Ken M wrote in part:
Quoted message said:... Surely there must be
at least a few female cyclist that would be capable of competing at
this level.
Not really at pro level, although I'm certain
some of the best female climbers could easily outclimb
the slower climbing men of the tour. So you definitely
can't allow that. Imagine the psychological destruction,
poor [censored] dropping off the pace in the mountains
to be picked off by Luperini or some other chick.
Down in the amateur ranks, men everywhere are
surprised by the strength of their female counterparts.
Strong cat 3s and expert class mtn bike racers get
torched by women all the time. Just this Friday in a
local "alleycat" race, twelve dudes got beat by the
lone female competitor. the poor [censored] who came in
second, arriving at the finish just behind her, was
convinced that he had nearly lapped her. But,
no, sorry. I've seen this kind of thing so often that
it doesn't really surprise me anymore.
I just got back from a 30+ mile singletrack ride with
my strongest riding companion who happens to be a woman.
The fact that I was able to ride away from her on a few
climbs means that I was going pretty well today. None
of my other riding buddies would've been in the same
zip code.
Robert