This will be a long thread

No but it would be hard to beat the young guns if you are over 40.

well that was quick and sweet, lol. OK, next does any one know what the oldest olympian biker was? (PS. I will explain my reasoning for the questions after I have gotten finished with them, thats the part that will probably make you think i am crazy LOL)

EagleFlight said:

well that was quick and sweet, lol. OK, next does any one know what the oldest olympian biker was? (PS. I will explain my reasoning for the questions after I have gotten finished with them, thats the part that will probably make you think i am crazy LOL)

Jeannie Longo was riding in womens road race this year, she was born in 1958.

wow thats awesome. cool, great answers and very helpful, ok 3rd question is, is very indepth and will probably take some kind of knowledge base or some one with the capabilities to research it. What directions and steps would a person have to take to get from an introductory level riding ability to an olympic event. I am not so much asking what skill level a person would have to aquire, but rather what events or direction would he have to go to and win by point system to be sent to the olympics. Real basic example, take courses, join colledge riding team, score well in recorded events, try to qualify for world, then qualify for olympics. Please be more specific, and if there is a specific scoring system to getting to the end of your explanation of the route to the olympics, please explain it also. Thank you all so much for your help.
(PS. I will explain more about my reason for questioning as my questions get answered, thats the part that will probably make you think I am a freak) LOL!

EagleFlight said:

wow thats awesome. cool, great answers and very helpful, ok 3rd question is, is very indepth and will probably take some kind of knowledge base or some one with the capabilities to research it. What directions and steps would a person have to take to get from an introductory level riding ability to an olympic event. I am not so much asking what skill level a person would have to aquire, but rather what events or direction would he have to go to and win by point system to be sent to the olympics. Real basic example, take courses, join colledge riding team, score well in recorded events, try to qualify for world, then qualify for olympics. Please be more specific, and if there is a specific scoring system to getting to the end of your explanation of the route to the olympics, please explain it also. Thank you all so much for your help.
(PS. I will explain more about my reason for questioning as my questions get answered, thats the part that will probably make you think I am a freak) LOL!

Find an olympic cycling coach to evaluate your potential. If you have what it takes, they can coach you through the entire process.

lederhosen said:

Jeannie Longo was riding in womens road race this year, she was born in 1958.

Personally, I think Longo is Eddy Merckx in drag.

Seriously tho, she has been crushing the womens field in just about any race she enters for better than 20 years hasnt she?

EagleFlight said:

What directions and steps would a person have to take to get from an introductory level riding ability to an olympic event.

Step 1: Pick the right parents.

Each country has their own selection criteria to pick their olympic conteders. To make a long story short though, to get chosen you pretty much must be a successful pro bike racer (at least for the road events) first and second meet the olympic nomination criteria for your country....good luck.

If you do some research on your own, you can find out the steps necessary to become a pro.

See the following thread.. it's all there
cyclingforums.comt1331.htmlOpen ↗

jon_stewart said:

See the following thread.. it's all there
cyclingforums.comt1331.htmlOpen ↗

Wow. That was truly amazing.

I have to agree, that was amazing, but the fact that the boy was a fraud looking for attention, and even getting it was rather scary. I so hope to not get involved in anything like that, or make people feel that they are involved in something like that from me.

ok, last question before i lay it all out on the line, is there such a thing as financial aid or sponsor ship for road cycle racing that get quite good at what they do, but unfortunately, do not have the wealth needed to put more time into this, because of the need to work to live? So that they can spend more time perfecting the skills needed to carry them to as close to the top as possable? Remember, I said quite good at this, meaning, they are not just doing it for a hobby, or getting lucky but rather are proving themselves to be exceptional at this activity, and making a name for themselves in events.

EagleFlight said:

ok, last question before i lay it all out on the line, is there such a thing as financial aid or sponsor ship for road cycle racing that get quite good at what they do, but unfortunately, do not have the wealth needed to put more time into this, because of the need to work to live? So that they can spend more time perfecting the skills needed to carry them to as close to the top as possable? Remember, I said quite good at this, meaning, they are not just doing it for a hobby, or getting lucky but rather are proving themselves to be exceptional at this activity, and making a name for themselves in events.

How old are you and what is your real question? Out with it man!!! LOL,

Your mysterious questions have us curious... Some people may think you're a freak? Well, that's their problem. Most people on here are very helpful and encouraging to anyone.

