Genetics can be fickle, gifted with a genetically slow resting HR on the one hand, and athsma on the other. The Guns write cheques that the vascular system can’t cash, even if the pump can handle it, the pipes aren’t big enough.

But that doesn’t stop us trying, faster, further, more vert. The dawn, the dusk, the sun, the rain, the wind, the still, the country, the city, the climbs, the downs, the sweat, the grit. Today, we ride..

From personal experience, for the first few years of my road racing career I was a mid packer in the European amateur peloton. But a much more serious approach of 6-7 rides a week, a healthier diet, and copious amounts of time at the V and Dime translated into greatly improved results over many years. That being said, the price for being a successful racing amateur Velominatus can come at costs to family, work, safety and health, along with many other known and unknown opportunity costs. For me Nurture (Rule V) overpowers Nature at amateur levels but at the Pro levels (which for me right now are irrelevant) Nature is also hugely important (and at times Dr. Ferrari’s potions) 

@Oli

@wiscot Cipollini wore all white, even in the rain!

Cipo gets a pass, on everything. He is Cipo.

He was. He’s not Cipo any longer. Now he’s a parody of Cipo. Sadly.

Last one – Paris-Roubaix Challenge 2012 (video)

then there’s this

70% genes

30% hard work

+30% EPO

Us

70% hard work

30% genes

-30% BEER

@Rob  – who is this? I am presuming our “badges” distinguish us apart?

@czmiel

We are the ideal cyclists. We ride for the fun rather than the money.

Let me put it that way: We (or at least most of us) are spending money to ride for the fun!

True, but after the initial bike purchase it starts to get pretty cheap on the cost/fun ratio.

er….n+1…helloooooo!

My mate who I started mountain biking with back in the early 90’s is a prime example of good parentage, as his dad was a pretty successful roadie back in the day. My mate eventually crossed from MTB to road in the late 90s / early 2000s and has been Elite pretty much since then – I think it took him 2 seasons  to make it to the top level, and he’s been in or around top 10 in the national rankings since then. Another ex-MTBer mate (also Elite) rides for the same team and has got there through repeated application of hard work rather than arseing about like the rest of us. I just wish I’d seen the light a bit earlier, as its hard work playing catch up now – good genes or not.

@tessar . On the subject of VO2Max tests – this older article now looks …. well, interesting to say the least. Evans still holds the Australian Institute of Sport all-time VO2Max record, set when he was 19 years old and just starting out on MTB’s.

http://cozybeehive.blogspot.com.au/2010/02/science-of-cadel-evans-from-dr-david.html

Cadel was racing MTB from pre-teens, and finished 5th in a (Pro) World Cup at 16.

http://spokemagazine.com/2011/07/26/2011-tour-de-france-winner-cadel-evans-back-in-1994/

http://cozybeehive.blogspot.com.au/2010/02/science-of-cadel-evans-from-dr-david.html

@brett

A couple beers later and an invite for a night ride was put out. More beers and the promise of “a little, easy loop”… 3 hours later, on no food, water run out, motor senses put to the test on trails I’d never ridden, hammered by climbing gurus and I arrived home at 11pm with the feeling of a best-ever ride.

Well done! Night MTB rides are so cool. Not that I’ve done many but being out there with a good head light in the woods in the dark. Beauty.

And the rides with lots of suffering end up being the ones you remember fondly.

-Fixed your post

I’ve always thought of my genetic make-up as being a cross between Kip Dynamite and Bea Arthur. In other words, I have to work for every ounce of fitness I get and any interest in being an athlete I’ve had has come of my own motivation and self-discovery.

That said, I am coming off perhaps the best season of cycling fitness I’ve ever had. Starting on the trainer last New Years in prep for the KT, riding in France and Belgium just to stay with the group, building fitness through the Almanzo, then being one of the two fastest guys in the Tuesday group all summer, and ending with a happy showing in the Heck I did all right. It’s now the season of RWG (Rapid Weight Gain) and I’m praying for loads of snow quickly so I can carry this form into Nordic ski season. Fuck you dad, and I love you mom but you had absolutely nothing to do with this save for a regrettable night in the 60’s.

We are the ideal cyclists. We ride for the fun rather than the money.

Let me put it that way: We (or at least most of us) are spending money to ride for the fun!

True, but after the initial bike purchase it starts to get pretty cheap on the cost/fun ratio.

@wiscot Cipollini wore all white, even in the rain!

