what is more important in downhill, leg strength or aerobic capacity?
 

I know you are trolling but I want to provide you with a little perspective.

Some of those Tour de France stages through the mountains are the equivalent
of driving from Sacramento, California up and over the Sierras, down to Lake
Tahoe and then finishing at the top of Heavenly (or pick just about any
other ski resort in the Lake Tahoe area). That would be similar to the Alps.

The roads in the Pyrenees are much steeper.I figure you skiers have either
been there or are familiar with the terrain I am talking about.

"Armin" wrote in message
...
Kurgan Gringioni wrote:
"Armin" wrote in message
...
Kurgan Gringioni wrote:

Uhh . . . the skiers I used to hang with were really, really good.
They were about equivalent to Cat 3 bike racers and triathletes and
stuff.

Cool, I'm always looking for new ski partners. How about you join me
for a run down one of my favourite couloirs?
Perhaps I could even pick up a few pointers.

Therefore, I know what I'm talking about.

I'm betting on it or more to the point, you'll be betting your life
on it.


I've seen some of those couliers in magazines. Overblown. My studly
Cat 3 buddies would leave you in their dust.

I once saw some pictures of the TdF.
Looked like a walk in the park. What they thought was steep wouldn't even
make a good beginners hill at the local ski resort.
I'm sure any decent skier could leave those gay looking guys wearing
day-glo
tights in their dust.

After all, pictures never lie.

Armin

what is more important in downhill, leg strength or aerobic capacity?
 

In article , Nick Burns
wrote:

I know you are trolling but I want to provide you with a little perspective.

Some of those Tour de France stages through the mountains are the equivalent
of driving from Sacramento, California up and over the Sierras, down to Lake
Tahoe and then finishing at the top of Heavenly (or pick just about any
other ski resort in the Lake Tahoe area). That would be similar to the Alps.

Except the Sierras are at higher altitude. Some of the paved roads
going over the Sierra mountain passes are at 7000-9000 feet elevation,
but there are no rideable roads to the top of the ski resorts around
Lake Tahoe.

-WG

what is more important in downhill, leg strength or aerobiccapacity?
 

I think a US tour should have a finish on the summit of Pike's Peak.

Nick Burns wrote:

It depends on which roads are compared to which stages. I need to look it
up, but the Tourmalet is around 7000 feet while some of the highways reach
about 6000 feet. I know there are no roads in the Ski resorts. I still think
it provides perspective for people that know so very little about pro
cycling races and its terrain.

"warren" wrote in message
...
In article , Nick Burns
wrote:

I know you are trolling but I want to provide you with a little
perspective.

Some of those Tour de France stages through the mountains are the
equivalent
of driving from Sacramento, California up and over the Sierras, down to
Lake
Tahoe and then finishing at the top of Heavenly (or pick just about any
other ski resort in the Lake Tahoe area). That would be similar to the
Alps.

Except the Sierras are at higher altitude. Some of the paved roads
going over the Sierra mountain passes are at 7000-9000 feet elevation,
but there are no rideable roads to the top of the ski resorts around
Lake Tahoe.

-WG

what is more important in downhill, leg strength or aerobic capacity?
 

"David Ryan" wrote in message
...
I think a US tour should have a finish on the summit of Pike's Peak.

Didn't the Red Zinger go over Loveland Pass, which is just under 12,000 ft?

Nick Burns wrote:

It depends on which roads are compared to which stages. I need to look
it
up, but the Tourmalet is around 7000 feet while some of the highways
reach
about 6000 feet. I know there are no roads in the Ski resorts. I still
think
it provides perspective for people that know so very little about pro
cycling races and its terrain.

"warren" wrote in message
...
In article , Nick Burns
wrote:

I know you are trolling but I want to provide you with a little
perspective.

Some of those Tour de France stages through the mountains are the
equivalent
of driving from Sacramento, California up and over the Sierras, down
to
Lake
Tahoe and then finishing at the top of Heavenly (or pick just about
any
other ski resort in the Lake Tahoe area). That would be similar to
the
Alps.

Except the Sierras are at higher altitude. Some of the paved roads
going over the Sierra mountain passes are at 7000-9000 feet elevation,
but there are no rideable roads to the top of the ski resorts around
Lake Tahoe.

-WG

what is more important in downhill, leg strength or aerobic capacity?
 

Not quite the same elevation as the highest US mountains or the mountains I
described? The Tourmalet is a regular feature in the Tour and it rises to
6995'. There are a few others that go up almost as high. Roads in the Alps
typically average no more than 7%. Any roads with regular car traffic try to
keep the same or less pitch.


"Raptor" wrote in message ...
Nick Burns wrote:
I know you are trolling but I want to provide you with a little
perspective.

Some of those Tour de France stages through the mountains are the
equivalent
of driving from Sacramento, California up and over the Sierras, down to
Lake
Tahoe and then finishing at the top of Heavenly (or pick just about any
other ski resort in the Lake Tahoe area). That would be similar to the
Alps.

The roads in the Pyrenees are much steeper.I figure you skiers have
either
been there or are familiar with the terrain I am talking about.

But the European mountains don't have quite the same elevation. And,
based on the course statistics, it's not hard at all to find similarly
steep roads in the States, except for the occasional
beat-the-riders-over-the-head climbs like the Angliru and Koppeburg.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall
"I'm not proud. We really haven't done everything we could to protect
our customers. Our products just aren't engineered for security."
--Microsoft VP in charge of Windows OS Development, Brian Valentine.