bvfrompc

Am I the only one who read about the 27 year old ex-pro MTB who won the College x-country nationals from Ft. Lewis by 6 minutes over his teammate as reported in Velonews and thought:

WTF?

Apparently he already competed for 4 years in x-country skiing for U of Alaska, now is doing a year or two more of beating up 18-22 year olds.

He is excited to ride the college road series this year as a 27/28 year old 5/6/7th year junior/senior.

He must be so proud.

The pic they had in Velonews had the usual winning hands up glee, and I thought "how pathetic"

Am I way off base, I didn't pick up a bike until well after college, how do our collegiate riders feel about this yahoo?




Edit: Just re-read the title of the thread, maybe I should have spent more time in college : )

YMCA

College eligibilty in cycling only requires that you are a full time student. Doesn't matter if you are 35, fresh off the Tour de France and now want to smarten up, or a career student going for your 2nd PhD.

I don't see it as a big deal.

DrWJODonnell

I have been beaten by a fair number of people both older and younger. USA cycling cats are not age grouped (usually), and so why should I be offended that college cycling is not either?

fly:yes/land:no

i really think the majority of college racers are grad school folks. at least that is the way it is with my team. i wouldn't be too freaked out about it.

this guy won the 2003 collegiate cycling road race at the age of 24 as a grad student:



granted, he turned pro after he was a student, but it is kinda similar.

btw, he is also supposed to be a really cool guy, listens to really good music, and has been one of my favorite riders since 2003.

cheers!

bvfrompc

I guess my point was, it would be pathetic for this 35 tour de France rider to go back to college and beat up on a bunch of college kids and feel good about it.

To Dr. WJ's point, he won the x-county race by 6 minutes, his 2nd or 3rd race of the year because he was injured most of the fall. Its not like he is in the same league as these guys.

For me, I guess the sprit of the event seems lost at this level.

On the otherhand, its nice to know that Tyler and Floyd will have somewhere to go when they get done with their legal battles.

bvfrompc

And I was a little bitter my home town team of Colorado School of Mines wasn't even mentioned as the Div II team champs. Engineers and mountain bikers, my poor 5 year old doesnt' even realize that I have already pre-enrolled him there.

Snuffleupagus

Eh, I plan on racing collegiate from 24 to probably 30

Then again, I don't see riding away from the field by 6 minutes in 2008. Now in 09...

Lithuania

im 30 and if i could go back to school I would join the cycling team. unfortunately i dont think i would be beating up on anyone though

Duke of Kent

I don't get it.

There are plenty of pro's who race in the collegiate ranks right now. People still beat them. There were 2 or 3 in our conference in the last two years, and people still found ways to beat them. They still took 1st and 3rd in the conference standings overall, but they weren't far and away superior. If anything, most of the guys in the college races consider it a bonus, as while they might get shelled initially, it makes all of the non-pros faster in the end. Why would you ever want to decrease the level of your competition?

Snuffleupagus

Sock primes!!!

VosBike

Is this the german former world winter triahalon champ guy? he's pretty damn fast, not looking forward to having him in the peleton come spring. seriously tough dude.

There are a lot of pros in collegiate racing, for instance, some of the fastest racers in our conference missed the first race of the season because they were busy with a little race in cali that some little bald guy ended up winning.

There's no money on the line, better racers means better competition. bring on the sandbagging. Makes cat 3 races during the summer seem so easy.

bvfrompc

Neither did I, hence the post, and education. I had no idea pros would be riding in the college ranks.

Thank you all for the down low, I guess I was imagining 18-22 year olds riding for their schools as a fun to do thing when not studying, and yes, the world looks pretty rosy from behind these glasses.

Treefox

My university club is probably 70% graduates and staff.

We used to have a Team GB Olympic alternate on our team. But he was kinda snooty and never came to much of anything.

We've got a former GB national junior team Tri guy in my TriClub. He's an undergrad though (and doesn't really live up to his billing)

And then the university's men's heavyweight rowing is 100% Olympians from various countries...

ZeCanon

Ben is an awesome guy, and super fast. He won that race because he can run like no other (being an ex-world tri champ helps that). He was running dry weather tires in 6 inches of NC mud and ran pretty much the whole course.

That's what you get with collegiate racing. He nicked me at the end of the mtb season and bumped me out of top 3 in our conference, and he's almost 10 years older, but thats just part of the game. We have some pretty old grad students just like fort lewis does.

It should be noted that had nationals been a real mtb race, as opposed to a running race, he would not have won by such a margin...

bvfrompc

Young man, as someone 25 years your elder, it sounds like you have a pretty good head on them shoulders. Refreshing. Good luck next year.

asgelle

I see you also miss the point of sponsorship and how a professional does his job and promotes the sponsors.

wfrogge

Need a T shirt that says "Sandbagging for sock primes!"

ElJamoquio

Wait, there's sock primes in college? I'm going to the registrar's office.

The_Convert

The kid is very very nice and is one of the more popular guys in the RM conference.
I have heard more people grumble about the fact that he is German (winning a US championship) than the fact that he is 27.

Personally, I think their logic is way off base and am excited to be able to race with a guy that talented.

edzo

whoever grumbles about someones ass-kicking ability should just ride more. that is all


it works.

patentcad

Save the age related velo whining for when you're 50 and you're chasing 27 year old Cat 2/3's around. You'll need the energy for it more then.

Whining about guys that kick your ass on the bike RULES. At any age.