Comments on: Do Old Guys Rock? Or Do They Only Win When the Young Guys are Out of Town? http://www.cyclingtechblog.com/2010/05/07/do-old-guys-rock-or-do-they-only-win-when-the-young-guys-are-out-of-town/ Fun, exotic, high performance, lightweight, aerodynamic, geeky bike stuff Wed, 30 Nov 2011 07:07:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Phil Ganderton http://www.cyclingtechblog.com/2010/05/07/do-old-guys-rock-or-do-they-only-win-when-the-young-guys-are-out-of-town/comment-page-1/#comment-2383 Phil Ganderton Tue, 25 May 2010 22:54:10 +0000 http://www.cyclingtechblog.com/?p=369#comment-2383 First off, that's a great photo of you, Nico! Second, I've always believed that the Masters category was the strongest, not only because of the numbers involved, but also due to the tremendous level of strategy that is on display in those categories. The young guys often win with strength or brute force alone. In the older categories, the fastest/strongest guy is often not the winner. I agree that HCs and TTs reward the strong and fast, but there's some wily old farts who have figured out that efficiency is what's really being rewarded--and that comes from knowledge and experience as much as slow-twitch muscles! First off, that’s a great photo of you, Nico!
Second, I’ve always believed that the Masters category was the strongest, not only because of the numbers involved, but also due to the tremendous level of strategy that is on display in those categories. The young guys often win with strength or brute force alone. In the older categories, the fastest/strongest guy is often not the winner. I agree that HCs and TTs reward the strong and fast, but there’s some wily old farts who have figured out that efficiency is what’s really being rewarded–and that comes from knowledge and experience as much as slow-twitch muscles!

]]> By: john smathers http://www.cyclingtechblog.com/2010/05/07/do-old-guys-rock-or-do-they-only-win-when-the-young-guys-are-out-of-town/comment-page-1/#comment-2354 john smathers Sat, 08 May 2010 18:53:15 +0000 http://www.cyclingtechblog.com/?p=369#comment-2354 Some related pie charts: http://www.usacycling.org/corp/demographics.php Some related pie charts:
http://www.usacycling.org/corp/demographics.php

]]> By: john smathers http://www.cyclingtechblog.com/2010/05/07/do-old-guys-rock-or-do-they-only-win-when-the-young-guys-are-out-of-town/comment-page-1/#comment-2353 john smathers Sat, 08 May 2010 18:47:38 +0000 http://www.cyclingtechblog.com/?p=369#comment-2353 In New England there is basically no junior racing. Most road races don't even have a junior category. Some of the criteriums do, but it will often be really short, 5-10 miles. It's weird. And very unsatisfying when I tell people that I did a lot of racing as a junior - they are often totally unimpressed. In New England there is basically no junior racing. Most road races don’t even have a junior category. Some of the criteriums do, but it will often be really short, 5-10 miles. It’s weird. And very unsatisfying when I tell people that I did a lot of racing as a junior – they are often totally unimpressed.

]]> By: Nico http://www.cyclingtechblog.com/2010/05/07/do-old-guys-rock-or-do-they-only-win-when-the-young-guys-are-out-of-town/comment-page-1/#comment-2352 Nico Sat, 08 May 2010 11:30:03 +0000 http://www.cyclingtechblog.com/?p=369#comment-2352 It would be interesting to know how that percentage has changed over the past few decades. My sense is that it has gone up steadily since we started racing in the early '80s, and if so, that should be the obvious canary in the coal mine for the sport. John, when you and I raced the Red Zinger Mini Classic in 1982 there were around 80 boys who signed up for the 12-13 age group. That was enough that the organizers decided to break it into two separate groups the 12-13A and the 12-13B, because they didn't like the idea of 80 inexperienced boys, elbow-to-elbow in a criterium. The Zinger was slightly anomalous, and not completely representative of Cycling's popularity among young people, but I'd say on a weekly basis we had 15-25 guys show up for the <em>Intermediate</em> category. That doesn't appear to happen to me anymore. It would be interesting to know how that percentage has changed over the past few decades. My sense is that it has gone up steadily since we started racing in the early ’80s, and if so, that should be the obvious canary in the coal mine for the sport.

John, when you and I raced the Red Zinger Mini Classic in 1982 there were around 80 boys who signed up for the 12-13 age group. That was enough that the organizers decided to break it into two separate groups the 12-13A and the 12-13B, because they didn’t like the idea of 80 inexperienced boys, elbow-to-elbow in a criterium. The Zinger was slightly anomalous, and not completely representative of Cycling’s popularity among young people, but I’d say on a weekly basis we had 15-25 guys show up for the Intermediate category. That doesn’t appear to happen to me anymore.

]]> By: john smathers http://www.cyclingtechblog.com/2010/05/07/do-old-guys-rock-or-do-they-only-win-when-the-young-guys-are-out-of-town/comment-page-1/#comment-2350 john smathers Sat, 08 May 2010 02:46:26 +0000 http://www.cyclingtechblog.com/?p=369#comment-2350 There was a quote in a recent velonews article with a guy from USACycling saying that their membership is about 75% masters now. There was a quote in a recent velonews article with a guy from USACycling saying that their membership is about 75% masters now.

]]>