pro cyclists, RESPECT

pete.b

makes me try to understand how much those guys put in to there sport,the effort to ride like that. in all the sports that i have done cycling has got to be the hardest in the way of effort, i say this as yesterday i went out for a ride covered 45 miles but the last 10 miles i was suffering, legs were dead. if the wife or anybody for that matter had of come by and offered me a lift, I WOULD OF TAKEN IT.this is the the 3rd time ive done this route in as many weeks, 1st 17.5, 2nd 17.8
and 3rd 18.1 mph, although yesterday i was riding alone. i was knackered, but loved it. :P

Ben6899

Rule #5.

chris_bass

Ben6899 wrote:

Rule #5.

+1

I think rule 10 also applies :-)

Mikey23

That's about half the speed the peloton rides at!

pete.b

Mikey23 wrote:

That's about half the speed the peloton rides at!

yes and a 3rd of the distance.

morstar

I think the moral of this story is that elite sports people are pretty much a league apart. I think cycling is interesting in that with moderate fitness, you can achieve the same speeds as elite riders but can only sustain them over much shorter distances. Take running and I can't even run a sub 5 minute mile. Yet distance runners do mile after mile at this pace. Respect to all elite athletes.

chanjy

I was thinking about this the other day.

The world record marathon runner can do 26 miles in 2 hours, that's not a huge amount less than I would cycle!!

elderone

It,s there job,it is what they do,day in day out.I like to think there like archers of old.Any one could use a bow to some degree,but took a lifetime training and dedication to become an archer.

Mikey23

I could just about do a five minute mile when I was younger and very much fitter. I ran in county leagues for years and would finish not to far off the fast whippets and well up in my age category. Even recently i was in the top quarter and above whereas cycling I'm nearly at the back in sportives and the good riders have got back and gone home or are doing twice the distance...

iPete

Mikey23 wrote:

I could just about do a five minute mile when I was younger and very much fitter. I ran in county leagues for years and would finish not to far off the fast whippets and well up in my age category. Even recently i was in the top quarter and above whereas cycling I'm nearly at the back in sportives and the good riders have got back and gone home or are doing twice the distance...

It's all 'fit for what', my mate is a sub 6 min mile runner and another punts around a leather ball for a living, can't touch me on a bike. 8)

I can only imagine how quick the pros cruise, the difference between cat 3/4 and 1/2 is huge, pro peloton must be a massive leap.

Mikey23

Yup, I'm 62 years of age and fitter than most teenagers...

LegendLust

Ben6899 wrote:

Rule #5.

YAWN

Buckie2k5

LegendLust wrote:

Ben6899 wrote:

Rule #5.

YAWN

can i point you to rule 43..

Ben6899

LegendLust wrote:

Ben6899 wrote:

Rule #5.

YAWN

Maybe you need me to include a winking smiley next time I post something tongue in cheek.

DavidJB

morstar wrote:

I think cycling is interesting in that with moderate fitness, you can achieve the same speeds as elite riders but can only sustain them over much shorter distances.

Elaborate what you mean? Most riders couldn't ride at the pace of elite riders.

Mikey23

Was watching the vuelta yesterday while on the turbo trainer so decided to give it a go... Got up to the speed they were doing and was able to keep it up for about 15 minutes by which time I was leaking sweat and my heart was trying to bounce out of my chest.

frisbee

DavidJB wrote:

morstar wrote:

I think cycling is interesting in that with moderate fitness, you can achieve the same speeds as elite riders but can only sustain them over much shorter distances.

Elaborate what you mean? Most riders couldn't ride at the pace of elite riders.

He's clearly deluded, ordinary mortals like us, without the protection of a secret blend of ego and drugs will simply explode if we exceed 20km/h.

I wouldn't class myself as even moderate fitness but I can do over 50km/h for a km or so on the flat.

Pross

DavidJB wrote:

morstar wrote:

I think cycling is interesting in that with moderate fitness, you can achieve the same speeds as elite riders but can only sustain them over much shorter distances.

Elaborate what you mean? Most riders couldn't ride at the pace of elite riders.

There's not a huge difference in the average speed of a Regional A race and a World Tour race. The difference is that one is about 2 or 3 times longer. Even a fairly average club time triallist can sustain 25mph or more for and a decent rider will be closer to 30mph.

bernithebiker

It's the hills that sort the men from the boys...... 8)

morstar

Pross wrote:

DavidJB wrote:

morstar wrote:

I think cycling is interesting in that with moderate fitness, you can achieve the same speeds as elite riders but can only sustain them over much shorter distances.

Elaborate what you mean? Most riders couldn't ride at the pace of elite riders.

There's not a huge difference in the average speed of a Regional A race and a World Tour race. The difference is that one is about 2 or 3 times longer. Even a fairly average club time triallist can sustain 25mph or more for and a decent rider will be closer to 30mph.

Basically this^. I'm not talking top end flat speed. I regularly reach and maintain speeds in mid - high 20's mph for sustained periods. These speeds are not dissimilar to a pro peloton.

I suspect only the very best club runners and above know what it is like to be moving faster than 5 minute miles for any sustained period.

rickeverett

I wonder how some do it. I can get up to 27-30mph and keep it up along a flat for a fair few miles as long as its flat, but doing the same over the distances and climbs they do would make my heart explode.

They do lots of training, yes, they are also "the right type" to do that but there's also...... dare I say it?.. secret stuff that keeps you going for ages and ages.

