Ever ridden with a Pro?

[lookkg386]

Just wondering if anyone while out on a ride has come across a Pro on a training ride?, I know down here in Australia during Tour Downunder time there were regular sightings of teams on training rides and some were lucky enough to tag on the back and have a quick chat, and on that note what other sport could you actually get that close to elite athletes?

 

[The Falcon]

in Sydney there is a regular bunch ride (Coluzzi) that a lot of the visiting pros ride on....they can get 80+ and its normal to see pro roadies and olympic track riders in the bunch. when they are really going its 50kmh+ for a long way so you just need to be able to hold a wheel.

i guess most big cities have the same thing.

 

[Flamme Rouge]

Well technically I've ridden with Lance....as have 1000's of other cyclists in the Ride for the Roses in Austin!

 

[Daniel Benson]

Hmmm, I went on a training camp when I was about sixteen. Neil Stephens was there as a 'guest' and on our first day we tackled a couple of serious climbs. Being young and foolish I decided to attack and strut my stuff towards the summit. Neil called out, telling me it was a bad a idea and about 5K later he was pushing me up the climb.

 

[Halvor]

Does the same race count? MTB-race.

 

[CapeRoadie]

Rode with Chechu Rubiera in Washington DC in 2004. Rode with members of CSC and Slipstream up Old la Honda Rd. in 2007 at the Tour of California. Ride regularly with Jake, Nick, Luke and Jesse Keough. Jake rides for Kelly Benefit and should have a very good year this season.

 

[cyclingtips]

ride with the pros

I've had the pleasure of riding and racing with a lot of pros. In Australia during the summer when all the pros are back from Europe, there's regularly 5-10 pro tour riders in our group rides. Most of them are professional in every respect (Simon Gerrans, Matt Lloyd, McEwen, Rogers, Will Walker, etc) and others I won't talk about.

Here's a couple write-ups I did about racing in the Australian Nationals RR against some of the best pros in the world. Amazing!

http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2009/01/australian-nationals-road-race-report/

http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2009/01/australian-nationals-road-race-tips/

 

[lookkg386]

I've had the pleasure of riding and racing with a lot of pros. In Australia during the summer when all the pros are back from Europe, there's regularly 5-10 pro tour riders in our group rides. Most of them are professional in every respect (Simon Gerrans, Matt Lloyd, McEwen, Rogers, Will Walker, etc) and others I won't talk about.

Here's a couple write-ups I did about racing in the Australian Nationals RR against some of the best pros in the world. Amazing!

http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2009/01/australian-nationals-road-race-report/

http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2009/01/australian-nationals-road-race-tips/

Nice blogs, what club you in cyclingtips?, my guess is is Carnegie-Caulfield?

 

[Tom Morris]

I rode next to Lance for a few miles during a charity ride. He has really nice legs.

 

[the_prawn]

I remember riding with Graeme Brown, Ben Brooks, Mick Rogers, Mark Renshaw, Chris Sutton, Ben Kersten, Kate and Nat Bates, Rochelle Gilmore. Does it count if we were all juniors at the time?

Otherwise there's often plenty of pro's on the Coluzzi ride as someone already said.

 

[Argon Man]

Get to ride with Cadel when he is home in Barwon Heads, he often does the local BR. Remember one day guys were lining up for the sprint point with heads down cranking it up, Cadel breezes past them all with one hand on the tops and talking on the phone in the other, Hillarious.

 

[FFWally]

My first race had Lance Armstrong and Chan McRea in it. Was always crazy to watch the Tour and remember Lance doing the Tuesday Night Crits in Dallas back in the early 1990's.

Of Course Lance lapped us twice.

Other than that I had the pleasure of riding with the Dutch national team at the Olympics in Atlanta. Felt like I was in a big orange sherbet bowl as they rode along humoring me for 20 minutes.

And of course my business partners are both former Pros, one Belgian and the other Italian. Lots of interesting stories from those two.

