Experience is something that we can only develop over time. We take it to imply there is some associated wisdom, garnered principally through those experiences that contributed that wisdom through hardship of some kind. As a society, we also refer to this as “learning from our mistakes”; mistakes make a much more convincing guide than does success.
I happen to be a semi-professional mistake-makerer, although I do feel as though I should have much more wisdom in my bones than I demonstrate. It sometimes feels as though all I make are mistakes. One gigantic snowball of mistakes that continues to build on itself with each successive heave down the snowy slope of life. At times, I fully comprehend the mistake as I’m making it, but soldier forth in the misguided hope that it will somehow work out for me despite my imminent failure. Other times, I’ll be certain that I’m right and true, only to discover later my fallacy.
The severity of all this mistake-making is lessened somewhat if one is able to learn from their mistakes and convert it into something resembling wisdom, as I optimistically believe I am. In fact, learning from my many mistakes is perhaps one of my greatest talents; it seems this particular skill helps me forge long-lasting relationships and hold down jobs without getting fired for sucking so much.
George Hincapie and I have in common the fact that we are both “experienced”. But it is in this last respect, that of learning from one’s mistakes, that George Hincapie and I differ, aside from athletic ability and, I’m assuming, body odor. It is for this reason that being his fan necessitates that one be a masochist. Our hopes rise each season and for each classic, yet every time our hopes are crushed as we watch helplessly as he misses the opportunity to win.
Here is a rider of immense talent, not to mention America’s best hope for victory over the stones of Belgium and Northern France. As his career draws to a close, his huge potential remains unfulfilled. With one exception, when the stakes were highest, Big George repeated a chronic string of mistakes. Time and again, he would let the critical move go, look around for others to take initiative as the race exploded ahead, would mysteriously disappear from the front, or simply fall into a ditch.
A rider needs luck to win at the classics, but the most successful riders seem to make their own luck. Hincapie faltered each time victory was within his grasp, yet always found a locus of responsibility that lay outside himself. With the exception of his snapped steerer in the 2006 Roubaix, by and large, his were missed opportunities, with the prefect example being Stage 14 of the 2009 Tour. Hincapie was in a break which was set to place him into the Yellow Jersey when Sergei Ivanov broke free 10 or so kilometers from the line.
The bunch was bearing down on the group, and the gap was dropping quickly. As the gap neared the critical point where George might lose the buffer required to end the day in Yellow, he sat in the group and looked around for another to take up the chase. The bunch continued it’s unstoppable march and, sure enough, Yellow was missed by a scant 5 seconds. Afterwards, a downtrodden and bitter Hincapie blamed the Astana and Garmin teams for chasing too hard and stealing the jersey from him when in reality he squandered his chance by sitting on rather than taking the initiative to chase himself.
The Cobbled Spring Classics are one of the pinacles of our sport, and riders who specialize in these brutal races are few in number. Unless you’re Belgian, most countries boast few riders who are able to ride over the stones and stay in one piece, fewer still manage to arrive at the finish. Rare is the rider who can do so consistently. George Hincapie is the only American rider I can think of who fit this mold, and I’ve always loved him for it. But sadly he’s lacked the je ne sais quoi that would see him outmaneuver, outgun, or outsmart his opponents.
But I never stopped hoping. On the occasions that he arrived at the finish with the scent of victory on the handlebars, the excitement was palpable. Setting foot on the podium did nothing but bolster my belief that he would one day take either the Ronde or Roubaix, and it is sad that there appears to be little hope of seeing him atop the podium as his retirement seems imminent. It would have been glorious to see him atop the podium in Meerbeke or Roubaix, and if he races again next year, I will, against my better judgement, hold high expectations for him. So much for learning from my mistakes.
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The father of my godchildren is from North Carolina and they will eventually move back there. He always says that when they move back my wife and I have to move with them. We probably will because nothing is really keeping us here, the riding/racing/weather is better in N.C. and the chances of running into Big George out on a ride jump exponentially.
