Any Enthusiasts here ever ridden with Tour Grade Rider ?

I mean a regular joe schmo like me who enjoys cycling to keep fit, have any regular cycling dudes here ever ridden in the company of a Tour Grade rider(s) ? Was the difference not as marked as you may have believed, or was there not a cats butt in hell chance that you could have stayed anywhere near them at all ?
Im referring to that skinny drink of water that looks like he weighs about 9 stone in weight of course.
Jimmy
Im referring to that skinny drink of water that looks like he weighs about 9 stone in weight of course.
Jimmy
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I rode 'with' Robert Millar, but only while the faster group were warming up with us early on. He was riding everywhere in the big ring and it all looked so effortless. That was probably 5 years after he retired.
Similarly, I rode 'with' Marcel Wüst, about 4 years after he was forced to retire following a serious facial injury (he was blinded in one eye). He also made everything look effortless and could drop any of us at any time if he'd wanted to. Someone actually asked him how close to Pro fitness he was then, He replied that he was only at about 40% of the fitness that he used to have. He couldn't race any more because his peripheral vision was no longer good enough. If he got back into serious training at his age without racing, he reckoned that he could get back to perhaps 60% of his former level. Seeing how fit 40% of pro level was made quite an impression!
So I would say yes, there is a big difference.
To be fair I'd only done a handful of road races and had just started in the sport, I reckon I'd have them now
It is also very hard to identify them simply by the shape of their fast disappearing backsides. It's hard to commit a butt to memory.
Last year rode it and Candy Pinarello were there, Elliot, Williams, Downing, Indirain, some Liquigas riders.
Managed to stay with them all for the first 15 miles on the flat where we averaged about 32mph!! beofre a crash in front of me took out my rear qr as I bunny hopped over them.
I am sure I could have kept up on the hills had I not stopped to fix qr
I waited over a minute for the next group to come alon as it was a few miles to the first climb.
Indurain finished abut 8 minutes in front of me and we are the same age, but he is a bit bigger than me as he has put a little weight on
Younger days rode a stage race with elite riders, but not continental riders, but it was hard enough!!
Also mistakingly got caught up in the last stage of the milk race in between Elliot and Czech rider going over Caerphilly mountain just before finish and ended up on HTV Wales news
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK5Bfqj5fxY
Super Sid Barras joins us for rides sometimes (same team) and needless to say I wish I was going as well as him now, never mind what he must have been like in his younger days :shock:
PTP Runner Up 2015
Was amazing, as we were given a guided Paris tour and free lunch as well.
Guide was a Texan, who told us Napoleon was a "French dude..."
Got a team signed shirt, 2 full sets of kit and Andy Schleck/Robbie Mc Kewan signed too.
Have ridden with Team GB Roadies,Track, XC and DH riders tho. Good experience.
Sids legs are huge like! Was pretty much the first thing I noticed.
PTP Runner Up 2015
On the hills, there was not much in it, but they murdered me on the flats. Really really murdered me. :shock:
It was fun.
1) at a rate I could only just hold, alongside Trent Lowe, his heart rate was below 100 and he was chattering away as if he were sitting in an armchair
2) it's scary how good their bike handling skills and confidence next to "unprofessionals" is - they really were comfortable riding shoulder to shoulder, and I was petrified that I'd write off a TdF finisher with an ill-timed wobble... as it was, I probably saved his bacon at a roundabout, as he's not too used to roads that aren't closed, but that's another story!
It made my day to beat Trent up a hill (he's a climber and I'm most definitely not!) as he had his orders not to break sweat - his comment "hey, you climb ok for a fat pom" :twisted: We then worked out that I was 45kg heavier than him he chuckled and then asked (in a very nice way) how many orifices I was breathing through....
SK had up to this year come to our area for a weekend in November where he leads 2 60 ml spins. I rode my 1st one 3 years ago. We were rolling along in a big group of 70 riders at a about 19mph when I saw SK move to the inside and stand up. Suddenly the group moved to the middle of the road
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3013/243 ... 8d.jpg?v=0
http://img362.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 076tl5.jpg
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/3407 ... e001af.jpg
http://www.addiscombe.org/members/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4604&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit
Chris Boardman at Hemel Hempstead crit. He kicked my ar*e.
The Raleigh Banana squad in about 1987. They all kicked my ar*e.
Rode on Sean Kelly's wheel for a bit at Kellogg's Tour Of Britain finale, Westminster. He would have kicked my ar*e, but he was just warming down after the finish.
Haven't ridder with any of the current crop of pros, though I do occasionally ride with some current internationals - even they are scarily fit.
Heard a story about Kelly riding a charity event in South Africa, not long after he retired. A rider I know was powering up a long climb, well pleased with his fitness, when he heard those dulcet Waterford tones "Commin' threw" as Kelly rode past him pushing, not one, but two female riders up the hill.
some of the names might be familiar. I expect to be in the same vacinity as they are for all of 10 seconds.One thig I did notice was that we are riding the caurse the easy way round ie. down Park Rash
Fail to prepare, prepare to fail
Hills are just a matter of pace
I've also done some riding with Alexander Kolobnev on his "easy days" during the off season - absolutely amazing how strong he is and a really decent guy too.
10 minutes of hammering it at 22-25mph later, I finally hauled my way up to Jan Ullrich's wheel absolutely cooked. He was spinning a 39x14 and not even breaking sweat for 20mph. This was winter Jan too.
I beat Jan Janssen on the Marmotte too, but he was about 60 at the time.
@gietvangent
Julian Winn started in the same club as me (and I think is a member again now) before moving on to bigger and better things including riding the Giro and Olympics so rode with him for a good few years - his first ever road race win was in my first ever race I think!
Not quite ridden with but a speeding bullet went past me once when I was out who turned out to be Magnus Backstedt. I didn't bother chasing him down
I also "raced" against Boardman in the 25m TT in the IoM cycling week by which I mean we rode over the same course on the same day, there were a few riders separating us on the result sheet
un-intentionally one of the funniest one liners ive read here at radar.
Jimmy
How so?
I'm not delusional enough to think I have a tenth of the class of Janssen in his pomp. I just thought in the spirit of the thread it was an amusing anecdote.
@gietvangent