Any average Joe's training with ex Pros

[tubularglue]

local ex pro allows me to tag along two to three times a week. 1 - 2.5 hr rides.

No small ring ever. Says, small does absolutely nothing for power/strength and is a waste of time

Tells me to hit the gym, stick my nose in the wind cause sucking wheel keeps you weak, whatever.

Typical ride is hanging on for dear life, dropping off, Big ring it back to his tail and hold on for dear life. Repeat above until completely blown.

Conversations,of coarse, conducted in half wheel hell.

Best workouts i have had, since chemo recovery.

Interval after Interval after Interval

His big ring 54. Phuck!

any other poor sods out there getting whacked by the stick ?

 

[NickofLouse]

Jason McCartney, rides for Saxo Bank, will sometimes show up for the local group ride. Can't say I've ridden with him as I still ride with the "B" group.

 

[Anonymous]

No small ring ever. Says, small does absolutely nothing for power/strength and is a waste of time

So your saying he can't climb right?

But I agree, big ring is great for training, unless you hit some quite steep hills...

I'd love to see him go up Alpe d'Huez on the big ring tho...


I don't train with pro's, but a friend who rides in Coastal Victoria has seen Cadel a few times out and about in the off season. He even changed a flat for them once. He was happy to help out. What a nice guy

 

[Tugboat]

I used to train about 10 years ago with a WC silver medallist in the kieren. He couldn't climb to save himself (just like me) but jesus he could dish out some serious bursts of hurt on the flats.

 

[thehog]

Pros ride with me all the time.

 

[gogo419]

Perth is the place to be for pain in the off season.
Cameron Meyer
Travis Meyer
Graeme Browne
Luke Durbridge
are all regulars on some of the group rides throughout the week. Also many other pro continental riders come and go each year.

 

[craig1985]

Where I live we have in the off season:

Robbie McEwen
Nick Gates (ex-pro)
Jono Cantwall
Sara Carrigan (2004 Olympic Gold medal winner)

And I have all ridden with them at some point. Plus a few more guys who have raced in Europe in at a Cat 2 level. We also have Danny Clark who won a lot on the track in the 70's and 80's (raced with Brad Wiggins father), and despite being in his early 60's, he still leaves us all for dead.

 

[Michele]

At a local circuit race a guy asked Ballan's bro how do they train (yes, they go often out togheter) and he answered "climbs, climbs and climbs. Then some motorpacing for speed up ahead of races".

 

[Oldman]

Where I live we have in the off season:

Robbie McEwen
Nick Gates (ex-pro)
Jono Cantwall
Sara Carrigan (2004 Olympic Gold medal winner)

And I have all ridden with them at some point. Plus a few more guys who have raced in Europe in at a Cat 2 level. We also have Danny Clark who won a lot on the track in the 70's and 80's (raced with Brad Wiggins father), and despite being in his early 60's, he still leaves us all for dead.

Sounds like a great group. Very similar to the US equivalent in the San Diego area around January and February. You'd get Chipo and Rominger thrown in with the hammerhead tri-geeks for really fast rides. Dangerous, too.

Up in the NW we have a good share of level B pros. It isn't all hammering, though-just solid tempo.

 

[yakko!]

Pros ride with me all the time.

Only when you let them, right?

 

[fatandfast]

Sounds like a great group. Very similar to the US equivalent in the San Diego area around January and February. You'd get Chipo and Rominger thrown in with the hammerhead tri-geeks for really fast rides. Dangerous, too.

Up in the NW we have a good share of level B pros. It isn't all hammering, though-just solid tempo.

Is Horner a B ? Did you ever race in Sorrento Valley?

 

[Oldman]

Is Horner a B ? Did you ever race in Sorrento Valley?

Didn't race in Sorrento Valley but did some of the "organized" rides as part of our amateur camps in Jan-Feb. Lots of camraderie and joking around and seemed like a fun scene. The Camp Pendleton rides were the same until you got on base and then the **** hit the fan. The base is now closed to the ride, isn't it?
Don't regard Horner as a B but have ridden with him in Bend and around Santa Rosa. Kirk Willett was a NW local that introduced all those guys to that terrain, including Levi. They used to be next door neighbors. Those rides could be painful just from the terrain but they never hammered.

 

[IE_Sprinter]

Cantwell (when he was here in CA)
Tony Cruz


Ur forgetting Masters guys...Most of the 35+ guys can roll like a 14 cog easy on the flats.