Cipo gets a pass, on everything. He is Cipo.

So, who are the real Hard men and women? The pros? Or us, who will still be flogging ourselves up those climbs three hours after the pro has had his shower, post ride massage and is safely aboard his luxury team bus on his way to the hotel?!

I’m sure we are as fried or more so after a long ride. We are working as hard but going slower so we actually suffer a lot longer. I bet no pro would be as wasted as I am after my Sunday group ride. What does all that mean? Who knows.

But save a thought for state of mind (which needn’t be genetic). Today, in cold and windy conditions at the end of an incredibly hectic week, I got kitted out in Johnny Cash Black, three weeks from having adhered to Rule #50, and put in 2.5 hours. It wasn’t about looking fabulous, and while I’m sure I owe a great deal to my parents for any athletic ability I might have, the ride had more to do with will and determination to get out in the first place. That’s not genetic: it’s cultivated.

Wow. The look on Wegmann’s face after 3:55 as the cricket chirps up the road is staggering. THAT is why I will always love this sport.

and the emotion of Bettini shown slo-mo in the last thirty seconds.  That also captures the beauty and pain endured in our sport.  I love Italian cyclists, they know true passion and emotion.

In the last two days I’ve had two of the funnest rides recently (and there have been a lot). Both totally unplanned and opportunistic. After a day of working behind a computer with wind and cloud, the sun peeped through and the gusts died down around 6pm. I wrestled with the ‘shall I/shan’t I’ demons and got on my mtb for a quick loop of a favorite trail. I rode hard on the climb and bombed the downhill, crashing at one point. I came home feeling no matter if I didn’t get to ride again for a few days, that I still had a complete week.

The next day, a full day in the shop and a shitty disposition due to a huge car repair bill, all I wanted was to have a couple of beers. I saw two of Spoke’s reviewers kitting up for a ride, had a chat and wished I was going out too. Still, beer seemed necessary. I called in at my mate’s shop for the regular Friday social drinks. A couple beers later and an invite for a night ride was put out. More beers and the promise of “a little, easy loop”… 3 hours later, on no food, water run out, motor senses put to the test on trails I’d never ridden, hammered by climbing gurus and I arrived home at 11pm with the feeling of a best-ever ride.

That’s what it’s all about.

Wow. The look on Wegmann’s face after 3:55 as the cricket chirps up the road is staggering. THAT is why I will always love this sport.

oh man, the pain on his face.  That is bike racing.  Unbelievable.

Nothing to do with the fact that I’m always two months from peaking, my poor diet and excessive alcohol consumption. If only they had blessed me with better genes then I’d be flying up those climbs like il Pirata (only without the performance enhancing and recreational drugs of course, just in case anyone else accuses me of worshiping fallen heroes).

The associated thought that I often comfort myself with is that it’s much harder for us average cyclists than it is for the pros.

Take something like a typical mountain stage of the Tour. Five hours perhaps for a pro. But for me: up to eight hours. But the key thing is this: we will both be working at a roughly similar intensity level relative to our genetic abilities, but him for only five hours versus eight for me.

So, who are the real Hard men and women? The pros? Or us, who will still be flogging ourselves up those climbs three hours after the pro has had his shower, post ride massage and is safely aboard his luxury team bus on his way to the hotel?!

We are the ideal cyclists. We ride for the fun rather than the money.

Let me put it that way: We (or at least most of us) are spending money to ride for the fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvJggiOXvYU&feature=player_embedded

I guess I’m asking how some of you handle less riding. I know some of you train daily and race and love that. I also know some of you just ride for fun, leisure, and the occasional Communing with Butterflies. I guess I’m worried that I might have to turn in my V-membership card because I’m not hammering it daily for 2-3 hours. I did that for a few years since I had fewer commitments and more time, as I was fucking off with my work.

I just accept it as the landscape I live and work with in real life. I am an academic and try to slip out the door early for a mid-week ~1 hr, 15 to 20 km ride, and get something ~ 2 or 3hrs in over the weekend, either Sat or Sun…once in a while both days.  I did not race this year, but focused on century/metrics as free weekends allowed.  Got into a CX race a couple weeks ago to justify holding a license this year.  Hope to get a couple more 30 min suffer-fests in before it expires in Dec.  Still, I’m closing in on 3,200 km for the year so I feel pretty good overall, not as good as some…but better than a whole lot of others. Its all relative, and keeping with the theme of this thread, most of the time your really don’t get to choose them and have to work with what (whom) you were born with.  

