Jeffrey

so I went out for my usual Thrusday evening lbs hammer ride and a new kid shows up. His dad actually drops him off with his bike. He's sporting a Time bicycle and has Time logos on both jersey and shorts. Well he's obviously a racer by the look of his kit not to mention his legs. Well turns out he's 17 years old and is riding cat 2, his team will be turning pro next year. The ride was embarassing. We started riding in a head wind and he picks the pace up to 28 mph. For the next 3 or 4 minutes I just hang on, then he scoots to the side, to allow me to take I turned. I yelled at him, wanting to know if he was kidding. He acted as if he was being put to sleep by the pace, he allowed me to take a couple pulls, after we had slowed down to 23-24 (still into a headwind) I was working hard and he was snoozing on my wheel.
By the end of the ride I wanted to strangle him, seriously = ) it was a very humbling experience. Come to find out he's from Greenville, SC so at least that makes a little sense as to his early start in cycling.

ken cummings

Enjoy the memory when he wins le Tour. Years ago I met Ron Kiefel of the old 7-11 team on a training ride and now I live near Levi Leipheimers' home. haven/t seen him yet.

punksurfer024

damn kids doping lol, i wish i got into cycling that early!

bpohl

I woulda droped that punk.

ColorChange

LOL!!! Bunch of teenage dopers.

LowCel 

So there is a difference between those with real talent and us mere mortals?

I always enjoy being humbled by someone that is truely great at something, well I enjoy it afterwards. At the time it is happening it sucks!

TechJunkie

At 30, I still get dropped by a 50 year old local who used to be a pro. I see it as motivation to train harder.

LowCel 

I was in a two man breakaway earlier this year. I broke away six miles into a thirty mile race. It ended up being me and one other man for about twenty miles. With about 1/4 mile to go he put a ten foot gap on me and I never could bridge it. He was about 52 years old, I'm 31. I learned that day that age means nothing.

Homebrew01

I'm halfway there to being an old guy dropping young whippersnappers !! I'm old, now I just need to figure out how to drop them.

A long time ago I was in a local criterium ... Pro, 1,2,3 I think, and there was some big 16 year old kid in the race. Finished towards the front near me .... name was George Hincapie

JonnyV

So why not jam your frame pump in his spokes and tell him to chalk it up as a hard lesson learned? That's what I woulda done. No, not really. Good for him...damn teenagers with loud music and...oh, sorry. So, I guess I just contributed absolutely nothing to this thread!

steaktaco

It just means he's had a chance to ride 21 years longer than you.

SDRider

Reminds me of a time playing golf with a friend of mine. We were paired up with 3 kids probably 14-15 years old. We step up to the middle tee and my friend shanks one off to the right, I hit my tee shot pretty straight but it only went about 150 yards and didn't get much lift. Then these three kids proceed to tee up at the pro tees. They each hit the ball effortlessly 200+ yard straight down the middle of the fairway. They were on the golf pro team at their high school. I swear, they were getting par or birdy on every hole. Oh well, at least we could order a beer at the concession stand. That was a number of years ago, I wonder if any of those kids went pro.

ryanspeer

I ride frequently with a team mate who used to race pro/1/2 down in SoCal back in the late 80's and early 90's. He took a number of years off and got back into it last year starting as a Cat 5 and ending as a Cat 3. He routinely gets top-10 finishes as a Cat 3 now even with what HE would consider mediocre training, and he can still drop me like a rock if/when he chooses. He's a solid 15 years older than me.

In the words of Garth: "I'M NOT WORTHY! I'M NOT WORTHY!"

I won't stop trying though.

CrimsonKarter21

Welcome to every single one of my group rides. I take a pull and the next thing I know, everyone is way behind me...
No, but I can keep up with and more frequently than not drop an ex-pro on my team.

oopfoo

I feel your pain. I was a pretty cocky guy until I found myself in the same peloton as Steve Hegg back in the 80's. Ow. No one should have quadriceps that large.