Non-athlete as a kid, cyclist as adult?

Recently I ran into someone who I knew in high school. He was someone who,
as a teen, was an archetypal nerdy type: glasses, brainiac, greasy hair,
completely non-athletic. He's now a very strong cyclist, regularly
completing centuries and doubles, and just got back from a bike tour to see
the TdF. I bet all the football players in HS have now gone to lard, and he
could kick all of their collective asses.

I then recalled another person I know who was fat in his teens and was
teased and harrassed for it. Now, as an adult, he has a normal weight. He's
another century rider, a daily commuter.

Me, I wasn't the very last to be picked for the team, but maybe second or
third to last. I've always had bad hand-eye coordination, well, bad any sort
of coordination, which made traditional kids' sports like soccer and
baseball, or girly things like gymnastics, always difficult. I got Bs in gym
class not on ability, but because I showed up and did my best -- if it had
been on actual accomplishment, I would have been in the C- category at best.
Now, I'm no Lance Armstrong, but I think I'm in decent shape, better than
most middle aged women I see around here.

For me, the thing about bicycling that makes it easier is that it doesn't
take much coordination, and it is repetitively rhythmic. Your feet are
strapped in; all you need to do is keep them moving and keep your balance.
When I used to do aerobics, I loved it when we did the same routine for each
class. Some members were bored silly, and wanted different routines. I hated
it -- I'd have to think where my foot and arm had to go, and then I couldn't
relax into the class. I like it when I don't have to think about such
things -- I like just moving.

Bicycle champions are life-long athletes. You read the biographies of Tyler
Hamilton or Lance Armstrong, and you realize that they were skiing or
swimming or something in their youths, if they weren't necessarily
bicycling.

But your more garden-variety cyclists, like you find here on rbm -- were you
someone who was considered an athlete in high school? Do you consider
yourself athletic now?


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

"Claire Petersky" wrote in
ink.net:
Bicycle champions are life-long athletes. You read the biographies of
Tyler Hamilton or Lance Armstrong, and you realize that they were skiing
or swimming or something in their youths, if they weren't necessarily
bicycling.

But your more garden-variety cyclists, like you find here on rbm -- were
you someone who was considered an athlete in high school? Do you
consider yourself athletic now?

There's a big difference between a pro athlete and a recreational athlete.
Pro athletes need to be successful as teenagers so they can start getting
pro experience in their early 20s and peak at around 30 years old.

Recreational athletes can keep going until well into their senior citizen
years. Recreational athletes are far more healthy later in life than the
typical high school jock.

One problem with high school sports is that they focus almost exclusively
on competitive sports, so the kids that don't make the team are not allowed
to participate. High schools should focus more on recreational sports like
bicycle touring or mountain biking or hiking where the goals are fun and
fitness, not winning the big game.

Claire Petersky wrote:
Me, I wasn't the very last to be picked for the team, but maybe second or
third to last. I've always had bad hand-eye coordination, well, bad any sort
of coordination, which made traditional kids' sports like soccer and
baseball, or girly things like gymnastics, always difficult. I got Bs in gym
class not on ability, but because I showed up and did my best -- if it had
been on actual accomplishment, I would have been in the C- category at best.
Now, I'm no Lance Armstrong, but I think I'm in decent shape, better than
most middle aged women I see around here.

I was picked last for the team, mainly because I was small and
chronically out-of-shape. Basketball was the worst for a shortie like
me (we were required to play all sports in turn); swimming was okay;
gymnastics was fun although I never was very good at it; I enjoyed
dance. We even did golf in high school: I was hopeless, the only kid in
the class who actually got worse the more I practiced. Mostly I loathed
team sports and did okay on less team-oriented and non-competitive
activities. And I also usually got Bs, based more out of doing my best
than on performance (which was pretty pathetic). But I'd have been
ecstatic if I hadn't been required to go to Phys Ed class at all (it
wasn't optional until senior year of high school).

I definitely fall into the "non-athlete as a kid" category. I've been
more active as an adult, with a 13-year sedentary hiatus that ended 11
weeks ago. I hesitate to call myself a cyclist, since I feel I'm not
there yet (I can't keep up with anybody), but it's always been my
preferred form of exercise.

My husband says I'm in better shape than most of the middle-aged women
where he works, but then, they're all computer geeks of the first water
just like him. Most of the women I know are as sedentary as I was for
those 13 years, so I suppose I'm in better shape than they are, but
that's not saying much. Yet.

