nemeseri

I have a friend, 25, naturally quite thin (5'8" / 120 lbs). He only did some hiking / mountaineering in the past. He started riding this year, he really enjoyed climbing mountains in our area from the beginning. He joined me on the Death Ride (129 mi / 15k feet on high altitude) this year just to experience a supported organized event. His goal was to finish 3 passes. Instead he finished the whole ride in tennis shoes. It was his very first century ride.

I was amazed by his performance. Are there naturally talented bike riders? What makes someone so strong that can finish a ride like this when most people needs at least a couple of month training?

wolfchild

I think it's genetics. Some people are naturally athletic and don't need as much training as somebody who is not genetically gifted.

KBentley57

Well, if it's not because of training, the only other option is genetics. Not only the potential capability, but the rate of adaptation due to stress.

sprince

The weight should give you a clue. Also sounds like you might be discounting the "only" mountaineering. Seriously? Guessing that you have little or no experience in that department. Wouldn't surprise me at all if he had dropped everyone and was home on the couch by the time the other riders finished.

nemeseri

He is a novice mountaineer and he is fit and thin. And yes, he achieved a pretty solid time and dropped sportive riders. The surprise came by the fact that he finished a ride as hard as the death ride. For me he is a living example of the importance of general fitness. It was just really shocking how far you can go with general fitness and willpower.

When you guys mention "genetics". Does he have a higher vo2max? Can he handle endurance power output better than others?

sprince

Interesting question. You would think that the greatest oxygen deprivation freak who ever lived, and perfect example of hitting the genetic lottery, would exhibit some impressive numbers, but Reinhold Messner apparently had a very average vo2max. I think cyclists have a tendency to reduce everything to numbers, and discount countless other factors such as pain tolerance, determination and big balls.

https://books.google.com/books?id=ux...vo2max&f=false

Stadjer

I think there also a difference before it comes to actual pain tolerance, in the sense that a lot of people percieve that burning sensation in their muscles as pain, while others like it and don't even need determination yet. A person like that is likely to have pushed himself from a young age in any physical activity and therefore have a good basic fitness.

But it's hard to beat genetics. I have 2 friends I did a lot of sports with, but if we would go weight lifting without any training they'd beat me easily, if we'd do endurance running I would beat them easily allthough we're all about 90 kilo's. Just different muscle types, a 10 km gold winner will never stand a chance at the 100 m and vice versa.

2manybikes

Correct. Power to weight ratio. Also in my experience , anything like climbing and running makes for strong cycling.

gregf83 

You don't need special genetics to ride 130 mi. Cycling is an aerobic sport so if you're in decent shape there's nothing particularly difficult about a long ride vs a long hike. Being light makes it easier to adjust to sitting a small saddle.

Riding up a hill with 6W/kg of power requires special genetics.

Seattle Forrest

I agree. Carrying a rack five steep miles up a boot path and then starting to climb does wonders for your ticker. And it's your aerobic capacity not leg strength that limits you on a bike.

deapee

I think once your bike fits and your overall fitness is dialed in, you can go forever at a certain w/kg. Some people just put down more power than others naturally...bike fit is also huge. Maybe he hit the proverbial jackpot in bike fit and genetics and is just a generally fit dude.

nemeseri

Well, you guys are probably right about him and I guess it's only surprising because nowadays it's rare to meet someone with outstanding height to weight ratio and general fitness.

I think that the trick is the low weight. Probably that helped him to stay in endurance / low tempo while mentally he already had experience with very long endurance efforts.

@sprince: very interesting read, thanks for sharing!

Well, it's not just the 130 mi. The whole ride took place above 5000 ft elevation and we climbed 15k feet overall. I don't know about you, but that's an awful lot of climbing.

Seattle Forrest

When a cyclist in San Francisco says "that's an awful lot of climbing," pay attention.

rubiksoval

I think you might be underestimating the role genetics is playing in this.

He may be a living example of all of those things, as well as a living example of an athletically talented individual.

Sure, could be a high vo2max coupled with all sorts of things. Maybe high haematocrit/hemoglobin, high lactate tolerance, exceptional endurance and energy utilization, all sorts of physiology/sciency stuff I'm not even aware of.

Suffice to say that some people are just really, really good at stuff from the get go: reading, drawing, singing, being a musician, being an athlete, etc. All walks of life have examples.

gregf83 

It's a lot of climbing but if it doesn't happen quickly it just makes for a really long day. The pictures of the participants show a high number of heavy cyclists. No idea how many of them complete the ride but most of them didn't look hard and lean.

wolfchild

Do you really think that an average person who has never done a long distance ride, can just hop on a bike and hammer away a 130 mile ride with a lot of climbing and do so at a very competitive pace ??...I don't think so.

tarwheel 

Given his age, weight and general fitness, I am not surprised that he could climb well. I am more surprised that he could sit in a saddle for that long. That is often the limiting factor for new cyclists.

gregf83 

No, but someone who is fit and riding since the beginning of the year. Yes, I think they could complete the ride. I didn't see any times posted so no idea how fast he rode. Certainly a 125 lb male would be competitive with many of the folks I saw doing the ride regardless of how experienced they were.

I consider myself an average athlete and started riding again when I was 48. First ride in May and within 6 wks I was riding 300+km/wk and could have completed a 130 mi ride. I think an average 25 yr old would have similar or better capabilities.

kcjc

A weight to height ratio of 2.1 (inches/pounds) is ideal for climbers. I'm the same height and could only wish I had a weight to height ratio of 1.76 like your friend. Having mountaineering background probably didn't hurt considering the ride started at above elevation 5,000'. I finished four passes, saw my car, and call it quits (I had a miserable day and didn't rejoice at being frozen once again on Carson and prolong the cramping/saddle sore). Congrats on finishing.

sprince

Yeah. Have seen that sort of thing too many times for it to be a fluke.

CliffordK

Training is overrated.

The actual pace wasn't listed.
A far as tennis shoes... There have been threads ad nauseam that the overall efficiency of flats isn't much different from cleats.
There is always the first.
"Mountaineering"? Carrying a 50+ backpack up into the woods for a few weeks isn't easy. In fact, I think one of Dad's fastest commutes followed a hard backpacking trip.

And there is something competitive about humanity... make a finish line and people will do the impossible to get to it.

No doubt this was a strong athletic individual, but I don't see it as being super-human in any sense. Strong and light helps for the hills.

TGT1

Climbing trains you for suffering, as well as aerobic fitness.

I did my first century at 64 after having done all of the California 14'ers and 40+ years of rock climbing, and while an effort, it was not all that big a deal.

That a flyweight climber could excel off the couch isn't surprising at all.

Even the dirt bag ones can excel at it. Tucker Tech once commuted from Yosemite to Joshua Tree on a cheap bike with all of his belongings in a pack on his back.

sprince

Lol! Now that would be funny. Tucker on your group ride. The roadies would need counselling, some damaged for life.

TGT1

LOL,


I'd pay good money to see that, but I don't think there's a practical way to carry a case of beer on a road bike.


That would be the only way you'd get him to do it.