tbick

A few years ago, I seem to remember an article about a study of some sort whereby professional athletes from other disciplines were challenged to "ride like Lance Armstrong" in a time trial, with the objective of finding out how long they could hold that pace. (the results were amazingly poor)

I can't find that article anymore....has anyone else seen it?

ManBearPig

I'd be interested in reading this too. I've ridden bikes for most of my 30 years, but just recently switched to the rigorous challenge of a road bike. I don't ever expect nor plan to approach professional caliber, but I am interested, as a benchmark, to learn just how much strength, endurance, and speed is possible on a road bike. I'm happy at present to just do fairly comfortable 10 mile rides between 15-21 mph. I expect a road bike, more than any other, to be enjoyable in proportion to the rider's fitness level.

otoman

I can't site it exactly, but it was a Sports Illustrated article - perhaps the one when he was named Athlete of the Year?? They had a MLB pitcher, some hockey player and someone else all doing the VO2 max test - LA blew them away of course.

Pat

Well, it is a ridiculous stunt. Bicycling requires a very high level of aerobic conditioning which most sports do not require. Football and baseball, for example, do not require much aerobic conditioning. Basketball requires some but not a great deal.

Even if a person has a high level of aerobic conditioning, that is not enough. I knew a guy and he had just run in the Boston Marathon which requires qualifying and is a big deal. Well, he had a bike and I suggested going for a ride. He gave me this look of obvious disdain at what he considered my terrible lack of fitness so I resented this some. Well, I was in good shape and had put in a fair number of miles that summer. I had no problem dropping him on every hill even though I outweighed him by a good 20 lbs. I had a lot more muscle in my thighs and I knew how to run a proper cadence.

So this guy was obviously in tremendous aerobic shape but he did not have the cycling specific adaptations: big quads and he did not have the skill of running a reasonably high cadence.

I would say the whole challenge is pointless. It really does not prove anything because atheletic competition is so specialized that it does not transfer from sport to sport.

Does anyone here remember a basketball player by the name of Michael Jordan? I understand that he was pretty good at basketball but he wasn't even a good minor league player in baseball. Shouldn't that tell us something?

redfooj

it obviously was a stunt..but a fun one at that. i dont think anybody takes seriously the validity or (ir)relevancy of the thing.

but anyways, you remember a certain heisman winner named Charlie Ward or some other guys who goes by the name of Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders?

Crack'n'fail

I personally am giving up on trying to explain to everyone the athleticism of the cyclists (In america that is.) People here are never going to get it. Yesterday on my way home I heard a commercial for the new Max Kellerman sports show and he said the he felt that Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods combined equals one good athlete. This is the same guy who once said that all cyclists do is ride from point A to point B as fast as they can, no strategy involved, no coordination involved. Moron.

The annoying thing is that most sports analysts give more credence to Golf than Cycling as athletic. You know, a couple of weeks ago I was playing Golf and my partner hit a hole in one. Up to that point he had only parred one hole. Total accident. I guarantee you that I cannot accidentally set the fastest time up the Alpe d'huez.

Sorry for ranting.

velocipedio

downhill skier herman maier rode the prologue of the 2003 tour de france and posted a respectable amateur time. considering that downhill skiing is not an aerobic sport and that maier has come back from some very serious injuries, i'd say that was quite a phenomenal ride...

roadwarrior

I periodically ride with several professional race drivers, and they bike for conditioning. While I no longer race, when I did I was CATII, but ride 40-50 miles a day now between 20 and 23mph, so I am in reasonable shape.
These drivers are in great condition. But I have read where all they do is sit on their rear ends and do what all of us do every day...drive a car.
ANY sport can be ridiculed....but the writers, at least the ones I know, would know the LEAST about conditioning. I pay little attention to the Jim Rome wannabees...BTW, Jim is a cycling and a Lance fan.
I bet a guy who said that a bike was a toy that if he rode with me he could not stay with me for five miles...
he lasted three...because I was nice..

RiPHRaPH

yeah, but car racing? have you ever heard of an injury report on sportscenter for a driver? uhm, jeff gordon has tendonitis in the big toe of his gas pedal foot and is listed as day-to-day..... c'mon. these guys go out for a sit. not a ride.

how about giving these other athletes a few months to ride before the challenge. hockey translates very well to cycling....

Laggard

They've put heart rate monitors on drivers and found that they maintain a very high heart rate for the entire duration of the race.

531Aussie

I once heard an interesting definition of what is and what is not a sport. The person suggested that if you can perform very well at a very high level, yet be out of shape, it's not a sport.

There's plenty of big, fat, and rich pro golfers.