As far as the big ring deal, don't buy that. Most everuy pro/ex-pro I know will sit in there small ring for a while when they first start. Plus, where do you live where you big ring the whole thing? The mountains around here would be almost impossible to big ring the whole time.

 

[usedtobefast]

come out to the Como Street ride sometime, among others.

 

[pauloz]

Have ridden with Nathan O'Neil a few times. When he hits the gas, it is legs vaporizing trying to hang in his draft. Also the WBL in Athens is a hot spot to ride with the pros in the off season. Current pros, ex-pros...great riding.

 

[egtalbot]

This pro is having some fun with you with the big ring comment. Look at the cadence of the top riders now compared to fifteen years ago and they're obviously not riding in the big ring all the time in training.

I hear you about just hanging on, though. I've done a few workouts with a triathlon guy who does the 56mi half ironman leg 1.5mph faster than I do a 20K TT. Great guy, and he doesn't go out of his way to cause pain, but I'll tell you it hurts when it's only two of us riding and it's my turn to pull for a mile after he pulls for 3.

 

[Greyhound Velo]

The Camp Pendleton rides were the same until you got on base and then the **** hit the fan. The base is now closed to the ride, isn't it?
Don't regard Horner as a B...

Still the same on the Pendleton (Wed morning) ride, not to mention the (Saturday morning) Nytro ride (at least the "A" group). It's winter in San Diego, and while we haven't seen the likes of Rominger or Cipo lately, Horner still shows up when he's in town visiting friends and family and there are plenty of other transient pro's and national champion level am's around. It was good having JC, Kemp, Bernie and the rest of the Fly V Australia guys staying here early this year, hopefully we'll have a similar "off" season this winter.

 

[craig1985]

This is what I like about cycling. In soccer I could never play against Leo Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, I can't drive a F1 car with Lewis Hamilton, or play basketball against Allan Iverson. But in cycling I can ride with the pro's and even do a turn on the front if I am strong enough.

 

[Bouldergirl]

Yeah well I am sleeping with a current pro, booya!!!!

But seriously. I am.

 

[pedaling squares]

Yeah well I am sleeping with a current pro, booya!!!!

But seriously. I am.

Sshhh. My wife reads this forum.

 

[craig1985]

Yeah well I am sleeping with a current pro, booya!!!!

But seriously. I am.

Tom Danielson's missus?

 

[Boeing]

I get dropped off the back at coffee crew and old man como here in OC if you count that. There are a couple of pros in and out of those rides week to week.

 

[davidw]

Here in Padova, I used to occasionally tag along with some of the pros and fast amateurs (1996, though, long time ago). They were nice guys; in particular Dario Bottaro. The most well known was Silvio Martinello, who won gold in something at the Atlanta olympics, was Cipollini's leadout guy, and wore the maglia rosa himself for a few days.

Generally, they didn't really go that fast, it was easy to stay with them on the flats when they were just rolling along. They certainly flew up the hills though.

My best memory is on a hot june day when I was sitting on the back of their group, and some guy in front popped open a coke and passed it around, and they shared some with me (yeah, not particularly hygienic, but it was cool). Also, Dario spent some time chatting with me on a ride once and gave me his hat. Nice guy! I bumped into him in August at the Giro del Veneto and he was as kind as ever.

 

[ExRower]

Did one crit where they didnt separate the pros from the Noobs like me. I thought it would be "cool" to "break" with the pros. Well I stayed up front for as long as i could, we were doing like around 45-50 which was pretty easy since I was just wheelsucking. Then I saw one of the pros gun it and thought "this is it!!!" so I stick close to this old pro's wheel and try to keep up with the break. There were around 6 or 7 of them doing the break, and the speed just kept going up...55..58..60..62..thats about the time I detonated and fell back to the back of the chase group which was lapped about 30 minutes later. Pros...bah!

BTW, these were just local pros who race for the equivalent of a Continental B team.

 

[Oldman]

Still the same on the Pendleton (Wed morning) ride, not to mention the (Saturday morning) Nytro ride (at least the "A" group). It's winter in San Diego, and while we haven't seen the likes of Rominger or Cipo lately, Horner still shows up when he's in town visiting friends and family and there are plenty of other transient pro's and national champion level am's around. It was good having JC, Kemp, Bernie and the rest of the Fly V Australia guys staying here early this year, hopefully we'll have a similar "off" season this winter.

Nice to know. I'll try to get there in January or Feb as the 40 degree drizzle here is only good for character building.