Quote:
Originally Posted by gregpark
Ah, the Gran Fondo. That's a long tough one on some crappy roads too. I'm done with those century rides, too much for an old man. Levi is best friends with a "kid" I get to ride with on occasion Andrew Talansky. Another retired pro rider. Andrew married the daughter of a long time friend of mine and they lived a mile from me. They moved to Tahoe and he's into triathlons now but when he was riding for Garmin Cannondale we would ride up valley on his rest days to get a coffee. Those guy's rest day rides are a normal ride for us mere mortals. Unbelievable how those pros can climb a hill, I swear they're aliens
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Oh yeah, I remember Talansky. Lot os those guys are from Nor Cal and Colorado that are great riders. I think it has to do with having those big hill they climb jsut to get coffee.
I don't know how they find them, but they find these monsters. I have been at this for a long time and raced at the club level since I was a Jr back when it was USCF. Now, over the age of 50, there's no power coming our of my legs when the pack starts to get off the saddle and get over the hump. I use to love these rollies and put down the "hurt". I have ridden with a couple of guys that made it to the back up Olympic team back then. This was when bike racing was a dark horse sport. They climb over a 6500' pass only to turn around to come home - just for fun. Those were 80 mile days. I don't do those with them anymore but I am still faster then most guys in the 40s on our training rides. That's if I put in the miles. As we get older, we must keep riding to keep healthy. I know a couple of old dogs I rode with in their mid 60s and they can still keep up with the whippersnappers on our training rides. Tough SOBs that can still take a lot of pain.