Annoying cycling myths

[[email protected]]

It's already annoying to hear among non-cyclists that Tour de France
riders have huge thighs, but it is worse to hear among cyclists that
you have to have huge thighs to ride the track.

Just today, I walked out of my Paris building to walk my dog and
sitting at an outdoor cafe was a guy with a Timbuktu bike bag which
had picture of track riders on old wooden velodromes (presumably the
real 6-day racers), so (correctly assuming that he was American given
the bike bag) I asked him in English if he rode the track. He
responded with: "Have you seen my legs, they're too small for me to
ride the track." So I point out that Bradley Wiggins had even smaller
legs than him and it turned out that he had actually met Wiggins (this
is when I noticed that he had shaved legs), but that track riders
mostly have huge legs. I respond by saying that this is true, but
mostly for the sprinters and that the endurance riders are basically
similar to road riders. He then says, yes, but the kilo riders have
big legs, to which I just declare: "Kilo riders are sprinters" and
that was the end of the interaction. Apparently this guy did a lot of
riding and has met the world's best riders, but still seems clueless
about the track. Oh well....

-ilan

 

[Bill C]

On Jun 11, 8:00 am, [email protected] wrote:

<<snipped>>
Apparently this guy did a lot of
> riding and has met the world's best riders, but still seems clueless
> about the track. Oh well....
>
> -ilan

More than that. All athletic training is based in "form follows
function" too. Granted genetics are going to be a huge factor but your
body will change to match what you are doing. Sprinters and
powerlifters grow big quads and glutes, endurance athletes lose fat,
and end up slim and well muscled.
Not sure how you can be semi-serious about anything athletic without
considering how specificity works. You rightly point out that there's
a ton of stuf he could do on the track if he wanted, but, oh well...
Bill C

 

[MagillaGorilla]

[email protected] wrote:
> It's already annoying to hear among non-cyclists that Tour de France
> riders have huge thighs, but it is worse to hear among cyclists that
> you have to have huge thighs to ride the track.
>
> Just today, I walked out of my Paris building to walk my dog and
> sitting at an outdoor cafe was a guy with a Timbuktu bike bag which
> had picture of track riders on old wooden velodromes (presumably the
> real 6-day racers), so (correctly assuming that he was American given
> the bike bag) I asked him in English if he rode the track. He
> responded with: "Have you seen my legs, they're too small for me to
> ride the track." So I point out that Bradley Wiggins had even smaller
> legs than him and it turned out that he had actually met Wiggins (this
> is when I noticed that he had shaved legs), but that track riders
> mostly have huge legs. I respond by saying that this is true, but
> mostly for the sprinters and that the endurance riders are basically
> similar to road riders. He then says, yes, but the kilo riders have
> big legs, to which I just declare: "Kilo riders are sprinters" and
> that was the end of the interaction. Apparently this guy did a lot of
> riding and has met the world's best riders, but still seems clueless
> about the track. Oh well....
>
> -ilan

-------

It doesn't matter what size his legs are - he still goes slower around
the turns.

Magilla

 

[[email protected]]

On Jun 11, 2:21 pm, Bill C <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Jun 11, 8:00 am, [email protected] wrote:
>
> <<snipped>>
>  Apparently this guy did a lot of
>
> > riding and has met the world's best riders, but still seems clueless
> > about the track. Oh well....
>
> > -ilan
>
>  More than that. All athletic training is based in "form follows
> function" too. Granted genetics are going to be a huge factor but your
> body will change to match what you are doing. Sprinters and
> powerlifters grow big quads and glutes, endurance athletes lose fat,
> and end up slim and well muscled.
>  Not sure how you can be semi-serious about anything athletic without
> considering how specificity works. You rightly point out that there's
> a ton of stuf he could do on the track if he wanted, but, oh well...
>  Bill C

He's probably never been to a track. Actually, it's a favorite hangout
of fattie masters as well. True, they have big thighs, but it's
certainly isn't muscle.

-ilan

 

[Mark & Steven Bornfeld]

[email protected] wrote:
> It's already annoying to hear among non-cyclists that Tour de France
> riders have huge thighs, but it is worse to hear among cyclists that
> you have to have huge thighs to ride the track.
>
> Just today, I walked out of my Paris building to walk my dog and
> sitting at an outdoor cafe was a guy with a Timbuktu bike bag which
> had picture of track riders on old wooden velodromes (presumably the
> real 6-day racers), so (correctly assuming that he was American given
> the bike bag) I asked him in English if he rode the track. He
> responded with: "Have you seen my legs, they're too small for me to
> ride the track." So I point out that Bradley Wiggins had even smaller
> legs than him and it turned out that he had actually met Wiggins (this
> is when I noticed that he had shaved legs), but that track riders
> mostly have huge legs. I respond by saying that this is true, but
> mostly for the sprinters and that the endurance riders are basically
> similar to road riders. He then says, yes, but the kilo riders have
> big legs, to which I just declare: "Kilo riders are sprinters" and
> that was the end of the interaction. Apparently this guy did a lot of
> riding and has met the world's best riders, but still seems clueless
> about the track. Oh well....
>
> -ilan


Does Michael Huebner know where you live?

--
Mark & Steven Bornfeld DDS
http://www.dentaltwins.com
Brooklyn, NY
718-258-5001

 

[Mark & Steven Bornfeld]

Mark & Steven Bornfeld wrote:
>
>
> Does Michael Huebner know where you live?


