Trans America Challenge program BBC2 6th Feb - comment

On 7/2/05 10:16 am, in article [email hidden],

tomjw said:

I wonder if anyone one watched the program about a 53 year old guy
trying to loin the RAF team on the Trans America Challenge on BBC2 last
night. The poor bloke trained really hard for weeks and was then
excluded from the team. I thought he was set up wrongly on the bike. I
kept thinking tht the reason he wasn't performing well was simply
because his saddle was 1.5 to 2" too low and he didn't have the optimum
leg extension. I am sure that correct leg extension is absolutely
critical. Nobody told the guy and yet watching it it seemed glaringly
obvious paricularly when you saw him cycling alonside the other team
members.
Did anyone else notice ?

I thought the challenge was badly chosen.

You cannot adapt to doing effectively 10 x 10mile TT for five days, gaining
the appropriate endurance etc. in two months. Bike setup had little to do
with it.

You also cannot get bike handling and hill climbing skills from a turbo.

He was badly trained for the wrong challenge.

Had they set a different challenge that didn't rely on speed, then it would
have been a bit better.

...d

"tomjw" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I wonder if anyone one watched the program about a 53 year old guy
trying to loin the RAF team on the Trans America Challenge on BBC2 last
night. The poor bloke trained really hard for weeks and was then
excluded from the team. I thought he was set up wrongly on the bike. I
kept thinking tht the reason he wasn't performing well was simply
because his saddle was 1.5 to 2" too low and he didn't have the optimum
leg extension. I am sure that correct leg extension is absolutely
critical. Nobody told the guy and yet watching it it seemed glaringly
obvious paricularly when you saw him cycling alonside the other team
members.
Did anyone else notice ?

--
tomjw

Well there is a whole thread on the subject up there ^ somewhere ;-)

The correct decision was made to exclude him from the team IMO - his safety
had to come first, and as he kept falling from the bike, I think the correct
decision was made. A tough call, but the correct one - the bike set-up had
nothing to do with the failure to make the team - his safety did have
everything to do with it. That's one thing about working with the military -
they don't mince their words :-)

Cheers, helen s

tomjw said:

I wonder if anyone one watched the program about a 53 year old guy
trying to loin the RAF team on the Trans America Challenge on BBC2 last
night. The poor bloke trained really hard for weeks and was then
excluded from the team. I thought he was set up wrongly on the bike. I
kept thinking tht the reason he wasn't performing well was simply
because his saddle was 1.5 to 2" too low and he didn't have the optimum
leg extension. I am sure that correct leg extension is absolutely
critical. Nobody told the guy and yet watching it it seemed glaringly
obvious paricularly when you saw him cycling alonside the other team
members.
Did anyone else notice ?

I didn't notice that and I don't see how you could have noticed it with
any certainty from the shots they showed. One of the opening sequences
showed him being professionally fitted for the bike, so I doubt that was
the case, and I am quite certain that poor fitting had nothing to do
with his performance. He wasn't up to the challenge - that's not a
reflection on the effort he put in, it was simply too much to expect to
take someone who had no bike experience at all and turn them into
someone capable of averaging 20mph for six hours on the trot for six
consecutive days, uphill and downhill, day and night, at extremes of
heat and cold, within two months. I'm sure that would have beeen the
case even if he had got more road experience in instead of spending all
the time on the turbo trainer, as it appeared he was doing. That I
would agree was a weakness in the training program, but it was a
unrealistic challenge. Still, if he'd have got more road experience in,
it would have been harder for them to rule him out on health and safety
grounds of poor bike handling skills. He really, really ought to have
been given practice out on the road, on hills and descents. They might,
just, then have let him start, albeit reluctantly... and then dropped
him. Perhaps it was better, though, that things turned out the way they
did.

Rich

That is exactly what I thought - saddle way too low!

"David Martin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 7/2/05 10:16 am, in article
[email hidden],
"tomjw" <[email hidden]> wrote:

The challenge was to much to expect from a non cyclist, he came across as a
determined guy and I am sure if he continued cycling he would learn the
technique.
His position looked novice, no bend in the arms, he sat to upright (lots of
air resistance) his cadence looked laboured and to slow with his heels in
and his knees out. He appeared to be pushing down only with his power stroke
not lifting or taking the weight of his lifting leg just pushing the weight
up of the rising leg .
His mentors were useless they only tried to break his spirit and they failed
at that.

PK

tomjw said:

I wonder if anyone one watched the program about a 53 year old guy
trying to loin the RAF team on the Trans America Challenge on BBC2 last
night. The poor bloke trained really hard for weeks and was then
excluded from the team. I thought he was set up wrongly on the bike. I
kept thinking tht the reason he wasn't performing well was simply
because his saddle was 1.5 to 2" too low and he didn't have the optimum
leg extension. I am sure that correct leg extension is absolutely
critical. Nobody told the guy and yet watching it it seemed glaringly
obvious paricularly when you saw him cycling alonside the other team
members.
Did anyone else notice ?

