Originally Posted by
palookabutt
If I'm not getting too personal, why is it impossible? I dropped 40 lbs. over the course of 2 years in my early 40's, thanks largely to encouragement/goading from my physician and a dramatic change in my eating habits (e.g., fruit=good, ice cream=bad). He was also an enthusiastic mountain biker who got me to start cycling.
Two pounds per inch is an old metric and may not be applicable today. Power measurement is what is used today. And I think it may be a kilo not a pound. For TdF general category wannabee winners, the metric is 6.7 watts/kilo at their 20 minute power. Power meters have made the sport much more quantitative. It does not matter how they get there. The problem is that increasing power above a certain point gets extremely difficult. Losing weight can be easier. Cantador was quoted as saying the the Dauphine Libere last week, that he needs to lose a kilo for the TdF.
For those interested, here is a table of power to weight ratios defining various categories of cyclists.
http://cozybeehive.blogspot.com/2008...ght-ratio.html