27
WINTER
2016
|
It’sso true,
thereareno friends ona sunnyday, although it tookmea few years to
figure that out. What drives the typicalMasters racer to this sport? The first part of thean-
swer is that I don’t think there really isa typical racer. Thereare somanydifferent people
fromdifferent backgrounds, and yet we all share the same passion. We also share the
Ibuprofen that gets passedaround like Tic Tacs before the races even start. A couple of
thosebeforeahardday’s racingandyoucaneasilymake it to thebarat 3pm.
I got intoMasters racingabout adozenyearsago.One tasteof it sucksyou in. Youget
the feverbuteverybody’s fever isdifferent. There is thegroupof long time racers. Theseare
theoneswho racedat high levelsasakid. Some racedat theclub level, a sprinklingat the
Provincial levelandof courseweoccasionallyget to ride the liftwitha fewdemi-gods from
International circles. It isa thrill just tobe in thesamecourseas these folks.And theyofcourse
areour measuring sticks.We listen to every comment about strategy anddelight to hear
theyhad troubleonacertain section. Theyarehuman likeme. Hell, I only lost by six sec-
onds today. Imustbegettingbetter. Theseonesstillget toenjoy the tasteofapodium finish.
Thereare lotsof egosanda few scoresbeing settledeveryweek. Formany that isapretty
bigdriver in itself. Iwillneverexperienceapodium finishbut Idon’tneed to. There isenough
of a thrill just tobepart of thegroup.Weall haveour places in thepeckingorder anduse
that order to compare ourselves andmeasure howwearedoing—a littlebetter or a little
worseeachweek—but something tomeasureourselvesby.
One tasteof it
sucksyou in.
Youget the
feverbut
everybody’s
fever is
different.
Racing isabout
friendship, competition
and innerdrive.
It isaboutbreathing life
intoyourdustybody that
endures thenine to five.
It isabout rejecting that
soremeniscusor lower
back - just forawhile.
SKIER | TYLER NELLA
