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# The Waning
- URL: https://www.cpj.fyi/posts/the-waning/
- Published: 2018-11-08T05:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-02T12:24:03.000Z
- Description: When the light changes, bike racing gets...prettier, but sadder.
- Author: Clay Parker Jones
- Tags: Bicycles

It’s getting dark and the seasons are finally changing.

It’s harder to wake up, get up, get prepared for 50 minutes of hammering on the pedals.

![DSCF9993.jpg](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/a9/73a90ce4-1663-4169-a7cb-efdf906b6b25/content/images/2023/11/DSCF9993.jpg)

We’re getting tired of changing bottom brackets, brake pads, tires, and bar tape. 

![DSCF0018.jpg](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/a9/73a90ce4-1663-4169-a7cb-efdf906b6b25/content/images/2023/11/DSCF0018.jpg)

Tired of pulling tape from our bikes and scraping mud from our toenails.

![DSCF0026.jpg](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/a9/73a90ce4-1663-4169-a7cb-efdf906b6b25/content/images/2023/11/DSCF0026.jpg)

But even when the results don’t come, and every step forward feels like two steps back – “Sure, that race was one of my best of all time, but it didn’t *feel* like it” – the little things make the sport worth it.

![DSCF0030.jpg](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/a9/73a90ce4-1663-4169-a7cb-efdf906b6b25/content/images/2023/11/DSCF0030.jpg)

![DSCF0057.jpg](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/a9/73a90ce4-1663-4169-a7cb-efdf906b6b25/content/images/2023/11/DSCF0057-1.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/a9/73a90ce4-1663-4169-a7cb-efdf906b6b25/content/images/2023/11/DSCF0035.jpg)

![DSCF0160.jpg](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/a9/73a90ce4-1663-4169-a7cb-efdf906b6b25/content/images/2023/11/DSCF0160.jpg)

The turning leaves; dogs (and roosters, and sheep) of cross; junior racers winning turkey legs as big as their heads; watching the pros fight it out, chased by long shadows.

Even far from home, and far from feeling at our best, we love this sport.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/a9/73a90ce4-1663-4169-a7cb-efdf906b6b25/content/images/2023/11/DSCF0006.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/a9/73a90ce4-1663-4169-a7cb-efdf906b6b25/content/images/2023/11/DSCF0015.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/a9/73a90ce4-1663-4169-a7cb-efdf906b6b25/content/images/2023/11/DSCF0028.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/a9/73a90ce4-1663-4169-a7cb-efdf906b6b25/content/images/2023/11/DSCF0040.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/a9/73a90ce4-1663-4169-a7cb-efdf906b6b25/content/images/2023/11/DSCF0174.jpg)