Training with the Pros, it sounds like fun but it can’t be. Pros are genetic freaks; they put more kilometers on their bikes than any of us civilians do on our cars each year, they ride around whole countries at an average speed greater than 40km/hour and they can dish out such Rule V style day-after-day-after-day. We all dream about it but we don’t have it.
In an earlier life I came close to landing my dream job in Monaco with the IAEA. Serious people counseled me not to take the job, they said it was a bad career move. How could I explain to them I didn’t give a shiet if it was a bad career move, the chance to live, and more importantly to be a cyclist near San Remo and La Madone was all I cared about? Yet I knew if I even saw Tom Boonen or one of the many Aussies who call Monaco their home out on a training ride, I would only be seeing their lycra-clad asses disappearing up the road. Could I at least catch up to Stuart O’Grady to chat him up for a minute before my inability to talk and breathe would force me to lie and say I was turning right HERE? Maybe I could drink beers with the Aussies, I could keep that professional pace, actually no, I would get dropped there too.
Oh that job fell through and my dreams of commuting into work on Merlin on the Cote d’Azure disappeared like those watery mirages on a hot highway, but I digress. I have some good and funny direct video evidence why training with the Pros would be a cruel lesson in our mortal failings. One such Pro is Ted King, an American racer living the dream; he is based in Lucca, riding for Liquigas, riding in support of Ivan Basso and Peter Sagan. He is tough, he has finished every Giro d’Italia he has started. He broke his collarbone this summer racing in Philadelphia when his front wheel dropped into an inexcusably lame drain grate (thank you very much, oh third-world infrastructure that defines the USA).
To bring his training back up to speed he did the 200 on 100 with fellow Pro Tim Johnson and amateur racer Ryan Kelly. The 200 on 100 means 200 miles on Route 100, riding North to South from the top to the bottom of the state of Vermont, the Green Mountain State. Unless you are Marcus, 333 km seems like an impossibly long ride to do at once, I would be in broom wagon long before the end of such madness.
And by madness I refer to the 338 km at 34.1 km/hr average speed with 3,197 meters of climbing thrown in for good measure.
Video credit to Chandler Delinks
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@Routier
If those are oats on top, I'm game! Mind you, I think they're a UK thing, right? I'll have to try them when I visit in December.
@wiscot
Yes they're oats, and yes it's a UK thang. Make sure you stock up!
@ChrisO
Maybe he should be dubbed Andre Gripel. As in all he does is gripe. He's a toolbag.
@ChrisO @frank
+1 on the nickname. So obvious, yet so clever. In actual fact, I was starting to come around on him as the year wore on. He put in some pretty spectacular performances and he certainly animated a good number of races. The suggested reconciliation after he beat Cav was also a good sign. To that end, I'm hoping"”really hoping"”that we can chalk this up to cyclingnews reporting (which borders on the piss poor more often than it should), which made a mess of the story. On a second read of the article, I think he's responding to the question: how will the team do without Gilbert? His answer is probably accurate. He did work for Gilbert on a number of occasions, thereby sacrificing himself for the team. And I think we made a meal out of his HTC complaints, too. English media was quick to pick up on that. I'd love for him to turn into a Spring Classics specialist, where he could put his speed and power to good use (soon, I suspect).
Having said all that, the man still looks like a gorilla and looks like he has no business being a pro cyclist.
@frank
If you make it Frank we are guaranteed entertainment for 300+ km! And if you get Gianni there then I suggest everyone show up because this would not only be EPIC but the most memorable ride of our lives!
Just want to say that rollers are like fixed once you get over the initial head trip that everyone seems to have about them and you spend a very little time on them they both become the go to thing for training/winter fun!
Yes that means fixed on rollers, preferably Kreitler's. The bonus is you can use the fixie for winter/early spring outdoor training too.
Results are two fold a smooth round pedal stroke and spotless form that translates to the much envied "pro" look with attendant fitness in the early season.
@Steampunk
harsh but true, he does seems to lack something in the grace and panache departemente
that said, small fault in an otherwise sprinting German, I'm sure
that said, how could he possibly become a Classics specialist?
@ChrisO
Quit while I'm behind? Even bad ideas pursue their own Rule 5 logic:
America's Got Carbone
En Danseuse with the Stars
The MAMIL sitcom: Antiques Roadshow
@xyxax
Ha, 'Antiques Roadshow' - love it !
So, we've got the title - who's going to write the synopsis ?
As Executive Producer I don't actually do any work, just to get that established from the beginning for all those who are new to the glamorous world of television. If you need me I'll be at lunch.
@Steampunk
Well as a former journalist I'm always suspicious of the "He was misreported" theory. It usually means he said it and regretted it so he's trying to deny it.
But Frank can tell us - the article quotes a link to Wielerrevue.nl so I assume any edam-eating-hard-porn-clog-wearers lurking here can set our minds at rest.