Ja, I know--schprinter.

Steve
>


--
Mark & Steven Bornfeld DDS
http://www.dentaltwins.com
Brooklyn, NY
718-258-5001

 

[Mike G]

In article
<9fd59110-bde9-4b36-b1d1-8ba739248086@e53g2000hsa.googlegroups.com>,
[email protected] wrote:

> It's already annoying to hear among non-cyclists that Tour de France
> riders have huge thighs, but it is worse to hear among cyclists that
> you have to have huge thighs to ride the track.
>
> Just today, I walked out of my Paris building to walk my dog and
> sitting at an outdoor cafe was a guy with a Timbuktu bike bag which
> had picture of track riders on old wooden velodromes (presumably the
> real 6-day racers), so (correctly assuming that he was American given
> the bike bag) I asked him in English if he rode the track. He
> responded with: "Have you seen my legs, they're too small for me to
> ride the track." So I point out that Bradley Wiggins had even smaller
> legs than him and it turned out that he had actually met Wiggins (this
> is when I noticed that he had shaved legs), but that track riders
> mostly have huge legs. I respond by saying that this is true, but
> mostly for the sprinters and that the endurance riders are basically
> similar to road riders. He then says, yes, but the kilo riders have
> big legs, to which I just declare: "Kilo riders are sprinters" and
> that was the end of the interaction. Apparently this guy did a lot of
> riding and has met the world's best riders, but still seems clueless
> about the track. Oh well....
>
> -ilan

I have one of those bags.

Mike G.
-

 

[[email protected]]

On Jun 11, 10:12 pm, Mark & Steven Bornfeld
<[email protected]> wrote:
> Mark & Steven Bornfeld wrote:
>
>
>
> > Does Michael Huebner know where you live?
>
> Ja, I know--schprinter.
>
> Steve
>
>
>
> --
> Mark & Steven Bornfeld DDShttp://www.dentaltwins.com
> Brooklyn, NY
> 718-258-5001

Well, there's Robert Bartko, but I might be able to recognise him in
shorts.

-ilan

 

[[email protected]]

On Jun 11, 2:21 pm, Bill C <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Jun 11, 8:00 am, [email protected] wrote:
>
> <<snipped>>
>  Apparently this guy did a lot of
>
> > riding and has met the world's best riders, but still seems clueless
> > about the track. Oh well....
>
> > -ilan
>
>  More than that. All athletic training is based in "form follows
> function" too. Granted genetics are going to be a huge factor but your
> body will change to match what you are doing. Sprinters and
> powerlifters grow big quads and glutes, endurance athletes lose fat,
> and end up slim and well muscled.
>  Not sure how you can be semi-serious about anything athletic without
> considering how specificity works. You rightly point out that there's
> a ton of stuf he could do on the track if he wanted, but, oh well...
>  Bill C

I would tend to think that the huge thighs and butts of sprinters
comes more from doing massive squats than from just on the bike
training and racing. There are also top sprinters who are actually
"normal", e.g., Laurent Gane, and nationally ranked sprinters who look
more like climbers than anything else.

From what I read, most of the endurance track riders (e.g., the
Australians) do no weight training, and since the top guys are
actually roadies who ride the grand tours, it's no surprise that they
have skinny legs. They seem to have superseded the "old school" who
only did track, e.g., Robert Bartko who's pretty hefty, or was.

I think you meant that endurance riders lose unused musculature
whereas track riders need more muscles and have a more athletic build.
I doubt that track riders are much fatter than roadies these days. One
look at Florian Rousseau's legs should give you an idea that his BF %
wasn't over 6% when he was racing (sorry, couldn't find a picture
online).

A real eye opener was to watch the Omnium at World's. You have all
around "normal looking" riders doing sub 1:05 kilos. Also, none of
them used toe straps. Makes me wonder why the women track sprinters
use them, as they're slower.

-ilan

 

[[email protected]]

On Jun 11, 10:30 pm, Mike G <[email protected]> wrote:
> In article
> <9fd59110-bde9-4b36-b1d1-8ba739248...@e53g2000hsa.googlegroups.com>,
>
>
>
>  [email protected] wrote:
> > It's already annoying to hear among non-cyclists that Tour de France
> > riders have huge thighs, but it is worse to hear among cyclists that
> > you have to have huge thighs to ride the track.
>
> > Just today, I walked out of my Paris building to walk my dog and
> > sitting at an outdoor cafe was a guy with a Timbuktu bike bag which
> > had picture of track riders on old wooden velodromes (presumably the
> > real 6-day racers), so (correctly assuming that he was American given
> > the bike bag) I asked him in English if he rode the track. He
> > responded with: "Have you seen my legs, they're too small for me to
> > ride the track." So I point out that Bradley Wiggins had even smaller
> > legs than him and it turned out that he had actually met Wiggins (this
> > is when I noticed that he had shaved legs), but that track riders
> > mostly have huge legs. I respond by saying that this is true, but
> > mostly for the sprinters and that the endurance riders are basically
> > similar to road riders. He then says, yes, but the kilo riders have
> > big legs, to which I just declare: "Kilo riders are sprinters" and
> > that was the end of the interaction. Apparently this guy did a lot of
> > riding and has met the world's best riders, but still seems clueless
> > about the track. Oh well....
>
> > -ilan
>
> I have one of those bags.
>
> Mike G.
> -

Now I know that you don't have to be clueless to have that bag.

-ilan