Does a rider's ride strength/abilties vary by region? Here in California we have large hills and nice mountain climbs so there are plenty of strong climbers. Where as Florida is mostly flat (from what I've read, never been there).

I've read posts from posters in other states claiming" I did a tough ride with 4000 ft of climbing in 50 miles" whereas a ride with 5,000 ft in 40 miles is a recreational ride around here.

As a recreational rider, if I were to go to Spain (Big mtns races from what I understand) would I be well below the standards of a recreational rider on their climbs? Maybe considered a newbie to their standards?

I do remember a story from a hardcore racer a couple years back. Visiting from another state, he got eaten up alive by local racers on the climbs.

I realize pro teams are made up of riders from different areas of the world, but they train in other parts., so top pros and TDF teams aside, lets say a CAT3 crit team from Florida came to race a California team in a stage race, would the Californians dominate the race? How about a simple criterium?

Can a top CAT3 racer from Florida, without the benefits of traveling to train, be as strong as a Califonia CAT3 racer that has access to better training roads etc.? Or would the terrain be limiting to the racer's ability?

FTR, I only use CAT3 as an example figuring sponsors aren't going to fly them to Mt Ventoux for training.