This is a true story about a client of mine. First, let me paint a picture... You decide that your main focus for this year will be the Masters National Time Trial. You hire a coach from the west coast, plot out your training, and work your butt off in training and prep for the big event. You not only spend a load of $$$ on equipment, you also have to get out there ("there" is Park City, Utah). I think that you get the picture. Now comes to good part...
Fast forward to the morning of the event. Just so happens that there's a traffic backup on the way to the race venue, putting a serious squeeze in his warm-up routine. Out about 3 miles from nowhere, while on the road warming-up with about 20 minutes to his scheduled start time, he realizes that natures calling and that he really has to go (he can partially thank Starbucks for that!). Wanting to be as discreet as possible, he finds a bridge and makes his way underneath it. Let me remind you that he was in the middle of nowhere... While "equalizing", he is approached by a Park Ranger. This ranger proceeded to read him the riot act which included his disqualification from the race. There was no getting through to this guy. Reasonable and logical pleas fell on deaf ears. The ranger drove off to find the chief race official and threatened to pull the plug on the entire race if the guy who was taking a pi$$ (under a bridge, in the middle of nowhere I must add) was not disqualified. Not wanting to risk having the whole event shut down, he was disqualified. Unbelievable.... Now you wonder why the sport of bike racing here in the US will always be fringe sport. I'm sure that the Utah department of tourism as well as the Governor would LOVE to hear a story like this! To have an employee completely go off on a visitor of their State I'm sure gives them a warm feeling inside. Quite frankly, this schmuck should not have a job, let alone one that reflects the image of the state of Utah OR has any exposure to people. I think that it's safe to say that my client will not be making a trip back to Utah and spending money at hotels and restaurants anytime soon. That's for sure. So, the bottom line is if you gotta go, don't (in Utah at least!), unless you want to be tossed from the race that you trained all year for... The funny thing about all of this is that in today's day and age, when athletes are being tested for unnatural performance enhancing drugs, someone actually gets busted for doing something that's completely natural...
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