So this morning I’m thinking about the IMNZ coverage last night and I glance down at a Bicycling mag with LA on it and I began wondering; if you could choose someone to go on a training ride with for one day, who would it be? Someone like Lance who is good at TT and high cadence? Or someone who is good at a discipline that is your weak point? An UberBiker like Staddler (I hear he trains with TMobile)? Or someone more steady like P. Reed or Cam Brown who saves it for the run? The gals can jump on this too. Maybe K. Armstrong or Natashia.
For me I think Reed or Brown because I like the nice steady pace they have. They’re cadence isn’t too fast that I couldn’t keep rhythm and they have plenty left over for the run. Of course keeping up with them is a whole other matter.
There’s no way I could keep up with anyone at that level. Wouldn’t be much fun getting dropped in the first 30 seconds. Unless Lance rode one-legged or blindfolded or on a child’s bike.
Now if it turned into a training session/date, THAT would be different!
Well crap, if it’s about keeping up then I’m certainly screwed. It would be a blast to get to do a small group ride and have one of these guys along. Sure he could drop everyone in the blink of an eye, but it would be fun nonetheless.
I can’t make up my mind, but it would be fabulous to ride with Lemond, Bauer and Hamspten, all 4 of us decked out in La Vie Claire team colours. Fantasy cycling at its best. That 1986 team had to the all time top team in cycling, with Lemond, Hinault and Hampsten taking 3 out of the top 4 spots at the TDF (in the fantasy cycling version, I’m the guy who sneaks in as the 3rd podium guy)…
If I had to narrow it down to one guy, then it would be a ride with Lemond up Alpe d’Huez holding his hand as we cross the finish together :-).
I think my wife would be happier if I went to ride in the Alpes with Mr. Lemond than Ms Snowsill :-)…you have to pick your riding partners carefully if you want Mrs. Poser to allow Mr. Poser to continue to train and race without asking any questions
And i’m not sure Jesse or Emma have any “Inside the Peloton” stories. I can see it know…“so Jesse, tell me about that Half Ironman where you were all alone on the bike and run” vs “So Greg, tell me about the World Championships were you had to ride 270KM against the field by yourself because your teammates couldn’t keep up with the pace…”
Well if it’s going to be a long ride, then personailty has to be a factor. Nothing worse than grinding out an epic long ride with someone who has no personality. On training rides like this you need someone to lighten it up every now and then and keep it real. I have heard that Armstrong can be a bit of a jokester while training, so I would want Lance along for the ride. From the triathlon crowd, you would need to have someone who can make you laugh even while you are suffering big time - someone like Paul Huddle or Scott Tinley( both know how to joke with the best)