One of these days, I'll get up the courage to make contact with the
local cycling club, but, um, uh... I'm a coward. I'm really afraid of
not being able to keep up with anybody and getting left behind. Again.
As usual. *wince*

-km

--
the black rose
proud to be owned by a yorkie
http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts

In article . net,
"Claire Petersky" wrote:

Recently I ran into someone who I knew in high school. He was someone who,
as a teen, was an archetypal nerdy type: glasses, brainiac, greasy hair,
completely non-athletic. He's now a very strong cyclist, regularly
completing centuries and doubles, and just got back from a bike tour to see
the TdF. I bet all the football players in HS have now gone to lard, and he
could kick all of their collective asses.

I then recalled another person I know who was fat in his teens and was
teased and harrassed for it. Now, as an adult, he has a normal weight. He's
another century rider, a daily commuter.

You could be telling my story. I wasn't completely hopeless, but I was
bascially gawky and non-athletic. I struggled through a few years of
soccer, one year of baseball, a bit of elementary-school rugby (when I
was in grade seven, the coach snuck me onto the grade six team.
Technically illegal, but I was nowhere near the biggest kid on even the
grade six team. Nobody noticed), but put all that away before high
school. I didn't mind gym class in school, but I was uniformly mediocre
at sports: out of shape, overweight, though I did water-ski and ride my
mountain bike regularly (though on tame trails and roads only) in my
teens.

For me, the thing about bicycling that makes it easier is that it doesn't
take much coordination, and it is repetitively rhythmic. Your feet are
strapped in; all you need to do is keep them moving and keep your balance.
When I used to do aerobics, I loved it when we did the same routine for each
class. Some members were bored silly, and wanted different routines. I hated
it -- I'd have to think where my foot and arm had to go, and then I couldn't
relax into the class. I like it when I don't have to think about such
things -- I like just moving.

I strongly agree. Cycling is a more pure exercise of your cardiovascular
system than almost anything short of maybe running. And it hurts your
knees less. And you actually can get somewhere ina reasonable time.

Bicycle champions are life-long athletes. You read the biographies of Tyler
Hamilton or Lance Armstrong, and you realize that they were skiing or
swimming or something in their youths, if they weren't necessarily
bicycling.

I think the issue there is that most cyclists peak in their late 20s. If
they don't have several years of training before that, they won't be in
peak shape then. And so you have to have some sort of teenaged athletic
base so that when you take up riding in your late teens, you can do well.

But your more garden-variety cyclists, like you find here on rbm -- were you
someone who was considered an athlete in high school? Do you consider
yourself athletic now?

No, and yes. See above for my high-school abilities. Nowadays I'm fast
on a bike and getting faster. Cat 4 this year; goal is to upgrade to 3
by the end of next season. Biggest impediment is that I'm lazy about
training, though I commute nearly every day.

Strangely, I don't do distance rides. My longest single day was 140 km
earlier this spring. I admire century riders (and clearly, if I could do
140, 160 km wouldn't be much harder) but it takes so much time!

I figure rando riding will be an activity I take up at age 40, when my
legs are no longer good enough for racing, but my aerobic base will be
unassailable.

--
Ryan Cousineau, http://www.wiredcola.com
Verus de parvis; verus de magnis.

On Wed, 11 Aug 2004 17:27:10 GMT, the black rose
wrote:

Claire Petersky wrote:
Me, I wasn't the very last to be picked for the team, but maybe second
or
third to last. I've always had bad hand-eye coordination, well, bad any
sort
of coordination, which made traditional kids' sports like soccer and
baseball, or girly things like gymnastics, always difficult. I got Bs
in gym
class not on ability, but because I showed up and did my best -- if it
had
been on actual accomplishment, I would have been in the C- category at
best.
Now, I'm no Lance Armstrong, but I think I'm in decent shape, better
than
most middle aged women I see around here.

I was picked last for the team, mainly because I was small and
chronically out-of-shape. Basketball was the worst for a shortie like
me (we were required to play all sports in turn); swimming was okay;
gymnastics was fun although I never was very good at it; I enjoyed
dance. We even did golf in high school: I was hopeless, the only kid in
the class who actually got worse the more I practiced. Mostly I loathed
team sports and did okay on less team-oriented and non-competitive
activities. And I also usually got Bs, based more out of doing my best
than on performance (which was pretty pathetic). But I'd have been
ecstatic if I hadn't been required to go to Phys Ed class at all (it
wasn't optional until senior year of high school).

I definitely fall into the "non-athlete as a kid" category. I've been
more active as an adult, with a 13-year sedentary hiatus that ended 11
weeks ago. I hesitate to call myself a cyclist, since I feel I'm not
there yet (I can't keep up with anybody), but it's always been my
preferred form of exercise.

