"I led him out for, like, 50 miles."

Recently I've stumbled upon a bunch of interviews with pros where they are asked about their first race. Most of these guys were freaks the moment they swung their leg over a bike and so when posed with the question, "How'd you do in your first race?" More often than not, they reply, "I won." That answer is boring, even if it is impressive and true.

Yesterday I was reading an interview with Dave Zabriskie and he was asked this very question. His reponse, "I got second. I led him out for, like, 50 miles."

For those of you in the know, you immediately understand why this is funny. For the rest, allow me to explain.

A lead out is what happens at the end of a race when a team is trying to set up a win for their sprinter. Often referred to as a lead out train, a number of team mates will do their best to keep the pace as high as possible with their sprinter safely in the draft for as long as possible. Then, the last man, generally referred to as the actual lead out, although the leading out has been happening for a few K's (I feel so Euro when I write K's and not Miles), does a full out sprint to the 200 meters to go sign (this can vary). At this point the actual sprinter comes out and does his max effort sprint hopefully finding himself with at least a tire width margin ahead of the next guy. Lead outs for sprint finishes are hectic, crazy, dangerous, awesome and really impressive if done properly. Even the best teams screw it up all the time!

Back to Dave's explanation of his first race. You don't do a 50 mile lead out. The other guy was simply sitting on and Dave did nothing to make him pull through and take his fair share of turns at the front. By the time they got the finish, Dave would be wasted, the other guy would be, at least fresher than Dave, jump him in the finale and leave Dave with a second place and a extra hard day of training.

The lesson to be learned from the very wise Dave Zabriskie? Don't let people sit on your wheel.