"PRO" Cycling Discussion

[djm]

Maintaining his libido.

[stella-azzurra]

We are all training in zone 2. That is standard practice when on a bike. You should know this by now.

[wingguy]

WTF is he training for????

He's going for a record attempt - four supermodels at once.

[KWalker]

Anyone else find it weird that somehow pro cyclists get more weird/rare viruses than any other type of professional athlete? I read stuff like this and just don't get how they always get such obscure illnesses that kill their perfromance: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hushovd ... pproaching

[SolidSnake03]

My only thought regarding this KWalker is that Pro Cyclist do a ton of traveling all around the world for races and training camps that most likely exposes them to a greater amount of unfamiliar (to their immune system and personal microbiota) microorganisms and potential pathogens. This combined with them constantly trying to hold/maintain very low weights and body fat %'s may make them more susceptible than others to these types of things. Also, consider that a fair amount of training camps can take cyclists to some fair remote places compared to say a Soccer field in the middle of downtown in a major city.

Take for example Pro Football (USA Football) players, they do travel from state to state but do they ever leave the country for games or training? Not really. Also, there is much less of a concern with them staying at the lowest functional weight possible. This applies to pretty much all US pro sports actually, Baseball, Hockey, Basketball etc...

I'm not saying this is the reason, just a possible scenario I thought of

[Willier]

DMT are doing a favor to Diadora with those colours
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/eneco-tour-2014/stage-6/photos/318988

[wingguy]

Anyone else find it weird that somehow pro cyclists get more weird/rare viruses than any other type of professional athlete?

No, I don't. Pro cyclists spend a huge amount of time a) physically exhausted and b) travelling. This means there chances of exposure to rare viruses and their susceptibility to infection are both going to be very high.

Also, consider that a lot of time cyclists (or other athletes) often only find out that something's wrong because their performance is constantly being monitered.
Scenario a) Professional athlete finds that certain performance criteria are dropping for no clear reason. Athlete undergoes several batteries of tests with in house doctors and hired specialists. Athlete discovers he has rare virus you've never heard of.

Scenario b) Average Joe feels a bit tired for a while. He lives with it.

[KWalker]

My only thought regarding this KWalker is that Pro Cyclist do a ton of traveling all around the world for races and training camps that most likely exposes them to a greater amount of unfamiliar (to their immune system and personal microbiota) microorganisms and potential pathogens. This combined with them constantly trying to hold/maintain very low weights and body fat %'s may make them more susceptible than others to these types of things. Also, consider that a fair amount of training camps can take cyclists to some fair remote places compared to say a Soccer field in the middle of downtown in a major city.

Take for example Pro Football (USA Football) players, they do travel from state to state but do they ever leave the country for games or training? Not really. Also, there is much less of a concern with them staying at the lowest functional weight possible. This applies to pretty much all US pro sports actually, Baseball, Hockey, Basketball etc...

I'm not saying this is the reason, just a possible scenario I thought of

I don't buy this explanation. I used to travel extensively for work and other than the token vaccines we had to get, I never took that many precautions (a lot of medications have pretty severe side effects) and was in a lot sketchier of environments than they were. Quality food, clean water, and sanitary conditions were all pretty hard to come by. I can't tell you how many times I had stomach bugs, felt "off", etc. and had extremely thorough medical checks upon my return to the U.S. and still nothing. I used to work in a field where people traveled to developing countries for months at a time several times per year and rarely did anyone pick up anything strange. I just don't believe that pro athletes traveling in developed countries staying at nice hotels are really exposed to anything that strange.

I can say that one time I did get a respiratory infection from trying to go run during rush hour in a Central African city, but its not like pros are going to Lusaka or Lagos to train.

[lippythelion]

DMT are doing a favor to Diadora with those colours
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/eneco-tour-2014/stage-6/photos/318988

How do you mean?

[520 Dan]

When a pro endurance athlete is near peak performance they are always on the verge of getting sick or hurt. Runners, cyclists, et al.

[wingguy]

I don't buy this explanation. I used to travel extensively for work and other than the token vaccines we had to get, I never took that many precautions (a lot of medications have pretty severe side effects) and was in a lot sketchier of environments than they were. Quality food, clean water, and sanitary conditions were all pretty hard to come by. I can't tell you how many times I had stomach bugs, felt "off", etc. and had extremely thorough medical checks upon my return to the U.S. and still nothing.

You are one person. The UCI ProTour alone has a revolving roster of around five hundred and fifty athletes at any given time. How many of those have odd viruses? Ten? Twenty? Fifty? Even if two hundred of them had picked up illnesses and had the same susceptibilty as you then the odds of being OK would still be in your favour.

Use of yourself as a reference vs the whole grand tour is like being the guy who is surprised that he sees so many punctures on TV, because he hasn't considered that the pro peleton rides twenty thousand miles in a single grand tour stage.

[KWalker]

Well considering I worked at a 4,000 employee company with 450 home office employees and we received medical alerts anytime anyone got anything, the probability would be about the same. Its not just using myself as a reference, but many people that I've known or worked with that have spent time in much worse environments and been fine. Do you think riding a bicycle is really that much more stressful than getting 2 meager meals a day, living in 70% humidity, and having the shits for 6 weeks straight?

Its not only that, but the fact that its always some ultra rare virus, like Hushovd's muscle swelling virus. Stuff that, when you read about it, has such a low prevalence that you wonder if its just rubbish made up to justify poor performances.

[tymon_tm]

My only thought regarding this KWalker is that Pro Cyclist do a ton of traveling all around the world for races and training camps that most likely exposes them to a greater amount of unfamiliar (to their immune system and personal microbiota) microorganisms and potential pathogens. This combined with them constantly trying to hold/maintain very low weights and body fat %'s may make them more susceptible than others to these types of things. Also, consider that a fair amount of training camps can take cyclists to some fair remote places compared to say a Soccer field in the middle of downtown in a major city.

Take for example Pro Football (USA Football) players, they do travel from state to state but do they ever leave the country for games or training? Not really. Also, there is much less of a concern with them staying at the lowest functional weight possible. This applies to pretty much all US pro sports actually, Baseball, Hockey, Basketball etc...

I'm not saying this is the reason, just a possible scenario I thought of

that's exactly what a sports doctor told me when i had issues with allergic disorders few years ago, when i had been riding and travelling a lot. if you're tired, both physically and mentally, your natural immune shield is weaken. and you don't have to be a pro cyclist to experience that. if your body's constantly working like an engine, providing max power to the muscles, and then recovering them on a daily cycle, it simply has less resources and strenght to cope with other areas - immune system being one of them.

[tymon_tm]

Its not only that, but the fact that its always some ultra rare virus, like Hushovd's muscle swelling virus. Stuff that, when you read about it, has such a low prevalence that you wonder if its just rubbish made up to justify poor performances.

what wingguy wrote. the medical procedures and tests pro cyclists go through on a regular basis, joe average most likely won't have even once in his entire life.

[wingguy]

Do you think riding a bicycle is really that much more stressful than getting 2 meager meals a day, living in 70% humidity, and having the shits for 6 weeks straight?

Yes, I think that training to the limits of human capability, racing several weeks straight in several different countries while chronically exhausted, all at a couple of percent body fat and with a diet so carefully limited it would qualify as an eating disorder in the outside world is more stressful than living in a moist place.

(Hey look, two can play that game )