Okay so I want to explain a little. I am a retired cyclist. I competed from age 9 to 14, and was state champion when I was 10. I’m now 20 and there’s still parts of it that fuck me up.
Cycling has age limitations, so (at least when I did this) you could only start at age 9 or 10. That evens the playing field a lot from the get go, and there’s other slight protections for kids, but still.
You start racing at 9 and it’s really fun! You go out every weekend to race against other kids your age, and you go on rides throughout the week with your friends or family. It’s great!
And then you start getting older. And you have to train more, to go out in miserable race conditions because these races are at 8 am in February in places that get a fair amount of rain. And soon enough you’re what, 11? and all your friends have professional trainers. These kids are going out riding for hours every day with professionals coaching them. Your parents, and those of your friends, are pushing for you to try harder, they know you can do this, you just need to try. And you start to wonder when this stopped being for fun.
By 13 I was miserable. By 14 I dropped out. So did half of the other people I raced with. It’s nearly impossible to balance that much training with actual homework and somewhere around middle school you have to make a decision: college or cycling?
Of the others my sister and I frequently raced with, who we considered friends, where are they now? well:
I’m in college with anxiety disorders.
A. is in community college after nearly dropping out of high school and being rejected from almost everywhere she applied.
C. is a national champion in cycling, I think three times as of last summer.
T…. I don’t know. She had a breakdown and stopped cycling around high school, and I haven’t heard from her since.
N. and J. both were pulled out of cycling when their high school grades dropped too low.
F. had a breakdown as well.
I think L. quit somewhere around high school.
R. just competed in the Rio Olympics.
So out of that list, there’s two who are still in the game, two who are success stories. I’m really proud of them, don’t get me wrong! I think they’re both amazing people.
But when you’re watching the Olympics and see a teenager competing, I want you to ask two questions:
Who was it who wanted them to get to this point?