Anyone can become an A grade rider?
- Ross
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Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby Ross » Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:07 am
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby liamb » Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:34 am
Bill
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby steve-waters » Mon Jul 23, 2012 12:00 pm
Given the right amount of time and training I would say most people could crack it in A-Grade - where the natural talent would be needed would be once you get to national level or even international level.
Not taking anything away from A-grade club riders they would blow me out the back
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby PawPaw » Mon Jul 23, 2012 3:34 pm
I agree a lot of people could draft in a pack doing 38-48kph for 50 minutes, but not 'anyone'.
Less people could get back on the pack once dropped.
Fewer could break.
Less could place.
And fewer could win, even once in 10 years of A grade riding.
Research average and std dev. of VO2max for a population.
Just as every 17yo could not swim 50 freestyle in under 30 seconds, or run 100 metres in <12 seconds, so too 'anyone' cannot be an A grade level cyclist.
You tend to be more aware of these things when you've had legitimate experience. Pose the question to a school PE teacher if you know one.
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby twizzle » Mon Jul 23, 2012 3:48 pm
...real cyclists don't have squeaky chains...
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby toolonglegs » Mon Jul 23, 2012 5:08 pm
Genetics come in to play obviously... but so does dedication, you might not be able to beat a born sprinter in pure power to weight ever with any amount of training if you don't have the right body composition as well... but the longer the efforts the more that changes. Obviously if someone with the right genetics and the same amount of dedication comes along then you haven't got a hope .
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby vander » Mon Jul 23, 2012 5:36 pm
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby Nobody » Mon Jul 23, 2012 5:40 pm
I agree with you. Sounds like this person has fairly good genetics for it and therefore he can't understand why anyone else can't do it too. I know at least one guy that couldn't, no matter how much training and dedication. I think he weighs about 130Kg at the moment and he's 5'11". He was always the back marker in our MTB club.Ross wrote:I had an interesting conversation with a fellow club rider on the weekend, he was of the opinion that anyone can become an A grade club level rider with the right intensity and volume of training. I disputed this saying to become this good you need a certain amount of natural talent (body physiology). What are your thoughts?
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby toolonglegs » Mon Jul 23, 2012 5:42 pm
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby vander » Mon Jul 23, 2012 5:52 pm
Yea I do need to drop a few kg but food is so tasty , hoping to get really serious again now. Still I think anyone can do it the main thing about being an A grader is being smart and having a decent FTP. An example of an A grade race is a 280W average that is not all that unachievable for the average person I dont think, most people dont know how to train properly or how to really hurt themselves. Getting placings is often more of a tactical thing then strength.toolonglegs wrote:Sorry Vander, but you obviously have the "goods" buried in there somewhere... Your power to weight in a sprint for example would be pretty damn good if you ripped down 8 to 10 kgs... Some people ( including me! ) will never get close to those figures in power to weight.
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby toolonglegs » Mon Jul 23, 2012 5:58 pm
with training and dedication he could lose 50kgs and gain some power... Overweight people can make the biggest gains... But competitive in A Grade....probably not though.Nobody wrote:I agree with you. Sounds like this person has fairly good genetics for it and therefore he can't understand why anyone else can't do it too. I know at least one guy that couldn't, no matter how much training and dedication. I think he weighs about 130Kg at the moment and he's 5'11". He was always the back marker in our MTB club.Ross wrote:I had an interesting conversation with a fellow club rider on the weekend, he was of the opinion that anyone can become an A grade club level rider with the right intensity and volume of training. I disputed this saying to become this good you need a certain amount of natural talent (body physiology). What are your thoughts?
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby toolonglegs » Mon Jul 23, 2012 6:03 pm
that's only because most races you are doing are pretty flat... Things soon change when the bumps get bigger .vander wrote: Getting placings is often more of a tactical thing then strength.
Been sharing a room with Colin Lewis for a few weeks... 70 years old next week and still very much genetically gifted ... Look up his riding history and you will know what I mean!!!.
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby vander » Mon Jul 23, 2012 6:09 pm
He just said competitive in A grade didnt specify the course, you have to play to your advantagestoolonglegs wrote:that's only because most races you are doing are pretty flat... Things soon change when the bumps get bigger .vander wrote: Getting placings is often more of a tactical thing then strength.
Been sharing a room with Colin Lewis for a few weeks... 70 years old next week and still very much genetically gifted ... Look up his riding history and you will know what I mean!!!.
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby toolonglegs » Mon Jul 23, 2012 6:17 pm
I will be back in A next year ... New plan has been formed and hopefully I can stick to it!. My wife is already saying I am getting too skinny... Wait till I drop another 5 kgs dear .
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby Ross » Mon Jul 23, 2012 8:17 pm
The guy that made these comments is quite an experienced racer but is only in a low grade at the moment due to coming back from injury but when he was at his peak I think he was only ever B grade. This guy could do with losing some weight too.toolonglegs wrote:with training and dedication he could lose 50kgs and gain some power... Overweight people can make the biggest gains... But competitive in A Grade....probably not though.Nobody wrote:I agree with you. Sounds like this person has fairly good genetics for it and therefore he can't understand why anyone else can't do it too. I know at least one guy that couldn't, no matter how much training and dedication. I think he weighs about 130Kg at the moment and he's 5'11". He was always the back marker in our MTB club.Ross wrote:I had an interesting conversation with a fellow club rider on the weekend, he was of the opinion that anyone can become an A grade club level rider with the right intensity and volume of training. I disputed this saying to become this good you need a certain amount of natural talent (body physiology). What are your thoughts?
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby Le Velo » Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:14 pm
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby sogood » Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:54 pm
RK wrote:And that is Wikipedia - I can write my own definition.
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby PawPaw » Mon Jul 23, 2012 10:00 pm
http://jap.physiology.org/content/110/3/846.full
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21923202
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby sogood » Mon Jul 23, 2012 10:46 pm
The problem here is, "A Grade" is so far a poorly defined term within this thread.PawPaw wrote:Meanwhile, back on planet earth, the science says:
http://jap.physiology.org/content/110/3/846.full
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21923202
RK wrote:And that is Wikipedia - I can write my own definition.
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby Nobody » Mon Jul 23, 2012 11:11 pm
This may help if you consider "Cat. 1" as "A Grade".sogood wrote:The problem here is, "A Grade" is so far a poorly defined term within this thread.
http://www.americanroadcycling.org/arti ... sSpeed.htm
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby toolonglegs » Mon Jul 23, 2012 11:55 pm
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby Nobody » Tue Jul 24, 2012 12:18 am
Never said they couldn't.toolonglegs wrote:I think people can do what they want with their lives...I didn't realize what grade you race in had any influence on whether you are wonderful or a w*****r.
Didn't call anyone any names or even imply it.
It had no specific bearing on anything anyone had posted previously.
It was deleted as it was obviously too contentious. You probably won't be the only one to read into it more than how I intended it to be taken.
As usual, sorry for any offense caused.
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby Marty Moose » Tue Jul 24, 2012 9:17 am
Sent from my MB526 using Tapatalk 2
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Re: Anyone can become an A grade rider?
Postby foo on patrol » Tue Jul 24, 2012 11:04 am
I've seen blokes that did plenty of training and still couldn't ride out of sight in a blizzard and this was club level. Some people just don't have the right physical make up. Still does not stop them from enjoying themselves.
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