Originally Posted by
Sorg67
This is exactly what I am thinking. I like to ride bikes, but I also want to get into better shape for other things. Most notably snow skiing. I go to Breckenridge in the winter time and ski with friends who live there. Difficult to keep up when you come from Florida.
Even on my hybrid, I get up to borderline dangerous speeds in some places. But I think I would have difficulty keeping up with some of the local group rides on my hybrid. OTOH, the group rides have different levels and there are certainly rides I could keep up on.
Cycling is great training for skiing. I skied with my younger brother (genetically a much better athlete than I) at Whistler a decade and a half ago, and I DESTROYED him in a little over half a day. He quit at about 1:30 to go take a nap on the first day. (Edit: altitude isn't a factor at Whistler, however, so even with better training you'll probably be sucking wind when skiing with people who live at altitude. Your legs will last longer, though.)
Shortly thereafter, he took up cycling.
Regarding "dangerous speeds": this is a lot more about experience and anticipation than it is about speed
per se. An experienced rider can ride more safely at 30 mph than a newbie at half that speed. Personally, I find it unlikely that going 1mph or so faster on a new bike significantly increases the risk. I'm not you, and I don't ride where you ride, though, so perhaps I'm wrong.