@frank
i think what annoys me most about Pharmy is that he's managed to sell this image of himself as being the greatest cyclist of all time to the unwashed masses, which is violently wrong in my opinion
anyway back on subject, this is something which is unfortunately inherent in British sport, the english football team, rugby team and the worst kind of this 'letting chances slip' is Tim Henman, makes me want to cry sometimes
on the upside, the British Cycling seems to be bucking this trend, so there is hope
Cyclops - I'm in NC, been here on & off for 3 years, now here since last January on a permanent basis. Coming from upstate NY, it is nice to lose the snow. I also left my rollers behind. But, I will say that the summer can be a scorcher. Last year we had a record number of days of 100*F, something like 65. And we had 100 days over 90*F. (yeah, it was a hot summer all over last year)
Spring is all of a few weeks. May, June, July, August, and September can be rough.
That said, I can't really complain. Plenty of good riding, plenty of other cool cyclists. A bit flat for my liking, but you can't have it all. And then again, I haven't gotten to the mountains in western NC yet. And when I'm not cycling, 2.5 hours to the beach for a swim & surf. Love to get up to VA for some of the Blue Ridge Parkway this summer.
Oh, and going to race some cross this fall. Friends have told me there will be over ten races within an hour of me. Not bad, not bad.
Overall, NC is pretty good for cycling. But then again, so was upstate NY. The winters make it harder there though for a dedicated road cyclist.
I agree, pretty much. Not necessarily on the specifics of each rider I see discussed here, but on the point that it's largely down to personality. The sport is so full of doubts that very few confirmed positives would surprise me these days; much less so revelations from the past (noone ever, ever tell me Jens doped. That would kill me).
For the record, I'm a bit of a fan of Captain Georgie, as my wife calls him. I always liked Jan, the wonderful coked-up pork pie, and still do. I never liked Millar (jr). He's essentially Andy Murray on a bike; they're both tossers.
It's pretty sad when you think about it, removing whether someone is a dirty, lying cheat from the equation. But strangely liberating, too. Gotta be a cycling fan to understand that, maybe.
@Ron
Summer can be super rough down here, but I can attest to the quality of the terrain, especially in Western NC and the Upstate of SC, both on the road and on the trail. Plenty of climbing, and the higher you go, the cooler the temps.
@Cyclops
Just a little over a week ago, I was out getting in the required "age in miles" ride on my birthday and passed George blasting away in the other direction on his TT bike, getting ready for ATOC. Even got a wave from him. Just another day in the life of a cyclist around here. Feel free to join us any time!
I first became aware of Hincapie 'through the grapevine' was back when I raced, as this talented kid from NYC (Queens, to be exact).
My club used to put on a crit in Danbury Ct. every year and he showed up once to race the 123 field(!) probably when he was still with the Mengoni team in NY. He didn't win, but as I remember he podiumed.
About two years later he was on Motorola and racing Pro in Europe. This always blew me away.
He still makes it back to the Big Apple sometimes to support a local shop or an important cause. I've never heard a bad word about the guy.
@Ron
@Bo
I'd be moving to the Greensboro (Whitsett) area if I actually moved over there.
@Ron
I think the site was down last night. I couldn't get on from my Dell, my wife's Mac, or my blackberry.
So young, so much promise....
@pakrat
Wow. Just...wow.
@Ron, @Bo, @Cyclops
I lived in Charlotte for 6 months and hated it. I actually quit riding; something about combining a general hatred for cyclists with NASCAR fans that made us easy targets. Very, very, very dangerous riding. One ride actually had my rear wheel completely underneath the trailer of a semi before it caught a ridge and righted itself before I literally was killed. Hung up the bike for the remainder of my stay in Charlotte.
Moved to Raleigh and that was better but still a challenge with beltways that were very unfriendly towards cyclists.
Moved to Chapel Hill (actually to Saxapahaw) and loved it. Almost didn't leave it for Seattle. The riding was spectacular. Made loads of trips out to Boone and Asheville. Awesomeness. Meatcamp road in Boone is a killer.
@Cyclops, Greensboro should be OK. You're close to the mountains there and I bet the riding is great, though I never got on my bike there. Had a project in Mt. Airy for a few months and I scouted the roads there, they looked fantastic.