Space aliens

[jhetley]

They certainly aren't _human_. Tour de France competitors, that is. As you may have noticed (well, you _should_ have), I average about 15 mph on my shorter bike rides and more like 13 mph on the longer ones. Lance Armstrong's entire _team_ averaged over 30 mph on the team time trial. I'm lucky to go that fast on a downhill with a tailwind.

Doping, hell. They're aliens, I tell you!

Comments

[wcg.livejournal.com]

I've ridden one of those racing bikes. Where I'm hard pressed to make 15 mph on my ordinary road bike, I can sustain 22 mph on one of those carbon-fiber aluminum alloy lightweight things over a 3 mile road course. They have bigger chainwheels, and they weigh next to nothing. I can easily see how someone who trains on one everyday could manage a sustained speed of 30 mph.

nope, aliens

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

And then they go out and do it again the next day. And the next. When I would be whimpering in bed.

It ain't just age. I never _did_ have that kind of body.

Yeah, the bike makes a difference. I have a lighter 12 speed, really narrow tires and geared for flat roads. That made about 2 mph difference on the same route for an hour run, and 3 or 4 mph on a downhill due to lower rolling resistance. But the roads around here just about shake it to pieces, and I was always replacing rims and bearings.

I _still_ say, check the color of those racers' blood. Probably green.

Re: nope, aliens

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

It's a combination of innate talent, equipment, and training. But even with all those, you still have to have the focus to make it work. I probably have enough voice, ear, and songwriting talent to be a professional folksinger -- but I never had the drive. So I filk instead. Same thing as the difference between your bike riding and Tour de France.

Re: nope, aliens

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Like I said, I never _did_ have that kind of body. It involves genetic differences, percentage of types of muscle fibers, even the function of my digestive system -- Younger Son comes by his allergies and food intolerance quirks honestly.

Some things I _can_ do by focus and innate talent, like the writing gig, but "world-class athlete" ain't one of them.