I think the competitiveness is certainly there, but it’s organic, and not *expected*. This whole thread is a result of people enjoying the challenges and experiences of two successful Freezing Saddles already – and knowing how errrmm… dedicated some of the riders can be.
The first year I signed up I had no idea what it was going to be like (other than having done the National Bike Challenge). I happened to already know Bilsko and DismalScientist from Friday Coffee Club and our Team V found ourselves well-placed for a top slot. Along with our primary rivals JDAntos, jopamora, Steve O, Greenbelt (the original Bollard Busters) we all rode much more than any of us expected*, and we only kept doing it because we enjoyed the battle and love riding. But for most riders, their team wasn’t in that position with that sort of capacity/stupidity, and were riding for their own satisfaction, fun and side prizes or whatever.
* with the possible exception of DismalScientist
Last year the team I was in took things a lot easier and was never far off the bottom place, but I made it my own goal to ride at least 2 miles each day, do a lot of climbing, and keep track of the GPS art rides. If we’d been competitive I would probably have done more miles but either way FS was still great motivation and it was still fun to be part of the “competition” and see all the crazy stuff riders were doing (Subby, Rod Smith, etc.). I would imagine most riders most years would end up being in teams that aren’t in contention – that’s just the nature of “competition”.
If you end up in a team that’s near the top and you feel pressured (rather than inspired) to do more miles then I would say just ignore them and ride what you want. It’s my understanding that the distribution of riders into teams is designed to mix in the hardcore/motivated riders with those who are really just looking for a fun competition through the dreary winter.
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And the data suggests that a sizable segment of the participants takes competition seriously. I certainly do/would. The point, after all, is to win. Otherwise we wouldn’t bother keeping track of points, right?