I'm not a long distance person- never was. My muscle bulk is better at shorter intensive stuff and weights.- I doubt any of the Pros could bench press.

LegendLust

rickeverett wrote:

I wonder how some do it. I can get up to 27-30mph and keep it up along a flat for a fair few miles as long as its flat, but doing the same over the distances and climbs they do would make my heart explode.

They do lots of training, yes, they are also "the right type" to do that but there's also...... dare I say it?.. secret stuff that keeps you going for ages and ages.

I'm not a long distance person- never was. My muscle bulk is better at shorter intensive stuff and weights.- I doubt any of the Pros could bench press.

Why would they :roll:

frisbee

LegendLust wrote:

rickeverett wrote:

I wonder how some do it. I can get up to 27-30mph and keep it up along a flat for a fair few miles as long as its flat, but doing the same over the distances and climbs they do would make my heart explode.

They do lots of training, yes, they are also "the right type" to do that but there's also...... dare I say it?.. secret stuff that keeps you going for ages and ages.

I'm not a long distance person- never was. My muscle bulk is better at shorter intensive stuff and weights.- I doubt any of the Pros could bench press.

Why would they :roll:

So they can lift another cyclist or bike off themselves after they've crashed yet again. :?

blackhands

Don't forget that the pro peloton will ride piano for 2 or 3 hours at perhaps between 20 and 25 mph and on flat stages start to wind things up for the final couple of hours or so and will be at 30mph plus for much of that time.

Pross

For me the key isn't so much the speed or even the distance - it is their ability to do it day after day. How many marathons do top runners do in a year? People made a big thing (and rightly so) of Mo Farah doing the double at the Olympic and Worlds 5k and 10k and that was what? 27 min and 13 minutes with a one week break (possibly a qualifier for the 5k, I can't remember). OK not every rider is riding to win everyday but they are having to work hard.

lyn1

madasahattersley wrote:

43.1 kph today for 156km, on a decently hilly course,and there was only 3-4 pros in the race,and only UCI conti pros as well

Average speed of 36 World Tour and .HC races during 2012 was 42.415 kph

However, as has been said, these races have a very different profile and significant varied intensites, compared to British races and some very big climbs, so comparing averages does not tell us much.

pinno

Even amateur races on the continent are much longer then ours. I remember talking to a bloke who was with a pro-am squad called Pepsi Fannini. He recalled when he was 27 and on the verge of signing a pro contract. At the peak of his form in a 140km race in Italy for semi-pros and amateurs, climbing a 13km climb alone, the clapper board showed a single rider catching him when he had a 7 minute gap. Before the top of the climb, he was caught and a 19 year old waltzed by. The young fella went on to win the race. He didn't sign the contract and remained a pro-am for the next 9 years, earning a small wage.
The young rider: Gianni Bugno.
The point of the story is, that pro's have to be naturally strong and they are in a league of their own. I remember Colin Sturgess recounting when he had signed a pro contract after winning the worlds on the track. He was in a Belgain Kermesse and was on Guido Bontempi's wheel. Guido was pulling a 54x11 and Colin could not stay with him on the flat in his slipstream!

Pross

I don't think anyone is suggesting that the top pros are naturally great and therefore don't need to work hard. Surely what is meant is that if you have a huge natural talent then you will get to a higher level for the same amount of work as someone with less natural talent. I've seen how hard someone with a reasonable amount of natural talent had to work to make it to the top end of pro continental. I've also seen other riders with huge amounts of natural talent who got nowhere as they gave up once free of pushy parents.

simonhead

I think its the same with all sports, the gulf between amateur/sunday competitors and professionals is massive. With cycling its not just the fact that the pro's ride longer, faster and hillier rides its the fact that they do it numerous days on the trot, multiple times a year.

To be top of your tree in any sport is a combination of hard work, talent and luck, not just by the competitor but also by those around them.

I was lucky enough to have a coaching session with London Irish a few years ago, whilst the session technically was not particularly different to a normal training session the intensity was way beyond anything I had ever done before. The mentality is vastly different, pro players read the game 3, 4 or 5 phases in advance rather than being reactive or planning the next phase or 2 and I think its the same with top cyclists. A good club cyclist can spot a break or opportunity but the likes of Froome, Nibali etc have it played out in their head in far in advance and have the gut instinct to know what will and wont work straight away.

The great thing about cycling is you can measure the gap between a pro cyclist and anyone else a lot easier than you can in something like football, rugby or cricket. The data gives something that you strive towards as its numerical (like swimming, athletics or even archery) and even small gains or improvements are much easier to track than in a traditional team sport.

slowbike

simonhead wrote:

I think its the same with all sports, the gulf between amateur/sunday competitors and professionals is massive. With cycling its not just the fact that the pro's ride longer, faster and hillier rides its the fact that they do it numerous days on the trot, multiple times a year.

I would think that it is most of it though - the Pro's ride further, faster and more often than the rest of us ... If you want to be good then you need to train to do it - Ok, perhaps not everyone could be a top Pro - but I suspect most of us could've come a domestique had we had the time & desire to do so.

Same as for reading ahead - it's mostly down to familiarity - if you do it day-in, day-out then it becomes second nature - but to do it at Wiggo/Froome/Nibali level takes a lot more effort - that's why they're the best of the best.

imposter2.0

Slowbike wrote:

but I suspect most of us could've come a domestique had we had the time & desire to do so.

er, I don't think so.