Knowing Where We Stand

[Flying_Monkey]

Just looking at the results oversimplifies the facts. Based on the Endura website it is clear that early in the race they were in yellow with Reni Madri (rider eventually finished second). Consequently, Moss will have been given a job and once done would have sat up each day to save his legs for the next days job. Not surprisingly he would loose a lot of time. If he were riding for himself he would probably not have lost anything like that much time....which means you would not have lost an hour either

Yeah, that's true in terms of their tactics. But I probably still would have been an hour behind him even if he was sitting up!

 

[Fiona N]

A few years ago I had a really interesting chat with an American who was one of the first to come across the pond to ride as a pro in Europe ('70s). He was from a wealthy family so didn't need to really earn a living and he was happy to work as a domestique - by his own admission he was a 'mediocre journeyman' pro. But he still lives in Italy and still rides hard but like he says, all those who beat him as pros are now too beat up to race whereas 'for my age group, I'm a God' was how he summed it up. It seems like instead of achieving a high peak of excellence as a young athlete which he quickly fell from as he aged, he just achieved a plateau which he's still pretty much staying on. It's also obvious he always really enjoyed riding and racing - not needing the money meant he never had to win and maybe that was why he was never up with the best. But, on the other hand, riding like he was at about 60, when I met him on a Gran Fondo in Tuscany/Umbria, it's equally clear that the love of racing is still there - just getting out and riding his bike isn't enough.

Maybe it's a trade off - if you excel as a youngster, you risk burning out whereas those who don't hit the peaks early can maintain there form much better into the Masters and Vets years. It's well known that club level athletes have greater longevity than elite athletes.

 

[PaulB]

if you excel as a youngster, you risk burning out whereas those who don't hit the peaks early can maintain there form much better into the Masters and Vets years. It's well known that club level athletes have greater longevity than elite athletes.

The light that burns twice as brightly, burns half as long.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

The light that burns twice as brightly, burns half as long.

"And you have burned so very, very brightly, Roy..."

 

[iLB]

over Easter I picked up 33 BC points from 4 races, including a win in a 65 mile cat3/4 road race and did a 22.34 for a '10' on my un adapted road bike... suggesting I'm not hopeless

after I've finished my exams at uni I hope to pick up the remaining 17 points to get my 2nd cat licence from mid week crits, and enter and try to finish some e/1/2/3 road races for the experience/a damn good kicking- sigma sport on the front uh oh...

should have a better idea where I stand after that

 

[lukesdad]

over Easter I picked up 33 BC points from 4 races, including a win in a 65 mile cat3/4 road race and did a 22.34 for a '10' on my un adapted road bike... suggesting I'm not hopeless

after I've finished my exams at uni I hope to pick up the remaining 17 points to get my 2nd cat licence from mid week crits, and enter and try to finish some e/1/2/3 road races for the experience/a damn good kicking- sigma sport on the front uh oh...

should have a better idea where I stand after that

Cracking effort. I'd suggest you re not hopelss either.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

should have a better idea where I stand after that

Ya see, you've still got the time to be a contender. For most of us, it's dreaming of what might have been...

But then again, as Fiona says, it's never entirely too late. I've discovered this year that 1. I can swim, and not only that I can swim well enough to be competitive in triathlon and in master's level swimming (if I wanted to be); and 2. I can win running races (won my first 10k this year at the age of 38). Again tri seems to be the answer, particularly because, as a long time cyclist, I have the kind of endurance most of the young kids can only dream about.

 

[MLC]

Not bike related but only claim to fame was being placed 6th in the UK U15 finals at 800m at Crystal Palace. This would have been mid eighties

I ran a 2.08. My school then went into cricket season and all running training stopped. My training consisted of running around the block a couple of times as fast as I could go and that was it (an no I didn't walk 28 miles to the nearest school in the snow even during the summer)

I often felt that had I had proper training perhaps I could have gone further but who knows anyways I enjoyed the fags and beer between then and now.

 

[Globalti]

Fascinating thread; one of the best for a long time.

I only came back to cycling when I settled down 23 years ago. Did 21 years of mountain biking always managing to be in the top 30-40% in trailquest events like Polaris with my brother. Nearest we came to a respectable placing was 13th in about 200 senior teams, but that was thanks to good planning and route finding, not fitness.

My brother is 7 years younger than me but we were always close in strength and speed.

Got a road bike two years ago and now I ride regularly with a bloke about my age but he is always faster up hills, he simply has that extra 5% that I will never have; I just have to accept that his physiology is different to mine. The only time I have ever beaten him was when he had a hangover.

 

[Foghat]

Interesting thread.

Watching the Tour of California just now, Matt Rendell described Jeremy Hunt as a specialist at riding in the wind.

This casts my mind back some years ago, to when I was in a race where Jeremy Hunt entered on the line, riding for Banesto. Initially when I saw the Banesto jersey impressively roaring up the outside of (and past) the peloton on a climb, I thought it was just a wannabe briefly gatecrashing the race in their shop-bought continental trade team kit, and thought to myself "that's all very well, but we'll be doing this speed for the next 80 miles, now go home sonny". Then I got behind the imposter, saw the definition in the legs, and realised immediately it must be a bona fide Banesto representative......and of course it became immediately apparent that it was Hunt. Anyway, later on in the race, during a tough section in the wind, wind specialist Hunt was coming back down the line, looking rather the worse for wear, and he turned to me with an imploring "please let me in" look, so I, feeling fine and accommodating, promptly obliged, and I realised maybe the difference was slightly less enormous than one might imagine after all.

 

[Browser]

"And you have burned so very, very brightly, Roy..."

"I've done..........questionable things"
Blade Runner, still a fave!
"I've......seen things you people wouldn't believe, hnnh"

Many people tell me how good I am as an amateur actor, would i like it as a profession? No, 'cos I'd be ordinary in a field of exceptionals.
To be able to MMA weld a vertical run on crappy steel in poor conditions like a bloke called Frank Robinson I used to work with could, that I'd love

 

[srw]

I harbour fantasies, which I will almost certainly never meet, of being fit enough to attempt a distance cycling record. Quite a lot of the official records are not yet claimed, and some of the times almost look approachable. The target time for LeJog for a mixed tandem tricycle team, for instance works out at an average of only just over 11mph. (875 miles over 3 days and 7 hours). The female tandem bicycle team record is even softer - 3 days and 12 hours. Or there are shorter routes - quite a lot requiring "only" 20mph on average.

http://www.rra.org.uk/