Ummmmmmmmm.....John Kruk said that. He was a Baseball player....

Uhhh... "QUOTED..."

Not "Written."

Thanks.

Who in the hell cares who quoted it. The original source is what matters in a quote. The original source was a BASEBALL player.....not a cyclist. THAT is what matters. As far as athleticism goes you can't compare a Pro level cyclist and a baseball player.

"Written" like a true cyclist who has never played another sport in his life, and thus assumes that the sport he plays now MUST be the most difficult.

Are you stupid?

Read, then think(you should think longer), THEN respond.

Try this: Define "Athlete"

And I don't mean YOUR definition, because you apparently have no clue along with most of the other wannabes here who think that just because they have a hard time riding a bike it must be tough for everyone.

I played baseball in high school.

cycling is harder than baseball. by far. by leaps and bounds.

To put it into manly terms:
baseball = cutting down a tree with a chainsaw. Manly looking, but not the most difficult thing in the world.
cycling = headbutting a tree until it falls over. You look dumb as hell doing it, but its much harder to do.

i always imagined water polo to be extremely difficult, as in difficult i mean physically taxing. i would say baseball is the hardest as in it takes the most skill

Chucklehead....
A hard time riding a bike********** I don't think so. Feel free to ask anyone on this forum who has ridden with me. I can hold my own just fine.

For the record I was never a baseball player BUT.....I worked with the Indians and the players directly for quite a few seasons. I also worked with the Steelers for quite a few seasons. Not in the back office somewhere but one on one with the players. I know there athletic abilities. Most of the guys have strength and can run a few hundred feet at a time but thats about it. There is not a lot of cardio involved.

And.....If you want to personally attack me again with things like "are you stupid?" We are going to have a problem.

What's harder?? I guess the way that I would judge that is how difficult would it be to start an event... let alone finish. I would much rather line up to start the Tour de France with Lance than step into the boxing ring with Mike Tyson or some other world heavyweight boxing champion. I would have no chance of finishing either event, but I think I would have a greater chance of surviving the attempt to ride in the bike race vs. step in the boxing ring. I think having a "beat up" feeling after a bike race (or stage) would not really compare with the "beat up" feeling I would feel after a boxing match (or even one round.)

I rowed junior national, I played under 17's rugby and went to 2 international tournaments. I played football (NA football, not footy), and won 2 championships as a starter. I played footy for fun with a team that did go to tourneys.

Then I started riding a bike. Then racing. It's 25 years later. I've played a few sports. All are challenging in their own respects. With some it is pure athleticism, others endurance. Baseball is a skill game. You need to know how to really drink to curl, bowl or play darts.

Cycling is the only sport where I have pushed myself to the point where I lost control of my sphincter. I've crashed HARD, broken things and collapsed a lung. I've never had a race called because it was too wet, or too cold, or too windy...Cycling is a tough sport.

Go hit some balls.

To the OP:

The TdF is a single event, not several consecutive events.

Cycling is clearly way more physically taxing, but baseball requires way more skill and athleticism. The pros just make it look easy, and even the very best can hit safely only 3.5 times or less out of 10.

Not saying cycling doesn't require finely tuned, impressive skills, because it unquestionably does. But it's a struggle to accept it as athleticism in the same vein as other sports. Stamina, endurance, dogged determination and courage, while admirable, do not translate into athleticism.

Would you consider holding your form during a maximal effort athletic? Watch a pro, in person, float over ruts, grates, potholes, rocks, gravel at speed...and then have a look at your buddy. Is descending twisting mountains on cheese grater roads full out athletic? There is pure athleticism in cycling (at least how I define it) but I'd agree that it isn't the dominant aspect and that the 'Stamina, endurance, dogged determination and courage' you mentioned are.

You certainly are reading a lot into a simple response consisting solely of a quote.

I'm sure you can hold your own, dude. 90% of the people on here would say the same about themsleves. And with some practice, 100% could say that. Do you think that's true with baseball? Do you think you could go out there with some practice and hit a good curveball out of the infield? Do you think you could even do it if you were damned determined?

You couldn't. Ever. You probably couldn't hit one out of a little league infield.

I asked if you were stupid and you didn't answer. My guess is that the only attacking going on is in your head while you're trying to figure it out.

Here, read this:

"Most of the guys have strength and can run a few hundred feet at a time but thats about it. There is not a lot of cardio involved."

Oh, wait. You Wrote that. Sounds pretty stupid.

There you go again, making things up to support your own argument. No one said it wasn't a tough sport.

And maybe I will go hit some balls after I ride 100 miles tomorrow morning. After all, I can. Can you?

I think it depends on what you're conditioned for. For cross, I train for maximum repeat efforts for one hour. I train for maximum leg speed, and the ability to endure 180 BPM the entire time. Since that is what I train for, I do rather well. In fact, I lap guys who could crush me in a road race largely because our sports are so different. They have a very specific skill, and strength set that makes them great roadies that isn't going to serve them as well in a cross race.

world beard and moustache competition
world air guitar competition

still can't tell which one is the tougher sport...

I never bonked playing baseball...

The top one is generally pretty tough for women to compete in.

Are you throwin' down?.

I was stroke for the heavy crew and we took bronze at the Schoolboy regatta in 78 (one of the largest regattas in the world). I then rowed for the St.Catharines Henley Rowing club 78-79. Juniour National in 79. I gave it up because it conflicted with my football schedule.

I played football for the St.Catharines Spears 78-79. We won our league championship both years. Provincials in 78. We won tournaments in New York and Penn in 78 and 79. I was invited to try out for a semi-pro team in Hamilton but it was in a city where I had no job, no family and no friends and there was no real pay to be had if I did make the team. I passed.

I'm not sure if the rugby team I played for still exists. That was 81-82. We hosted teams from Wales and Ireland and travelled to tourneys with them. We were a 17 and under team but were invited to play in University tourneys where I got my bell rung a few too many times. It was hard for me to transition from shoulder to arm tackles.

I bought a bike to keep fit and started racing after that. Made it to Cat2 (with points). I got my coaching certification. I moved out west to be closer to a National Team Training Center but was creamed by a car and collapsed a lung 01 April 1992.

I struggled for a few years. I went to school, worked and raced. I won the Canadian National VetA Crit Champs in 1998 (RR 8th). I moved to Asia that year. I won a national Championship in Taiwan in 2006 (well sort of. I didn't get a jersey). I have raced several Asia tour races (as a domo) finishing them all except one where I was out of the penultimate stage due to a mechanical and bad neutral support.

The guy that introduced me to my wife was a former big league left handed middle-reliever named Steve Wilson (Rangers, Cubs, Dodgers).

I've hit a few balls.

Feel free to call bull**** on any of it if you like. Just stop talking like you're the only fricken' guy in the world whose ever played another sport (and was good at it).

Cross-country ballroom dancing.

fixed

Aussie Rules yodelling?

where as yours are merely useless.

Only here on BF do we consider pissing matches a sport...

I don't care what you've done in your athletic life, dude. I don't care what anyone thinks of what i've done in other sports. How's that?

I don't even know how to respond to you anymore, Bob. You misinterpret things and then you run off on these tangents about yourself. It's kind of bizarre. I'm pretty sure you're one of a very few who care about how great you are. I'm not one of those people. It's sad, I know. But i'll get over it, and maybe you should too.

All i'm saying is that people need to be a little more objective before going on about how hard bike racing is and crucifying those who do not believe.

Shun the non-believers!

I give an example and all of a sudden your butthole explodes with the blood and fury of whatever it is that happened to you in some former life. Get over it.

It has nothing to do with me or what's being discussed here.

Good night.

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