Outsports Store Sports apparel, jockstraps, underwear, NFL jerseys, and books and videos for gay athletes.   Baseball Basketball NFL College F'ball Gay Games Tennis Women's Sports More   Clubhouse Discussion Board Gumby's Athlete Registry   Local Events Local Groups Local News   Community Outreach Featured Articles From The Wire Making A Difference Out Athletes Regular Columnists Jock Talk Week In Review   Locker Rooms Picture This   About Outsports Entertainment Gay Sports News Olympics Outsports in the Media   E-mail Outsports.com jock cup jockstrap underwear gay gay sports gay jocks gay pride			A Cyclist's Story: It's Not About the Chain By Jeff Ofstedahl I'm back home now. Still recovering from the Australian experience of a lifetime, there simply are too many stories to tell. From the moment we stepped off the plane at Los Angeles International Airport to que up for our Quantas flight to Sydney, Gay Games fever was in the air. It was an infectious enthusiasm for what was to come. As a city, Sydney is like a cross between the best of San Francisco and San Diego. Spectacular parks intertwine a landscape of skyscrapers. An excellent public transit system including trains, busses, ferries and underground (and underwater) freeways keeps the 5 million residents moving at a brisk pace. The Aussie's extensive preservation efforts to save the city's 19th century architecture amid modern building efforts keeps the structural integrity of the city's past alive and consistently interesting. I cannot say enough about the people of Australia. The Sydneysiders embraced the Gay Games and all its participants with open arms. There were no protests, no nasty editorials and no public judgment. For two weeks, it seemed as if everyone in Sydney was gay, or at least having a gay old time. The 13,000 international participants took to the streets in revelry, celebrating in style. From an economic viewpoint, the Gay Games was a boom, injecting an estimated $100 million into the local economy. Hotels and flights were booked solid. Taxis zoomed in every direction. If shopping were a medal sport, competition for the gold, silver and bronze would have been stiff. Shop owners, restaurateurs and saloon staff worked on pure adrenaline and overtime as sales soared along Oxford Street, Darlinghurst's answer to The Castro. Oh, and the beaches! The beautiful beaches! Bondi beach, Australia's most famous stretch of sand was teaming with waves of oiled, muscular bodies which seemed to be rolling in from the sea. Topless was the standard, and the skimpy Speedos and Aussie Bum togs left just enough to the imagination to make every nights dreams a fantasy. I was told the nude beaches were, well, a little hard to swallow. Our Arizona competitors did our state proud, bringing home several medals in many events. My races didn't fair as well. I was considered a strong contender for gold in the mountain biking and the race was going perfectly according to my strategy. During the second time around of the four lap contest I was in fourth place and quickly overtaking the leaders. Unfortunately on a tricky uphill section, my chain broke which knocked me out of the competition. I repaired it out on the trail and finished, but by then all I was able to win was the respect of my fellow athletes. That is the luck of the race. The Games was the first time I'd ever competed in road cycling races. I can sum up my racing experience this way: For someone to win the gold medal, that means someone has to take the silver. In my case, for someone to come in 13th, that means someone has to come in 14th. Yeah, I think you get the picture. Overall, I was happy to be middle of the pack, especially when you consider the level of experienced competition there. The same could be said for every sport. From the triathlon to bowling, there were the extremely competitive and there were those who showed up to participate and have fun. The creed of the Gay Games is: "Inclusion, Participation, Personal Best." Being there in the experience among so many dedicated athletes, volunteers and cheering fans alone was worth far more than any medal. I won't say I'm not a tad disappointed that I didn't bring home the gold for the mountain biking. Though, I did get a cool, new scar on my left leg. And when your good friend pulls you aside and attempts to say something comforting like, "It's not about the medal," Don't you just want to slap him? Taking a cue from the title of Lance Armstrong's book, "It's Not About the Bike," my friend and traveling partner in crime, Dennis, did say something very thoughtful. He said, "Jeff, it's not about the chain. The fact that you stopped, fixed your chain and finished the race strong even though you knew it was over for you showed that "Never Quit" spirit that keeps us all going in the face of adversity." Dennis is right. It wasn't about the chain. It wasn't even about winning gold medals. Participating in the Gay Games wasn't even about competing each day in our particular events. It was more about the process of what it took for us to get there. For the past eight months, our cycling team has been training together, scheduling time to fundraise, ride and race in our otherwise hectic lives. In the process, we've become great friends and made even more new friends along the way. Who would've known that a simple conversation last fall between two cyclists who found out each other was going to the Games would be the catalyst for a new bike club with now more than 130 members? We all came together in Team Arizona. Runners, bowlers, tennis players, wrestlers, golfers and more bonded in Sydney as we cheered each other on, and survived together in the disappointments. We all made new friends, and we got to know old friends even better. The fond memories of Sydney will be forever etched in my mind. Yes, even as I begin to think about heading to Montreal in 2006. Jeff Ofstedahl is a Phoenix-based writer, small business owner and mountain bike racer. He is a former US Navy Cryptolinguist Aircrewman. The picture is of him in front of one of the A-3s he used to fly off aircraft carriers.