Is Cycling a "Sport"
 

Every time A cyclist wins Sprotsman of the Year from SI, or the Espy's, the mainstream ball sports guys start bemoning that Cycling isn't even a sport. So is it?

First,I think you haveto define terms. From Websters:

Sport: n, 1)athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature. 2. such activities collectively. 3) diversion, recreation...

By Webster's defintion, bike racing, and arguably fast paced "competitive" fitness riding would be a sport.

Simply riding for pleasure, you at least have to drop to definiton 3, to argue its a sport.

Fire away (at least until the thread lock comes.)

>> the mainstream ball sports guys start bemoning that Cycling isn't even a sport<<

The best indication regarding how serious to take those people is to compare pro baseball pitching notable David Wells and his overall fitness/appearance to any pro cyclist.

http://sayhey.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/wells.jpg

http://www.cyclingphotos.freeserve.c...tdf2001_1a.jpg

You decide.

Yes.

That's all I have to say for now.

http://www.ulm.edu/universityrelatio.../nationals.jpg

Balls are toys for infants and kittens. I would never put a bicycle in a crib with a baby and I haven't seen a cat riding a bike (yet).

One test is whether there are gender divisions for competition. If not, then it's a game. Unfortunately, baseball and golf pass the test, too. Auto racing does not.

Yes. I feel a sport is anything that takes skill or some sort of training to get to a competitive level. Noone can get on the mound and pitch like Wells without training just like noone can get on a bike and ride like Lance.

Examples are cycling, baseball, football, golf, chess, cheerleading, curling, weightlifting, darts, billiards, swimming ect...

They're all sports... the mainstream ball sport people who argue this fact are just idiots

I was thinking along these lines the other day. When I heard the announcers of the TdF saying that cyclists are the best athletes in the world. I think that's crazy. There are football, soccer and basketball players that I would consider far more "Athletic" than most riders.

What I think is interesting though is the aspect of the sport. Anyone can play a full basketball game a la the best in the NBA. I'm not saying any cyclist is gonna be as good as LeBron James or anything but they're capable of playing a whole game. Same for the conditioning aspects of football and some other sports. I don't think the top athletes in the NBA or NFL could ride 100 miles on a whim. Could some socer players? Probably. But not most.

Cycling is probably one of the hardest sports. I would say, on a recreational or professional level, its harder than most of the popular sports.

I hear this a lot too. Then the slob starts talking about how he could do it, no problem. Television just doesn't do cycling justice. It is hard to really tell just how fast those guys are going up those climbs.

The David Wells fans think Poker is a sport too.

It's good to know there are bigger idiots in the world than the ones here on BF.

Bicycle racing and other competitive aspects of cycling are definitely sports - cycling as a whole is much more.

Check your local MS150 ride. :(

Who cares what the beer swilling ball sport guys think? They're just plain wrong.

Personally, I think baseball and cycling are sports. Last I checked, things like darts, golf, billiards, bowling, and such had no propensity to raise a normal person's heart rate to even half it's max. Then again, it really is semantics.

On behalf of Red Sox fans everywhere, I ask that you remember Wells this way:

http://www.geocities.com/brewer09/pl...ls-yankees.JPG

Somebody get this guy a cheeseburger.

And I could play a soccer game. I can go shoot hoops with my buddies. There is a big difference between riding 100 miles (with stops, conversation, going 15mph) and racing 100 miles (at 24-30 mph with 9% grade climbs, and then getting up the next morning and doing it again).

I've heard this before too. I shrug. The pinheads who make these claims NEVER suit up and make an appearance on any group ride that I'd ever be on. Of course not. I suppose there is a one in a 1,000,000 chance these dudes have Levi Leipheimer's genetics. If not they'd generally be gone within 10 miles (and that's being extremely charitable, if it's a 30mph day it could be 1 mile).

It's all hot air. They stay fat and stupid. I stay skinny and stupid. But faster on a bike than 99.999% of the fools who don't think it's a 'sport'. Uh huh.

So when a road cyclist drops another bike and gives them "the look" that's not competitive? When a "B" rider moves up to an "A" group, is that because they want more exercise or because it's to improve their cycling compared to others? We keep logs to maintain as maintenance records for our bikes or because we want to brag on BF about how many miles we did? I think competition can be an announced event or unannounced, understood competition. I guess you can tell, I think cycling is a sport, big time. BTW, good thread.

I can imagine standing over an 8 foot putt worth $500k will get your heart rate up just a little bit.

personally, I think there's a distinction between bicycle racing, and just riding a bike around the neighborhood. the latter's only a sport in the broadest sense of the word.

The problem is that the uninformed can't fathom competitve racing as a sport because their frame of reference is riding around the neighborhood.

I like what Hemmingway said... I think it was Hemmingway... Something to the effect of:

There are only three sports bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering... the rest are merely games.


In my opinion, "sport" is an activity in which you face the consequences of death. Sure you could die playing bocci, but hopefully you get what I mean. Interesting thread, btw...

Miss the money shot in a game with some 300lb biker named Bonecrusher, when you know you ain't got the money to cover your bet...and tell me what your heart rate does. :eek: :D

Yes.

The above post has been edited. If you continue to go around the censors, you'll get a vacation from the forums.

Cheers,

Brian