I thought his saddle was too low to despite Tony Gibb adjusting it at
the start. How on earth did this guy think he'd get good enough by
riding on a turbo trainer for 2 months. It wasn't even raining. Maybe if
he'd been toughing it out in Pennines with horizontal rain he'd have
prepared himself better.

tomjw said:

I wonder if anyone one watched the program about a 53 year old guy
trying to loin the RAF team on the Trans America Challenge on BBC2 last
night. The poor bloke trained really hard for weeks and was then
excluded from the team. I thought he was set up wrongly on the bike. I
kept thinking tht the reason he wasn't performing well was simply
because his saddle was 1.5 to 2" too low and he didn't have the optimum
leg extension. I am sure that correct leg extension is absolutely
critical. Nobody told the guy and yet watching it it seemed glaringly
obvious paricularly when you saw him cycling alonside the other team
members.
Did anyone else notice ?

As it was trailed here, I watched it and it's most unlike me to watch tele.

I felt sorry for the poor sod for most of it. It's patently obvious that
he was set an impossible task. Even regular cyclists would be
extremely hard pushed to get from base fitness to RAAM standards in 2
months. To expect this of a bloke who looked like he'd never been on a
bike before was just good TV stuff.

What I really didn't like was the teams aspect. There was obviously a
massive amount of animosity towards not so much the bloke but the TV
concept from the RAF team. They could see just how below standard he was
and were having to compete against him for a place.

I lost sympathy with him at the end when he appeared bitter and to have
rather forgotten that even his decent level of fitness was insignificant
when set against the athletic achievements of the real team.

On Mon, 07 Feb 2005 20:18:06 +0000, Not Responding <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

tomjw said:

I wonder if anyone one watched the program about a 53 year old guy
trying to loin the RAF team on the Trans America Challenge on BBC2 last
night. The poor bloke trained really hard for weeks and was then
excluded from the team. I thought he was set up wrongly on the bike. I
kept thinking tht the reason he wasn't performing well was simply
because his saddle was 1.5 to 2" too low and he didn't have the optimum
leg extension. I am sure that correct leg extension is absolutely
critical. Nobody told the guy and yet watching it it seemed glaringly
obvious paricularly when you saw him cycling alonside the other team
members.
Did anyone else notice ?

As it was trailed here, I watched it and it's most unlike me to watch tele.

I felt sorry for the poor sod for most of it. It's patently obvious that
he was set an impossible task. Even regular cyclists would be
extremely hard pushed to get from base fitness to RAAM standards in 2
months. To expect this of a bloke who looked like he'd never been on a
bike before was just good TV stuff.

What I really didn't like was the teams aspect. There was obviously a
massive amount of animosity towards not so much the bloke but the TV
concept from the RAF team. They could see just how below standard he was
and were having to compete against him for a place.

I lost sympathy with him at the end when he appeared bitter and to have
rather forgotten that even his decent level of fitness was insignificant
when set against the athletic achievements of the real team.

To be honest, as much as I enjoyed watching the whole program it was
just kind of ridiiculous really. What I was hoping for was just a
little insight in what actually goes on during that race, how tough it
is and , but instead what we got was an insight into some poor sods
personal psychology in the face of some crazy setup.

What blatently stood out for me was the whole 'metal apporach thing'.
First we get the sports psychologist going on about mental
preparation, some kind of trigger moment with the handlebars and then
the guy himself keeps going on and on about 'I can do this', 'I'm
going to do this', 'I am never defeated'...etc, etc. All very well and
good, nice and positive and focused, save one trifling factor - bloke
doesn't ride a bike!! Slight problem there mate.
It's where positive thinking gets so absurd, diverts from reality and
just ends up being delusional, then disappointment and bitterness sets
in when you realize that there's more to this than meets the eye. Fact
is, it was always such a ridiculous challenge for him....as it almost
certainly would have been for me too.

Very strange program imo.

Garry

"garryb59" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What blatently stood out for me was the whole 'metal apporach thing'.
First we get the sports psychologist going on about mental
preparation, some kind of trigger moment with the handlebars and then
the guy himself keeps going on and on about 'I can do this', 'I'm
going to do this', 'I am never defeated'...etc, etc. All very well and
good, nice and positive and focused, save one trifling factor - bloke
doesn't ride a bike!! Slight problem there mate.
It's where positive thinking gets so absurd, diverts from reality and
just ends up being delusional, then disappointment and bitterness sets
in when you realize that there's more to this than meets the eye. Fact
is, it was always such a ridiculous challenge for him....as it almost
certainly would have been for me too.

