I’ve watched the Gripped Film cycling movie, 24 Solo 37 times and I just don’t get the interviews.

Problem Statement:

I've watched the Gripped Film cycling movie, 24 Solo 37 times and I just don’t get the interviews:  Travis Brown, “I’m never going to find out how fun 24 hour racing is…”; Todd Wells, “I can barely finish a 20 minute short track let alone a 24 hour race…”; and Alison Dunlap, “24 hour racing is something I’d never do again… not for a million dollars… the people who do that are crazy…”

Resources:

To help me "get it", it seemed reasonable to turn to Jung and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).  The MTBI assessment is a psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions.  These psychological preferences were extrapolated by Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers from the typological theories proposed by Carl Gustav Jung, and first published in his 1921 book Psychological Types (English edition, 1923).  Jung theorized that there are four principal psychological functions by which we experience the world: sensation, intuition, feeling, and thinking.

My Hypothesis:

I’ve worked at an engineering design laboratory for 34 years and believe my type to be well engrained.  My recollection is that the bulk of the laboratory, where I work, to be a personality type INTJ. Hallmarks of the INTJ include independence of thought and a desire for efficiency though seeking new angles or novel ways of looking at things.  We are generally well-suited for academia, research, consulting, management, science, engineering, and mountain biking.  We have a talent for analyzing and formulating complex theories and ride lines.We are often acutely aware of our own knowledge and abilities—as well as our limitations and what we don't know (a quality that tends to distinguish us from ex-mountain bikers).  INTJs are strong individualists.  We tend to be insightful and mentally quick; however, this mental quickness may not always be outwardly apparent to others.

Testing:

To validate my recollection, I took the free on-line personality test. Results validated NTJ but indicated that I am borderline E/I leaning towards E. What this means is that I have to accept that I am a Fieldmarshal Mastermind rather than a Mastermind Fieldmarshal.  However, all NTJs (Rational Judging types) whether an I or an E share in common: pragmatic, self-contained, focused problem solving, pride themselves in being ingenious and strong-willed when faced with an technical climb, and trust logic over emotions dropping in. All attributes of an accomplished mountain biker.

Analyzing the Data:

But why mountain bike for 24 hours? A paradox to most observers, the NTJ is able to live by glaring contradictions that nonetheless make perfect sense – from a rational judging perspective. NTJs are simultaneously the most starry-eyed idealists and the bitterest of cynics, a seemingly impossible conflict. This is because the NTJ type tends to believe that with effort, intelligence and consideration, nothing is impossible, most people are just lazy, so why not ride a mountain bike through the woods for 24 hours. After all, mountain bikers are not the only ones doing it for 24 hours. I've heard of 24 hour dance marathons. Once in high school I participated in a 24 hour football game. And let’s not forget the 24 hour Cold Water Challenge – now that something that I wouldn't do for a million dollars; that’s just crazy.

Highly Unscientific Conclusion:
The Hardcore 24 mountain bike race appears to the casual observer (i.e.; non-NTJ-type) as a crazy hard endeavor complicated with rock, roots and trees not only in the light of day, but also in the pitch blackness of night. All topped off with totally uncontrollable and barely predictable weather. To the NTJ mountain bike rider, it’s the perfect problem in need of a solution.

In Closing:

It was another great year at the Hardcore 24 race. Major kudos to the gang at Park Ave bike shop and whoever at Ontario County park and recreations that allows this event to take place at the ever popular Ontario County Park in Naples NY. Word is that this is the first time in eight years that Mother Nature took a pass. Some actually missed the maelstrom like competition of heavy weather, reminiscing about trails turned to organic soup, impenetrable fog, the frog plague and the clinging, gluey, gooey, gummy, tacky, tenacious, viscid, viscous mud. Terra Mater, the common enemy, was replaced, I believe, by more fierce head-to-head and team-to-team competition this year. The increased completion, however failed to detract from the vibe of the Hardcore 24 – We were having a party and a race broke out.