EagleFlight said:

ok, last question before i lay it all out on the line, is there such a thing as financial aid or sponsor ship for road cycle racing that get quite good at what they do, but unfortunately, do not have the wealth needed to put more time into this, because of the need to work to live? So that they can spend more time perfecting the skills needed to carry them to as close to the top as possable? Remember, I said quite good at this, meaning, they are not just doing it for a hobby, or getting lucky but rather are proving themselves to be exceptional at this activity, and making a name for themselves in events.

Yes - see home depot olympics web site. Marty Nothstien had a sweet deal with EDS along the same lines.

(you are pretty lazy aren't you: making everyone else do your homework for you. Do you take your training this seriously?)

And Eagleflight...

Sorry, I wasn't suggesting that you either...

1. are a zero or
2. Are a fraud looking for attention.

Perhaps the frightening thing was the amount of great advice he got before the thread went pear-shaped! All the best with your endevours!

this is very long and is going to take more then one window i am sure, so please bear with me.

[font=Times New Roman]Dear Mr. Stewart, [/font]

[font=Times New Roman]In no way was I offended by your way of trying to help me. Peace my friend. I have seen other threads that you have posted on and have noticed that you sound like a very honest and helpful person, and I will be forever grateful for any help you offer up to me. I simply replied in the way that I did, Because I was astonished at what this guy did to others trying to help him, and because I am the owner of a Domain, Web Page, and Forum, and am quite aware of the way other people without good intentions can take what I am doing and give me hell for it, even though it would be much easier for them to find another thread to type in that they enjoy or simply staying out of this thread if they can’t keep themselves from attacking others, no matter whether yours or my intentions are good or not. So with that I guess it's time to tell my story: the story of me, a true one, not one like that other person did to get attention. [/font]

[font=Times New Roman]I will state, that any person that wants to confront me about my story, has every right to and they may contact me in anyway we can agree upon have me prove the truth of what I say. (Unless they turn out to be a crackpot from my perspective, then most likely I will leave it at a forum level)[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]I feel it's more important to tell my story in story form, but it is all true, just easier to read and understand with some form of depth. [/font]

[font=Times New Roman]My Story starts with me being born in Nov. of 1963 (this makes me 40 on my way to being 41 this Nov.) As a child of 5 or 6 I became the city of Downey California’s unsung art prodigy for winning an art show award at the age of 6(Bear with me). (If you want to see a few art pics out of my scrapbook click on these art links [/font]

[font=Times New Roman]http://www.warriorsofhonor.com/images/JRSketchbookMarvel1.gif or warriorsofhonor.comJRSketchbookMarvel2.gifOpen ↗ or warriorsofhonor.comJRSketchbookMarvel3.gifOpen ↗ or warriorsofhonor.comJRBookCoverReplica.gifOpen ↗ ) [/font]

