Are Europeans faster than North Americans?
 

I'm not refering to Pro levels, I'm refering to enthusiats/sport levels that most of us ride at. (I.e. Cat 3 and lower)

Depending on how the numbers work out, it looks like I may be an expatriot in Europe before the end of this year. So, I've been searching the net for a bicycle club to join. It got me wondering if I will get shelled and spat off the back on a "A" group ride over there. I can hang in the "A" group here, well, usuallly, depending on who shows up that day and how angry they are at thier pedals ;) If angry, I'm demoted to permanent wheel sucker status and I never see the front.

Anyhow, are European rider levels and speeds are higher than North America?

T.J.

Yes I believe so.

Definitely. There a lot of guys in Europe that go out and do 80-100 miles with the club on a regular basis, but aren't fast enough to race over there that would at least be Cat 3's here.

Doh... there goes my plan of dominating all of the amature races over there, getting discovered by Gerolstiener and getting invited to ride as a domestique. :(

what about the Extra Power Option?

I think I remember a quote from a pro who felt like American's were better time trialist and Europeans were better road racers. His explanation was that Europeans do group rides more often whereas Americans spend a lot of time riding solo.

It's like open wheel road racing and karting, it's part of their culture, much in the same way Baseball and American Football are part of ours. As kids they are riding and racing at a much earlier age and more of them are doing it. It only makes sense that they would excel at it.

Jonathan Vaughters made a comment similar to this. He said (and he was referring to pro's ) that Stateside we are better at crit racing because that's the majority of races here. Europeans are doing road races from and early age. When he first brought the TIAA/CREF guys to Europe they were struggling with the distance and the cold (a majority were from Cali).

The bike racers are faster, the racing cars are faster, the women are thinner, and the currency is 50% more valuable. But Americans still think this is the greatest country in the world.

Whatever.

That's because America stands for freedom. Don't you get it?

No, but don't try to convince me, I never 'got' the War on Drugs, and I still don't get the War on Terror.

Hmmm... maybe I'll leave the road bike at home and just buy one of thier 50 pound steel commuter bikes.
I betcha I can "drope" most of those old ladies / grandpa's while they are rattling around with their baskets full of groceries.... well, only if they don't know that I'm racing them.

less processed food as kids....

I think one thing that makes them faster is they have some screws loose. Not on their bikes but in their head. I have raced with Europeans before and they do some very ballsy stuff.

My buddy Dave once told me that the Italian bike racers stick there air pumps in the front wheels of American guys who try to race them.........

I take this to mean you do not enjoy your "freedom fries". :)

Just hope neither get us!

Yes, most North American athletes are weak and on dope.
Western and Eastern Europeans are in general better athletes than the North Americans.
The best Athletes are Brazilian Futebol players.
We have not discussed the African runners...

Freedom Fries FTW!!
Made in America, by Americans (really lowly paid ones), for Americans (really big ones).

yes, over there cycling is a way of life as well as a religion over there.

Plus they're not "f@ggots, que3rs, etc." over there

I disagree. I raced in the US and in Europe in the late 80's and in general did not find there to be much difference. Racing over here has definitely gotten faster and I'm sure it's gotten faster over there too.

Perhaps the difference is that there are more racers in the US now so the quality of the "average" racer in each CAT has gone down a bit.

I say yes too. You start much earlier racing on the road. The only problem is the $$ or lack of it, sometimes finding a good shop that has serious bikes is harder. Of course depending on where you live it may have more choice, but until not long ago, maybe 6-7 years ago lots of racers (on sponsored teams) would have a steel bike with ultegra. Sometimes a decent race will have so many good juniors, it is like racing at the world cup level, with the talent present.

The diet is very different and the clubs have many programs from about 12-15 years old and onwards.

The Aussies are pretty good too. There is a no BS, no fuss attitude for cycling here. They just get the job done.

They are faster, but it's all because of the metric system.

:roflmao:

My experience was doing triathlons and cross country skiing, but I thought the same held true for just cycling. Unlike in the US, it seemed that only the really good people competed, with the others having been weeded out early....fewer competitors, but the average speed was WAY higher than that at a US event. That said, the top guys were about the same speed as the top US guys.