@Ali McKee

“But enough of the professionals, I’m a little sick of them right now. We are the ideal cyclists. We ride for the fun rather than the money. We get all the pleasure and as much pain as we care to endure and then as much as it takes to get back to the house. It is perfect..”
Can I be the first to say this is brilliant?
Brilliant.

Thanks! I’m glad you like that. It does seem true though. We have it all. We can look pro but not live their rather weird lives. And drink more beer from V-pints then they are allowed.

Yeah, this is a particularly sparkling part of the piece. Nice going, Gianni. Right on. They do live rather weird lives!

And I actually don’t think I spent enough time in my late teens and early twenties arsing around. Maybe that’s why I had the time & energy to do it in my late twenties, as I blossomed into a Velominatus.

mcsqueak – “Ride as much as you can to still enjoy it, no more and no less.” I’m going to keep this in mind all the time for the next few weeks. And the next few weeks after that. Very, very good advice.

Nate – Hmm, I think you’re right. I guess I was just fortunate to have a very flexible schedule the past few years and I really, really lived it up. Now that I’m back to reality I’m have a bit of a hard time not feeling guilty about riding less. But, it’s an overall healthy move for me to work more & ride less right now.

Cool.

@Ron

There wouldn’t be very many Velominati if ridings 6x a week were a requirement.

Speaking of great pain faces, CA Sorenson:

@Gianni

Especially with endurance sports, where you don’t peak until late twenties and early thirties, you can arse* around a lot.

*my new favorite expression

Arseing around is the state passtime of Hawaii, is it not? Island time and all that?

They probably have a more mellifluous word for it than “arsing around.”

I followed her footstep into triathlon and indeed, when it comes to running and cycling, I’m within touching distance of the local elite, who’ve been at it for years. Within a year, I expect to out-gun them on the bike (already matching the best bike-splits) and hit the 38-minute mark for a 10km run. My limiter is swimming, where technique and background matter more than having an aerobic engine the size of a freight train. That said, I do enjoy getting on the bike at the back of the pack, knowing I will hunt them down, one by one.

When I ride the road-bike, however, I’ve got the pro look nailed. Nu-uh, I won’t embarrass a peloton with my beloved compression sleeves or ludicrous, if effective, bottle mounts.

Wow. The look on Wegmann’s face after 3:55 as the cricket chirps up the road is staggering. THAT is why I will always love this sport.

+1

Especially with endurance sports, where you don’t peak until late twenties and early thirties, you can arse* around a lot.

*my new favorite expression

Arseing around is the state passtime of Hawaii, is it not? Island time and all that?

“But enough of the professionals, I’m a little sick of them right now. We are the ideal cyclists. We ride for the fun rather than the money. We get all the pleasure and as much pain as we care to endure and then as much as it takes to get back to the house. It is perfect..”
Can I be the first to say this is brilliant?
Brilliant.

Thanks! I’m glad you like that. It does seem true though. We have it all. We can look pro but not live their rather weird lives. And drink more beer from V-pints then they are allowed.

Support guy – “Well, I don’t think you will have any problem catching up.”

His impressions were 100% from following The VVay and 0% from my form.

So you mean he wasn’t offering you a “sticky bidon”?  Hell, I would have grabbed his taillight and held on for dear life!

*my new favorite expression

@Oli Hear, hear! I’ve not really ridden properly in a month but it doesn’t change what I am.

@Gianni, there’s enough stuff that I blame my parents for so I’m going to put the fact that I’m not a pro down to drinking, smoking and generally arsing around too much in my late teens and early twenties. Obviously, if I’d wanted to, I could have been a pro.

Almost all of us did too much arsing around in late teens and early twenties. I did realize early on I sure didn’t have the hard-ass discipline to train as much as would be required either.

His impressions were 100% from following The VVay and 0% from my form.

When I run across random cyclists on my rides I get constantly asked about what team I ride for, and comments like “haha you’ll probably drop me on this next hill up here”, that sort of thing. It’s pretty funny actually what people assume when you look put together. I guess its sort of like walking into an office and seeing the guy in a suit vs. the guy in the shorts and stained v-neck shirt.

It blows me away because I’m not what I’d consider fast. I’m certainly faster than a lot of recreational cyclists, but when I ride with racers I have to really work to hang on. I did a roller ride with @scaler911’s team last weekend and was busting my ass just to stay in visual contact with the bunch when we really starting going up and down the hills.

