Sorry, I just don't get it!

[laurence]

if you don't get it, then fair enough. i don't think anyone here can persuade you otherwise, it's something you get or not... you could try and go to watch a stage of the tour of Britain or le Tour in Yorkshire next year, to get a feel of the atmosphere.

i watched cycling on TV before i really got nto cycling... it's always fascinated me. football, etc i don't give a flying V for. cycling, for me, is one of the best sports, one of the 'real' sports... (wo)man and bike against the elements and all the road can throw at them. i much prefer road cycling to track - it just has that 'thing'.

each to his/her own.

 

[RWright]

Well yes and no. I can watch races and I enjoy some competitiveness when out but it all seems so much more involved than who is the quickest. All the teams, tactics etc just makes it unwatchable for me.

I have just recently started watching more racing. I had watched the TDF off and on for years. Since I started riding, I started taking more of an interest in racing. I observe a little closer "how the big boys do it" hoping to improve my cycling. It helps some but since they are on such a different level in their conditioning compared to mine, it makes comparison difficult. I still try to pick up what I can from watching them.

I am the opposite from your above post. I like learning all the tactics. I also really like seeing the country side they race on all over Europe, and even here in the US, places I have never been. It is as good as the Travel TV channel and better sometimes. I have always been an American Football fan because I started playing it from the time I was 10 years old until after high school, about 7 years.

I like college level basketball and Major League Baseball but baseball has always been a challenge for me to watch unless it is the playoffs or world series. College basketball is losing a lot of it's attraction for me because the good players only play for like a year or two and then go Pro. NBA basketball is about as boring as it gets for me. NFL football is even now making me lose my enthusiasm, they are changing so many rules "for safety" that it is quickly becoming a different game. I always liked the brutality of it, that is what they were getting paid the big bucks for. Now there are a lot of whiney little bitches out there.

Bicycle racing is filling some of the voids my other past main spectator sports have created. I still get bored watching some guy pedaling a bicycle for a couple of hours, it is almost as bad as watching runners, but those last 30 km or so can be very exciting!

 

[lukesdad]

This has got to be a troll.

Why, it's a fair enough question.

Following a 3 week tour can get confusing if you are not watching it blow for blow as a newcomer however the last hour of a Milan San remo or Paris roubaix is pure drama. It really doesn't take much following and you do not have to be an expert

 

[400bhp]

Go up a decent climb.

Watch said race going up the same climb. There's something about seeing the relative ease/pain that the pros go through and the affinity with yourself. Few (if any) sports can replicate this.

 

[Markymark]

Probably because I just like to dip into a race/game. For example, I know little about the 5km athletic race but I can see whose winning, see when they start to sprint and then see them go over the line. Cycling seems do much more
ComPlicated! Sprint finishers seem to have their own races, some they're on a track on each side, sOmetimes they're racing at walking pace before shooting off.

I do sort of understand why it's like this in different events but it seems so different to any other sport.

 

[AndyRM]

That sums it up for me @400bhp

I'm never going to be as quick as a pro, but knowing I can suffer on the same roads as they do is a great feeling. Even better if you can escape inside your head and imagine you're emulating a cycling hero (should you have any).

Watch some older films (Stars & Watercarriers and A Sunday in Hell are excellent places to start), read up on the history of the Grand Tours and Classics, maybe try some biographies of the big names in history.

That's where I started off a few years ago and now I'll watch any road race going.

If it's still not for you, then that's absolutely fine. Just enjoy riding your bike.

 

[400bhp]

Probably because I just like to dip into a race/game. For example, I know little about the 5km athletic race but I can see whose winning, see when they start to sprint and then see them go over the line. Cycling seems do much more
ComPlicated! Sprint finishers seem to have their own races, some they're on a track on each side, sOmetimes they're racing at walking pace before shooting off.

I do sort of understand why it's like this in different events but it seems so different to any other sport.

But that again is another reason to love it. It's a race within a race, it's also a little like chess at times too with tactics at play.

 

[AndyRM]

It's a race within a race.

Race-ception!

 

[tigger]

It's the lack of simplicity which makes road racing a love/hate sport. I was talking to non cyclists at work who wanted to get into the Tour but just couldn't get it either. So I tried to explain bike racing to them, but where do you start?! I think you get the bug for road racing by slowly acquiring the knowledge and understanding through watching it over time. I have plenty of non cyclist mates (who tend to watch a lot of sports) who absolutely love the Tour, completely get it and indeed rate it as the greatest sporting event on earth! Grand tours and classics are much more than just sport, that's the real hook if these things appeal to you. The buzz words are: history, culture, passion, geography, scenery, performance, tactics, suffering, emotions, intrigue, action etc etc. it's much more than just sport.

If you want to get into it, I'd suggest watching the last hour or so of a Grand tour stage or a classic, that's where things may start to happen. And keep watching. It may or may not take you, it's an acquired taste after all...

 

[Noodley]

The sad thing is there is no real terrestrial coverage that explains how it works to beginners and keeps it interesting for more experienced viewers. All we get is those fecking idiots Liggett and Sherwen speaking about castles and getting things wrong all the fecking time. And watching the end of a race is not going to get you accustomed to what happens, you need to see it all unfold...maybe next time a race is on TV you can ask things like "why is that team doing all the work", "why is that rider just riding behind the other one?", etc etc. and we can do our best to explain it.

 

[raindog]

It's the lack of simplicity which makes road racing a love/hate sport.

It's the same with rugby. Someone who's never watched it before can't understand WTF's going on, but once you take the trouble to understand the rules and can see what's happening, then the rewards are enormous.
So much better than wendyball, which takes about ten minutes to understand.
(ducks behind computer, smartish like)

 

[Hip Priest]

When I first got into cycling I found pro cycling baffling too. But I was intrigued discover more, simply because I admired the strength and stamina of the riders. So I started reading books and magazines on the subject, and soon it all began to make sense.

Nowadays, I enjoy the tactical aspect of racing, and I've even discovered a few heroes, like the man in my avatar.

 

[Hip Priest]

The sad thing is there is no real terrestrial coverage that explains how it works to beginners and keeps it interesting for more experienced viewers. All we get is those fecking idiots Liggett and Sherwen speaking about castles and getting things wrong all the fecking time. And watching the end of a race is not going to get you accustomed to what happens, you need to see it all unfold...maybe next time a race is on TV you can ask things like "why is that team doing all the work", "why is that rider just riding behind the other one?", etc etc. and we can do our best to explain it.

I watched the 2011 world championship road race with my dad, who knows nothing about cycling, but is patriotic. About 20 minutes in, he asks "Where's our lad (Cav) then?" and I said "Well, he's about 75th at the moment" and my dad goes "What a load of rubbish. I though you said he was going to win?"

By the end of the race, I'd got him up to speed!

 

[RWright]

I have learned a lot reading the race threads here. It makes it much more interesting to me.

 

[lukesdad]

I have learned a lot reading the race threads here. It makes it much more interesting to me.

This can be a pretty unwelcoming part of the forum for newbies as the start of this thread proves, a little time and explanation goes a long way.