My husband says I'm in better shape than most of the middle-aged women
where he works, but then, they're all computer geeks of the first water
just like him. Most of the women I know are as sedentary as I was for
those 13 years, so I suppose I'm in better shape than they are, but
that's not saying much. Yet.

One of these days, I'll get up the courage to make contact with the
local cycling club, but, um, uh... I'm a coward. I'm really afraid of
not being able to keep up with anybody and getting left behind. Again.
As usual. *wince*

-km


Typically, there are classes of riders. For instance, "my" club has rides
from below 10mph to above 20 mph. I say "my" because, even though I've
been a member for 3 years, I've never gone on a ride. The reason is that
although I'm a slow rider, I ride a long time. Typically, slow and long
don't go together.

--
Bob in CT
Remove ".x" to reply

That sounds like me.
I hated all the gym stuff we were forced to do at school. Put me off
any physical activity for about twenty years. When I took up bike
commuting, mainly to avoid driving in traffic or using transit, I've
been constantly getting in better shape. I'm probably the most fit I've
ever been in life and still getting better.


--
CommuterSteve

"Claire Petersky" wrote in message
ink.net...

But your more garden-variety cyclists, like you find here on rbm -- were
you
someone who was considered an athlete in high school? Do you consider
yourself athletic now?

I did not do any sports in HS besides the gym class. I was not in shape, my
hobbies
were anything but sports Computers, AD&D, reading, music, etc...

I took cycling when in my 20s, got in shape really quickly. Then my bike
got stolen,
I replaced it and that one got stolen too... then I decided not to purchase
an other one
and got out of shape. Few years later I got tired of being overweight and
out of shape
so I started going to a gym. That got boring very quickly so I purchased an
other bike.
Again in no time I was back in shape... and the bike got stolen... starting
to see a pattern yet?

This summer I decided to replace my bike that got stolen a few years back.
I have had it for about
3 months now. Got from 290 pounds to 250 pounds in 3 months. This is my
week off from work and I just completed a 3 day ride (240 KM total). Would
have been able to do it in 2 days easilly (My legs are not even tired), but
my riding partner could not keep up so we had to do it over 3 days. Too bad
I did not take 2 weeks off I would have done an other long distance ride
solo to see
where my limit is at this point.

Cycling is the easiest way to get in shape because it's fun, you can do it
for hours on end without any problem, it doesn't damage your body like most
other sports do, and you can adjust the level of training when you want.
Also if you commute it allows you to do physical training without having to
take additionnal time out of your schedule, that is great... allows me to do
5 hours of biking per week I would not have time for if it were not for
commuting.

"Claire Petersky" wrote in message
news:rOrSc.18132
...

But your more garden-variety cyclists, like you find here on rbm -- were
you
someone who was considered an athlete in high school? Do you consider
yourself athletic now?

Hated team sports in high school - still do - hated high school "coaches".
Got back into cycling a few years ago, and more recently running, and now
I'm in better shape than I've EVER been. I'll be 50 in October and I feel
like I'm 20.

Recently did my first "Almost a Century" - 97.4 miles over very hilly
terrain - and I couldn't be prouder.

So, yes, I guess I do consider myself athletic.

Dave

But your more garden-variety cyclists, like you find here
on rbm -- were you someone who was considered an athlete in
high school? Do you consider yourself athletic now?

=v= I wasn't the "greasy and fat" type, but I certainly never
excelled in gym class, and my only try at team sports was an
undistinguished year of intramural basketball. The ideology
of phys ed (as I experienced it) and team sports may have
motivated some, but not me.

=v= I'm pleased with my health now, and some have called me
"athletic" or "physically fit." Certainly if I suggest a long
bike ride or hauling a few hundred pounds on a bike trailer,
I tend to get responses from folks suggesting superhuman effort,
even though it's pretty easy. :^) I try to spread the word to
these folks that they, too, could really do the same.

=v= Some of the big-deal jocks from my high school days are
pumping gas, and here I am carfree, not needing them at all!
_Jym_

I didn't do much in highschool or college... and during my working
career, I jogged for 30 minutes each morning before work. After I
retired I took up cycling and quickly got into mountain biking. Last
year I decided to try racing... and was very successful.

Now I'm getting interested in TT's and RR's because they seem to have
age groupings that go way out.. In Mountain biking, local races are
only 50+ age group and on the national and world level, they are 65+,
but in national cycling they go up thru 80+ ... that sounds very
interesting and I think I'll try that next year. The nationals at deer
park start tomorrow .. there are 19 riders signed up in the 65-70 age
group and 19 riders in the 70-75 group and there were a good number of
riders in the older groupings. I find that most encouraging.

charlie in ct.