[font=Times New Roman]Any way, by the time I was in my last year of Junior High School in Seattle Washington I had also picked up playing the Clarinet and had become quite good at it. So much so, that I had won a honorary replacement seat in the cities philharmonic. No I never got to play in public with them. I was allowed to come to practice with them every night during that years summer events, and on the condition that any seat became vacant and the first stand in could not replace the missing person, I would get a shot at it. This never happened of course. I was highly impressionable and had no self esteem, unfortunately for me, I guess, because one of my music teachers humiliated me in front of our school about my playing on such a beat up instrument and he made fun of my families poverty, and so after that day, I set the clarinet down and never picked it up again. By my first year in high school I had joined the swim team and cross country team. My family and I soon found out 2 things about myself. The first was that what ever I set my mind to, I often became so single minded on it and pushed so hard to master it to the best of my ability, that I became better then those around me. And second that when it came to sports, I was never the fast, super sprinter, but rather the long distance stamina performer. Well when I turned 16 my uncle bought me my first ten-speed. It was a used Schwin Varsity with the Ideale hard leather saddle. It was too small for me, but what the hell. I took it for a spin and brought it home and adjusted it to make it as comfortable for me as I could. I rode it all that winter, even in the rain. In the spring I picked up a friend rider who was a fellow schoolmate as well and we began to ride to Flaming Geyser Park near [font=Times New Roman]Auburn Washington. When we couldn’t get out early enough to do that, we went to the school track and road around it for hours at a rather slow pace, just chatting and getting time in. One day, my Cross Country Coach saw us and before you know it, we were training on bikes. Swim team and Cross Country Running team quickly fell by the roadside, as I loved to ride. During the summer we raced to Flaming Geyser Park every day. The coach put us in every little summer event he could find, and many times we did quite well. But by the summer before my 18th birthday I had to make a decision of what I was going to do. When my mother heard I wanted to train on bikes and go as far as I could with it, she flipped out. Riding bikes was for people at the park having a picnic. Not people who were supposed to find a job and make a family. My father never said a word. At 18 I ended up in the US Marine Corp during the up rise of Grenada. Life changed drastically for me, but allowing my decisions to be based on what other people thought began to become a way of life. I ended up out of the Marines earlier then expected because of a physical injury, and ended up at home again. My sister went to college back in CA. and I felt lost. My father, an American Indian ([/font][font=Arial]Mescalero Apache[/font][font=Times New Roman]to be precise) was a Reverend, and I had always grown up in the church, while my mother (an old fashioned German woman) went back to college and was becoming a communications professor. Well, my father’s doctrine sent him to another church in South Dakota. I was left alone again. And once again lost on what to do. So I did what was expected of me once again. I went to college in Kansas. Though I had only mediocre scores in high school I was admitted into the college because it was a Christian school and my father was a Reverend. So I began to go back for my art and once again got back into that. Always looking to go as far as I could go to achieve the best I could over all around me. My Art Professor, loved my work, and entered my stuff into quite a few shows, that actually one me money. And after I left the school at the end of that year, yes I said left; I had made a small name for myself with my art once again. I got to send in some relief drawings to marvel comics for filler pages for Captain America, and send in character designs, I also got to do other stuff, but in the end, the computer art world was taking over and my art style was going out of style. Within months, I watched the few moneymaking jobs quickly fade, I was told my art style wasn’t the “in” style anymore, so once again, you guessed it; I quit. I spent a lot of years after that, wandering. Making friends who loved my talents and sucked off them, and I let them, making girlfriends who thought I was exciting then finding out I had no self esteem a year or two later and leaving me. Following my family around, and every endeavor I put my hand to starting out great, and ending up in misery. I married once for the wrong reasons, thinking she would be my friend and support my need for self esteem (I am married now as well), boy that was a mistake. I got another girl pregnant shortly after the divorce, who told me she loved me, and we were engaged to be married, and as soon as she found out she wasn’t going to lose the baby, she looked at me and said I could go now, because the child support would cover her and she didn’t need me any more, boy that was a bigger mistake. I had become a true wanderer. Then job opened for me in Michigan and off I went. Wandering away. Well that job didn’t last to long nor did the few girlfriends I made and the path seemed back to usual. Well I met this girl and after three years we married. No; life wasn’t peaches and cream. We both had baggage. But she knew a few people, and I got an opportunity at a job with DPS (Detroit Public Safety) and though it seems like an oxy moron, I had a high code of ethics, that I stood up for and