Fat Hack

I'm not sure it's the same physiological process. For instance, I don't think their respiration is at the rate
of Lance doing a prologue, even if the heart rates were similar.

Laggard

You're probably right. Still, it takes a certain level of conditioning to keep your heart rate at an elevated level.

Fat Hack

I once bet a guy, who thought he was pretty fit, that if he rode his fastest time around the local 360m velodrome (flying lap), I could maintain his one lap speed continuosly for at least 20 laps (rah, rah, ain't i a great jerkoff).

He chickened out.

Paul L.

We had a company party where we rode in souped up go carts around a course with tight turns(they would do fifty 55 MPH). I remember being very sore the next day and discovered a lot of new muscles I never knew I had. Your body uses muscles to stabilize in the turns when you are going fast and turning. I was surprised how much work it was to drive those things. I can only imagine what a car doing 100 + must do to you in a tight turn. It is probably more of a anaerobic workout though as opposed to aerobic.

jfmckenna

That rules out the mental capacities needed for sport. There is plenty of fat fishermen too but if I went out fishing with one of them I would probably catch nothing and they would have dinner. Why? Because they understand the habitats and nuances of the fish they are trying to catch. Golf is a very mental sport but sure it doesn’t require some of the physical feats that a hockey player needs. So if you cannot play golf then you are mentally out of shape.

redfooj

have you ever seen an overweight nascar or f1 or cart driver? have you taken a tight turn at 100mph in a hot car in a full body suit for 3 hours straight? do you realizes the G-forces that these drivers are subject to during a race? c'mon now

slvoid

F1 and CART exerts a lot more on a driver than ovaling in nascar, you can't even begin to compare the cars. That said, F1 and cart drivers at least look more fit than their nascar counterparts, which aren't too chubby to begin with. A lot of race car drivers lift weights and work out a lot to condition themselves to the rigors of hauling a car that puts out 1hp/2lbs that can pull of stunts at 4+ g's while sticking to the ground.

p3ntuprage

i always find it amusing when someone gets together some rugby players [or similar] to see if they can do ballet. [as they sometimes do]

it's hilarious.

ballet dancers are hardcore.

fssb
sparky
eo: the buzzcocks - ever fallen in love?

superchivo

Perhaps your friend just didn't understand how to 'ride the bike.' I have a feeling he was probably trying to push the big gear and burned out his legs with brute force pushing himself. If he had made the right gear choices and been spinning in the 90 - 115 RPM range, as I'm willing to bet you were, I would suggest the results may have been different.

This was not so much a fitness contest as a test of cycling knowledge. Had the two of you ridden a flat ride (which requires much less technical expertise than climbing) I doubt you would see a difference. Like Bill Dance or Roland Martin, you understood the nuances. He didn't. Don't pat yourself on the back too hard.

I think if you took a cyclist and a distance swimmer on singlespeed bikes and have them race a course, I think the only noticable difference you would see would be that the cyclist would probably be able to maintain a higher cadence without spinning out.

velocipedio

but why can't i touch it?

Avalanche325

But they sit in 140+ temperatures, pulling 4 - 5gs, with the car on the very edge of spinning out every single turn. Some of these guys can lose 9 lbs in a single race.

The last time I checked, Lance's bike had a saddle on it.

You can't say a guy is not an athelete because he is not going aerobic. So, a power lifter is not an athelete? They are all atheletes, they are just very specialized. I don't think Lance would hold up very well to a big hit from an NFL tackle.

wabbit

I always laugh at those 'cyclists aren't really athletes' idiots. Especially when I see that golfer, Daly, with his fat stomach, smoking a cigarette.Let's see him get up Mont Ventoux! However, golf is like cycling in the sense that it looks easier than it is. So people say, 'oh yeah, anyone can ride a bike'. So then I should be able to get up mt ventoux! But I wouldn't assume I could just get out on a golf course and hit a ball like Tiger woods or even that fat slob daly! I'd probably hurt myself! I know it looks easier than it is.

BUt cycling is no doubt more demanding than most of our popular sports. No time out, no half time, no dancing girls, no sitting in the dugout or on the bench, you can't just stop and take a break except maybe a few seconds to relieve yourself, unless you're badly injured you have to keep going for six hours, you have to eat while riding, and they almost never call it on account of bad weather! Yeah, I'm sure I could do that no problem!

redfooj

oh, you mean ovals like sonoma, watkins glens, and infineon?
id like to see you endure 100*+ in a suit for 3 hours

SamDaBikinMan

Somehow the general separation between sports and games has been lost.

Games= Baseball, football, hockey, chess, badminton, tennis, golf, etc....

Sports = Running track and feild, cycling, jumping, powerlifting, swimming, triathalons, etc....