"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Uh-oh II

Just sayin. (http://www.velonews.com/article/92654/j-pow-s-journal-jeremy-powers-talent-scout)

the next tom danielson?

Reminds me of the guy I ran into on the 40+ lb MTB with the surfboard rack (made of heavy steel) welded to the back who kept up with me on my Ti racing bike down near Cape May in the early 90's. He was about 25. Said he had ridden in the pros.

I could tell.

I like the shot of Al Donahue looking at this kid's power, looks like he's still in his pajamas. :lol:

But if you look closely through the blur, you can see he's wearing jeans. Oh well, made my day.

Anyway, crazy. I'm surprised I haven't run into this guy - maybe I've been at the wrong group rides? I'll have to try showing up at them again to get crushed by him. Oh, the humiliation. I mean, 5 w/kg untrained!? I should just kill myself now, it would be easier.

I should just kill myself now, it would be easier.

Save yourself the trouble. You'll run into this kid and he'll kill you.

looks like he's on a trainer and looking at some kind of data on a flexible arm with a display on it...

I can't tell where they are getting the data from... I don't see a pt wheel... and the cranks are blurred so I can't tell if its an srm.... maybe its coming directly from the trainer the bike is bolted to?

fml

Waiting for the Bikes Direct fanboys to take over the thread:

"Until next time, keep your eyes open for raw talent on Motobecanes ..."

fml

+1 :cry:

I like the shot of Al Donahue looking at this kid's power, looks like he's still in his pajamas. :lol:

But if you look closely through the blur, you can see he's wearing jeans. Oh well, made my day.

Anyway, crazy. I'm surprised I haven't run into this guy - maybe I've been at the wrong group rides? I'll have to try showing up at them again to get crushed by him. Oh, the humiliation. I mean, 5 w/kg untrained!? I should just kill myself now, it would be easier.

It does make one wonder why he's wasting so f@cking much time on this "sport". 5 w/kg? Untrained? Where's the fairness in that? God, if you're not dead, I hate you.

More like fua. (*** us all).

looks like he's on a trainer and looking at some kind of data on a flexible arm with a display on it...

I can't tell where they are getting the data from... I don't see a pt wheel... and the cranks are blurred so I can't tell if its an srm.... maybe its coming directly from the trainer the bike is bolted to?

CompuTrainer. In fact, that CompuTrainer and the room it's in look suspiciously familiar. Anyway, yeah. It's like a trainer with a PM, only with a lot more functionality - e.g. one of the things you can do is set it to hold you at X watts by varying resistance - you pedal faster, resistance decreases, you pedal slower, resistance increases. You can do very precise intervals with that. There are other uses for the feature too - it's a useful tool for a dynamic fit, which some (many? all?) fitters believe should be done while pedaling at about a 'tempo' level effort.

Adam, this is a REAL Motobecane we're talking about, here. French. Steel. Old. Crappy. That kind of Motobecane.

I'm calling BS on this.


Bam! So imagine this tiny guy who can puts out 350 watts at about 130 pounds. Untrained. On a 30-pound Motobecane and Vans sneakers.

I'm calling BS on this.

Jeremy Powers is not BSing anyone about this, but if I ever happen to run into him on the road I'll let him know what you think. :thumb:

"Untrained" but with many race wins - can you really be untrained and winning a bunch of races? (even if he did nothing, other than ride his bike around keeping up with people like Powers, aren't the races training?)
And the dude holds 350w for how long?

Surely the dude is something special if Powers is devoting his diary entry to him. It is relatively easy to discover someone in the US who throws 90mph or a 4.3 40 yard dash, not so easy to find someone who puts out ~6 w/kg.

powers should have taken some photography classes during his blog sabbatical.

I'm calling BF on this.

Fixed.

genetics > training

(corollary, for large changes: genetics > doping)

Accept that and life becomes much more simple. Will I ever be able to do a 2000 watt jump? Or TT at 550 watts? I can't imagine that even steroids or EPO would help me that much. I've gotten slayed by so many kids that started out little pip squeeks. It used to frustrate me, but then I watch them go on to get onto the National Team or race in Europe or whatever. Then I realized, oh, it's not about training. It's about genetics. One used a large diaper safety pin to hold his shorts up when he started riding. He could ride me off his wheel at will in a couple years. Another one we laughed at when he'd try to bridge up to breaks, but then he raced in Europe for a while and could kill us at will (he laughed at the times when we laughed at him, actually, so he's a good sport about it).

cdr

Waiting for the Bikes Direct fanboys to take over the thread:

"Until next time, keep your eyes open for raw talent on Motobecanes ..."

Of course, it's the engine not the bike, but imagine how much faster he'd be on a Cervelo. :roflmao2:

this gets a 1.5 on my "meh"-o-meter


I want to see stories about people who don't have genetic gifts but worked their asses off to get good.

More like fua. (*** us all).

Naw, the kid's going to be doing different stuff than Nyack and 35+/45+ races.

BTW -- why is it everyone only dials it up to 400 when they try to drope folks? Jeesh. I guess R600 races for JellyBelly now?

That's mad impressive...

Holy cow!

Adam, this is a REAL Motobecane we're talking about, here. French. Steel. Old. Crappy. That kind of Motobecane.

