On Mon, 07 Feb 2005 20:18:06 +0000, Not Responding <
[email protected]>
wrote:
>tomjw wrote:
>> I wonder if anyone one watched the program about a 53 year old guy
>> trying to loin the RAF team on the Trans America Challenge on BBC2 last
>> night. The poor bloke trained really hard for weeks and was then
>> excluded from the team. I thought he was set up wrongly on the bike. I
>> kept thinking tht the reason he wasn't performing well was simply
>> because his saddle was 1.5 to 2" too low and he didn't have the optimum
>> leg extension. I am sure that correct leg extension is absolutely
>> critical. Nobody told the guy and yet watching it it seemed glaringly
>> obvious paricularly when you saw him cycling alonside the other team
>> members.
>> Did anyone else notice ?
>
>As it was trailed here, I watched it and it's most unlike me to watch tele.
>
>I felt sorry for the poor sod for most of it. It's patently obvious that
> he was set an impossible task. Even regular cyclists would be
>extremely hard pushed to get from base fitness to RAAM standards in 2
>months. To expect this of a bloke who looked like he'd never been on a
>bike before was just good TV stuff.
>
>What I really didn't like was the teams aspect. There was obviously a
>massive amount of animosity towards not so much the bloke but the TV
>concept from the RAF team. They could see just how below standard he was
>and were having to compete against him for a place.
>
>I lost sympathy with him at the end when he appeared bitter and to have
>rather forgotten that even his decent level of fitness was insignificant
> when set against the athletic achievements of the real team.
To be honest, as much as I enjoyed watching the whole program it was
just kind of ridiiculous really. What I was hoping for was just a
little insight in what actually goes on during that race, how tough it
is and , but instead what we got was an insight into some poor sods
personal psychology in the face of some crazy setup.
What blatently stood out for me was the whole 'metal apporach thing'.
First we get the sports psychologist going on about mental
preparation, some kind of trigger moment with the handlebars and then
the guy himself keeps going on and on about 'I can do this', 'I'm
going to do this', 'I am never defeated'...etc, etc. All very well and
good, nice and positive and focused, save one trifling factor - bloke
doesn't ride a bike!! Slight problem there mate.
It's where positive thinking gets so absurd, diverts from reality and
just ends up being delusional, then disappointment and bitterness sets
in when you realize that there's more to this than meets the eye. Fact
is, it was always such a ridiculous challenge for him....as it almost
certainly would have been for me too.
Very strange program imo.
Garry