Hard work will do a lot to overcome genetics. My dad was in pretty good shape before he got sick and died, and my mom has always been a small lady. However I remember when I started cycling a few years back just how hard it was to even go a few miles down the road and back.

I think about that now when I can go an bust out over 100ks on any day I want without a problem and it sort of blows me away. And it makes me feel that all the time I do dump into riding pays off, even if some days I still feel slow.

I guess I’m asking how some of you handle less riding. I know some of you train daily and race and love that. I also know some of you just ride for fun, leisure, and the occasional Communing with Butterflies. I guess I’m worried that I might have to turn in my V-membership card because I’m not hammering it daily for 2-3 hours. I did that for a few years since I had fewer commitments and more time, as I was fucking off with my work.

Clearly there are people here who work in riding into their every day life. I see some of them posting on Strava.

However, it’s easy to lose the forest for the trees on here, especially when one of the key passtimes of Velominati is to take the piss out of each other over riding, following the rules, being hard, and all that.

Ride as much as you can to still enjoy it, no more and no less. I’m currently struggling with the transition from summer riding (when I can ride as much as I feel like) to winter riding, when I’m more constrained by work and the weather. Some of that summer riding volume is replaced by trainer rides after work, but that is a poor replacement and even a hard trainer session doesn’t replace the simple pleasure of riding the commute to/from work.

I’ve had one good ride in the last two weeks and it’s killing me, but that’s how it goes some times. Just don’t go months without touching the bike and you’ll be fine.

@Oli

I am lucky if I can ride one day a week, my bib-shorts are somewhat more snug than they should be and I’m slower than a glacier, but I’ll be fucked if anyone says I’m not a Velominati!!

Ha, YES! Perfect. This sets me straight & puts me in the right mindset. Hope everyone has a great weekend planned or…unfolding.

I did an organized two day event recently.  I had a flat from a tiny sliver of glass soon after the beginning of the second day.  As I was changing tubes, a motorcycle support guy pulled up.

Support guy – “You look like a rider that has everything you need, but I have a floor pump if that will make things easier.”

I took advantage of the floor pump and then noticed and commented that all the riders had passed me by and were well up the road.

Support guy – “Well, I don’t think you will have any problem catching up.”

His impressions were 100% from following The VVay and 0% from my form.

@Oli Hear, hear! I’ve not really ridden properly in a month but it doesn’t change what I am.

@Gianni, there’s enough stuff that I blame my parents for so I’m going to put the fact that I’m not a pro down to drinking, smoking and generally arsing around too much in my late teens and early twenties. Obviously, if I’d wanted to, I could have been a pro.

+1.

I am lucky if I can ride one day a week, my bib-shorts are somewhat more snug than they should be and I’m slower than a glacier, but I’ll be fucked if anyone says I’m not a Velominati!!

YES!!!  A-Merckx to that shit!

“But enough of the professionals, I’m a little sick of them right now. We are the ideal cyclists. We ride for the fun rather than the money. We get all the pleasure and as much pain as we care to endure and then as much as it takes to get back to the house. It is perfect..”
Can I be the first to say this is brilliant?
Brilliant.

awesome.

Ron, obviously riding is the core activity of the velominatus. However, circumstances both seen and unforseen can really have an impact on that. What remains, no matter how many kilometers are ridden, is the attitude and adherence to the rules. Should you remain true to these, you shall remain a velominatus.

Hey wiscot. This was very much a “seen” one. Finishing up the final step of graduate school. A self-driven project at this point so for too long I rode my bike like crazy to feel accomplished each day, but did little work. Now I realize it’s time to get crackin’. A wife & a new house, both great, but it’s time to move along. Plus, I could be getting paid for the work I’m doing as soon as I finish! Very good motivation.

I will not waver in attitude or adherence! I felt that yesterday. I only rode for an hour, it was an errands ride with a few stops, but damn, it felt great to be outside, in nice kit, and on a nice, finely tuned bike.

Thanks for the words of wisdom! And, in reality, if I’m just efficient with my time I can still ride most days of the week!

I am lucky if I can ride one day a week, my bib-shorts are somewhat more snug than they should be and I’m slower than a glacier, but I’ll be fucked if anyone says I’m not a Velominati!!

Ha, YES! Perfect. This sets me straight & puts me in the right mindset. Hope everyone has a great weekend planned or…unfolding.

