Addiction - Not Just A Drug Problem

Mental or Physical - Addiction is still addiction... By: Rich Bartlett

I've spent nearly my entire life riding/racing bicycles at a pretty competitive level. Life has had a huge fluctuation of success as well as failure. As fit and healthy as I am comes a counter reactive ability of mental insecurities and depression. Maybe the physical is just a mask for the emotional and other times visa-versa. Competing on the bicycle is a double edge sword because there is only one winner but numerous losers and having that top spot is difficult to achieve and even harder to retain.
This goes with everything in life. You work so hard to try to claw your way to the top only to find yourself completely alone upon arrival. You see, no one wants to be the loser and although we put the Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth's on a pedestal, it is only because we didn't directly compete with them.

Michael Jordan posterizing Dikembe Mutombo 

Here is the perfect example. Although he was one of the most recognized and influential players of the game, you can bet that Dikembe Mutombo was not a "fan" of Jordan. Taking it one step further, this photo probably created a lifetime resentment for His Airness. Even though Jordan is arguably the best player the sport has ever seen, Mutombo, being a victim of and loser to, will find himself defending his own honor rather than giving credit to Jordan for being superior. It is human nature. If we win it was our own doing, but when we lose it was the fault of someone else. A bad day or sheer luck. We struggle to admit someone is better, has worked harder, or simply out played us.

Sarasota NBL - Not from this story but closest visual I could find.

How in the world does this relate to BMX? Well, I have been the Mutombo my entire career. I was surrounded by the best athletes on earth and my role was to get dunked on. Occasionally I'd find myself ahead and sometimes even a victor. Even the best professional teams lose an incredible high percentages of games. Jordan's Bulls lost 10 out of 82 games in the best season ever at the time. So 10 teams that year won against the Bull's. Beating them was almost a bigger achievement than the 72 wins Chicago had in 1996, depending on how you look at it. The credit does not go to that winning team though. It would be said that Jordan or the Bull's team had a "bad night" not that the team who beat them played their asses off. Just like the day I won the Ironman race and jumping contest in Orlando. It was a Friday night special event before one of the War of the Stars weekends. I never lost a moto the entire day and lit it up dirt jumping immediately after the race. It was winner take all in both events and I won $1000 for each that day.  Two grand in one afternoon. Did I get any credit for it? NO! The factory guys will say it wasn't important. There were no points, it was hot, humid and miserable. The format was 4 riders per moto and two moved on until the final four. Then winner take all. No second place, no trophy, no reward for any effort other than first. I was on fire that night, I needed the money, I was fit and hungry, and all the conditions suited me. The factory guys will say they "saved it" for the nationals. But that was only after not qualifying out of their moto.

Leona Valley (Cherry Drop Jump) circa 1977

This takes me back to 1975 in my hometown of Leona Valley, California. We had BMX bikes but bicycle motocross was not a thing yet. My dad took a girls (because it was lighter) Schwinn Stingray bike and put on his old cut down Husky 450 bars, caged pedals, 39/16 gear on heavy duty 20" coaster brake rims, and a road bike saddle, replacing the banana seat. It only weighed about 40 pounds and I was spun out at 12 miles per hour. My friend Sean Price had a ranch 3 miles up the road from my house and his dad put on a "Bike Race". By today's standards it would be called an enduro. We started on their front porch and ran across the front grass about 50 yards and hit a real life "tabletop" jump consisting of a one piece picnic table/bench setup with plywood nailed into it. I was about 8 years old so that three foot high jump with a four foot deck seemed gigantic. The course wound through the trees (flat turns - we didn't know what berms were yet) and we had a wedge jump water hole that was probably ten feet across to clear. The another wedge jump over a 4x8 piece of plywood the short way, with a thousand 16 penny nails sticking up, that you had to jump over or flatten your tires. It was only four feet across but by far the most terrifying obstacle on the course. Then we blasted through a huge water puddle which was probably six inches deep and ten feet across that put us out on the dirt road in front of their house. With all the obstacles the yard section was probably less than 30 seconds long but I remember being so out of breath and so tired as we hit the dirt road for a half mile of 1-2% down grade on the sandy, corrugated surface. I was by far the youngest kid at 8. My guess is that everyone was 12 and older. But I found myself in second place as we turned off the dirt road onto the asphalt for the 2 mile sprint to Leona Valley Elementary School for the finish. The paved road has an average of about a 4% downhill grade and today on my road bike I could average about 30 mph on that section. On my 20", at 8 years old, with a  39/16 gear I was spun out, so we tucked down pretending to be Kenny Roberts on his Yamaha road race machine. I was a big 8 year old but probably weighed at least 20 pounds less than any other kid out there. The entry fee was a quarter and top three would get paid. About a quarter mile down the road I got passed by a bigger kid who slowly just crept away. I remember looking back over and over to see where 4th was. With a half mile to go I didn't have to wait any longer, he passed me, slowly creeping by on my left. Then the road leveled out till just before the school where there was a little steep downgrade to the finish line. I knew this was my only chance, I would have to pass him and put in a gap before the last downhill if I wanted to finish with a prize. I spun my brains out caught and passed him within a quarter mile section. But would it be enough gap for the last section to the finish where we would be spun out and coasting?  It was, and I held him off for third. I was the token grom and everyone was so psyched for me - except for the kid I beat - obviously. I am sure there was a good excuse. Not that the little kid out pedaled him, but more like something went wrong. But I also had an excuse... The were older, bigger and more experienced. I'm sure in my mind it wasn't that I got beat, it was that they had an advantage in being stronger and heavier by age. So that is the moral of this story. We don't get to chose who our competitors are. It is never going to be evenly matched or fair. We have to accept that all we can do is our best, learn from defeat and improve in the process. But in the meantime congratulate those who beat us, thank them for the experience and learn from them their strengths and weakness so that we can take that knowledge and improve ourselves. There is only one winner per event but unlimited events in life. Use this to your advantage and never accept the fact that you are not allowed to prevail. Stick with it and your time will come and hopefully your competitors will respect you enough to pay you a compliment - even if you posterize them!!!! I took my .75 cents winnings and went directly to the Superette (local store) and bought candy - probably spent all of it there, bringing to the end one of the most memorable days on the bike!