zstjohn

I wasn't gonna try and bs and say 70 cause i haven't ridden 70 solo. I ride between 50-60 on my weekday solo rides cause of lack of daylight. the only time i do between 70-90 is with a group.

I love to ride my bike. So when i decided to really devote myself, I devoted myself. I love the sport


edit: i understand the math umd. Again i made an honest answer. It wasn't exactly 20mph. If i knew i'd have to prove myself to someone on an online forum i would have definetly made it 70 mile ride and dialed it up......

ultraman6970

For the record, 20 mph is equal to 32 km/h... when i ran the 4x70km junior panams like 25 years ago we did like 40 km/h average, some places like 25 other places like 60 km/h (downhill hehe), so being there and done that, 32 km/h isn't fast at all, is simply ok, specially for somebody that is old and is out of competition. Any pro can do 38 km/h ALONE, any cat 1 no pro should be able to do 38 w/o any problem, 32 is a sight seen pace for them. In a matter of fact any JUNIOR (17 to 18 y/o) shouldn't have problems doing 32, u can do 32 km/h with 42x16 dude... not for 4 hours but at least u can go sight seen talking at that speed w/o any problem for at least 2 hours or more. (I have to say that my Physical Condition is horrendous so I cant even do that now ok?)

How long it will take to do that? If you start from zero and being an adult already probably you will get to 35 y/o and wont be able to make it to pro because u are already too old, if you start from juniors, since you are like 12 or 15 years old (as probably 99.9% of the pro peloton DID) and if you are god enough you should be able to make it like little phiney, at 22 - 24 y/o but after 18 u need 100% dedication to the sport, it is impossible to make it if you aren't focused 100%, one lacy month because of university or whatever and the rest of the guys will improve big time (my reason to retire of serious competition at 22, as many other guys too). The advantage of starting young is that you will get all the bad customs out in a few months because u are learning, if you start older like 20 y/o is harder to take the bad customs out, like for example being a smasher. I'm not saying that u can't but the chances are way less, cycling have a curve and usually the best performance does not go for more than 5 to 6 years, once u are up there u have two options or go down like a bag of potatos and u never come back (hinault and others) or try to keep it not as high as posible to extend the lifetime like maybe Zoetemelk?? Just naming him because his career lasted around 20 years in prof, and who knows at what age did he start as a junior, Hinault career lasted around 10 years.

Cheers

umd

I'm just saying, 19.35 mph < 20 mph. If you are going to brag...

billh92109

damn - now I really wish I had gotten into this stuff 20 years ago...

zstjohn

I wasn't bragging. People were throwing around stats so i joined in

Issaquatch

It doesn't sound to me like he was trying to brag. He started off his post by saying that it "wasn't impressive" because even he could do it. That is self deprecation, not bragging.


As for his claim, 19.35mph isn't all that far from 20mph, and if his ride is on a fairly flat route and he came into cycling with a decent baseline level of fitness, I'd say its plausible he coudl do 20mph for 3.5 hours. I've heard some pretty far fetched stuff on BF, and zstjohn's claim wasn't one of them.

zstjohn

i really am hoping. i sucked at every sport until this one.

ultraman6970

Numbers are more important than achievements ??

umd

It's about 10% more power. Maybe when he actually can do 20mph for 3 hours, and not 3 hours and 6 minutes, he can say it's not impressive.

rydaddy

My only advice is don't go too hard too soon. Recipe for injury...

a_phat_beat

young grasshopper, one must learn to crawl before one learns to walk.

get the idea in your head that 30 minutes a day on a bike is peanuts. then maybe you're ready to start toward this goal.

mazdaspeed

To add to this, I find such lofty goals somewhat counterproductive. Trying to decide as a noob that you want to be as fast as a pro will probably lead to a lot of disappointment. Unless you have a good coach with you the whole way, there are a lot of mistakes to be made, things to be learned, and epiphanies to be had before you can really think about "professional condition".

IMO riding with people that are faster than you is a good eye opener, and it will help you set more realistic goals. A friend of mine that just started cycling claimed that he could be TDF ready in 6 months. He has only ridden by himself and probably thinks he's pretty hot stuff. He would get dropped by my girlfriend, but until that happens he might not have a good idea what he's talking about

patentcad

It's threads like this that put the Stupid into BF.

petiegolfer

If cycling is anything like golf...pro standard is unobtainable for most people period.

A good single figure golfer is light years away from scratch ie playing with no shots. The difference between scratch and pro...more light years.

How good you get in any sport these days is down too genetics the age you started and how much you are prepard to scrifice the rest of your life in the pursuit of excellence in one field.

Most pro golfers would have gone round in par in their early teens. I am making an assumption...most pro cyclists would have been special in their early teens.

Of course there is being pro and being "pro"!!

patentcad

Fixed.

Homebrew01

Or your computer calibration.

I wonder if the OP troll will post again, or just sit back and wath the fireworks.

banerjek

Let's suppose you're in the top 0.1%. This will make you fast by club ride standards but you'll still suck way too much to think about making money at this sport.

roccobike

+1, I rode with a guy this summer who is an ex-cycling pro. He toured in Europe for 2 years before an injury sent him back to the US, where he decided to give up the cycling dream. While he toured, he made enough money to pay his rent and food and that was all. In two years he saved exactly nothing. So now he rides with a club on Saturday while making real money at a 9 to 5 job.

coasting 

how long? Don't know about you but for me, it will be when hell freezes over.

Machka 

All these goals to do things like participate in ironman, to ride double centuries every 3 days etc ........

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...=#post10808824

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...y-every-3-days

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...=#post10759951



And now we're talking about 30 minutes of riding a day???

Yaniel

my favorite thread is the ironman one. "is it one event per day?"

BillyD

So do I.

zstjohn

why do people try and throw in doses of reality? I know the odds, i know i have no chance. Doesn't mean don't try. People who succeed in life are the ones that don't give up just because the odds are against them.

slowandsteady

You just described my brother who won numerous accolades as a Junior and Cat 1 rider. He set local records which still stand. He was invited to the Olympic training facility in Colorado. He lived in Belgium for several years and technically paid his bills with cycling. He now works in a bike shop. He is extremely talented, but to be a pro takes a tremendous level of dedication and natural born talent and even then it might not be enough.

He now does triathlons.

Most recent Tri results.
1st place
Swim 1/4 mile = 7:26
Bike 15.2 miles = 34:02 minutes(26.8mph)
Run 5K = 16:39 (5:22 mile pace)

Total time to finish = 1 hour exactly

slowandsteady

I am fat, old, and slow and this is basically what I do. It is certainly more than the average weekend warrior but it isn't anything special.

I ride 1 hour a day 4 days a week, then do a 2 hour ride on Saturday and a 3-4 hour ride on Sunday. It takes a hell of a lot of work to even get to a better than average amateur level. I would be happy at a B club pace.