[font=Times New Roman]upheld to the best of my ability. I went through the Detroit Police Academy, and graduated at the top of my class, I stated from memory in front of the whole auditorium the code of ethics by memory without flaw. (In case you are wondering, a DPS Officer is an officer within the schools, he is only listed as a security officer level 2 on paper and is not allowed to carry a fire arm inside the schools because of the laws of the state, but he has the arresting powers of an officer, a very dangerous job, of which I am very good at.)[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]Through those last 5 years I also became enamored with computer gaming. A thing my wife detested. And continuously tried to get me to stop doing. I became the Commanding Officer of a very distinguished squad in Delta Force called Warriors of Honor and just like the rest of my life sat on my fat Arss gaining weight.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]Last October I had to have an operation on my nasal airways and sinuses, and during the process of waking me, I awoke and then my heart slowed down and began to stop. They had to bring me back quick. I still remember hearing my wife screaming, as when this happened they had just wheeled me out to the main holding room and she was there. Something I forgot to say and need to add, is that I had become a smoker while in the Marine Corp.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]This brought some things in me to the top, and as I healed I began to realize that my self-esteem could only come from within me. Well 4 weeks ago I called my father in CA. (My whole family still lives there and I haven’t gone back in 7 years (amazing)). And at some time in that conversation the Olympics came up. In that conversation it came to me that I had quit at everything I had ever done. Oh I had helped a lot of people and done a lot for others, but never done what I really wanted to do. My father let me know that he had wished that I had tried to go for the Olympics and that he had always felt bad that I had never tried, we both wept that day, at such a waste of time.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]Over the years I had learned how to give up on myself and never try to go as far as I could. So 1 week before the Olympics after a lot of soul searching I made up my mind. Before you berate me please listen. In the last four weeks I stopped smoking a pack a day, and have gone from 265 lbs to 250 lbs. I am 6’4” I am not interested in getting to the Olympics in a year or three. I still have a good 12 years in me, lol. I am not saying, “I am going to the Olympics” This is what I am saying. My whole life, I could have been great at something that I wanted to be great at. I now have my own self esteem and have made a choice to shoot for the Olympics in the future. That is not my long-term goal; that is my direction. My long-term goal is actually to head for it and go as far in that direction as I can, until I can’t get any farther, so I can finally say to myself, I went as far as I could, I didn’t quit before I found out.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]I am here because you are all very good at what you do, and I am starting all over. I am doing this as well as fencing, from the beginning, because the type of workouts do seem to compliment each other as they both require endurance more then strength. I am moving forward even if you all tell me that at 52 at the 2016 Olympics, I would and could only be dreaming, I will still be able to hold my head up and say I tried. And though I have my self-esteem, I have found, I still look for moral support sometimes, even in this short spurt of time. My knowledge of how to get started is almost non-existent from a schedule to a diet that will help me. I am held back, because my family’s lack of finances seems to have fallowed me as well. I have my fears, because I am working 40 hours a week, and going to school on a full schedule to become a teacher. I, believe it or not was lent a good old fashion 37 lbs used Schwin Varsity with the Ideale
[font=Times New Roman]hard leather saddle, is that crazy or what. Looks exactly like my first one. I will be putting in here my growth and direction, honestly as often as I can and asking for advise, any you can think of or give.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]To let you know where I stand. I started 2 fencing classes 2 weeks ago that both start in September. I began riding for the very first time in over 20 years again 4 days ago. OK now that you have finished laughing, and wiped the tears from your eyes, common stop laughing, ok, ok, there now I am 6’4” tall, I have fairly lean arms though they are almost all muscle, and I have very strong legs, though I have realized they are only strong to hold up the stomach that is where 90% of my fat is stored. I went from 265 to 250 in the last month. The 1st day, I rode the bike to the bike shop and bought all I could afford for the month, which was a pair of pants and helmet, with a water bottle that I cannot attach to the bike so I wear on a holder that hangs in front of my chest. I also put a 100$ down payment on a 700.00$ Bianci. The ride was 5 miles long with minimal hills. Thinking I was something I went on a group ride (I found out later that it was 24 miles long) the very next night, my legs were a little sour but it wasn’t any big deal. I kept up with them for 8 miles, and then totally lost, slowly worked my way back. I was walking like someone had pulled the muscles from my legs and beaten them on the rocks to clean them out. I got home at 10 pm. I tried to go out the very next morning at 6 am and ride, but couldn’t get up a 5 mile 30% grade hill very well and basically spent a an hour getting to the top and riding home exhausted and in pain. So I rested all day yesterday and today and went out tonight at 6pm when the pain was gone and road the 10 mile route I had picked for my home practice which is a couple hard hills at the beginning then a slight down grade for 4 miles then a slow 20% up hill grade for 4 miles. I road that plus 2 more miles equaling 12 miles in 50 minutes and still had energy to burn. I have the strength but not the endurance yet. One of my other problems outside the lack of endurance and lack of money, and age, and lack of companionship for the company, I am also on a rotating schedule all the time as an officer, usually my schedule goes from days to midnights every three months. any ideas on how to work that out in a way that is affective? What ever happens I want you all to know, I am not quitting, I am very tenacious when I need to be, and at this I "NEED TO BE" Jeez, guess I have rambled on way to much, well let the hollering commence. Thank you all for your time and all advise is welcome and greatly appreciated. Oh ya how do i make my bum stop hurting, OUCH[/font][/font][/font][/font]

