teammate I'll take the one win a year. If it's at some thursday night who give a rat's arse crit I'll take the consistent top finishes. I want to raise my arms in victory at a race that really matters more than anything. When I raced cars I won a lot, winning feels amazing, I've had some podiums and ton of top 5's, being close but not winning really sucks. I know I have the motor, I need to get the brain engaged and the results will follow.

slim_77

It's hard to smell a W from 30th place...whereas 2-10th it still dances in your nostrils.

I've got both, a W, top 5s/10s, and a few crappy placings. Hindsight being what it is, I never felt good about those poor results because I didn't race in the Bob Dopolina sense. Making an effort to be in a potentially winning position, or putting someone else there, leaves you with the satisfaction of knowing you worked and earned your entry fee/gas. Sitting around and waiting for $hlt to happen, and finishing midpack or worse, does not feel good.

Since I'm a 4 with only a few teammates (who won't be racing as often as I will)...I want to win. We can discuss other situations when the time is appropriate.

Coyote2

You're asking me to rank something that I've never experienced - a win.

Might as well ask a baptist missionary how he enjoys doggy style.

kudude

I'm not touching that one

carpediemracing 

The best season I had I never really won (other than Spring Series stuff). I got 2nd a couple times, and placed almost every place possible down to 15th or so, but I felt great that year. I ached for a real win though.

I've also had seasons where I could get a win in the Spring Series but then get nothing for the rest of the year, meaning a whole lot of DNFs and such.

Consistency is good, but a win is nice.

Ask Lance - would he want to get a bunch of nice finishes all year or would he want a Tour win and nothing else?

Or ask Eddy - would he want to win all year or would he just want to, well, win all year?

heh.

Since I've NEVER won a summer race, I would prefer a summer race win over a consistent season.

cdr

Snuffleupagus

One win, no doubt. A season full of 2nd through 10ths just isn't the same.

A win is affirmation that you trained hard, and raced smart. Anything else is proof that you didn't do at least one of the two well enough.

schnabler1

You really don't think luck has anything to do with it?