 

[Christian Schneider]

I road with Lauret Jalabert and the entire French national team, including Virenque, outside of San Sebastian the day before the World's in 1997. I got lost in the Basque countryside. They caught me and we road up and down some hills until we got back to San Sebastian and rode against on coming traffic. The next day Brochard won, he wasn't on this training ride however..I think he was seeing 'the doctor'.
I also road with Lance Armstrong along Muhoulland Drive to PCH and got dropped on Topanga Canyon.
On another day I caught up with Thor H. when he was with CA and visiting Hollywood. I gave him directions.
I have also riden next to EDDY MERCKX when he lead out a ride in Monrovia, he did not feel like talking, but was not going to let me ride ahead of him.
I have photos of all these events, except the Armstrong ride.

 

[Robert Merivel]

I rode with Phil Anderson on some training rides back in the mid '80's. He happened to link up with a team I was a member of. We went up a decent climb one day and I stayed with him...I thought I was hot...big cat II ranking. Later I heard the reason he was in my neighborhood was to heal a chronic bad back, arthritis I believe. A few weeks later in Idaho I was doing the Sandpoint stage race and Phil showed up. While competing in the tt stage up to the top of Schweitzer Mountain Phil started last (and I was far from last) and he blew by me like I had both brakes on. Let's just say that he put me in my place, real fast. Phil placed 39th in the TdF that year. He was 5th the year before.

 

[Slumdog-Zomergem]

Phil still looks pretty classy on the bike & has been pretty busy promoting the Oppy brand of late in Australia.

I suppose the biggest names I've ridden with is the East German road squad which in theory were pro's
Our amateur team woke up on race day at a hotel in Flanders only to see all these ice blue Colnago's in the forecourt .then we find out we are racing against the East German juggernaut for our first big race of the season.
The late Michel Zanoli (of smacking Davis Phinney fame) came over to pick us & the Germans up & ride over to the start ... and that was the last we saw of the Germans Mario Kummer was 2nd , Olaf Ludwig was 3rd & some Belgian one hit wonder beat them

 

[Vlad the Impailer]

Well I once did the same hill climb as Chris Boardman in Wales at the National Hill Climb. He took the record of 9 Mins 14 secs odd and I did a fat lazy 16 mins.
Does that count.

 

[Paulcl]

Several Pros..active and retired: George Hincapie on a charity ride, Davis Phinney - Taylor Phinney - Connie Carpenter (Olympian) at BikeCamp, Ron Kiefel, and a couple of South African pros whose names escape me. They were in Colorado for some altitude training while I was there.

 

[schadenfreude]

Ever ridden with a Pro?

yes. ........

 

[tommyc]

jus got back from a few hrs steady with a couple of local pros. race with them most weekends too... jimmy engoulevent racing this sunday, same team as jimmy casper but he hasnt raced here yet. sounds like im bragging... sorry!

 

[Black-Balled]

Rode with Chechu Rubiera in Washington DC in 2004...

Nice!

I used to do the (DC) Rock Creek park ride often and it was (is?) a hammerfest. 90+mi if I rode from my house. An acquaintance who rode for the US Navigators Team would ride 30+ mi to my house, do the 90+ in the front, taking a sprint or 2, then ride home. 150+ mi (238+km)!!!

 

[coolblock]

A few years back I was riding out near New Sweden Texas,which is nothing more than a church and cotton fields,and the "Blue Train" of the postal team roared past me. I read a couple days later that they where having one of their Austin training camps. I was cruising along on my Bianci Advantage at about 12 mph when all of this happened.

 

[arrhythmia rules]

Not ridden with any Pros so far as I know however I grew up in the next street to Phill Ligget and his brother was a mate. Since we cycled everywhere I may have cycled with him!! Certainly been to his house!!
Lost contact years ago when we were kids. Does Phil count?

 

[deeporbit]

I saw Freddie Rodriguez on a ride once years ago. Attempted to ride with Tinker Juarez up a hill. That lasted about 4 seconds.

 

[lookkg386]

yes. ........

OK....

 

[Papparrazzi]

Stuttgart Worlds 2007.
Elite (Men and Women) Training Session around the circuit on the Friday for 2 hours.
Mega
They didnt do it at Varese 08 though