Old 09-13-19, 10:03 AM
  #113  
jackb
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Originally Posted by burnthesheep
In your post you bring up shooting 70's in golf. Let me put it out there that folks who shoot 70's in golf are in the realm of what would be a categorized bike racer. Not a group ride thing.

We can't talk about hitting curve balls and how much more skill there is required in tennis, golf, baseball but then use the most advanced examples we can find in those sports. But then dumb cycling down to managing to not cause a pile up on the group ride.

I don't think that's a fair way to approach the argument.

On the golf........
There's people who have shot in the 70's in golf, then there's the people who DO shoot in the 70's. Usually the difference being a weekend warrior who got lucky and took a few liberties during the round, versus a person who could possibly break par once in a while and always shoots 70's. From the big boy's tees. 7200+ yards. Not some 6500 yard BS.

Those guys/gals represent around 5% and less of card carrying handicap holding golfers. You need to carry around a 5 handicap to routinely break 80 on a par 72 course. -7 being the bare minimum, and -5 being more realistic.

If we're going to talk the top 5% of cyclists, then we're certainly out of the B-group club ride scene and above my head.

We've got to at least get on the same plane here if we want to have some fun with this. I feel like we keep moving the goalposts.

Are we comparing to recreational participation in tennis, golf, softball? Or are we comparing to "advanced" skill levels in those.

Yes, you are right. As a person who does not golf, I simply chose the wrong number. But you are right. I was trying to compare recreational cycling with recreational participation in other sports that I believe require more practice and skill development.
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