63rickert

[QUOTE

Egan Bernal showed the old apprenticeship system is gone.

[/QUOTE]

Egan Bernal trained with Patrocinio Jimenez under general direction of Cochise Rodriguez. Could not possibly be more traditional. Colombian system is a total throwback. I have ridden with Cochise. No modern nonsense there.

Trakhak

A Sunday In Hell was directed and edited with the general public in mind, so it's not surprising that the director chose precisely those shots that make the riders look elegant. Any competent director could edit all of the available raw footage from this year's Paris-Roubaix into a feature-length film of riders riding beautifully.

63rickert

Go to youtube and watch any raw footage from any race 1970s or earlier. If you can't see the difference I can't help you.

burnthesheep

He’s right. But also you realize racers aren’t staring at their meter the whole time right?

When responding or attacking the wheels around you don’t care about what the cute little meter says. It only matters that you can do what you need to do.

The meter thing is a huge misconception. People who do race get it.

Thomas15

For me the bicycle related career train pulled out of the station decades ago. But that doesn't mean I don't want to be better at it than I am. Zwift has done one thing for me that I doubt just riding alone would probably not do and that is make me aware of my power curve, heart rate and cadence.

Having goals and reaching goals is also a great motivator. While I need work in all areas of cycling, I especially need to work on my climbing. Having something similar to the Alpe and rewards for achieving climbing goals is in my opinion a good thing. I have been up to the top of the Alpe twice this month and I'm probably going to make it a weekly thing. When winter is over I'm expecting to hit the real roads in better shape than I've ever been in my life. If that doesn't happen I will be the to admit that Zwift isn't a viable workout.

m3tal070

At some point, most of us just moved on.

livedarklions

The whole idea of indoor cycling training doesn't appeal to me as my indoor training time is more about maximizing general fitness goals rather than improving fitness for riding, but I'd have to be a fool to assert that it doesn't work for people like yourself. I like posts like yours that describe what you're doing rather than prescribing what other people should be doing.

That said, I think the article in the OP and Zwift's "recruitment" efforts are really just hyping a very few isolated cases for pr/marketing reasons. Probably not a lot of harm in a false belief that virtual cycling results have any real chance of getting someone "discovered" as long as someone isn't sacrificing other, more realistic endeavors to pile up these results.

My long way of saying my skepticism about the marketing ploy doesn't extend to skepticism about indoor training usefulness for people who like it.

Trakhak

I don't have to look at race footage from those days; I was racing back then. Did well enough to make it to the track nationals as an intermediate in 1964.

The brutal demands of bike racing guarantee that any pro, in any era, will have long since learned to ride as efficiently as possible. How can an efficient rider look anything but elegant?

That said, I'd much rather not have to look at guys spinning awkwardly on descents while hunched over in a supertuck. That is ugly. BTW, from what I've heard in podcasts, Lance Armstrong detests the sight of supertucks, too.

rebel1916

Nah, it's not my thing. I occasionally enter a MTB race just to remind myself how much I suck, and I can't help but be a little pleased when I'm in the top 10% or so on a popular Strava segment, but I'm mostly just competing against myself these days. And riding indoors literally makes me contemplate death.

aclinjury

make sure you have rich parents with free basement rent, because that's what you'll need after the "pro" $25k contract expires.
The good thing is that when you're under 23, chances are great that you'll parents will take you in and feed you again, and you get to brag with your buddies on group ride that you were once "pro" at something.

sdmc530

I hear you. I use Zwift all winter long and I really do enjoy it. Keeps me engaged to ride all winter while not going anywhere.

Before Zwift spring was brutal, my cycling fitness was bad, after I starting Zwifting the spring is really awesome!. Fitness on the bike stays to form and I do some of the workouts from time to time.

This year after I logged back on I see they have ride badges for all the routes in the worlds. So I will be working on getting all the 50ish badges instead of workouts. I am a goal/reward type person so that motivation to get the little badges is good for me. Having a greyed out spot makes my OCD all a quiver!

Thomas15

Yes, Good. I enjoyed reading this post.

I already have paid for an IRL ride and hotel room for the end of April. If the weather cooperates, this event will be my first century ride. The ride is one week before my 62nd birthday. Something I always wanted to do but just haven't gotten to it.

When I look at the calendar, 10 weeks prior puts me in early Feb. Where I'm at in the hills there is usually snow on the ground and streets until mid March. Hence, an indoor trainer is almost necessary.

My plan is to make it to level 12 in Zwift and complete the Everest Challenge by the last day in Dec., then do a celebration ride up the Alpe on New Years Day. This should be my 4th ride up that mountain. Starting January 2, I'm doing a 4 weeks FTP/core strength program, followed by a 10 week century training series.

After the April century, a week off then 4 weeks of pulling hills. Most of that I will do on the actual roads, I live in the mountains. This 4 weeks will be to prep for a Bike & Beer ride in Hershey PA, a very hilly course. After that back to endurance training for the Ben to the Shore (phily to atlantic city) ride. I may enter a local race in Sept but basically 3 rides for the year. Come nice weather I really want to hear people I ride with say "wow Tom, you've been doing some training". That's what I want to hear.

Leinster

“Being good at snooker is a nice skill to have. Being very good at snooker is a waste.”

Jim from Boston

“Stationary bikes are creating elite athletes”

See the infamous Peleton ad:”Peloton sparks sexism mockery over commercial.” From the now-closed thread:

Wildwood 

Next will be the TV contract for viewing a 'peloton' of Zwifters.
Still, it's better for the body than e-sports and/or watching e-sports.

Too next-gen for me.

Group dynamics have never been a motivator for my indoor sports.
I still excel at (folded paper) triangle football on the old wooden card table

Pratt

Perhaps the original headline is a typo and meant to say "elitist athletes"

SpinClassSara

I take spin class twice a week and am pretty enamored with myself.

livedarklions

Do you pass yourself notes when you're in class?