Originally Posted by LowCel
I always wonder the same thing when I hear statements such as this. I am pretty confident that there are very few people out there that can keep up with me on a mountain bike when I am on a road bike (on the road). The tire resistance plus gearing just make it next to impossible, that is if we are both aware of the race. If I'm not aware of being in a race I'm sure I will "lose" pretty often though.
Agreed. There are too many factors to consider. You don't know if the other rider is on a recovery ride, at the end of a long or intense ride, warming up at the beginning of a ride, just coming back from injury or merely out for a casual ride. It's the same in the gym... I see too many little squirts come in and lift some ridiculously heavy amount of weight to show off and then they're spent. I'd rather have a rounded workout routine... some days are heavy, some days are light. Same thing in biking, some days are intense, some days are for recovery. You want to know if you're faster than someone? Meet them at the next local race. Then you'll know who's faster.