man i need an editor.
and please note, no where do i state I wish to get an Olympic medal.

EagleFlight said:

man i need an editor.
and please note, no where do i state I wish to get an Olympic medal.

Wow. That was a lot of reading..
If I set my mind to something I can very well acheive it. I too want to goto the olympics and am going to start training asap. Im 14 but hey. Its still worth riding everyday. This also keeps me out of trouble with the kids around here.

EagleFlight said:

this is very long and is going to take more then one window i am sure, so please bear with me.

[snip]

One problem many people have is setting goals which are completely unachievable, which I think you have. By setting goals so high, you are guaranteeing failure, and in fact, you may be doing so subconsciously to ensure that you fail and give yourself yet another excuse to quit.

How about a goal of becoming the Michigan Cat 5 or Cat 4 state champ within 2 years and upgrading to cat 3 within 3 years. I'm sure you'll find that challenge enough (in fact, you'll have to work very very hard to achieve even that).

I race in SE Michigan as a cat 4 and will be upgrading to 3 at the end of the year. If you need assistance in finding a club etc, I can help. Do yourself a favor though and re-consider those goals - pick something that's possible to achieve both in short term and long term. It's o.k. to pick something harder for a very long term goal, but how about something that's just out of reach, like cat 2, rather than something on the far side of the moon.

Dear Eagleflight

Respect.
Your life circumstances have been difficult, and yet you have achieved, since you have made difficult decisions to change where you are at and where you are going, and not as a 20 year old fresh out of college, where it's easier to change. You also deserve much credit for being prepared to bear your soul like you did, even on a forum like this on which people are dead nice.

I'm sure no one was laughing, or otherwise having derisory thoughts. I would say that most people can find something in their past that they can identify with.

I'll send you a personal message with some (rather frightening) similarities between your story and mine, by way of encouragement.

On the subject of cycle training, I'll suggest a few basic things to improve stamina. These come from reading this forum, and after about 1 month of training, I'm finding that they appear to have great value. (Yes, I am a newbie and others with more experience than me will moderate the advice I give.)

Heartrate & Training distance are the key.
To develop a bigger stronger heart (aerobic base) that will greatly improve your stamina, you need to be doing rides of about 1.5-2 hours, or longer.
However these rides are long and slow. Your heartrate should be no more than about 140bpm (I'm 38 and very overweight, so our theoretical max HR should be similar) This is so called 'slow training', and the pros do a lot of this in their winter training. I'm at 1hr 40mins 3 times/week at the moment but will be at 2hrs 40 min rides in about 3-4 weeks. (BTW, don't laugh but I started at 10K and added 4K every run)

A heartrate monitor is a very good investment, and there are some quite cheap models which would do your job fine. Don't feel the need to have a Polar (eg 720) which does HR and speed (+ optional cadance; these are a good buy, perhaps if you could find one on ebay, or go for an older model)

Cadance
Keep your cadance about 80 rpm on the flats, preferably higher using your gears (and about 60 rpm on hills). My experience was that the more I did the nearer I could keep my cadance near 90. Keeping cadance high eases the pressure/workrate on the legs and throws the onus to the cardiovascular system, which does not tire as quickly.

Shorter faster runs.
I do these 3 times a week between the longer runs. Gives me chance to push my legs without worrying about blowing them in a long run! About 40-50 mins long.

Sunday
This is my day off with the family, and I eat normally-croissants/butter/jam for breakfast, snack lunch and cooked dinner.

Weight loss
Like most 'teletubbies' when I started training I put on weight. I think that cycling as a training method put a *lot* of muscle on, since the work is concentrated on the legs. I only started losing weight after a couple of weeks of both training and eating properly.

Hydration
Lots of water, throughout the day (2-3 litres at least) The last thing your body needs is not to have enough water; Training suffers!

Eating
Get correct balance, more protein, less fat and watch the carbohydrates. Try to avoid processed foods if at all possible. It's surprising (even in one of the most expensive EU countries), how much cheaper it is to make your own, rather than preprocessed.
My routine is big bowl of cereal; something with flavour and sugar (oops!), 4-6 pieces of fruit during the day, and then a single portion (ie not supersized!) of normal dinner.

Treats, Beer & Alcohol; You want to get fit, not become a martyr. Cut down on those, but if you really feel the need have one. I have a glass of wine every evening with my meal (purely for the digtestion of course!)

I think thats all my starting tips. A few more months of that and I will be ready to develop my training further, with a decent level of aerobic fitness

Hope you find some of this useful!