There were a number of clips to edit this time.  It is amazing how many minutes of video it takes to come up with a few seconds.  Also, the VHoldR helmet cam ended up in the hands of some inexperienced users… so get ready for some interesting camera angles and partial head shots!

I went into this comparing my own experience in high school team sports with that of a development cycling team.  It is an incomplete comparison on a lot of levels — including the fact that some development riders aren’t in high school.  However, a good portion of the riders on the Hincapie team are.

There certainly were some comparisons.  For instance, I knew exactly what they were feeling as they broke open the boxes containing their equipment.  My mind went back to getting that new basketball jersey.

The biggest contrast to me though was how cycling for a young rider is different from other organized team sports.  These young people don’t have a broad support structure like most sports for people their ages.  There is plenty of room for them to be misunderstood with their choice for sport.

Yet, on the other hand, the sport they have chosen is unique in that they have the opportunity to participate — at a young age — with people at a higher level.  You aren’t going to be out there as a high school player playing in an organized football game against college or NFL players.  For the young cyclist, it is entirely possible that he could be competing — or at least training — with professionals.

Also, the culture of cycling tends to lead to greater interaction between older and younger participants on the sport.  Depending on ability, age becomes less of a factor.  A young “kid” who handles himself well on the bike and shows respect to the sport and other riders will be taken in as an equal.

There are many other aspects of cycling that make it such a unique sport and community.  However, this is one of them that I enjoy.  Spending some time with the riders on the Hincapie Development Team reminded me of these things.  They really are not unique and simply represent a growing number of young people who are taking to the sport and will someday represent United State cycling to the world.

 

Tags: Greenville Watershed, Hincapie Development Team, UWBL, Video

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 4th, 2009 at 9:47 am and is filed under Rides. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.