I realize that. It's the BD lovers out there that sometimes don't.

5 w/kg untrained!? I should just kill myself now, it would be easier.

I hate myself now.

5 w/kg for what duration?

this gets a 1.5 on my "meh"-o-meter


I want to see stories about people who don't have genetic gifts but worked their asses off to get good.

Here:

Part 1 (http://makingtheleapwhite.blogspot.com/2009/01/part-one-meeting.html)

Part 2 (http://makingtheleapwhite.blogspot.com/2009/01/part-2-departed.html)

Part 3 (http://makingtheleapwhite.blogspot.com/2009/02/its-second-lap-and-i-am-absolutely.html)

Part 4 (http://makingtheleapwhite.blogspot.com/2009/03/becoming-continued.html)

"raced mountain bikes"

not untrained

Here:

Part 1 (http://makingtheleapwhite.blogspot.com/2009/01/part-one-meeting.html)

Part 2 (http://makingtheleapwhite.blogspot.com/2009/01/part-2-departed.html)

Part 3 (http://makingtheleapwhite.blogspot.com/2009/02/its-second-lap-and-i-am-absolutely.html)

Part 4 (http://makingtheleapwhite.blogspot.com/2009/03/becoming-continued.html)

thank you.

5 w/kg for what duration?

That would be 1 hour sir (or at least 20 minutes)

this gets a 1.5 on my "meh"-o-meter


I want to see stories about people who don't have genetic gifts but worked their asses off to get good.


Thats 99% of all racers...

That would be 1 hour sir (or at least 20 minutes)

I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that from the journal entry, but it is an assumption.

nothing in the journal refers to duration.

Thats 99% of all racers...

incorrect.

Just sayin. (http://www.velonews.com/article/92654/j-pow-s-journal-jeremy-powers-talent-scout)


I'm also just sayin (http://www.usacyclingstore.org/results/index.php?compid=281380)


Crazy old folks think this is some couch potato that just picked up a bike yesterday..... Dudes got skills and I bet has been riding for quite awhile.

That would be 1 hour sir (or at least 20 minutes)

Big difference between the two.

even so, no mention is made of duration, save that of 5 minute intervals.

I'm also just sayin (http://www.usacyclingstore.org/results/index.php?compid=281380)


Crazy old folks think this is some couch potato that just picked up a bike yesterday..... Dudes got skills and I bet has been riding for quite awhile.
They have beginner nats in mountain biking ?

Jeremy Powers is not BSing anyone about this, but if I ever happen to run into him on the road I'll let him know what you think. :thumb:

Haha. Right, he's not BSing at all. This kid really puts out almost 6w/kg untrained. It couldn't be that Powers is exaggerating to make the story more sensational: rounding the kid's power up and his weight down, or that he's really much more trained than he suggests. Impossible :rolleyes:.

Big difference between the two.

Actually the numbers should be close for either.

Actually the numbers should be close for either.

not on a computrainer in a basement.

not on a computrainer in a basement.

That's probably because computrainer numbers aren't close to anything.

I'm also just sayin (http://www.usacyclingstore.org/results/index.php?compid=281380)


Crazy old folks think this is some couch potato that just picked up a bike yesterday..... Dudes got skills and I bet has been riding for quite awhile.

The kid's entire USA Cycling resume is three MTB races?

I'd say he's a newbie to road scene. He's an exceptional talent waiting to be harnessed.

The most astonishingly durable myth in amateur bicycle racing is that if you train hard enough or long enough you'll get fast enough to be a Cat 1/2 or a Pro.

Incorrect. No genetics, no dice, no friggin chance. You don't need world class genes, but if you don't have some talent, you'll wind up as a 3/4 even if you train until your eyelids bleed.

Incorrect. No genetics, no dice, no friggin chance. You don't need world class genes, but if you don't have some talent, you'll wind up as a 3/4 even if you train until your eyelids bleed.



I have zero natural talent for this sport but have been a 2 and will be one again before I quit (yet again).

Just sayin. (http://www.velonews.com/article/92654/j-pow-s-journal-jeremy-powers-talent-scout)

That's crazy sick. 5 W/kg untrained?

I have zero natural talent for this sport but have been a 2 and will be one again before I quit (yet again).

I have never met a person with zero talent who became a 2. You would be the very first in 20 years. Congratulations.

Don't ever let your delusions go, that's all you have.

Don't get into a zero talent contest with me, you can never win. Trust me on this.

Here:

Part 1 (http://makingtheleapwhite.blogspot.com/2009/01/part-one-meeting.html)

Part 2 (http://makingtheleapwhite.blogspot.com/2009/01/part-2-departed.html)

Part 3 (http://makingtheleapwhite.blogspot.com/2009/02/its-second-lap-and-i-am-absolutely.html)

Part 4 (http://makingtheleapwhite.blogspot.com/2009/03/becoming-continued.html)

That's a pretty amazing story. Excepting the transition over to racing, I can relate with how getting back on the bike was probably the best thing I could've ever done for myself.

In order to get to 1/2 you definitely need genetics. I have a buddy who races cat 1 down in Fl. who's dad is still a kickass cat 3 and 55+ racer at 61 years old. This kid was bread to race bikes....

Personally, I probably wont ever get to 1. I would be satisified w/ ~450 watt avg in a TT though...