When my grandfather, quite the fast swimmer, had a VO2Max back in Eastern Germany, he blew the puny measurement device apart. It was, apparently, not rated for more than 50ml/kg/min (Greg LeMan had over 85, apparently). My mother, these days national 70.3 and Ironman champion, also has hers in the upper 50s.

It was I who chose to waste my teenage years on the couch, and therefore I have to pay the price and chase hard to make up for the lost years.

I was thinking of where to put this during my morning cyclocommute & here is a perfect piece for such ruminations. Thank you, Gianni! And aside from the nice writing I’ve now learned of two new grinders. I love guys who get by with hardfuckingwork. I’d like to consider myself such a lad. Not the tallest (ha, I’m 171cm!), strongest, or fastest. But I did hone my skills and got to the top level of my favorite (former) sport. I’m pretty proud of that. Ha, and it doesn’t hurt that the current Player of the Year in the U.S. is from my school/team. He’s makin’ me look even better.

What I’ve been pondering is how my status as a Follower has/might have changed in the past few weeks. I’ve been doing a lot of work and dedicating my focus & energy on that. I don’t like not riding but if I can finish this project it’ll be a huge step for me in many ways.

But, I feel a bit guilty. I find myself wondering if I can call myself a Velominati if I’m not riding six days a week, like I used to. I also have, of course, lost some form. It’s only early autumn and my bibs feel a bit girdle-like, as I haven’t quite scaled back my intake to meet my new less-active lifestyle.

I’m riding less & definitely two months from peaking. But, I don’t want to be PRO. Just be able to ride long and hard and kinda fast. I know I can ride just 3 or 4 days a week and stay/return to decent form. And the odd thing is that when I do get to ride these days I really appreciate it, as opposed to doing it daily and sometimes feeling it was a grind. And, I also get a thrill out of pulling on my kit and pulling out a nice bike. That’s gotten better with less riding.

I guess I’m asking how some of you handle less riding. I know some of you train daily and race and love that. I also know some of you just ride for fun, leisure, and the occasional Communing with Butterflies. I guess I’m worried that I might have to turn in my V-membership card because I’m not hammering it daily for 2-3 hours. I did that for a few years since I had fewer commitments and more time, as I was fucking off with my work.

I still feel that passion, but I almost feel a bit like an imposter since I can’t ride as much as I used to and since my form has slipped.

Ron, obviously riding is the core activity of the velominatus. However, circumstances both seen and unforseen can really have an impact on that. What remains, no matter how many kilometers are ridden, is the attitude and adherence to the rules. Should you remain true to these, you shall remain a velominatus.

@Gianni, there’s enough stuff that I blame my parents for so I’m going to put the fact that I’m not a pro down to drinking, smoking and generally arsing around too much in my late teens and early twenties. Obviously, if I’d wanted to, I could have been a pro.

What I’ve been pondering is how my status as a Follower has/might have changed in the past few weeks. I’ve been doing a lot of work and dedicating my focus & energy on that. I don’t like not riding but if I can finish this project it’ll be a huge step for me in many ways.

But, I feel a bit guilty. I find myself wondering if I can call myself a Velominati if I’m not riding six days a week, like I used to. I also have, of course, lost some form. It’s only early autumn and my bibs feel a bit girdle-like, as I haven’t quite scaled back my intake to meet my new less-active lifestyle.

I’m riding less & definitely two months from peaking. But, I don’t want to be PRO. Just be able to ride long and hard and kinda fast. I know I can ride just 3 or 4 days a week and stay/return to decent form. And the odd thing is that when I do get to ride these days I really appreciate it, as opposed to doing it daily and sometimes feeling it was a grind. And, I also get a thrill out of pulling on my kit and pulling out a nice bike. That’s gotten better with less riding.

I guess I’m asking how some of you handle less riding. I know some of you train daily and race and love that. I also know some of you just ride for fun, leisure, and the occasional Communing with Butterflies. I guess I’m worried that I might have to turn in my V-membership card because I’m not hammering it daily for 2-3 hours. I did that for a few years since I had fewer commitments and more time, as I was fucking off with my work.

I still feel that passion, but I almost feel a bit like an imposter since I can’t ride as much as I used to and since my form has slipped.

The timing of this couldn’t be better for me! Thanks for the words & the thoughts.

Ha, I don’t want to be PRO either. And I played competitive sports that weren’t always fun for most of my life. I am determined to keep cycling wholly, or at least mostly, fun.

Very interesting comment on Schleck as well. Hmm, makes me wonder if he is half-arsing things.