Everyone of course criticises the fact that they took a complete cycling
novice with a big ego and set him an impossible task, but, apart from the
fact that putting a novice up to the most difficult of challenges in any
discipline is the whole idea of 'The Challenge' series, the fact is that
only a novice with a huge ego would believe themselves capable of it in the
first place - self-belief, of course, being essential to success in any
endeavour. So perhaps a such a novice would even have a better chance than
someone with a little cycling experience and more modesty, who would realise
at once what an impossible task it would be and wouldn't bother! Not only
does 'The Challenge' need such participants to answer the question it
pretends to pose: "Can you take an ordinary person and train them up to
participate at the highest levels of a sport?" - but it also needs them
because only someone who has no experience and a big enough ego would even
try!

As for lack of road experience, apparently the Polka Dot Challenge was
supposed to be part of his training program so there must have been more to
it than we saw - perhaps it wasn't only turbo sessions and a TT at the
Eastway after all!

Rich

Richard Goodman said:

"garryb59" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What blatently stood out for me was the whole 'metal apporach thing'.
First we get the sports psychologist going on about mental
preparation, some kind of trigger moment with the handlebars and then
the guy himself keeps going on and on about 'I can do this', 'I'm
going to do this', 'I am never defeated'...etc, etc. All very well and
good, nice and positive and focused, save one trifling factor - bloke
doesn't ride a bike!! Slight problem there mate.
It's where positive thinking gets so absurd, diverts from reality and
just ends up being delusional, then disappointment and bitterness sets
in when you realize that there's more to this than meets the eye. Fact
is, it was always such a ridiculous challenge for him....as it almost
certainly would have been for me too.

Everyone of course criticises the fact that they took a complete cycling
novice with a big ego and set him an impossible task, but, apart from the
fact that putting a novice up to the most difficult of challenges in any
discipline is the whole idea of 'The Challenge' series, the fact is that
only a novice with a huge ego would believe themselves capable of it in the
first place - self-belief, of course, being essential to success in any
endeavour. So perhaps a such a novice would even have a better chance than
someone with a little cycling experience and more modesty, who would realise
at once what an impossible task it would be and wouldn't bother!

And more fitting and interesting to 'The Challenge' would have been to
take an individual who is keen on cycling, does a lot, considers the
RAAM to be the most difficult thing they may have ever done, but
might, with an almightly push get somewhere near to the standard
required. And this person could still have been 'Mr/Mrs Bloggs' with
their 9 to 5. This kind of setup might have fermented some kind of
interest/tension with the other riders at the thought of being
overlooked by a complete stranger, other than complete disinterest and
apathy at having to accomodate somebody that didn't stand a cat in
hells chance from the outset. If 'The Challenge' is a dead duck from
the start, there *is* no challenge, just a kind of voyeurism.

Then had he/she made the grade and been selected you might have even
got a glimpse of what the actual event was like itself - which would
have added to the program too.

In the end, depends on how you viewed it. I enjoyed watching it, but
it had bugger all to do with cycling. Still, what the hell. It was
for TV afterall.

Garry

Quoted message said:

Not only
does 'The Challenge' need such participants to answer the question it
pretends to pose: "Can you take an ordinary person and train them up to
participate at the highest levels of a sport?" - but it also needs them
because only someone who has no experience and a big enough ego would even
try!

As for lack of road experience, apparently the Polka Dot Challenge was
supposed to be part of his training program so there must have been more to
it than we saw - perhaps it wasn't only turbo sessions and a TT at the
Eastway after all!

Rich

"tomjw" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I wonder if anyone one watched the program about a 53 year old guy
trying to loin the RAF team on the Trans America Challenge on BBC2 last
night. The poor bloke trained really hard for weeks and was then
excluded from the team. I thought he was set up wrongly on the bike. I
kept thinking tht the reason he wasn't performing well was simply
because his saddle was 1.5 to 2" too low and he didn't have the optimum
leg extension. I am sure that correct leg extension is absolutely
critical. Nobody told the guy and yet watching it it seemed glaringly
obvious paricularly when you saw him cycling alonside the other team
members.
Did anyone else notice ?

--
tomjw

Could not understand why he was riding on gravel cycle tracks on a carbon
fibre Giant.

I am 54 Years old and would love the opportunity to do the Trans Am. I can
average 20 MPH for ten miles but not up and down the hills they would have
to. As you get older endurance goes up but muscle strength goes down, this
along with increased body weight makes hill climbing particularly
challenging.

And yes, his saddle was too low but I got the feeling he thought he knew
better than everyone else and probably lowered the seat from it's original
setting because it would feel more relaxed.

Kiff